New Toy

[rons]

OK 90% of the jerky is finishing on the dehydrator now. I do see one weird thing with it. I think it's the drip pan diverting the heat maybe. Jerky that was close to the back or the door was done or 1/2 piece was done if it was sticking out towards there, All the jerky in the middle of the racks (like most of the rack just not the few inches to the back or front, was still soft pink meat and felt 'warm' to the touch but the jerky by the door was like ouch to touch. I had the temp on the smoker set to 200, was seeing 180 on the temp probe but next time I'm going to put the probe dead center as I bet it was more like 140 in that area. But it did smoke super good and consistently, only used about 35 little chips over 4 adds and it gently smoked perfectly.

I wonder if I put a roast in the middle if it would ever cook though....

I also wonder if there is a 'fix' to even out the temp, like a larger different drip pan , or wrap the whole bottom rack in foil and not put anything on it, so hot air can't run around the edges so much...

 

[JckDanls 07]

Welcome to the joys of figuring out the MES's... Check with Bearcarver as he is one of the MES experts ...

 

[rons]

Welcome to the joys of figuring out the MES's... Check with Bearcarver as he is one of the MES experts ...

ha ok, hopefully he'll see this. I'm gonna experiment a lot for sure though!

 

[JckDanls 07]

Don't be afraid to PM him.. He loves helping ...

 

[Buckeye02]

It might be the pellets I’m using, but I can’t seem to keep mine lit, when I do it seems like an awful lot of artificial smoke

I but a bolt under the tube, and also leave the chop loader on the side hangout about 1". That seems to allow enough air to keep it going in mine. I too was having trouble keeping it lit until I figured that out

 

[rons]

Don't be afraid to PM him.. He loves helping ...

ok cool, I will do that tomorrow, thanks!

 

[rons]

I but a bolt under the tube, and also leave the chop loader on the side hangout about 1". That seems to allow enough air to keep it going in mine. I too was having trouble keeping it lit until I figured that out

oh yeah cool

 

[Winterrider]

Microwave your pellets helps tremendously. 1 min, allow to cool for a min, then hit it another min.
U- bolt mod helps also for airflow ( only need the front one )

 

[Fueling Around]

Search for u-bolt mods to smoke tubes. Puts them at an angle to keep the pellets from spilling and adds airflow

No experience with a MES
I used to smoke a lot of stuff (including pork shoulder) in my Big Chief electric. No temp control and the chip pan did a nice job, but after a couple hours of smoke I either finished it in the Big Chief without smoke or moved it into the oven. Veggies stayed in the chief and meats moved to the oven for more heat.

 

[rons]

OK did some tests today, it was just me being stupid lol, I had the empty water pan in there, so it was diverting the hot air flow around it, so the center of the racks were way cooler. Today I used my temp probe in the center and outside area of racks with and without the empty water pan installed. Without it in here, the temps were within 5 degrees, with it, it was 25-30 difference. So all good on that area!
I made some jerky for our dog in there just to test, and it worked perfect and got done in a few hours.
Yesterday's jerky even though I finished it in the dehydrator did come out great too!