# Please help me understand



## stckthrwr (Jun 24, 2016)

I am new to using an electric smoker.  

I have used propane and charcoal smokers in the past.

I had thought that I would get a smoke ring, but have heard now I won't.  I can accept that.

However, I end up with a lot of water around the smoker (have been putting water in the water pan).  I have read a few posts that say not to use any water.

I am also having a problem that I am not getting any smoke flavor in my meats.  I do replenish the chips quite a bit.  About every 30 minutes to an hour.  However, they don't all burn through.  I leave the vent open.  

Can someone please help me to make this smoker work?  I spent more on it than I planned, and so far, I can't get good results.

Also, what temperature would you typically run, say, baby back ribs?  I've been currently running them around 235 degrees.  Am I going too hot?  Should I be going at a lower temp?

Any help would greatly be appreciated!  i am really frustrated trying to do the electric smoker, and I really want to enjoy it.

Oh, I have a Boulder Creek electric smoker.

Thank you!

Nathan


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## joel11230 (Jun 24, 2016)

Nathan, your temp is fine for the ribs, I am not familiar with your smoker brand but I have a masterbuilt electric smoker and I use the water pan every time. I use apple juice or just plain water. Can you post a picture of your setup? That would help us figure out what's going on, Joel


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## stckthrwr (Jun 25, 2016)

I'll get some pictures tomorrow.  It was sold by Sams club around the holidays.  

I might be putting the meat too high.

I've seen videos on YouTube of people getting great results and smoke rings.  I'm not even getting bark at this point.

Nathan


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## redsmoke (Jun 25, 2016)

In my masterbuilt when making ribs I crank it up to 275 it's max and they turn out great. The lower temps just don't work for me.  I never put water in.  The glass has condensation on it the whole cooking time so their is moisture.  

Use the amazing smoker pelet tray instead of the chips in my opinion you get better smoke.


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## mtnman68 (Jun 25, 2016)

I have not heard of your smoker. I have a master built 40 inch electric smoker, and when I smoke meat I set the temp. at about 260 degrees to 275 degrees depending on the size or amount of meat. and preheat it and add the wood chips,and open the vent which is on the top to about half way. I add wood chips about every hour. When I add the wood chips the first time the smoker fills up with smoke, then it thins down so there is a very light smoke comes out of the vent. I try to keep it that way. For my smoker the hotter it is the more smoke there is. I have smoked brisket, pork ribs, chicken, and pork butts, and different sausages ,corn on the cob, and potatoes. All have turned out very good, Just remember if you get too much smoke the meat tastes like creosote.

      I have had three different smokers, one I made my self, an off set, and the electric and I like the electric one the best. I do not use any liquid in my smoker

mtnman68


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## bauchjw (Jun 26, 2016)

I think putting the water in is a personal preference unless you need a heat sink. I've read people's posts breaking down the science of why it doesn't change meats moisture or taste, but even if it's only psychological I taste a difference. 

I'm not sure about your model, but a lot of people modify their electric smokers because they are not happy with factory chip trays. A-Maz-n pellets are very popular here (essentially a metal maze you put pellets in and light like a cigar). You put it right in your smoker. I think they really work great and most people on the forum are fans. You can also look into various smoke generator attachments. 












image.jpeg



__ bauchjw
__ Jun 26, 2016


















image.jpeg



__ bauchjw
__ Jun 26, 2016





On the right is a masterbuilt smoke generator, a small black box with heating element at bottom of a 12" tube you put chips in. I attached 8' of pipe from smoke gen into the chip tray port. This helps clean the creosote out of the smoke and gets hours of clean smoke pumping in reliably. Others here have done similar "mailbox mods" you can search. 

I'm not sure about the ribs. Are you sure temperature probes are accurate? Boil water and stick probes in, see how close to 212 degrees they are (sea level temp). Otherwise crank up the heat more on your smoker. 

Sorry to hear your not enjoying your new toy, I hope this helps a little!


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## snakyjake (Jun 27, 2016)

I've heard electric smokers don't burn wood chips the same way other cookers do.  Therefore you won't get the same smoke flavor, nor the smoke ring.

