Thoughts on adding more shelves to Masterbuilt? (And where to find the 19.5" x 12.5" shelves?)

[wrybread]

I have a Masterbuilt Electric Smoker, not sure what model it is exactly. Here's a pic:

Any idea what model that is? The shelves are about 12.5" x 19.5". I'd love to put shelves between each existing shelf, so three more shelves. Any thoughts on whether there's any downside to doing that?

And any tips on how to rig them up? It would be nice to still have the ability to have the shelves slide out. I was thinking maybe a couple of wooden dowels as tracks.

And I'm having problems finding this size shelf (12.5" x 19.5"). All the shelves I'm seeing on Amazon and Masterbuilt are the smaller shelves. I don't imagine anyone knows where to find them?

 

[chopsaw]

Sounds like a 40 " . The standard one had 4 shelves . The Sportsman Elite had 6 shelves .
If you could find the mounting support for the Elite it will have 6 locations on it .
Yours has the original mounting grid .

I found MES 40 racks on Amazon in a 2 pack .

 

[Winterrider]

1×2" mounted on sidewalls, racks can just sit on top. Have seen on Amazon also.

 

[chopsaw]

They also make the racks that sit on top of an existing rack . It's a Masterbuilt acc .

 

[wrybread]

Thank you! I ordered the "Hisencn Cooking Grate Replacement Parts for Masterbuilt Electric Smoker 40 Inch, 19.69" x 12.2" Stainless Steel Grids Masterbuilt MB20070115 Smoker grates Replacement, 3 Pack".

 

[chopsaw]

I used aluminum angle at the top of my 30 for a place to hang sausage and hams . The sides are thin , but it will hold shear weight . Use a sheet metal screw .

Also , I said above yours has the original mounting grid . Meaning that it's a wire support grid that's removable . The newer models have the slides molded into the sides , fixed in the smoker .

My 30 is a Sportsman Elite . You can see the extra slot . 3 at the top 3 at the bottom . If you could find those for your 40 , it would give you 6 racks with factory function , or just add the angle in between the supports you have .


If you decide to add something to hold the racks , make yourself a gauge block for the spacing and mounting .
I used a 2 X 4 to keep everything in line and at the same elevation .

 

[Bearcarver]

Hi Wrybread,
I don't know what happened to the Heating & Smoking guts in the bottom, but that Smoker looks like a Gen #1 Unit.

Bear

 

[cmayna]

I added more racks to my MES40 back in Dec of 2015. Below is a link to my original post. One of my favorite mods, I've done. Just went out to the smoking shed to remind myself as to what I did, but I count 7 slots for rack supports, but so far I have only used 5 slots for I don't like to crowd the fish pieces too much. The slots are spaced around 3+ inches.

The OP's heating element doesn't look stock, but nonetheless, I
flipped my heating element to allow a more centralized heat rise instead of concentrating on the right side as done in a stock unit.

Anyhoo, here's that link of Dec 2015:

Major MES40 Gen 1 mods.......count them racks baby!

Exhaust tunnel made from a loaf pan to help route the exhaust towards the center of the smoker instead of the right back corner. A BIG thanks to DaveOmak for the idea. Not sure if I'm going to put a string of high temp TRV on the upper side of the flange to act as a seal. Here's a side...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[wrybread]

Extra shelves installed!

I kept it simple and used 3/4" angle (thanks chopsaw ) and stainless screws.

Now I just need the salmon to return! Got skunked the last 2 days of fishing, but hopefully we're about to get another burst of fish here in Marin/Sonoma California.

 

[MJB05615]

Nice work! Looks great. Where'd you get the add'l shelves?

 

[wrybread]

It's these shelves:

 

[normanaj]

They also make the racks that sit on top of an existing rack . It's a Masterbuilt acc .

My 30" came with a pair of those.

 

[normanaj]

W wrybread great work. That'll give you a lot of cooking options for sure.

 

[chopsaw]

You did a nice job . Thanks for the mention .

 

[bill1]

It may not matter to you, but since you asked for downsides, I'll just mention that when the meat gets packed vertically closer like this, the smoke is a little more likely to just skirt along the outer walls and out the exhaust, instead of hovering over and under the meat, so you may have a bit less smoke flavor. (And your center pieces may be a little under-done.) You counteract this tendency by wrapping foil on the outer 2-3" of 3 adjacent sides of each grill/grate/rack, and then alternate them side-by-side so the smoke needs to meander back and forth from layer to layer on it way up the exhaust.

But I'm unaware how you're generating smoke here. If you're just using this as a slow cooker, my smoke flavor comments are somewhat moot.

 

[tbern]

your shelves look very nice!! and Bill, nice tip about getting the smoke to move better with the extra shelves!!

 

[wrybread]

It may not matter to you, but since you asked for downsides, I'll just mention that when the meat gets packed vertically closer like this, the smoke is a little more likely to just skirt along the outer walls and out the exhaust, instead of hovering over and under the meat, so you may have a bit less smoke flavor. (And your center pieces may be a little under-done.)

I'll keep an eye on it, but I just had a look at my neighbor's Big Chief, and those shelves have the same spacing (3 inches). Much bigger shelves than the Big Chief though, which could make it harder to distribute the smoke.