- Dec 30, 2014
- 68
- 28
Let's see if I can explain this since I don't have pics. Just got a 1st gen MES30 from santa. I immediately modded it. I put a plate above the smokebox to deflect heat over to the left side. I also made an external smokebox using a 1qt paint can. I took a 3" elbow and stuck it in the hole in the side. then I took the lid of the paint can, cut a 3" hole in it and attached the other end of the elbow. Then I drilled a hole in the bottom of the can for a soldering iron to smolder the wood, and 3 tiny 1/8" vent holes for air intake in the bottom of the can.
It smokes like crazy. I read little blue whisps of smoke is what you want, but this thing blows like a locomotive. On my first smoke, I did two 3lb beef roasts. I filled the can about 2/3 full with Mesquite. It smoked hard for about 2 hours. I didn't add more chips after, but it cooked for another 1.5 hr. Too much smoke.
So I modified the smoke can. I added a baffle into the elbow and drilled three 1/4" holes, so I limited the smoke entering the smoker. I also put a rheostat on the soldering iron (it's an 80w iron) and cut the power to about half. Now I start to run test's before my second run....
So with this setup I give everything about 30 min to preheat before I start studing it. After the preheat I see really light whifts of smoke from the vent (OH, the top vent is always wide open) great I thought, I nailed it. That continues for 30-45 min. after that, I look outside and notice very thick tan color smoke.
And that's where I'm at. So I'm wondering what to do next. smaller holes in the baffle? lower soldering iron heat? Less air intake in the bottom of the paint can? Longer connection length between the can and the smoker using drier vent?
Thoughts?
It smokes like crazy. I read little blue whisps of smoke is what you want, but this thing blows like a locomotive. On my first smoke, I did two 3lb beef roasts. I filled the can about 2/3 full with Mesquite. It smoked hard for about 2 hours. I didn't add more chips after, but it cooked for another 1.5 hr. Too much smoke.
So I modified the smoke can. I added a baffle into the elbow and drilled three 1/4" holes, so I limited the smoke entering the smoker. I also put a rheostat on the soldering iron (it's an 80w iron) and cut the power to about half. Now I start to run test's before my second run....
So with this setup I give everything about 30 min to preheat before I start studing it. After the preheat I see really light whifts of smoke from the vent (OH, the top vent is always wide open) great I thought, I nailed it. That continues for 30-45 min. after that, I look outside and notice very thick tan color smoke.
And that's where I'm at. So I'm wondering what to do next. smaller holes in the baffle? lower soldering iron heat? Less air intake in the bottom of the paint can? Longer connection length between the can and the smoker using drier vent?
Thoughts?