Not sure how well the A-Maz-n works inside of an insulated, tight, electric cabinet since there might not be enough oxygen for good combustion.  Unlike propane and other cookers that require O2.

Maybe you can get the smoke at higher temperatures, but then you might not get the same meat you want when cooked at a lower temperature.


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## daricksta (Jun 29, 2016)

stckthrwr said:


> I am new to using an electric smoker.
> 
> I have used propane and charcoal smokers in the past.
> 
> ...


I also have a Masterbuilt 30" electric digital smoker. I haven't put water in the water pan in over four years because it isn't necessary in that and in the 40" model. Masterbuilts are so well insulated you don't lose any moisture in the smoking process. It looks like the Boulder Creek electric smokers are similarly well-insulated. The water in the pan actually serves to cook the meat by steam which is not what you want if you're looking for good, solid bark on the ribs or on a beef brisket. I foil over the empty water pan and use it as another drip pan. Some guys fill it with clean playground sand, foil it over, and use it as a heat sink. I tried that and saw no difference in temp stabilization.

As for getting good wood smoke flavor, it's also been over four years since I used wood chips in my smoker. Like many of us here I use the A-MAZE-N Pellet Smoker (AMNPS). Many of us love it, a few--not so much. But I'm no longer refilling the chip loader every 20-30 minutes. One tray of wood pellets can last up to 14 hours or so. There can be problems with the pellets flaming out but there are ways to resolve that. You can get as much smoke flavor as you like depending on how long you leave the AMNPS burning during the smoke. It can also depend on the wood pellets you use. Hickory, oak, mesquite, even apple impart strong wood smoke flavor. Pecan, not as much but then it's apparently the most popular wood in the South for smoking pork.

For baby back ribs, I smoke from between 225-245°. If you read enough smoking books you find out that the pros have their favorite set points. The most popular temp for many cookbooks is 225°. With Ray "Dr. BBQ" Lampe it's 235° (so you're right on point there). Myron Mixon cooks in expensive offset barrel rigs and in his expensive electric water smokers and prefers 275°. Bill and Cheryl Jamison, who wrote "Smoke & Spice" like setting the smoker temp at 200-220°. It's all a matter of personal preference; how slowly or (fairly) quickly you want the ribs done.

It _is _possible to get a smoke ring in an electric smoker. A few of us have posted links to articles describing how to do it. Basically if you put a lump of charcoal in the chip tray and ignite it from the heating element (some guys may get burning ahead of time, I don't know) the heat and carbon monoxide and nitric oxide interact with the myoglobin in the meat to form that pink smoke ring over time. By themselves electric smokers don't get hot enough (unless you cook at the 275-300° of most electric smokers all the time) and you need those gases that only wood chunks or charcoal briquettes can provide. I was also disappointed when I found out I couldn't get smoke rings without doing some extra work. It just wasn't worth it to me since they're merely cosmetic. I realized a couple of days ago that I've always forgotten to check if I got smoke rings inside b-backs and St. Louis ribs when I cook them on my Weber charcoal kettle grill over indirect heat. I might try it out this summer in addition to cooking ribs in my MES.


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## snakyjake (Jun 30, 2016)

Regarding the A-MAZE-N Pellet Smoker (AMNPS)...

Where do you place it so it doesn't get soaked from meat juices, placed where the smoke will circulate and not vent out?


> no longer refilling the chip loader every 20-30 minutes


Why not use wood chunks instead of chips?


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## wpnsexpert78 (Jun 30, 2016)

Following, I have a MES but didnt like it after the first few cooks. But this A-Maze-N thing might change that.


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## daricksta (Jun 30, 2016)

snakyjake said:


> Regarding the A-MAZE-N Pellet Smoker (AMNPS)...
> 
> Where do you place it so it doesn't get soaked from meat juices, placed where the smoke will circulate and not vent out?
> 
> Why not use wood chunks instead of chips?


Snakyjake, placement of the AMNPS depends on what smoker you're using. In the MES 30 Gen 1 there are twin rails running across the bottom of the smoker which the chip tray/heating element sit on. The AMNPS sits on the far left of the twin rails near the smoker wall. In that spot the water pan partially protects the pellet tray from meat drippings. Since the 40" version is wider the AMNPS is more exposed to meat drippings. The fix for that is below the photo.













