MES 40 Inaugural Smoke - Baby Backs & No Boil Mac & Cheese

roadkill cafe · Nov 4, 2012

Although I've had my new MES 40 (2012) for a couple weeks now, this has been the first chance I've had to give her a spin. So I decided to do a few racks of Baby Backs (2-2-1) and some No Boil Mac & Cheese. The MES is an addition to my MF gasser and so far I'm loving not having to babysit the temps. I have noticed there's quite a big difference between the MES remote temps and the Maverick temps. I'm trusting the Mav so I've adjusted the unit temp down a bit. Here's some Q-view as everything progresses.

Rubbed, rested and ready to go. Used worsty sauce and homemade rub.

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roadkill cafe
Nov 4, 2012

Hanging out in the MES gettin' cozy with some smoke.

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roadkill cafe
Nov 4, 2012

Nice TBS driving my neighbors nuts. AMNPS has 2 rows of Pitmaster's Blend.

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roadkill cafe
Nov 4, 2012

Mac & Cheese ready to go!!!

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roadkill cafe
Nov 4, 2012

How'd that pic get in there? Chef's "secret" ingredient. (shhh, don't tell). Dang, Colt's just scored. Grrrr.

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roadkill cafe
Nov 4, 2012

jarjarchef · Nov 4, 2012

I love driving my neighbors nuts. I have a couple that are real goofy.

Food start looks good...

oldschoolbbq · Nov 4, 2012

I enjoy teasing them with little bitty taste bits...then tell there's 3several hrs. till it's done. Their tongues begin beating their Brains out... then I take it to the FIL's and enjoy

.

chef jimmyj · Nov 4, 2012

Them smokers are so pretty when they are Virgins. But what's with the Mexican Club Soda!?!...Just kidding, Corona is great for killing a major thirst on a Hot Summer day. My daughter Casey is hanging around with a bunch of folks that Brew their own beers and now brings how some crazy heavy Stouts and super Hoppy, bitter IPA's and a few Barley Wines. It's like slugging downs Maple Syrup compared to Corona...

...Enjoy the new Toy...JJ

roadkill cafe · Nov 4, 2012

jarjarchef said:
I love driving my neighbors nuts. I have a couple that are real goofy.
Food start looks good...

oldschoolbbq said:
I enjoy teasing them with little bitty taste bits...then tell there's 3several hrs. till it's done. Their tongues begin beating their Brains out... then I take it to the FIL's and enjoy

Oldschool...Cruel man you are...but I like it.

My neighbors kinda just look at me strange and smile/wave. Neither of them speak very good English, but we understand each other with some hand jestures. One speaks Turkish, the other Spanish. The Turkish man brings me samples when he cooks. Dang goo too! The other, rarely see them.

roadkill cafe · Nov 4, 2012

Thanks JJ. Would love to try some of those home brews. It is like summer here. House is opened up, fans on and it's still almost 80* in here. Must be my temper driving it up while watching the Dolphins game.

diggingdogfarm · Nov 4, 2012

Lookin' good!

~Martin

roadkill cafe · Nov 4, 2012

DiggingDogFarm said:
Lookin' good!
~Martin

Thanks Martin. AMNPS keeps going out at the turn and I have to re-light it. Increasing my cook time

roadkill cafe · Nov 4, 2012

Well, took a bit longer than I thought it would. Guess the time increase could have been caused by door openings for AMNPS re-lights, putting Mac & Cheese in, ribs out to foil then back in and out/in for unwrapping. All in all it all turned out good. Could have left the ribs foiled a while longer. The Mac & Cheese was awesome!!! Used 3 cups elbows, 8oz sharp cheddar, 8oz colby jack, 4oz mozzarella, 4 cups whole milk, 1 cup 1/2 & 1/2, 1 stick butter, salt/pepper, and some fresh broccoli florets. Topped with some italian seasoned bread crumbs. So easy and soooo good. Smoke flavor was just right. Guess I'll have to call the MES used now. Wish I hadn't forgotten in my haste to spray the cooking grids with Pam/oil. Soaking now. Here are the money shots.

Lighting was pretty poor for the Mac & Cheese so the colors look funky. Anyway, thanks for looking.

(PS...Thanks DaveOmak for the advice

)

daveomak · Nov 5, 2012

Roadkill Cafe said:
AMNPS keeps going out at the turn and I have to re-light it. Increasing my cook time

Roadkill, evening ..... Hey, is that some sort of plug in the exhaust port ??? AMNPS may be going out because of no air flow..... gotta have air..... the chip chute may need to be pulled out and inch or so too.... Anyway, that is what has been found out on the MES 30's.... I overfill my AMNPS at the corners and it seems to help it keep burning....

