I’ve been reading this site for a short time and I have to say what a wealth of information can be found here. I’m so happy to have found this place. I recently picked up an un-used Masterbuilt analog smoker at a garage sale for $30. The seller said her mother purchased it but never used it. I took a chance and it worked fine. I found this site while searching for some info on the smoker. I’ve read some of the accolades and frustrations with smokers and things folks were doing like using pellet burners, running dual thermometers and in some cases improving airflow. I figured why not. Years ago I modified a Little Chief smoker adding a simple adjustable damper and adjustable hotplate that I used exclusively for fish (bluefish, striped bass, salmon, trout).
So here I went….I drilled a 2” hole in the top and bottom of the smoker and added a short stack with damper for improved airflow. I purchased a TP-20 along with a 12” AMNPS pellet tube and picked up some hickory pellets.
My first test was with bluefish. I brined and dried the fish overnight. The thermometers hadn’t arrived at that point so I relied on the smoker front thermometer (big mistake). The box vented nicely with the damper open for the first hour or so (lots of humidity dumping out). Unfortunately, after adding the AMNPS I forgot to close the damper a bit and with the imprecise temp gauge at one point the pellets flared and I was left with mostly fish jerky and carbon when I finally noticed.
My second attempt was with a package of 4 chicken thighs with drumsticks. I used brining and drying instructions I read on this site. As before I removed the chip and water tray and made a foil tent over the heater element and AMNPS. I also lined the bottom of the smoker with foil being sure to punch a hole at the bottom for the grease pan. I preheated the smoker with one probe in. Then got all the chicken on one rack, slid it into the middle rack slot and put the 2nd probe into one of the chicken thighs. 15 minutes later I added the smoldering pellet tube and made sure the top vent was ½ open. I adjusted the manual heater up over the course of 2.5 hours until the internal temp was 165. Success. The chicken looks and tastes great. Below are some pics of raw to finished along with the comparison of the TP-20 temp and the front guage (220 deg TP-20 vs 150 MB….yikes).
So here I went….I drilled a 2” hole in the top and bottom of the smoker and added a short stack with damper for improved airflow. I purchased a TP-20 along with a 12” AMNPS pellet tube and picked up some hickory pellets.
My first test was with bluefish. I brined and dried the fish overnight. The thermometers hadn’t arrived at that point so I relied on the smoker front thermometer (big mistake). The box vented nicely with the damper open for the first hour or so (lots of humidity dumping out). Unfortunately, after adding the AMNPS I forgot to close the damper a bit and with the imprecise temp gauge at one point the pellets flared and I was left with mostly fish jerky and carbon when I finally noticed.
My second attempt was with a package of 4 chicken thighs with drumsticks. I used brining and drying instructions I read on this site. As before I removed the chip and water tray and made a foil tent over the heater element and AMNPS. I also lined the bottom of the smoker with foil being sure to punch a hole at the bottom for the grease pan. I preheated the smoker with one probe in. Then got all the chicken on one rack, slid it into the middle rack slot and put the 2nd probe into one of the chicken thighs. 15 minutes later I added the smoldering pellet tube and made sure the top vent was ½ open. I adjusted the manual heater up over the course of 2.5 hours until the internal temp was 165. Success. The chicken looks and tastes great. Below are some pics of raw to finished along with the comparison of the TP-20 temp and the front guage (220 deg TP-20 vs 150 MB….yikes).