500x1000px-LL-31b5f939_p1400443194.jpg



__ daricksta
__ Nov 12, 2015






In any smoker if meat drippings were an issue all you'd need to do is tent the AMNPS with foil. Smoke will still rise from the tray but the drippings will never fall on the pellets. I leave the top vent wide open--despite what the manual recommends--and if I want even more air circulation I pull out the chip loader a little bit, but I don't always do that. Believe me, the AMNPS produces so much smoke that losing it all through the top vent (in some MES Gen 2 models the vent is on the left side wall, not on the top) is not an issue. When you open the smoker door a cloud of smoke floats out and after you close the door the cloud quickly builds up again. Someone in this forum also pointed out that there are holes at the rear of the drip pain and the smoker that also provide for air circulation.

The MES was designed to use wood chips and that's what the owners manual recommends. The chip loader was designed to load wood chips, of course, and it's easy to measure 1 cup of wood chips. Wood chunks are larger and you'd have to manually place them on the chip tray. They would burn hotter, I imagine, than chips which could possibly damage the heating element--if they were hot enough to fully ignite the chunks. I don't know because I've never tried it. A few guys place a lump of charcoal in the chip tray along with wood chips in an attempt to get a smoke ring. I haven't tried that either.

The AMNPS can be frustrating because under certain conditions and in some poorly-designed electric smokers the pellets flame out after about 15 minutes and have to be re-lit. I have that problem primarily in cold smokes. But for hot smokes, the AMNPS, after being lit correctly, burns for hours which means no more loading wood chips every 20-30 minutes. I've also found that for the most part you can control the amount of smoke flavor from the pellets by the amount of time whatever you're cooking is exposed to the smoke. I can give more info on effectlvely using the AMNPS if you like.


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## daricksta (Jun 30, 2016)

bauchjw said:


> I think putting the water in is a personal preference unless you need a heat sink. I've read people's posts breaking down the science of why it doesn't change meats moisture or taste, but even if it's only psychological I taste a difference.
> 
> I'm not sure about your model, but a lot of people modify their electric smokers because they are not happy with factory chip trays. A-Maz-n pellets are very popular here (essentially a metal maze you put pellets in and light like a cigar). You put it right in your smoker. I think they really work great and most people on the forum are fans. You can also look into various smoke generator attachments.
> 
> ...


I've read that creosote buildup in electric smokers isn't really an issue because the smoker doesn't get hot enough (average cooking temps are 200-250° and wood chips/pellets don't produce smoke with much creosote. I can find the site/page where I read this. That being said, I admire you guys with the know-how and tools to build these mods. Why did you use an 8' pipe? Why not a shorter one? For my MES 30 Gen 1 I've never modified it in any way. I just use the AMNPS.


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## bauchjw (Jul 1, 2016)

daRicksta said:


> I've read that creosote buildup in electric smokers isn't really an issue because the smoker doesn't get hot enough (average cooking temps are 200-250° and wood chips/pellets don't produce smoke with much creosote. I can find the site/page where I read this. That being said, I admire you guys with the know-how and tools to build these mods. Why did you use an 8' pipe? Why not a shorter one? For my MES 30 Gen 1 I've never modified it in any way. I just use the AMNPS.



I don't know if it's creosote, from what I've read seasoned hardwood has very little of that, but I do know I've mismanaged hardwood in my offset, MES, and kettles with terrible tasting results. 

As for mods, I think it's personal/wife's taste. I do have AMNPS and use it often with awesome results too, but have not used it with the mod yet. The longer pipe was for my smoke generator and mellows the smoke flavor more and reduces my stress over billowing white smoke pouring directly into MES and going stale. The pipe allows more surface for smoke to cool and deposit stuff along the way while allowing my damper to work managing smoke output from smoke generator.

 I could have gone shorter, but I have the space and the initial setup was for smoking cheese. The guidance given to me being the longer distance to travel helped smoke reach ambient temp and eliminate a change in cheese's consistency due heat source proximity to my product. I also didn't need to let cheese rest after smoking due to " bad stuff" being left in pipe as smoke cooled and not on my cheese. My wife liked the results so much I started to use the mod for smoking meats too.

