int temp& cabinet temp confusion

[sprightlyone]

hi
i have a masterbuilt smoker but i guess the operation is somewhat similar
i have smoked a few different cuts of meat & poultry as well as fish .  i notice that to raise the internal temp i have had to raise the cabinet temp is this correct ??
or do i set the cabinet to my finish temp & let the timer take care of raising the int temp??
as i get hotter my product seems to look more cooked as well as smoked
i also seem to have lengthy smoke periods to get that rich colour . ie my ham seemed to look more like a roast (1st attempt)
confused what am i doing wrong ?
lyl e

[pensrock]

   The cab temp will need to be a little higher than the int temp desired. The higher it is the shorter the cook time. But you want low-n-slow for good BBQ. For example I normally set the cab to 225 for pulled pork but the int temp I want is 185-190. You need to probe the meat to find the correct int temp. That will tell you when its done. If the cab temp equals the desired int temp than it will take forever. You need to go slow enough to allow the magic to happen and allow the meat to get tender, any slower is wasted time. IMHO
   I'm sure there will be others chime in soon enough. One of them may be better at explaining things than I am.

[tskeeter]

Sprightly, don't know how experienced you are with the Masterbuilt, but before I bought mine I found some great tips in the comments on the Cabella's web site.  The first was don't soak your chips.  Add them dry to generate adequate smoke.  (Apparently, if the chips are wet, the cabinet is up to temp and the heating element shuts off before the chips are dry enough to start to smolder and generate smoke.)  The second was to not preheat the smoker.  Add what you are smoking to a cold smoker, add chips to the chip hopper, then fire her up.  (Again, this is an issue with the cabinet coming up to temp before you generate much smoke.  You want the heating element on under the chips as long as possible to generate good smoke, so if you start with a cold cabinet, the heat stays on longer.)  Keeping the vent pretty well open will also keep the heating element turning on more often and staying on longer.

I've also been successful at cold smoking cheese in the Masterbuilt.  I use the smoker only to contain the smoke.  The smoke itself is generated using a Grill Kicker, which I set in the grease pan in the bottom of the smoker.  I found I like a half an hour of apple smoke on most cheese.  My taste runs toward a delicate smoke.  After smoking, vacuum seal the cheese, or double wrap in plastic wrap, and let age for at least two weeks in the refrigerator.  Longer is better.   

[sprightlyone]

Sprightly, don't know how experienced you are with the Masterbuilt, but before I bought mine I found some great tips in the comments on the Cabella's web site.  The first was don't soak your chips.  Add them dry to generate adequate smoke.  (Apparently, if the chips are wet, the cabinet is up to temp and the heating element shuts off before the chips are dry enough to start to smolder and generate smoke.)  The second was to not preheat the smoker.  Add what you are smoking to a cold smoker, add chips to the chip hopper, then fire her up.  (Again, this is an issue with the cabinet coming up to temp before you generate much smoke.  You want the heating element on under the chips as long as possible to generate good smoke, so if you start with a cold cabinet, the heat stays on longer.)  Keeping the vent pretty well open will also keep the heating element turning on more often and staying on longer.

I've also been successful at cold smoking cheese in the Masterbuilt.  I use the smoker only to contain the smoke.  The smoke itself is generated using a Grill Kicker, which I set in the grease pan in the bottom of the smoker.  I found I like a half an hour of apple smoke on most cheese.  My taste runs toward a delicate smoke.  After smoking, vacuum seal the cheese, or double wrap in plastic wrap, and let age for at least two weeks in the refrigerator.  Longer is better.   

hi
only just bought the masterbuilt 40in 1st release in australia  so new to using smoker
i have brined & smoked all sorts of small cuts successfully
so if you`ve read my post s  you will see i come to grief doing my 1st hams
so i`m trying to correct my method to finish ham without the overcooked roast-look
  have you done a ham yet ??
lyle