Newbie little confused

[Mcleod3426620]

Hey guys rookie here. I was given a MES 130 electric smoker. Today i attempted my first but. And it was a disaster. So i purchased a Ink Bird digital thermometer. I have one clipped to the graits. I have noticed in my last test that the ink bird was around 30 degrees different then the smokers factory one. I checked the ink bird by boiling water to see when it started boiling. It was right on 212 it started boiling so I'm thinking that i should do everything off the ink bird. So on to the cook today. it was a 5 pound but. I let it sit all night in fridge with the rub. I followed along with hey grill hey’s recipe of there Carolina pulled pork which said to mop every hour. The temp she used was 250. So i set my smoker to 205 on the smoker cause that put my ink bird at 250ish. Every hour i mopped and around 2pm it was the 6 hour mark. The temp in meat read 167 still kept
Going with my plan. Then at 172 it just stopped. Even at 6:30 which would be the 10.5 hour mark still at 175. I then begun to panic haha. I wrapped it up cranked up the smoker to 275 on the MES smoker which put the ink bird at like 315-320. Now its 7 still stuck at 176 or so. Wife getting frustrated i said well were eating at 10pm at this rate. So i put it in the oven at 350 with the inkbird now sitting at 180. I kept it in there till almost 7:30 got up to maybe 189. Just pulled it out it was like i thought mostly tough and rubbery bone wouldn’t come out. So i know thats a long story and im sorry about that. I have several issues one is the thermometers what do i do go with the ink bird or the smoker one? Obviously ill stick with the meat temp part. My other problem. What did i do wrong? Am i correct in thinking that a 5 pound but should be hitting 200 around 11.5-12 hour mark. Or does it need 14 hours. Did i mess up by mopping it every hour letting all that heatout so many times. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[pineywoods]

Welcome to SMF glad you joined us. You'll get lots of good info and ideas around here.
Go by the thermometer you know is correct which in your case would be the Inkbird. Check it once in awhile to make sure it's still accurate. With a pork butt you don't need mop every hour every time you open the door your dumping all your heat or most of it and doing that every hour added a lot of time to your cooking time. There are different methods for doing butts as there is for smoking most things but I'll let others get into that.
If you have questions just ask and somebody or a bunch of people will try to answer and remember there are no dumb questions we were all new at this at one time and most of us asked some "oh duh" questions and our great members didn't make fun and tried to help

 

[Sven Svensson]

Never trust the “Steam Guage” thermometer that comes with the MES smoker. Mine were totally unreliable. The only reliable gauge thermometer I’ve used is $$ and made by Tru-Tel. That said, you can completely trust your Ink Bird. Forget the MES thermometer exists. It’s just decoration.

I agree with pineywoods in that opening and closing your door every hour dumped your heat and made your “stall” unbearably long. I also agree that you do not need to use a mop/baste on a pork butt, especially just starting out. It already has a ton of fat in it and you will probably not dry it out. If you’re worried about that, try an injection.

But my biggest piece of advice to you is I would recommend you check out Bear’s “Step-by-Step” index. He uses an MES and he has 3 great pork butt tutorials at three different temps, with pictures. We all start out using Bear’s index and we all get great results. You can find the page here:

Bear's "Step by Step" Index

Bear's "Step by Step" Index I made this index, because a lot of guys use my "Step by Steps", and I couldn't get them all in my Signature. Then I'd have to find the one I had that best suited what they were wanting to do. At times it has taken me forever to find one of my Step by Steps that...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

Like pineywoods says, never be afraid to ask and or admit failures here. No one will laugh. It’s how we all learn. We’re rooting for you and hope you keep at it.

 

[pineywoods]

Here's another basic butt smoke this is the one I used when I started doing butts.
One of the other things I forgot in the first post was keep a journal of sorts with all your smokes, Write things like what your smoking, smoker temps, method, smoke flavor, temps and times, then what you thought and what you should change. Over time this will be a great source of info for you to perfect stuff to your tastes and also helps with planning a smoke.

 

[DougE]

One of the other things I forgot in the first post was keep a journal of sorts with all your smokes, Write things like what your smoking, smoker temps, method, smoke flavor, temps and times, then what you thought and what you should change.