I guess the mod went on for cheese and just stayed because we like the finished taste better. I read on a thread that smoker mods are no different than hot rods, they are often due to personal taste and opinions on enhanced performance can be debated.


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## daricksta (Jul 1, 2016)

bauchjw said:


> I don't know if it's creosote, from what I've read seasoned hardwood has very little of that, but I do know I've mismanaged hardwood in my offset, MES, and kettles with terrible tasting results.
> 
> As for mods, I think it's personal/wife's taste. I do have AMNPS and use it often with awesome results too, but have not used it with the mod yet. The longer pipe was for my smoke generator and mellows the smoke flavor more and reduces my stress over billowing white smoke pouring directly into MES and going stale. The pipe allows more surface for smoke to cool and deposit stuff along the way while allowing my damper to work managing smoke output from smoke generator.
> 
> ...


Your type of mod is very attractive for cold smokes like cheese or salmon. It's with those that I have problems with pellets in the AMNPS flaming out and some cold smokes have been a nightmare till I was finally able to keep the pellets lit and burning to the end of the smoke. I was advised to try Dust but haven't yet. And for me, if I were to buy the MB Smoker thing I'd want it closer to my MES. Another reason I don't do mods is because I store my MES in my garage on a small hand truck. It's enough to just wheel that out without having to set up and connect peripheral smoking gear.

Yes, I prefer wood pellets because when I used wood chips over smoking was a constant problem. My wife (like me) prefers that smoke enhance and not overpower food with bitterness and, well, smoke taste. Many beginners feel that they want to get as much smoke taste as possible, that some foods don't turn out smoky enough. I think that long term smoking and experimenting help to educate the palate.


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## link (Jul 1, 2016)

Cool setup Bauchjw,  but I think you need to water your grass.


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## daveomak (Jul 1, 2016)

A palm tree in Seattle ???   Come on...


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## bauchjw (Jul 2, 2016)

daRicksta said:


> Your type of mod is very attractive for cold smokes like cheese or salmon. It's with those that I have problems with pellets in the AMNPS flaming out and some cold smokes have been a nightmare till I was finally able to keep the pellets lit and burning to the end of the smoke. I was advised to try Dust but haven't yet. And for me, if I were to buy the MB Smoker thing I'd want it closer to my MES. Another reason I don't do mods is because I store my MES in my garage on a small hand truck. It's enough to just wheel that out without having to set up and connect peripheral smoking gear.
> 
> Yes, I prefer wood pellets because when I used wood chips over smoking was a constant problem. My wife (like me) prefers that smoke enhance and not overpower food with bitterness and, well, smoke taste. Many beginners feel that they want to get as much smoke taste as possible, that some foods don't turn out smoky enough. I think that long term smoking and experimenting help to educate the palate.



I love my AMNPS and use it for a lot. I'll probably completely convert some time, but Like the hot rod analogy I've found for personal taste and with physical evidence, a longer run cleans the smoke better. I started with 2' and increased length. As For portability, It's only one extra 15' trip to carry another 5 lbs of pipe and smoke gen from car port I store my MES in to set up in less than 2 minutes.  Storage space is 3" wide and 8' tall. So a tiny corner behind other crap.


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## bauchjw (Jul 2, 2016)

link said:


> Cool setup Bauchjw,  but I think you need to water your grass. :biggrin:



Grass?


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## bauchjw (Jul 2, 2016)

DaveOmak said:


> A palm tree in Seattle ???   Come on...



Seattle? I've heard they never get above 110 degrees there and have a strange thing called rain that happens often?


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## daricksta (Jul 3, 2016)

bauchjw said:


> I love my AMNPS and use it for a lot. I'll probably completely convert some time, but Like the hot rod analogy I've found for personal taste and with physical evidence, a longer run cleans the smoke better. I started with 2' and increased length. As For portability, It's only one extra 15' trip to carry another 5 lbs of pipe and smoke gen from car port I store my MES in to set up in less than 2 minutes. Storage space is 3" wide and 8' tall. So a tiny corner behind other crap.


