Anyone use wood pellets in their MES?

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Ok, so I am new to this...I have a MES smoker I got from Bass Pro it worked ok for ribs, but I felt like there wasn't much smoke.

How does the AMNS work? Where would I put it Inside the smoker? I would use this instead of the installed chip loader and pan?

Thanks!
 
A little goes a long way, maybe 1/4 cup at a time

Too many pellets, and you get thick ugly smoke

Remember, pellets are compressed sawdust and not solid wood, like chips or chunks.

Todd
 
Todd,

I agree with you on the MES control method.  The time based on / off method of the heater element is crude but cheap to manufacture.  A variable voltage control would be nice to have with a voltage punch to ignite the wood chips.  The variable voltage control would also increase the heater element life quite a bit.  A few bucks and a trip to "AutomationDirect.com" you could probably make one for under a couple hundred bucks.  Once the controller or heater element burns out in my new MES 30 I plan to do this.  Hopefully that wont happen for a while, I use the amazn smoker quite a bit also.
SaugeyeJoe, Here is a mod I did to my MES 30. It works really well. Any questions ??? PM me.........Dave
 

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/gallery/album/view/id/9195
 
 
WOW! Ya'll are killin me. I read post after post on how everyone loves their MES, so I bought one and in this thread nobody seems to care for it!
WOW !!!!!!!!!............I love my MES 30......It is simple to operate....produces great Q.....convient..........inexpensive.........readily adaptable to modifications.(for those who have idle hands and just can't leave well enough alone).....It can be left unattended and will shut off on command........adaptable for cold smoking or hot smoking..........what did I leave out...????.....

Just because I have to modify ALL my toys doesn't logically lead to the conclusion I don't care for them.............    
 
 
WOW! Ya'll are killin me. I read post after post on how everyone loves their MES, so I bought one and in this thread nobody seems to care for it!


First of all welcome to SMF!

I think you will find that there are a lot of satisfied MES owners on here.
 
Ok, so I am new to this...I have a MES smoker I got from Bass Pro it worked ok for ribs, but I felt like there wasn't much smoke.

How does the AMNS work? Where would I put it Inside the smoker? I would use this instead of the installed chip loader and pan?

Thanks!
First off, snowjoker, what size smoke tray does yours have? This would be the part that the chips get dumped into when you turn the chip loader 180 degrees (the chip loader is the part that you  pull out the side of the unit, load with chips, insert back into the side of the unit and turn half way around). Is the tray the one that is only about as wide as the palm of your hand? If it is you need to contact MasterBuilt and get the upgrade to the newer, larger smoke tray. It is a free upgrade that is really easy to install yourself. There should be no problem getting enough smoke generated from your MES smoker. Keep in mind also that you don't want a big bellowing of smoke either. You want just enough to create what is called TBS (Thin Blue Smoke) coming out of your vent. You also want your chips in the smoke tray to turn to a complete ash (a couple of SMALL pieces still black is OK) but you should not have mostly all black coal chips left in the tray when it is done. This is what is happening to those that have the small tray. Here is a link to a video from MasterBuilt showing the installation of the retrofit for the larger smoke box. Looking at the video will also show the difference in the sizes of the old, smaller smoke box and the newer, larger one. It may take a few min. to download the video so be patient.

http://masterbuilt.com/video/sept2010/smokeretrokit.wmv

I hope this helps.

Scott
 
 
what I have found out is that if  I move the almost finished charge of wood to the inlet side of the smoker tray that keeps  the fresh charge from being dumped on embers the smoke remains steady hope that makes sense the wood delivery system only dumps on the far side of the chip tray and if you recharge on the smoldering embers you get a snuffing effect but if you move the embers outward in the non dump area this doesn't happen peek in the hole and you will see:)
 
Sbroom if you Scroll up in this thread to Tjohnson...you will see a link to his stuff on the botton left of his post...He has a new Pellet smoker that is becoming a Quick favorite here...JJ
 
First of all welcome to SMF!

I think you will find that there are a lot of satisfied MES owners on here.
I have to agree with Al
welcome1.gif
  and I LOVE my MES!!!!
 
I have a MES 30 and have tried chips in the tray and the A-MAZE-N Pellet Smoker. The A-maze-n Pellet smoker is the easiest and best way to smoke. I use Hickory and Cherry pellets.

David
 
Where do you put your A-MAZE-N smoker inside of the MES 30? I just got a new MES 30 and there doesn't seem to be room for it on the bottom of the smoker, or can you set it up vertically?
 
Where do you put your A-MAZE-N smoker inside of the MES 30? I just got a new MES 30 and there doesn't seem to be room for it on the bottom of the smoker, or can you set it up vertically?


The new AMNPS should fit perfectly on the bars, to the left of the chip burner assembly.

Todd & I were measuring a bunch of MES 30s to make sure, before he made them.

He designed it around the MES 30, since that was the one with the tight space.

Bear
 
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That's the nice thing about being a individual you can do what you want to if you so wish, but yours is not the only ball game in town there are other ways and other ideas to accomplish the same goal. So if pellets are just compressed sawdust what do you use in the "A-MAZE-N" smoker [sawdust] ?? If pellets burn up to quickly try turning the heat down a little FCS. I am pleased with my results and you are pleased with yours, what could be better than that?


I agree 100%.  I use the AMNPS in my MES 30, usually filled with dust or dust and pellets.  I rarely use pellets alone.  But depending on what I am smoking and which wood I want to use, I may just go for the chips in the tray.  Last Saturday I smoked a corned beef brisket into a (delicious) pastrami, and I used the dust/pellet mixture.  However, the following day I smoked three trays of boneless chicken pieces for only a few hours, and was happy using the chip tray.  Also since I have various woods in various forms, I may just choose based on what I have available.  Deciding on the fly is half the fun of it all...a little experience and a little experimentation...
 
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