Putting father's day present to use on my first picnic

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smell smoke

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Feb 24, 2015
128
36
South Carolina
My boys got me the tray I've been wanting and I happened to pick up a picnic for .90 a pound so here we go. Got a 9 pounder.
Here it is last night after applying mustard then rub. Injection was 1\2 cup water, 1\2 cup apple juice, 1\4 cup brown sugar, 1\4 cup salt, tbl spoon soy sauce & Worcestershire.
And here it is tonight after 10 hours at 250°. Wrapped at the 6 hours mark.
Very pleased for first one. Need to learn to use the tray with my MES, was difficult.

Smell Smoke
 
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Picnics have been the best thing to come out of my MES so far. I've only done 2, far but they were so good my family has been begging for more. Great piece of meat that is very economical. Nice pics.
 
There's a few tricks to get the AMNPS to work well in some MES models... What model is your MES 40....
I think it's the new generation. The vent is on the side on the left and the wood chip feeder tube on the right bottom.  Any input would be great.

 I did get it going better once I pulled the chip feeder tube out and moved the tray over to the right side of the unit on the bottom rack right above where the feeder tube would be. And opened the vent all the way. I seemed to do better.

Thanks

Smell Smoke
 
 
Picnics have been the best thing to come out of my MES so far. I've only done 2, far but they were so good my family has been begging for more. Great piece of meat that is very economical. Nice pics.
U inject it with anything? While the taste wasn't bad I was wanting more of a bbq taste as oppose to a roast.If that makes any since.

 Also when I opened that picnic up it stunk to high heaven, is that typical of those? I washed it and let it set about 10 minutes and the smell wasn't as bad.

Smell Smoke
 
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Sounds like your MES is a Gen 2... I know folks have done stuff to get them to work... using the search bar, "gen 2 and AMNPS" would be a good place to start and also start a thread using those terms... somebody that knows something will come along and help...
Me, I don't know squat about the gen 2, so I'm no help..... Sorry

Dave

EDIT..... from one of Todd's posts/////



AMNPS 5x8 was actually designed out of frustration with my own MES 40
Placement depends on which model MES you own

Old Model MES

Place the AMNPS 5x8 on the rails to the left of the chip pan housing
Exhaust WIDE open
No water in the water pan
Pull the chip pan out 1.5"
Pull the chip loader out 2"





New Gen 2

Remove the water pan and place it on the floor
Place the AMNPS on top the hole where the water pan used to sit
Exhaust WIDE open
Pull the chip loader out 2" and rotate to the "Dump" position
 
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Picnics have been the best thing to come out of my MES so far. I've only done 2, far but they were so good my family has been begging for more. Great piece of meat that is very economical. Nice pics.


U inject it with anything? While the taste wasn't bad I was wanting more of a bbq taste as oppose to a roast.If that makes any since.
 Also when I opened that picnic up it stunk to high heaven, is that typical of those? I washed it and let it set about 10 minutes and the smell wasn't as bad.

Smell Smoke


Before or after cooking.... If after, and you injected it, it could have taken too long to get up to internal temp (IT) of 145+... meat could have soured... bone sour, I think is what they call it...

did anyone get sick...

Was the leg close to the sell date when you cooked it....
 
Sounds like your MES is a Gen 2... I know folks have done stuff to get them to work... using the search bar, "gen 2 and AMNPS" would be a good place to start and also start a thread using those terms... somebody that knows something will come along and help...
Me, I don't know squat about the gen 2, so I'm no help..... Sorry

Dave

EDIT..... from one of Todd's posts/////



AMNPS 5x8 was actually designed out of frustration with my own MES 40
Placement depends on which model MES you own

Old Model MES

Place the AMNPS 5x8 on the rails to the left of the chip pan housing
Exhaust WIDE open
No water in the water pan
Pull the chip pan out 1.5"
Pull the chip loader out 2"





New Gen 2

Remove the water pan and place it on the floor
Place the AMNPS on top the hole where the water pan used to sit
Exhaust WIDE open
Pull the chip loader out 2" and rotate to the "Dump" position
Thanks for the info. I'll try some of these and look for the best results.

Smell Smoke
 
Before or after cooking.... If after, and you injected it, it could have taken too long to get up to internal temp (IT) of 145+... meat could have soured... bone sour, I think is what they call it...

did anyone get sick...

Was the leg close to the sell date when you cooked it....
It stunk when I first opened it up out of the stores wrapping. But after washing it off it slowly went away. Was just wondering if that was a normal thing with those because I'd never had any ribs or butts smell when first opened. The date was 5 days away from expiring. But thankfully it was fine.

Thanks

Smell Smoke
 
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Wrapped meat, while in the shopping cart, and in your car, then on the counter at home, will start to sour... it's the blood and all the other stuff.... You probably have 1-2 hours into the 4 hours rule already.... bacteria growing etc... that may be where the smell came from...

Hit the meat aisle last... have a cooler in your car with ice in it..... a lot cheaper than getting food poisoning.....
 
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Wrapped meat, while in the shopping cart, and in your car, then on the counter at home, will start to sour... it's the blood and all the other stuff.... You probably have 1-2 hours into the 4 hours rule already.... bacteria growing etc... that may be where the smell came from...

Hit the meat aisle last... have a cooler in your car with ice in it..... a lot cheaper than getting food poisoning
The place I bought it from is next door to my work so I just went during lunch and spoke to the butcher. He went in the back and walked out with a new one and said it was on the house. He said they had some come in he feared were mismarked and I just confirmed it. So he gave me one that just came in Saturday and hadn't even been set out yet.

 Plus he shared with me that those have a stronger smell than any of the other cuts of pork. Said to wash it and give it a little time and the smell should soften.

Live and learn!

Smell Smoke
 
Here is a link to my picnic thread.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/205088/tried-my-first-pork-picnic

I injected both of the ones I smoked with a mixture of fresh raw apple juice, some of my rub and grade b maple syrup.

My picnics had no smell whatsoever, other than normal fresh meat. If a piece of meat ever had an odor that I would describe as "stinky", I sure would not eat it. My picnics both took considerably longer than yours. At 225 degrees my 10.5-11 lb one took 19 hours and my 8.5 lb picnic took about 14.5-15 hours. I have an MES 30", i don't soak my wood chips and i only open my air vent about 25%.
 
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