That's pretty cool. Unlike you I place my MES on an old children's card/activity table. With my bad back I can't continually bend down or get on my knees to open the smoker door for whatever needs to be done during a smoke. If I bought the MB Cold Smoker unit I'd have to place it on the ground and then find some kind of flex tubing to connect it to the MES, something I'm not willing to do. That's why I have the AMNPS. I also recently won a A-MAZE-N holiday drawing so now I own a AMNTS which is the tube smoker. I can experiment with that too in my MES and in my Weber charcoal kettle grill.


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## bauchjw (Jul 3, 2016)

daRicksta said:


> That's pretty cool. Unlike you I place my MES on an old children's card/activity table. With my bad back I can't continually bend down or get on my knees to open the smoker door for whatever needs to be done during a smoke. If I bought the MB Cold Smoker unit I'd have to place it on the ground and then find some kind of flex tubing to connect it to the MES, something I'm not willing to do. That's why I have the AMNPS. I also recently won a A-MAZE-N holiday drawing so now I own a AMNT which is the tube smoker. I can experiment with that too in my MES and in my Weber charcoal kettle grill.



I'll be curious about AMNT, I've been thinking about getting one for my Webbers too! Looking forward to hearing how it goes!


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## stckthrwr (Jul 11, 2016)

I was just looking at the tube vs the maze one.  Is there a preference for which one works better?  I happened to get a gift card for fathers day I'm planning on using to get one.


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## daveomak (Jul 11, 2016)

I see you  have the MES 40....   I suggest the AMNPS 5 X 8...  and an assortment of pellets...   Pitmasters Choice, Apple, Alder, Oak, Hickory... and anything else that you think you want to test...

The TUBE smoker puts out too much smoke for the MES....   It has a lager diameter, puts out a fair amount of heat and a lot of smoke...

Todd designed the Tube for use in Gas smokers, Charcoal smokers and High Altitude residence where there was minimal oxygen for the Maze to work properly...


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## brickguy221 (Jul 11, 2016)

DaveOmak said:


> The TUBE smoker puts out too much smoke for the MES....   It has a lager diameter, puts out a fair amount of heat and a lot of smoke...


That depends on the person Dave... For me the Tube works good in that it puts out the right amount of smoke and stays lit, whereas the Maze doesn't put out enough smoke and sometimes stays lit and sometimes it goes out more often than it stays lit. I spent almost a year fighting the Maze and finally gave up on it and tried the Tube and found it to be adequate. I tried the maze with chip loader pulled out in various amounts as well as clear out and the Maze would still go out even though it was properly lit to a bright red cherry when I put it in smoker. I do plan to try the Maze one more time by placing it on the right side above the chip tray with chip loader pulled out 2" like Bear did.

Meanwhile, I use the Maze in my Weber Charcoal Grill. I put wood chips in it and lay it on the hot coals and it works perfect there.  

I recently purchased a Vortex Smoker for my pellets, as well as some pellets from the same place that have a 30% charcoal blend but haven't tried it or them yet. The 30% charcoal blend is supposed to make the pellets burn better. I will post the results after I try them, but want to try Todds pellets in the Vortex first.


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## daricksta (Jul 11, 2016)

DaveOmak said:


> A palm tree in Seattle ???   Come on...


We imported it from Los Angeles...


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## daricksta (Jul 11, 2016)

stckthrwr said:


> I was just looking at the tube vs the maze one. Is there a preference for which one works better? I happened to get a gift card for fathers day I'm planning on using to get one.


I recently won the 6" Tube Smoker (AMNTS) which so far I've used only in my Weber Kettle Grill. I filled it just about full with mesquite wood pellets and they were used up in about 20-30 minutes but that was also after 20-30 minutes of letting the pellets heat up. I imagine the large size AMNTS will burn pellets hours longer. So with all that being said, I've owned the 5x8 AMNPS for years and that's my go-to smoke generator for my MES 30 Gen 1.

As Dave Omak wrote, the AMNPS was designed for the MES, Gen 1 to be exact but my understanding is it'll work in all generations of the MES. The AMNTS was designed for pellet grills and smokers that run at much higher temps than the MES. Go with the AMNPS for your MES.


