Tips for a Newbie (MES40 Bluetooth)

[VBsmokingnewbie]

Hello everyone,

I just found this awesome website so forgive me if I could have found this info in a past thread. I recently got a 40” Bluetooth Smart Digital Masterbuilt Electric Smoker (found here: https://masterbuilt.com/product/20070115-40-bluetooth-smart-digital-electric-smoker/) and I am entirely new to the world of smoking. I am hoping to smoke a pork shoulder for Super Bowl Sunday, so I’m looking for as many tips as I can get.

My only experience so far with the smoker was with a beef brisket, but the meat ended up being way too smoky to enjoy. I’ve already figured out some of the ways I went wrong (didn’t leave the vent all the way open, may have added too many chips, there was white, billowy smoke sometimes rather than thin, blue) but I am still worried about screwing up the pork shoulder this Sunday. Based on some of my preliminary research in the forums, it seems like you guys like using pellet trays rather than using chips in the chip loader tube? I am totally open to getting any attachments or add-ons that may improve the experience. Any and all advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[THW]

I am too new to be any help but you got the 2.5 generation of the MES 40" which is supposed to be the best. I have the MES 30" and am learning to smoke meats with it. The bluetooth does not get a lot of distance but I was able to operate it outside while staying warm inside.

This 5 day FREE e-course, I think is a very good basic course on smoking meats. Just give your name and email address and you get a lesson everyday for five days.

http://www.smoking-meat.com/smoking-basics-ecourse

good Luck

 

[tallbm]

Hello everyone,

I just found this awesome website so forgive me if I could have found this info in a past thread. I recently got a 40” Bluetooth Smart Digital Masterbuilt Electric Smoker (found here: https://masterbuilt.com/product/20070115-40-bluetooth-smart-digital-electric-smoker/) and I am entirely new to the world of smoking. I am hoping to smoke a pork shoulder for Super Bowl Sunday, so I’m looking for as many tips as I can get.

My only experience so far with the smoker was with a beef brisket, but the meat ended up being way too smoky to enjoy. I’ve already figured out some of the ways I went wrong (didn’t leave the vent all the way open, may have added too many chips, there was white, billowy smoke sometimes rather than thin, blue) but I am still worried about screwing up the pork shoulder this Sunday. Based on some of my preliminary research in the forums, it seems like you guys like using pellet trays rather than using chips in the chip loader tube? I am totally open to getting any attachments or add-ons that may improve the experience. Any and all advice is appreciated.

Thanks!

Hi there and welcome!

Looks like you are well on your journey and learning things already.

The digital Masterbuilt Electric Smoker (MES) has a few quirks you'll have to work with. I'll give you the list.

1. The smoker and meat probes are NOTORIOUS for being off. They are basically never correct for anyone so pretty much every MES owner here buys something like a wireless Thermometer with dual (or more) probes. I'm a fan of the ThermoPro TP-20 dual probe and you gen even get a discount code from them to use on their website.
   One probe from the TP-20 can be used as a backup smoker probe and the other probe used as a meat probe. This way you pretty much replace the MES probes with reliable ones.
   
   
2. You have noticed that most MES users buy and use the A-Maze-N Pellet Smoker (AMNPS) tray and pellets for smoke generation. It will provide you with set and forget smoke for 9 to 12 hours max! I would recommend you go this route for the ease as well as bypassing problems the MES has producing smoke at temps of 200F or lower for smokes that need low temps like bacon and sausage. You can also now cold smoke with the AMNPS.
   
   
3. The MES does temp swings rather than holding at one specific temp. As long as you can reach the max temp of 275F and your temp swings are too drastic then you will have no issues. Many are not so lucky and have to live with the behavior or find other avenues to correct things but that is a conversation for when the time comes
   
   
4. The max temps is 275F. When doing chicken/poultry you often will get leathery skin because poultry skin likes temps around 325F in my experience. You may get luck but just be ready for this occurrence and know that it isn't your fault it is simply a behavior of chicken/poultry skin and hotter temps for a period of time are what provide edible skin. Your options are to remove the skin (a good option) or to smoke for a while and then finish the cooking on a hot grill or hot oven for the skin to be edible.
   
   
5. You discovered that MES users basically smoke with the vent completely open unless needing to bring the temp up more quickly. Also hardly any MES owners use the water pan with water, most just remove the pan or leave it empty.

On to the pork shoulder. I recommend you keep it as simple as possible.
Smoke the pork shoulder at your desired smoker temp (I do mine at 275F because this meat really doesn't really care about the temp and cooks much faster).
I wouldn't wrap the meat for now so you can focus more on thin blue smoke and managing your smoker, just let it ride.
When the internal temp is around 200-205F start probing for tenderness by stabbing a toothpick into it all over. When it slides in with no resistance then it is done.
Again, this cut of meat is done when it is tender, the IT guidelines are just to give you an idea on when to start checking for tenderness.
I would then wrap in foil and rest for a couple of hours in a cooler or wrapped in towels (I'm a 3 towel wrap guy).
Pull/shred, serve and eat!

Follow your own method but I like to suggest keeping things simple like above so a person gets a handle on their setup before they start introducing more steps and more complexity into the mix.

I think that about sums it up for the moment. Best of luck!