Absolutely do this when you start, it will become second nature after you have done it enough times, and you will no longer need notes, but starting out, keep notes.

 

[tallbm]

Hey guys rookie here. I was given a MES 130 electric smoker. Today i attempted my first but. And it was a disaster. So i purchased a Ink Bird digital thermometer. I have one clipped to the graits. I have noticed in my last test that the ink bird was around 30 degrees different then the smokers factory one. I checked the ink bird by boiling water to see when it started boiling. It was right on 212 it started boiling so I'm thinking that i should do everything off the ink bird. So on to the cook today. it was a 5 pound but. I let it sit all night in fridge with the rub. I followed along with hey grill hey’s recipe of there Carolina pulled pork which said to mop every hour. The temp she used was 250. So i set my smoker to 205 on the smoker cause that put my ink bird at 250ish. Every hour i mopped and around 2pm it was the 6 hour mark. The temp in meat read 167 still kept
Going with my plan. Then at 172 it just stopped. Even at 6:30 which would be the 10.5 hour mark still at 175. I then begun to panic haha. I wrapped it up cranked up the smoker to 275 on the MES smoker which put the ink bird at like 315-320. Now its 7 still stuck at 176 or so. Wife getting frustrated i said well were eating at 10pm at this rate. So i put it in the oven at 350 with the inkbird now sitting at 180. I kept it in there till almost 7:30 got up to maybe 189. Just pulled it out it was like i thought mostly tough and rubbery bone wouldn’t come out. So i know thats a long story and im sorry about that. I have several issues one is the thermometers what do i do go with the ink bird or the smoker one? Obviously ill stick with the meat temp part. My other problem. What did i do wrong? Am i correct in thinking that a 5 pound but should be hitting 200 around 11.5-12 hour mark. Or does it need 14 hours. Did i mess up by mopping it every hour letting all that heatout so many times. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi there and welcome!

You are getting great info. The biggest issue was opening the door so much and losing all the heat as stated.

Trust your wireless thermometer and not the MES thermometer. The MES thermometers are trash. If you are getting hotter temps than intended that is actually a good thing because usually the MES is unable to hit the max temp.

As for a pork butt, they are pretty simple. They don't care what temp you smoke them at as long as you aren't burning them. I would recommend you do a simple smoke again where you season with Salt,Pepper, Onion, Garlic (SPOG) and Paprika.
Smoke at 275F smoker temp.
Estimate at like 1hr 10min per pound and then add 4 hours extra and your smoke should finish somewhere in that timeframe.
If it finishes 4 hours early fantastic! Just tightly double wrap in foil and then wrap in 3 bath towels and set on the counter. 4-5 hours later it will still be piping hot and ready to eat.
If it doesn't finish early... you have a decent buffer of time for it to finish.

Now important thing about a pork butt (and briskets and similar type cuts), is that it is done ONLY when it is tender. NEVER by time or temp.
Put a thermometer dep in it (not against the bone) and when it hits about 203-205 Internal Temp (IT) of the meat, test it for tenderness.
I use wooden kabob skewers. When it goes in ALL OVER without resistance then it is done.
If you find any resistance let the temp raise another 1-2 degrees and test again.
When it passes the tenderness test then it is done!!

I would recommend next attempt you dont sprints, u dont mop, you dont pan, u dont foil, u don't do anything until the IT meat temp is 203-205F and at that time u test for tenderness.

This is about as simple as you can go! You will find that all those extra steps of mopping, spritzing, etc. are unnecessary and have caused you more problems then actually making a good pulled pork.

Once you succeed like this then you can start making tweaks. Also adding SPOG + Paprika to the shredded meat gives it additional great flavor with no fuss in the case that the inner meat could use a little seasoning (usually the case and there are ways to mitigate that but first get a successful smoke before tweaking).

I hope this info helps :)

 

[fxsales1959]

the stall is a fickle lady. as others have said #Masterbuilt, I don't trust anything about them except that garavity works on my 560. The stall drives my wife crazy, whether butts or brisket. She has learned we no longer talk about smoking times, but smoking temps. "honey, how much longer"? 22 degrees...... drives her crazy as the provider of sides. I have two MES130's always rely on my inkbird. two or three probes. one at grid level, and up to two in meats depending on mass. I set grid level alarm in case the MES goes apeshit and I'm taking a beer nap.

