Newbie question

tyfins13 · Aug 4, 2014

Hi Everyone,

I am fairly new to the smoking forum here and have a question. I just bought an MES 30 and from what I've been reading a lot of people also use the AMNPS. My question is why would you use this? Doesn't the smoker itself generate enough smoke? Is this used for longer smoking times so you don't constantly have to add wood chips via the tube? Does the AMNPS smoke longer? Thanks for answering these questions for me.

Tyfins13

chef jimmyj · Aug 4, 2014

The MES will only smoke with Chips for about 30-40 minutes. A little longer on Chunks cut down to fit the tray. The AMNPS was designed specifically to make the MES truly set and forget for approx 10 hours before a reload. Really nice on a 18 hour Butt Smoke. Now if you have a Gen 1 MES, Vent on top right, you can use the AMNPS. If you have the Gen 2 MES, Vent on the left Side, you will do better with the AMNTS, Tube Pellet Smoke Generator...JJ

BTW...Don't believe the MYTH that meat will only take Smoke for 4 hours! Flavor will build as long as you keep the meat smoking. After all, It's a SMOKER! If you got meat in there you should be Smoking it!

jjjonz · Aug 4, 2014

I hope to get my 30 inch gen ll tomorrow and was wondering why the tube smoker works better in the gen ll than gen l ?

padronman · Aug 4, 2014

jjjonz said:
I hope to get my 30 inch gen ll tomorrow and was wondering why the tube smoker works better in the gen ll than gen l ?

Because of the vent placement on the Gen II won't allow the AMNPS to stay lit. The tube smoker will feed the smoke in. I sure wish you luck with the Gen II. Hope you have some great smokes.

Scott

jjjonz · Aug 4, 2014

I hope to get my 30 inch gen ll tomorrow and was wondering why the tube smoker works better in the gen ll than gen l ?

PadronMan said:
Because of the vent placement on the Gen II won't allow the AMNPS to stay lit. The tube smoker will feed the smoke in. I sure wish you luck with the Gen II. Hope you have some great smokes.

Scott

where do you locate it ......maybe hang it somewhere ?

padronman · Aug 4, 2014

Search AMNTS and see how they set it up on the MES 30. I don't own one so I am not sure how it is hooked up.

chef jimmyj · Aug 5, 2014

The Tube has bigger holes than the AMNPS so in the low fresh air environments of the Gen 2 and Propane Smokers, they burn without issue. You can just lay the tube on an unused rack but there may be an easy way to hang them, Consult Todd at the site below...JJ

http://www.amazenproducts.com/Default.asp

tyfins13 · Aug 6, 2014

Thanks for all the feedback and advice. I think I will try to get very familiar with my MES before I try something different.

paulh1966 · Aug 27, 2014

With the AMNPS can you put chips in it or does it have to be pellets? Pellets are not readily available near me.

chef jimmyj · Aug 27, 2014

Pellets for Hot Smoking or Dust for smoker temps under 180°F. Chips will not work as they can't be packet tight enough for a continuous burn. The choice Pellets of all type are available from Todd and other " Blended " pellets are available on-line...JJ

paulh1966 · Aug 27, 2014

Thanks Jimmy!

mbw102 · Aug 28, 2014

I'm new to this forum and I got my MBS 30 Yesterday. I been reading that most people the pellets. I'm wondering which would work better the pellets or a cold smoker attachment! Any input would be taken greatfully

daricksta · Aug 28, 2014

MBW102 said:
I'm new to this forum and I got my MBS 30 Yesterday. I been reading that most people the pellets. I'm wondering which would work better the pellets or a cold smoker attachment! Any input would be taken greatfully

The beauty of the 5x8 AMNPS is that it can be used for both hot and cold smoking. In the past three weeks I've smoked baby back ribs, a turkey breast, and cheeses with great results for all three. Todd Johnson advised that I put a couple of containers with ice in the MES for the cold smokes to keep the temp down since it can get warm from the pellets. I use two half-gallon jugs that I half-fill with water and then stick in the freezer. The ices melts into water before the smoke is done but by then you're almost done anyway. Other guys use other containers filled with ice--whatever works best for you.