 

[GaryHibbert]

Good evening and wecome to the Forum. I have an older model MES 30 and love it.
There's more tips for using a MES than can be listed in one post, but here's a few to get you started.
--ALWAYS leave the top vent wide open. This allows stale smoke to exit, replaced with fresh smoke.
--dont use the water pan for water. Your MES does not require any added humidity. I just filled mine with sand, covered it with foil to keep it clean, and use it as a heat sink.
--you can either use the chip tray or get an AMNPS (thats the pellet tray sold by Todd at Amazen--he's both a member and a sponsor here). Personally i like the convenience of the tray. Fill and light it once instead of adding chips every 30 minutes, and get TBS (thin blue smoke) for the duration of your cook. I also use a Mailbox--an inexpensive modification. Just do a search here for Mailbox Mod.
--get a good 2 probe digital thermometer. Do NOT trust the factory thermometer on any MES--they're infamous for being inaccurate.
--i cook everything in my MES at 235 to 240 degrees.
--cook by IT (internal temp), not by time. The meat (especially pork butts) will cook at different speed as it wishes. There is no set formula for weight vs time. That said, start early and give yourself lots of time--you can wrap the meat under towels in a cooler and keep it hot for several hours.
--butts will stall for an hour to several hours at approx 160 to 165 IT. Its just a fact of life. You can simply wait out the stall or wrap the butt in foil at the stall. Wrapping will help speed it through the stall.
--I like lots of smoke flavor so I keep the smoke flowing right up to the time I foil. You will simply have to experiment with time and type of wood until you'r happy with the amount of smokyness in the meat.
--I like hickory, Miss Linda likes the milder pecan. Any fruit wood goes great with pork.
--for pulled pork I cook the butt to an IT of 205. It will probe like butter and the bone will almost fall out on its own.

Well like I said--a few pointers to help with your first pulled porkk. Pork butt is the most forgiving cut of meat out there. Just relax and enjoy your smoke--it'll turn iut great.
Gary

 

[petehalsted]

You have already gotten great advice. If you haven't already seen them, check out Bear's step by steps. Most of them are done in a MES and he gives you lots of details, so a great starting point for you.

A few things I don't think either of the other guys mentioned:

1. foil you waterpan / catch pan with foil. It will make clean up so much easier later
2. How much cleaning you do or don't do to the smoker can be debated, but everyone agrees to: Clean Racks, and wipe the temp senors (probe sticking out of the back wall) and the safety disk (small quarter size sensor on back wall towards bottom), to much build up on those can effect the smokers performance. I don't have glass front but those that do say if you wipe them after each smoke they stay good.
3. Already said in other post but worth repeating, give a good at least 2 probe thermometer, plus an "instant read" thermometer. Other than the smoker itself these are the most important tools you can have!

For that Pork Butt, use a drip pan on the shelf under it. When you pull your pork if it happens to be a bit dry to can use some of the drippings to help. If you are going to have left overs the next day, saving some of the drippings to add when reheating isn't a bad idea either. I don't do a lot of pork butts, so I will let the experts give you more advice on that.

 

[VBsmokingnewbie]

Wow thanks for the advice guys! I went ahead and created a mailbox mod for the the smoker, and I have the AMNPS coming in the mail today. I think I’m going to do a test run today and maybe throw some cheese in there for the heck of it. Here are some pictures of my setup.

 

[VBsmokingnewbie]

Now that I’ve got the test run with the cheese underway, I’m having trouble getting that thin, blue smoke I keep hearing about. Do you guys have any idea why I’m getting this much smoke? I’m using the A-MAZE-N pellet tube rather than the pellet tray, because it hasn’t showed up in the mail yet. Could that be a part of the problem? Any suggestions?

 

[THW]

Looks like a well thought out setup. I have the MES 30 and like the idea of your being elevated. I might even go another level higher. Gets things up where they are easier to work with and makes a great place for your mailbox. With the height, you will get less smoke in your face when you need to open the door. It would seem the length of the smoke tubing would help reduce any creosote because it can adhere to the sides of the tubing before it get in the smoker.

Good luck and thanks for the pictures.

 

[THW]

One thing to think about would be your nice stone under the smoker. The MES's have a drip flare on the door to route the moisture on the door into the cabinet and onto the drip tray in the bottom. When you open the door, you will get drips coming down on your concrete and stone porch floor. You may want to have something there to protect it. A rubber mat would be washable, inexpensive and look good.

good luck

 

[Braz]

You are going to want some vent holes in your mailbox door. Two or three 1" holes would be a good starting place.

 

[VBsmokingnewbie]

You are going to want some vent holes in your mailbox door. Two or three 1" holes would be a good starting place.

Wouldn’t that just provide more oxygen for combustion, and produce even more smoke though? It’s not like the pellets are starved for air and I haven’t had to relight them at any point.

And THW , that’s a great idea. Thanks for lookin out.

 

[R Blum]

I have a Masterbuilt and I never use the chip drawer. They sell a separate cold smoker unit that goes on to the smoker. I use this for cold and hot smoking. I fill it up with chips and I have it connected to a dimmer type switch to turn down the power once the chips get smoking nice. The only other thing I did was to drill 3 holes into the heating element cover to let more smoke into the chamber. Works great.

 

[tallbm]

Now that I’ve got the test run with the cheese underway, I’m having trouble getting that thin, blue smoke I keep hearing about. Do you guys have any idea why I’m getting this much smoke? I’m using the A-MAZE-N pellet tube rather than the pellet tray, because it hasn’t showed up in the mail yet. Could that be a part of the problem? Any suggestions?View attachment 352512 View attachment 352511 View attachment 352509

The tube smoker has been reported to produce quite a bit more smoke than the tray.

I often do a double row burn on my AMNPS and it produces maybe as much smoke coming out of the vent or just a little less. I think you will be ok with that smoke just keep it in mind that the tube should be producing quite a bit more smoke but I think it will be ok because it isn't super thick white smoke.

Let us know how it turns out :)

 

[VBsmokingnewbie]

Here’s the final product! Thanks for all the advice guys .