Amns question

[BigTxPreacher]

Ordering my amnps today. Is it best to use this as the only smoke source, or use it in conjunction with the MB stock chip box?

 

[muddydogs]

The AMNPS will but out enough smoke that you won't need to use the chip tray. Most guys will tell you to remove the chip tray so the AMNPS gets better air flow with the chip loader pulled out 1/2 way. I'm not sure if it matters but since I am not planning on burning chips I pulled mine out before its first use and never bothered to put it in and see the difference. I do find that my AMNPS burns better with the chip loader pulled out.

 

[BigTxPreacher]

Thanks for the reply! Where is the best location to put the AMNPS? I’m sure close to the burner may be out of the question?

 

[biaviian]

I put mine on the far bottom left. under the water pan (if your has it). I take my pan out so it sits under the hole. I keep my loader out of the smoker. Actually, I'm not sure where it is or if I still have it.

 

[muddydogs]

I actually put my tray right next to the burner over the drain hole in the bottom pan. I have taken my slant tray / shield out of my unit along with the water pan. I have 6 racks in my unit so I set one of the racks on the chip loader housing then I backed out the two screws on the left of the unit that hold the slant rack so my rack sets on them better. I then set a cookie sheet pan on the rack as a drip pan / heat and smoke diffuser.

 

[cmayna]

Another idea to consider is doing the mailbox mod, which seperates the amnps from the smoker so you don't need to ever open your smoker to tend to your amnps. There are tons of threads which deal with this idea. Tomorrow I will be smoking some Salmon nuggets using the mailbox mod. Stay tuned.

 

[GaryHibbert]

Another idea to consider is doing the mailbox mod, which seperates the amnps from the smoker so you don't need to ever open your smoker to tend to your amnps. There are tons of threads which deal with this idea. Tomorrow I will be smoking some Salmon nuggets using the mailbox mod. Stay tuned.

Yep. That's what I did with my ANMPS and MES 30. Works great for both hot and cold smoking.
Just don't lose the chip loader when you do the mailbox mod. Every once in a while I sliver up some special wood that I want to smoke with but can't find in pellets. Then I just put the thin sticks of wood in the chip tray--works great.
Gary

 

[muddydogs]

Like the guys above have said if you want to cold smoke the mailbox mod works best. I cold smoked some cheese yesterday with ambient air temps around 45 and the MES was running about 60 with the AMNPS tray in the smoker so the AMNPS tray increased the box temp by 15 degrees. I also tried a tube pellet burner and found it also raised the temp about 15 degrees. I even had a pan of ice water on the bottom rack of the smoker and was still getting the 15 degree temp rise. If it would have been any hotter outside I would have had to move the cheese to my gas smoker that I did the mailbox mod to, I already had the butter in the gasser since I know it runs cold while cold smoking but I just had to try out the new MES with the cheese.