Masterbuilt sells a cold smoke attachment for the MES but I've had such great results with the AMNPS I've had no reason to check it out. But just to clarify, I own the MES 30 digital Gen 1 which the AMNPS was designed for. If you have a Gen 2, I've read in these forums the Tube Smoker might work better because of the decreased airflow and other design changes from the Gen 1.

mbw102 · Aug 28, 2014

Mine is a gen 1 I believe it has the vent on top. There so many posts recommending one or the other. I've herd it is hard to keep the ANMSP lit ! Thanks for you response.

daricksta · Aug 28, 2014

Chef JimmyJ said:
The MES will only smoke with Chips for about 30-40 minutes. A little longer on Chunks cut down to fit the tray. The AMNPS was designed specifically to make the MES truly set and forget for approx 10 hours before a reload. Really nice on a 18 hour Butt Smoke. Now if you have a Gen 1 MES, Vent on top right, you can use the AMNPS. If you have the Gen 2 MES, Vent on the left Side, you will do better with the AMNTS, Tube Pellet Smoke Generator...JJ

BTW...Don't believe the MYTH that meat will only take Smoke for 4 hours! Flavor will build as long as you keep the meat smoking. After all, It's a SMOKER! If you got meat in there you should be Smoking it!

Jimmy J, funny you should post this about the smoking myth. I took a BBQ class in July (Father's Day gift from my beloved daughter) and although I feel I learned some good, new stuff, the instructor stated that 4-hour smoke limit claim as fact. I asked about it in these forums and found out he was wrong. The instructor owns a bunch of schools in 4 different states and has people teaching his courses for him but he was fundamentally wrong on a few points--like this one.

daricksta · Aug 28, 2014

MBW102 said:
Mine is a gen 1 I believe it has the vent on top. There so many posts recommending one or the other. I've herd it is hard to keep the ANMSP lit ! Thanks for you response.

Every person who claims the AMNPS is hard to keep lit doesn't know how to light and how to position it in their smoker. I had it go out on me quite a few times until I followed the instructions given by Todd and by Bearcarver to the letter. If you put in a little bit of extra effort it WILL stay lit. I've made no mods to my MES 30 digital Gen 1 because I don't need to. For my smoker, I found out that the airflow seems to be better towards the rear so that's where I insert the smoking end of the AMNPS. I also pull the wood chip loader out about half an inch but not sure how much that helps--I know it doesn't hurt.

The key to the AMNPS is to get it fired up and to let it smoke for about 20-30 minutes before inserting it in the smoker. When I first apply the blowtorch I leave it on the pellets for about 30 seconds or so to really heat them up until the orange flame appears. I still blow on the lit end to make the pellets bright red and to heat up the pellets behind the front, burning one. I let the fire burn until a breeze puts it out and I just let the AMNPS smoke on the ground for the 20-30 minutes I mentioned before. At the end of the that time I pick up the AMNPS and again blow a few times on the smoking pellets to get them glowing bright red and to ignite a flame again. I let the flame burn as I carry the AMNPS to the smoker and blow out the flame just before pushing the AMNPS onto the two rails next to the wood chip loader, smoking side toward the rear.

Yeah, it's a bit of work but in return I get at least 6 solid hours of TBS and many times the AMNPS is still smoking when the job is done and I've taken it out of the MES. I can just about guarantee that if you light the AMNPS the way I've described you will get your hours of trouble-free smoke no matter which way you insert it into your smoker.

chef jimmyj · Aug 29, 2014

Just one addition to the daRicksta's procedure. Don't just light through the Hole. Light concentrating the flame from the Bottom as well. It it the bottom portions of pellets that gives the continuous burn and the Top pellets give the bulk of the smoke ...JJ

daricksta · Aug 30, 2014

Chef JimmyJ said:
Just one addition to the daRicksta's procedure. Don't just light through the Hole. Light concentrating the flame from the Bottom as well. It it the bottom portions of pellets that gives the continuous burn and the Top pellets give the bulk of the smoke ...JJ

Thanks, Chef JimmyJ! I had read about lighting underneath the pellets and I do it but not for very long. I didn't know that the bottom portion of the pellets provided the continuous burn so I will make sure I leave the propane torch underneath the AMNPS longer than I have been doing.

chef jimmyj · Aug 30, 2014

daRicksta said:
Thanks, Chef JimmyJ! I had read about lighting underneath the pellets and I do it but not for very long. I didn't know that the bottom portion of the pellets provided the continuous burn so I will make sure I leave the propane torch underneath the AMNPS longer than I have been doing.

That info came from a discussion I had with Todd. We were talking about exacly how to get Cherry Pellets to burn consistently in the AMNPS. Lighting from the bottom was the best procedure. I started lighting all pellets this way with great success and only need to give 5 minutes of burn time before putting in the MES...JJ

daricksta · Aug 31, 2014

Chef JimmyJ said:
That info came from a discussion I had with Todd. We were talking about exacly how to get Cherry Pellets to burn consistently in the AMNPS. Lighting from the bottom was the best procedure. I started lighting all pellets this way with great success and only need to give 5 minutes of burn time before putting in the MES...JJ

FIVE MINUTES! Definitely going to try that next time. So, do you shoot the torch flame through the Hole and then bring it underneath the pellet smoker just past it? Would you say you go back an inch or a little more? Or does it matter?

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