 

[Mcleod3426620]

Hey guys i wanna thank you so much for your quick detailed responses. I feel like i found my spot to learn and get my smoking hobby perfected. I appreciated it. And now i dont feel like im going crazy. I really thought i should be sticking with the ink bird for temp. And i was really thinking it was because i kept losing heat so much to mop. I just watched these videos and people do it all the time. Maybe with a pellet grill it doesnt lose as much heat cause it heats back up sooner maybe who knows. But I'm very
thankful great responses and i jave been reading them more then once lol.

 

[schlotz]

Looks like they've got you covered. In summary, I would say keep the MES door shut, period. Additionally, it's always nice to have a reporting therm in the butt (not touching the bone) in order to monitor the IT. If you are still using chips, I suggest you checkout using a pellet tray instead. Maybe go all the way, doing a mailbox mod. Plenty of info here on SMF on how to do that. Lastly, if its been in the MES for 5 hours with smoke and has hit the stall, you could consider removing it, wrap tightly in foil, placed it in a alum pan and put in the oven set for 300º. 5+ hours of constant smoke does a good job, you can continue that way but the extra amount of smoke it will pick up is not that much. The oven can be your friend (and the wife's) when meeting dinner time is important. It gets better with each smoke especially when you review you notes. Like they said, take detailed notes of every smoke. You'll thank yourself for doing so. FYI, see the link in the sig below for reference.

 

[912smoker]

They've got ya covered just try the process and your thermo.

And remember

If you're looking.....
You ain't cooking

Keith

 

[HalfSmoked]

Nothing to add the gang has you well cover and remember the stall is a thing that will happen just be patience.
Welcome to the forum.

Warren

 

[fxsales1959]

Hey guys i wanna thank you so much for your quick detailed responses. I feel like i found my spot to learn and get my smoking hobby perfected. I appreciated it. And now i dont feel like im going crazy. I really thought i should be sticking with the ink bird for temp. And i was really thinking it was because i kept losing heat so much to mop. I just watched these videos and people do it all the time. Maybe with a pellet grill it doesnt lose as much heat cause it heats back up sooner maybe who knows. But I'm very
thankful great responses and i jave been reading them more then once lol.

 

[tallbm]

As mentioned above, you cannot trust the MES smoker or meat probes, they are always wrong.

A good dual probe (or more) wireless thermometer is like the 1st purchase for any MES owner after buying the unit (well for any smoker not just MES). I suggest a minimum of 4 probes.

You put 1 at rack level to measure smoker temp and 1 in the meat for meat temp.
Having 2 at rack level (one left side, one right side) will tell you the temp across the rack as it will not be the same. Then you have 2 left for meat. Follow what the rack level temps say NOT the MES reported temps.
Here's a great 4 probe wireless thermometer I use by Inkbird (a sponsor here). It's 50% off right now when you apply the coupon so half the listed price!!!


As an MES owner the next purchase often made is to use the A-Maze-N Pellet Smoker (AMNPS) tray or tubes to burn pellets to produce smoke.
The tray will produce up to 12 hours of perfect Thin Blue Smoke (TBS) without hassle once you get it going. The tube will provide 3-4hrs of smoke.
Most of us use the tray so we can do anywhere from 1hr-12hr of smoke and not have to babysit the smoker.
Some of us use the Mailbox Modification (Mailbox Mod) where we put the AMNPS tray in a mailbox that has a 3" duct vent that connects to the MES chip feeder hole. This way smoke is outside of the MES and flows into the MES.
Others will put the AMNPS tray directly in the MES on shelf or somewhere it won't get dripped on and somewhere the element wont cause the pellets to ignite through direct heat.

Since your MES is a 30" there is a strong possibility that the AMNPS tray will not get enough oxygen to stay lit when placed inside your MES so the mailbox mod may be the way to go. I've helped a number of MES30 owners with this problem.

The AMNPS tube seems to have no problem in low oxygen environments but is only 3'ish hours of smoke vs 12 hours so you can see the tradeoff.

