Temp difference on opposite sides of my MBES

[monstaroo]

Hello from Fort Lauderdale,
I've got a curious question and I'm wondering if a anyone has come across this issue. I've tried to search for old posts, but I've had no luck.

I've found that the left side of my smoker is about 20-30 degrees warmer than the right side of my smoker.

I've got a 30" masterbuilt electric. I've also got a Tappecue 4 probe thermometer. I've recently checked calibration with ice water and boiling water.... They're spot on. Long ago I learned to mostly ignore the master built thermo.

I've got 2 chamber temp probes stuck through tin foil and they're on either side of my pork butt. They're carefully placed and not touching anything else besides the tin foil. They're at the same height, just opposite sides of the smoker. Water pan is full. Pork is on the rack above the water pan.

My theory is that because the vent / exhaust is on the right side, that side is therefore cooler... But the heating element is also basically on the right side.

I'm curious why this is happening... I do not have any sort of fan inside.

Despite my curiosity, given that this is my reality, do I average the temp of the left and right probe and try to keep that average at my target temp? Or do I pick the lower or higher temp and try to make that match my target temp?

Next time I open the smoker I'm going to switch the left and right probes and see if the discrepancy continues or not.

Any advice, please!
Thanks
Andy

 

[daricksta]

Hello from Fort Lauderdale,
I've got a curious question and I'm wondering if a anyone has come across this issue. I've tried to search for old posts, but I've had no luck.

I've found that the left side of my smoker is about 20-30 degrees warmer than the right side of my smoker.

I've got a 30" masterbuilt electric. I've also got a Tappecue 4 probe thermometer. I've recently checked calibration with ice water and boiling water.... They're spot on. Long ago I learned to mostly ignore the master built thermo.

I've got 2 chamber temp probes stuck through tin foil and they're on either side of my pork butt. They're carefully placed and not touching anything else besides the tin foil. They're at the same height, just opposite sides of the smoker. Water pan is full. Pork is on the rack above the water pan.

My theory is that because the vent / exhaust is on the right side, that side is therefore cooler... But the heating element is also basically on the right side.

I'm curious why this is happening... I do not have any sort of fan inside.

Despite my curiosity, given that this is my reality, do I average the temp of the left and right probe and try to keep that average at my target temp? Or do I pick the lower or higher temp and try to make that match my target temp?

Next time I open the smoker I'm going to switch the left and right probes and see if the discrepancy continues or not.

Any advice, please!
Thanks
Andy

You're not alone. It's typical for one side in a MES 30 (mine is a Gen 1) to be hotter than the other. In fact, you'll get different temps on each side of the same rack, on different racks, nearer the front of the smoker or further back. What I've done when using a smoker probe and a meat probe is to place the smoker probe in the same spot on the same rack each time. If I'm smoking pork ribs then both probes become smoker probes and I've got set places for both. Other guys move the probes all around to get an idea of the heat and "cool" spots in their smokers.

In the past I've spent too much time fiddling with the controller because of temperature swings. @Bearcarver  has posted some good times on how to minimize the temp swing. But when I use both probes as smoker probes, I just try to keep the smoker temp as displayed for each probe as close to my set point as possible.

With mine it starts out with the right side hotter because that's the side with the heating element along with the top vent. Then a few hours into the smoke the two sides even out--relatively--or the left side becomes hotter. But around 4-5 hours into a smoke both sides will end up within a few degrees of each other.

My unscientific theory about this behavior has been that when the controller reaches the set point it shuts the heating element off. The element comes on again if the temp falls below the set point and starts another heating cycle. I use the AMNPS which I place on the lower left side. I also use the Maverick ET-733. It's possible the heat from the smoking pellets on the left side raises the temp. As the smoking pellets burn out themselves at one point they're smoking in the center row and perhaps that's when the temp evens out between the two sides.

This heat difference seems to be even more of a problem with the MES 40 units.

So, do the temps on each side even out to be no more than a few degrees difference or to they remain 20-30 degrees apart? Anyway, the most important temp to track is the IT of the meat you're smoking.

 

[tropics]

Use your meat probe,let the cooker do what it wants,half way thru turn the meat around

Richie

 

[dr k]

Hello from Fort Lauderdale,
I've got a curious question and I'm wondering if a anyone has come across this issue. I've tried to search for old posts, but I've had no luck.

I've found that the left side of my smoker is about 20-30 degrees warmer than the right side of my smoker.

I've got a 30" masterbuilt electric. I've also got a Tappecue 4 probe thermometer. I've recently checked calibration with ice water and boiling water.... They're spot on. Long ago I learned to mostly ignore the master built thermo.

I've got 2 chamber temp probes stuck through tin foil and they're on either side of my pork butt. They're carefully placed and not touching anything else besides the tin foil. They're at the same height, just opposite sides of the smoker. Water pan is full. Pork is on the rack above the water pan.

My theory is that because the vent / exhaust is on the right side, that side is therefore cooler... But the heating element is also basically on the right side.

I'm curious why this is happening... I do not have any sort of fan inside.

Despite my curiosity, given that this is my reality, do I average the temp of the left and right probe and try to keep that average at my target temp? Or do I pick the lower or higher temp and try to make that match my target temp?

Next time I open the smoker I'm going to switch the left and right probes and see if the discrepancy continues or not.

Any advice, please!
Thanks
Andy

Try moving to cook on the second from the top rack then top and then second from the bottom (then bottom rack with a full smoker.) Heat rises fast at the bottom where it's hottest and bottle necks at the top to get out the vent. Temps are more consistent across the racks at the top of the smoker. Raising the water pan to the level your cooking on with the rack on top of the water pan is an obstacle to symmetrically disperse heat. My water pan is on the second from the bottom track at the lowest in my mes gen 1 40. Everyone keeps the water in the bottom hangers it was designed for but may not realize it fits at any level.
-Kurt