Newby + Materbilt Question

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cincyque

Newbie
Original poster
Jun 7, 2008
8
10
I'm brand spankin' new to this forum, but not to smoking. I did my first smoked turkey on a Weber kettle over 25 years ago. Over the years I have had a succession of small water smokers - Brinkman's and Charbroils. The last one was an electric Charbroil - A nice machine with some temperature control - but it shorted out eventually. I started smoking with the advice and a few recipes from the book "Smoke and Spice" but now pretty much just improvise and go by instinct. For rubs, I usually put one together based on what is in my spice cabinet or use Penzey's Galena Street rub. (If you are not familiar iwth Penzey's, they are a great source for very fresh and reasonably priced spices.

Yesterday I purchased a 40" Masterbilt Smokehouse.

Question - I was runnihng through the seasoning process and stuck a remote thermometer on the middle shelf. When set to 275, the digital controller actually was up to 290 and thermometer was over 300. I'm going to do a dry run today at 225 with some water in the pan and see what reading I get. Is this normal for "break-in" or should I be concerned?
 
Welcome and glad to have ya! Congrats on the new smoker.

Being this is a forum for new comers, you may find what you are looking for in the " Equipment and Supplies" forum under the type of smoker you have. You can start a post in that are about your smoker and you'll get some great tips from the best.

It sounds like on the dry run you did not use the water pan? The water pan keeps moisture in the smoker and that helps keep the temps lower. I have seen my water pan run dry and my smoker will go from 225 up to 350 quickly without water. You need to season the new smoker, and when you do make sure you fill the water pan and get a good smoke going for about an hour or so. If the water pan don't help start a post in the forum and you will get advice from the best BBQ'ers in the country.
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Make sure you check out Jeff's 5-day e-course on smoking!

Great to have ya and Happy Smokin!!!!!!!!!!
 
Good luck with your MES, I love mine. Use water for stable temps.
 
I had the same problem with mine. The manual tells you not to use water in the burnin. I did mine 3 days in a row before the first run. With water in the pan the temps were lower. Mine is about 10 degrees off I just set it for 215. Good luck.
 
Thanks for the tips and reassurances.

I'll do my first smoke on the MES this afternoon. I have some babyback ribs sitting in the fridge overnight slathered with some bbq paste (mostly sugar, salt, pepper, garlic, onion, parika, celery, chili; with just a little bit of liquid: mustard, vinagar, molassas and oil.

I expect the MES will soon become my favorite outdoor cooking tool. Here is a picture of my current favorite, the spit attachment for the Weber. This pic is a turkey but the spit really shines with a pork loin, slowly spit roasted over lump coals and basted till glazed (with a few apple wood chunks tossed in for a slight smoke scent.
 
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