This may sound like a lot of work but once you get the AMNPS tray going you can smoke meat without having to fool with anything. Truly set and forget.
I do pork butts and briskets all the time and since they take so long, I always do them overnight. I sleep well and I wake up when the meat probe temp alarm tells me to check for tenderness. Often times the alarm doesn't go off until I'm already awake and going about my morning/day. Truly hassle free!!!

Addtionally, a bag pellets goes a loooooong way in providing smoke via AMNPS and the tray/pellets.

A good wireless thermometer and an AMNPS pellet product are 2 cornerstones of producing amazing set and forget BBQ in an MES. All you have to do is learn the quirks/processes for the meat you want to BBQ and these tools will greatly help you succeed with good food :)

I hope this info helps :)

 

[motocrash]

Here's a printable smoking log from the dearly departed pops (R.I.P.)

https://www.smoking-meat.com/image-files/smoking-meat-log.pdf

 

[bigfurmn]

Also as you may have noticed searching around here a bit, if there are no pictures it didn’t happen. Additionally the people here might suggest different ideas after seeing your cooks too. They helped me a ton.

 

[JckDanls 07]

Not much more I can add ether... The only thing I do different is I use a cooler for my double wrapped resting meat... meaning if my cook gets done early ( which i try to do).. I will double wrap and put in a cooler (dry) and cover with a few old towels.. This will keep it screaming hot for hours but also keeps tenderizing the meat...

As you suspected about opening the door.. yes... that's a no-no ... the MS30 has such a small heat element and takes so long to recover from the door opening... It had just barely got back up to temp by the time you opened the door again...

Have fun with your new addiction (both, the forums and the smoker)...

 

[bauchjw]

You are very well covered above, I’m sure your ink bird’s good, but I always make sure to let new people know a way to test your thermometers is to boil water, if your thermometer shows 212 degrees F at sea level then your good. If it’s off up or down you know how far youre off. Stay patient! The pay off is worth it!

 

[Brokenhandle]

Yep can't add anything else that hasn't been covered except...stall = more drinking time! But if momma is hungry or not happy...that's bad! Start earlier or smoke ahead of time and reheat...sometimes better the next day! And use a drip pan to catch the drippings to add back in

Ryan

 

[pineywoods]

Hey guys i wanna thank you so much for your quick detailed responses. I feel like i found my spot to learn and get my smoking hobby perfected. I appreciated it. And now i dont feel like im going crazy. I really thought i should be sticking with the ink bird for temp. And i was really thinking it was because i kept losing heat so much to mop. I just watched these videos and people do it all the time. Maybe with a pellet grill it doesnt lose as much heat cause it heats back up sooner maybe who knows. But I'm very
thankful great responses and i jave been reading them more then once lol.

Pretty much all smokers will loose heat when you open the door about the only ones you won't really notice a drop are the stick burners made out of heavy steel and they do loose heat but because of all the thick metal they recover quickly.
You have indeed found the place if you want help with questions and ideas for things to smoke and how to do it. Our members are great and most all of us remember when we first started smoking and the results we got before we came here. Members remember the helping hand they were given when they joined for the most part and are very willing to help newer members the same as they were helped. If you plan a smoke and want any tips just post what you plan to do and people will check your plan and give suggestions if they are needed or tell you it should be good.
As Jck Daniels said don't start early and if it finishes early you can wrap it or double wrap in aluminum foil then wrap it in an old towel and place in a empty dry cooler and it will stay hot for hours.. Meat actually needs to rest before you pull it or slice it or whatever it allows time for the meat to reabsorb and redistribute the juices in the meat. Another thing is some things taste just as good or better after reheating when I smoke butts I don't eat much if any of it the day I smoke it. After smelling the smoke for hours and hours it just isn't all that great to me but it does reheat very well like as good as when it comes out of the smoker. I will often smoke an extra butt so I can pull it and vacuum seal it in meal size portioned bags for quick easy meals when time is short or we don't feel like cooking

 

[Mcleod3426620]

You are very well covered above, I’m sure your ink bird’s good, but I always make sure to let new people know a way to test your thermometers is to boil water, if your thermometer shows 212 degrees F at sea level then your good. If it’s off up or down you know how far youre off. Stay patient! The pay off is worth it!

Yes sir thats exactly how i checked it and it was right on. I just was confused on how far off the digital probe on the MED and the ink bird were.