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## daricksta (Jul 11, 2016)

Brickguy221 said:


> That depends on the person Dave... For me the Tube works good in that it puts out the right amount of smoke and stays lit, whereas the Maze doesn't put out enough smoke and sometimes stays lit and sometimes it goes out more often than it stays lit. I spent almost a year fighting the Maze and finally gave up on it and tried the Tube and found it to be adequate. I tried the maze with chip loader pulled out in various amounts as well as clear out and the Maze would still go out even though it was properly lit to a bright red cherry when I put it in smoker. I do plan to try the Maze one more time by placing it on the right side above the chip tray with chip loader pulled out 2" like Bear did.
> 
> Meanwhile, I use the Maze in my Weber Charcoal Grill. I put wood chips in it and lay it on the hot coals and it works perfect there.
> 
> I recently purchased a Vortex Smoker for my pellets, as well as some pellets from the same place that have a 30% charcoal blend but haven't tried it or them yet. The 30% charcoal blend is supposed to make the pellets burn better. I will post the results after I try them, but want to try Todds pellets in the Vortex first.


I've had some problems with keeping pellets lit in both the Maze and in my new 6" AMNTS. The common link between both is my using pellets that may be at least 3 years old (I don't smoke as often as many guys here). I agree with others that the problem is with the moisture pellets have absorbed in their plastic bags that I store in my garage. But once I get either smoker burning for at least 20-30 minutes before placing them in my MES or in my Weber kettle grill they're fine. I've also noticed that here in the Puget Sound area where we actually get above 80 degrees some times, the hotter and drier the day the better the pellets burn.

Which Vortex Smoker did you buy?


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## daveomak (Jul 11, 2016)

Since adding legs to my AMNPS, the pellets have lit and stayed lit without drying...   I'm leaning toward air flow problems....













AMNPS LEGS 3 001.JPG



__ daveomak
__ Jun 17, 2016


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## texas mathew (Jul 11, 2016)

I bought my MES40BT from Sams. With the standard set up, when using lower temperature set points, very little smoke is generated. At 250, I got a pretty decent TBS (thin blue smoke), but have to re-load chips every hour. At 225...very little smoke, the chips just aren't burning much. Masterbuilt has a Cold Smoker Kit which sells for about $58. I'm debating whether to buy it, or make a mailbox mod.


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## daveomak (Jul 11, 2016)

texas mathew said:


> I bought my MES40BT from Sams. With the standard set up, when using lower temperature set points, very little smoke is generated. At 250, I got a pretty decent TBS (thin blue smoke), but have to re-load chips every hour. At 225...very little smoke, the chips just aren't burning much. Masterbuilt has a Cold Smoker Kit which sells for about $58. I'm debating whether to buy it, or make a mailbox mod.


You can search the forum or call Todd...

Todd has tested so many units...  he has solutions for darn near anything.....

Sending you a PM that has most of Todd's responses to getting units to smoke......


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## wild west (Jul 11, 2016)

DaveOmak said:


> I see you  have the MES 40....   I suggest the AMNPS 5 X 8...  and an assortment of pellets...   Pitmasters Choice, Apple, Alder, Oak, Hickory... and anything else that you think you want to test...
> 
> The TUBE smoker puts out too much smoke for the MES....   It has a lager diameter, puts out a fair amount of heat and a lot of smoke...
> 
> Todd designed the Tube for use in Gas smokers, Charcoal smokers and High Altitude residence where there was minimal oxygen for the Maze to work properly...


   I find the 12in tube works good in my mes but not if i pack it full. If full i agree it puts out too much smoke for my likeing. I fill about 1/4 full for a 3 hour smoke and 1/2 full for 5 to 6 hour smoke. Shake the tube so they lie evenly along the bottom full length of the tube. Light as normal and let it burn for a few minutes blow it out then place in the mes by itself with the top vent open full for at least l0 mins to let it calm down a bit. After its settled down put in whatever you are smokeing and its good to go. If it starts giving too little smoke adjust the chip loader for more draft. I also use it in my webber grill with no heat to get smoke on steak or burgers before grilling. Just have to remember the safe time requirements for safe food preperation temps.


