The question became:
1. Take a chance on the MES30 at $99.
or
2. spending approx. another $100 for the WSM or $180 for the Smokin-It.
I went with the MES30 and I can tell you that after my first smoke, I like it. I seasoned it first before cooking anything. First night after purchase and assembly was a wide open burn for 1 hour. The second night I wiped it all down to get any metal crud out and did a 2.5 hour burn with a light coating of bacon grease rubbed all over the interior skin. Last night I fired it up with a full water tray and a 3/4 full tray of apple chips. Let that run for 30 minutes. Then, put in a rack of chicken drummettes and boneless thighs I had just brined for 2 days in anticpation, patted dry, and rubbed with the "Bone Dry" rub I found here:
http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/f/110/electric-smokersThanks to 284LUVR putting me on that BBS!
I smoked for exactly 1 hour. Perfect thin blue smoke (TBS). The chicken came out very moist. The Bone Dry rub was a little spicy for me, but my buddy who had been chomping at the bit for the christening was front and center for that. Overall, chicken was nice and juicy with great smoke flavor. Had a few drummettes for lunch today and they were still nice and moist, even after nuking for 1 minute.
The only negative so far was the bottom tray, which holds the water pan and the tinder box, would not slide into the rack slots, as they were positioned too close to the heating element. Tried to call MasterBuilt at 5:30 p.m. EST, but they were already closed for the day. Will check with them tomorrow for fix.
Afterthoughts:
Kinda' surprised about getting the thin blue smoke part on first try.
Maybe a tad ballsey to go with small size chicken parts right out of the gate, but that worked out well.
After leaving BassPro, I realized I had reward points I could have used to partially pay for the smoker.
Gotta find a great brisket!