The grub looks pretty darn good..... Congrats on a successful smoke...... Dave

so ms smoker · Nov 5, 2012

Was that a smoke ring I saw on the top of the mac and cheese? Good looking ribs too!

Mike

roadkill cafe · Nov 5, 2012

DaveOmak said:
Roadkill, evening ..... Hey, is that some sort of plug in the exhaust port ??? AMNPS may be going out because of no air flow..... gotta have air..... the chip chute may need to be pulled out and inch or so too.... Anyway, that is what has been found out on the MES 30's.... I overfill my AMNPS at the corners and it seems to help it keep burning....

The grub looks pretty darn good..... Congrats on a successful smoke...... Dave

Thanks Dave. No plug in the exhaust port/vent but the vent is pretty small. I think what you're seeing is the adjuster knob. Had the chip chute pulled out a couple inches and the chip tray about an inch. AMNPS was filled about 3/4 in the first 2 rows only and got about 6 hours of smoke. When I'd hit it with the torch pellets would turn black and it would flame immediately. Sounds like it was starved for oxygen to me. I might see what I can do to enlarge the vent. I don't want to get into doing much as far as mods to this unit and end up with it being like my gasser, The Frankensmoker.

So MS Smoker said:
Was that a smoke ring I saw on the top of the mac and cheese? Good looking ribs too!

Mike

Greatly appreciated Mike. Hahaha, no smoke rings on anything, except the inside of the smoker around the exhaust vent. You gotta try that Mac & Cheese recipe. It was killer!

funkyboy · Nov 5, 2012

Good Morning

How long in the smoker for mac & cheese un-cook and what temp. Looks super.

What is AMNPS?? What do you use in it. I have a 30" Masterbuild with a small wood chip box,

Thanks

roadkill cafe · Nov 5, 2012

funkyboy said:
Good Morning

How long in the smoker for mac & cheese un-cook and what temp. Looks super.

Thank

Good morning Funky, I put on top shelf at about 230*, about 3 hours. Stir about an hour in to break up the macaroni. I think next time I'll cut back on the butter though. About 3/4 stick. Here's a link to the original thread. http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/96882/no-boil-macaroni-mac-cheese . If you type Mac & Cheese in the search bar at the top you'll get a lot of info and variations. Super easy and good. Enjoy!!!

Edit: Forgot to add that I held in in the oven, foil covered, at *150 while the ribs finished.

roller · Nov 5, 2012

Looks great !

roadkill cafe · Nov 5, 2012

funkyboy said:
Good Morning

How long in the smoker for mac & cheese un-cook and what temp. Looks super.

What is AMNPS?? What do you use in it. I have a 30" Masterbuild with a small wood chip box,

Thanks

AMNPS is a smoke generator, A-MAZE-N Pellet Smoker sold by Todd on this forum. Fantastic products and he's super nice to deal with. Here's a link to his site http://www.amazenproducts.com/

I highly recommend to forget using the chip box and go with an AMNPS or the AMNTS (Tube Smoker). That is unless you enjoy adding chips every 30-40 minutes. With the Pellet Smoker there are 3 rows. I got about 6 hours of nice thin blue smoke yesterday from only 2 rows being used. Todd has several types/flavors of 100% wood pellets to choose from. Is your Masterbuilt 30" electric or propane?

roadkill cafe · Nov 5, 2012

Thank you Roller!! Greatly appreciated.

smokinhusker · Nov 5, 2012

Looks good! I have the mac n cheese on my to do list!

rabbithutch · Nov 5, 2012

My MES is the older 40; so this might not apply to the one you have, but I pull the entire chip loader assembly out of the smoker when using the AMNPS. This is probably over kill because my pellets burn a bit faster than other report, but I've never had a problem with them not staying lit since I started pulling the chip tray out.

Great looking first ride!!

:sausage:

roadkill cafe · Nov 5, 2012

Thanks Husker. Spending as much time as I do looking around this forum, my to do list has gotten quite long. Next up, I saw a brisky recipe I'm gonna try. Picked up a pretty good looking 4.33 lb flat the other day at Costco. Wish they would leave a bit of a fat cap on them as it's trimmed pretty close. Gonna stop by the butcher shop and see if he'll give me a little beef fat I can put on the shelf above when smoking. Vacuum sealed in the freezer so it'll last a bit.

MES 40 Inaugural Smoke - Baby Backs & No Boil Mac & Cheese

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