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## Bearcarver (Jul 11, 2016)

DaveOmak said:


> I see you  have the MES 40....   I suggest the AMNPS 5 X 8...  and an assortment of pellets...   Pitmasters Choice, Apple, Alder, Oak, Hickory... and anything else that you think you want to test...
> 
> The TUBE smoker puts out too much smoke for the MES....   It has a lager diameter, puts out a fair amount of heat and a lot of smoke...
> 
> Todd designed the Tube for use in Gas smokers, Charcoal smokers and High Altitude residence where there was minimal oxygen for the Maze to work properly...


I get too much smoke Smoke for my MES 40 too from the Tube, no matter how full I make it.

The AMNPS 5 X 8 is perfect for my MES 30 or MES 40.

Bear


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## daricksta (Jul 11, 2016)

DaveOmak said:


> Since adding legs to my AMNPS, the pellets have lit and stayed lit without drying...   I'm leaning toward air flow problems....
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I see you also did the mailbox mod. I still prefer to take the minimalist (and cheap, no hassle) approach to using my MES. I'm not great at building or assembling things like that anyway. I'm no expert on wood pellets so I continue to find it confusing as to way pellets in the same bag will quickly catch fire and burn for hours while at other times they'll go out a few times in my MES until midway through the smoke if I had to light them again they refuse to go out until  after the end of the smokeI separate the smoking pellets from the unlit ones so they can die out. I don't nuke my wood pellets because enough guys have posted that nuking doesn't always work.


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## daveomak (Jul 11, 2016)

daRicksta said:


> DaveOmak said:
> 
> 
> > Since adding legs to my AMNPS, the pellets have lit and stayed lit without drying...   I'm leaning toward air flow problems....
> ...


There's probably 1000 reasons pellets won't stay lit....     First let's discuss the cold dam.....    Your smoker is cold...  really cold.... been sitting there all night... at 8 AM you decide to cold smoke something...   It's finally warm enough to go out on the porch in your house shoes...   pull the meat from the refer and put it on a rack... the pellets are going fine by now and in the smoker they go...

20-30 minutes later, they are out.....  the smoker and meat inside are colder than the ambient air... heavier than the ambient air....   the air flowing off of the AMNPS is rising and mixing with the cold air....    the air in the smoker cannot support combustion...  too much oxygen has been consumed because there is no "flow-through" air inside the smoker....  stagnant, deprived of oxygen air...

I've seen it....  with the MB mod, I put 3 bellies in the MES....  they were cool...  but cool enough, when I went out to check on stuff, smoke was exiting out the holes in the MB door...  

That's one example of how stuff goes to hell and you can have NO IDEA WHY .....


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## link (Jul 12, 2016)

I did this to my Amaze-N-Pellet Smoker as I do not like to wait for a long time to get a nice cherry red coal going. This works great for me, I get the pellets lit let them burn for a few minutes, Turn on the fan while I am getting things ready and away I go.













20140110_004028795_iOS.jpg



__ link
__ Jul 12, 2016


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## daricksta (Jul 12, 2016)

DaveOmak said:


> There's probably 1000 reasons pellets won't stay lit....     First let's discuss the cold dam.....    Your smoker is cold...  really cold.... been sitting there all night... at 8 AM you decide to cold smoke something...   It's finally warm enough to go out on the porch in your house shoes...   pull the meat from the refer and put it on a rack... the pellets are going fine by now and in the smoker they go...
> 
> 20-30 minutes later, they are out.....  the smoker and meat inside are colder than the ambient air... heavier than the ambient air....   the air flowing off of the AMNPS is rising and mixing with the cold air....    the air in the smoker cannot support combustion...  too much oxygen has been consumed because there is no "flow-through" air inside the smoker....  stagnant, deprived of oxygen air...
> 
> ...


Dave, what you described is what I thought was happening inside my MES because you're right--the AMNPS has consistently performed better on warm to hot days than on colder and cold/damp days (and evenings). I think what really keeps me from constructing a MB mod is the actual work itself: buying a cheap metal mailbox, figuring out what size/length flexible duct to buy. Then there's drilling a hole in the mailbox to insert the duct into. And then there's bringing the whole thing out of the garage along with the MES and stuff associated with that. Just not very good at all that stuff. It's just easier and simpler for me to try to deal with getting the interior of the MES sufficiently warmed up, which means going beyond my set point before inserting the AMNPS.


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