Take two pints and call me in the morning.Chuckwagon wrote:Watch out Ursula! When he starts talking like this, he's trying to convince you that he's still taking his medications!
does your electric smoker do this?
Well, here we go again- - new smoker, same old stuff (temperature control department).
I bought a new Masterbuilt smoker, the electric version. It came a few days ago, which is probably why it's been raining for three days straight. (Warning: using an electric smoker in the rain can be hazardous to your health, as well as the health of the equipment.)
But yesterday, it cleared off. I set the new guy up in the back yard, ran a monster-rating 10-gauge extension cord to it, and cranked it up for the seasoning run. But before going to 275° F setpoint, I wanted to check that it would hold at around 100° (versus 50° or so, ambient) so I keyed it in and turned the thing on. There was the expected large overshoot on the first cycle of heating, which is why you should always pre-heat your smoker before adding anything to be smoked. It settled down and controlled +/- 3 or 4 degrees, which is pretty good, especially on the low end of the scale.
Next, I cranked it up to 225° but, just on a hunch, lowered a two-thermocouple temperature transmitter's sensors in through the top vent, and placed one just below the lowest meat tray and the other just above the top meat tray, neither of them touching the metal.
Holy un-butchered cow! There's a sixty degree offset between the 225° setpoint and 285° actual temperature, both places!
The smoker's sensor appears to be one of those stubby little one inch or so probes, mounted on the back interior of the box. I suspect it is influenced greatly by the surrounding wall, and that it's just too short to give a good reading. An alternate explanation, however, is that the temperature sensing circuit is out of calibration or defective.
...anybody out there have experience with the Masterbuilt electric smoker? I've emailed them, and will pass on what I've learned.
I bought a new Masterbuilt smoker, the electric version. It came a few days ago, which is probably why it's been raining for three days straight. (Warning: using an electric smoker in the rain can be hazardous to your health, as well as the health of the equipment.)
But yesterday, it cleared off. I set the new guy up in the back yard, ran a monster-rating 10-gauge extension cord to it, and cranked it up for the seasoning run. But before going to 275° F setpoint, I wanted to check that it would hold at around 100° (versus 50° or so, ambient) so I keyed it in and turned the thing on. There was the expected large overshoot on the first cycle of heating, which is why you should always pre-heat your smoker before adding anything to be smoked. It settled down and controlled +/- 3 or 4 degrees, which is pretty good, especially on the low end of the scale.
Next, I cranked it up to 225° but, just on a hunch, lowered a two-thermocouple temperature transmitter's sensors in through the top vent, and placed one just below the lowest meat tray and the other just above the top meat tray, neither of them touching the metal.
Holy un-butchered cow! There's a sixty degree offset between the 225° setpoint and 285° actual temperature, both places!
The smoker's sensor appears to be one of those stubby little one inch or so probes, mounted on the back interior of the box. I suspect it is influenced greatly by the surrounding wall, and that it's just too short to give a good reading. An alternate explanation, however, is that the temperature sensing circuit is out of calibration or defective.
...anybody out there have experience with the Masterbuilt electric smoker? I've emailed them, and will pass on what I've learned.
Experience - the ability to instantly recognize a mistake when you make it again.
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grasshopper
- Passionate
- Posts: 214
- Joined: Wed Feb 22, 2012 21:53
- Location: pine city mn
Mine is the second generation 40 inch glass door, vent on the side. Sounds like yours is the first generation, vent on the top. Some people really like the first generation better because of the vent on the top. Your best bet is to call customer service. They are very good to deal with and have heard it all. Smokers are smokers. I use my maverick 732 to regulate my temp and don't use the bottom rack. Hope this helps.
The Masterbuilt folks sent me a "smoker body" (smoker, minus the door and racks and such), which arrived yesterday evening. Naturally, I had to try it. ...unpacked it, did the minor assembly, moved the door from old to new, hooked up my thermocouples, and stayed up until after midnight playing... uh, checking performance.
And, I don't believe it, the new one performs identically with the old one! I took data over a wider temperature range, typed it into Excel, and did a linear regression using the SLOPE and INTERCEPT functions.
. . . . . . (actual temperature) = 1.05 * (setpoint temperature) + 25.5
I smoked some ribs today, plotted the data, and found a bit of curvature in the plot, which seems like it may be related to meat load. (Curvature became less as the cooking progressed, but not by much.)
But what the heck- - it controls well (+/- 3 degrees or so), my Amazin' smoke generator fits inside, and as long as I know what fake setpoint to use, it'll work fine. (Why the heck they don't correct the temperature readout, though, baffles me. ...but then, nobody seems to check such things but me.)
Looking around the smoker-related internet sites, quite a few people wonder why meat seems to cook faster than expected. Now you know why- - it's running 25 degrees hotter than expected.
...and yes, the ribs were pretty good. Beloved Spouse and I, one daughter & son-in-law, and three grandchildren vacuumed 'em up in the space of about ten minutes. We also had some cabbage cooked with the andouille I smoked a couple of days back in the original unit, and some ranch style beans. ...no Arbuckle's, we all need our sleep tonight. It's snowing like mad outside, and we'll all need to get shovels going early tomorrow. (Why the hell we go north for the winter beats me. )
Oh yeah, Christmas in NC with the grandkids. (Can I go home now????)
And, I don't believe it, the new one performs identically with the old one! I took data over a wider temperature range, typed it into Excel, and did a linear regression using the SLOPE and INTERCEPT functions.
. . . . . . (actual temperature) = 1.05 * (setpoint temperature) + 25.5
I smoked some ribs today, plotted the data, and found a bit of curvature in the plot, which seems like it may be related to meat load. (Curvature became less as the cooking progressed, but not by much.)
But what the heck- - it controls well (+/- 3 degrees or so), my Amazin' smoke generator fits inside, and as long as I know what fake setpoint to use, it'll work fine. (Why the heck they don't correct the temperature readout, though, baffles me. ...but then, nobody seems to check such things but me.)
Looking around the smoker-related internet sites, quite a few people wonder why meat seems to cook faster than expected. Now you know why- - it's running 25 degrees hotter than expected.
...and yes, the ribs were pretty good. Beloved Spouse and I, one daughter & son-in-law, and three grandchildren vacuumed 'em up in the space of about ten minutes. We also had some cabbage cooked with the andouille I smoked a couple of days back in the original unit, and some ranch style beans. ...no Arbuckle's, we all need our sleep tonight. It's snowing like mad outside, and we'll all need to get shovels going early tomorrow. (Why the hell we go north for the winter beats me. )
Oh yeah, Christmas in NC with the grandkids. (Can I go home now????)
Experience - the ability to instantly recognize a mistake when you make it again.
