Another Successful AMNPS Smoke

daricksta · May 4, 2015

Sorry, no Qview. Just wanted to give more kudos to Todd. Yesterday I smoke a 2.5 lb. tri-tip roast in my MES 30 using a recipe from Jeff Phillips. Didn't use his rub but one of my own. He recommended using either hickory or red oak but I decided to put a Santa Maria (CA) spin on it and use mesquite. I smoked the roast to an I/T of 145° although Jeff recommended 140° for medium rare. The roast was done perfectly but I think next time I'll smoke it to 150° to get a bit more tenderness with the meat.

But the AMNPS with the mesquite pellets was the star of the show. It produced perfect TBS and the meat had to me the perfect amount of smokiness, not too much nor overpowering. And this was from only 3 hours of smoking. At times I wasn't sure the pellets were still smoking but it was all textbook. The pellets continued to smoke after I pulled the meat. Separating the smoking pellets from the unburnt ones with the AMNPS on the ground enabled the pellets to flame out fairly quickly. And this is why I prefer smoking with wood pellets to smoking with wood chips. It was set-it-and-forget-time while I monitored the smoke inside my house with my ET-733.

Forgot to add an important tip: for those of you who own a MES 30 or 40 be sure you regularly clean the two sensors on the back wall. My high temp limit switch (the dime-shaped metal thing with the notches located on the left side) was totally black. If that gets dirty your smoker will start temp spikes up over 275° because the sensor no longer signals the controller to cut off the high heat. That happened to me once.

You also need to wipe off the toggle-shaped temperature sensor on the right side. If that gets dirty you'll see more temp swings than is normal for the MES (I own the MES 30 Gen 1). I got a little bit of fluctuation yesterday but it was all in acceptable range and overall it stayed fairly stable.

With a properly maintained MES and the AMNPS and the ET-733 smoking is really a joy and labor of love.

cmayna · May 4, 2015

Interesting, I almost did that same recipe using his Texas style rub but was too busy smoking some of his chicken wings on Saturday and couldn't mentally introduce the tri tip to the same smoker so I just quickly grilled the tri tip using his rub. But maybe this next weekend, I'll smoke some and hope I'll have a similar result as you did.

uncle dave · May 4, 2015

My last tri tip was at 150 but it was close to med well although it wasn't dry or tough I think the next will not be above 140-145

daricksta · May 4, 2015

I used a Cowboy Blend with Coffee Steak Rub which had been sold by Safeway under its old Ranchers Reserve brand. It was just faster than making my own rub.

Uncle Dave, the roast was incredibly moist and definitely a med rare in the middle. I've grilled tri-tip steaks to a more of a well-done temperature which gave me the texture I was looking for so I think 150° is better for my personal tastes. I see other recipes calling for an I/T of 130° but that's way too rare for me. With a ribeye or a filet mignon steak I prefer 140-145°. Unfortunately the wife likes it about 160° I think because if she has any leftover she can use it to patch a hole in the bottom of her shoe...

uncle dave · May 4, 2015

My wife likes hers about 150 with maybe a little pink in the center Personally I always preferred med rare

daricksta · May 4, 2015

I never liked meat medium rare (my mom always cooked everything well done as did my wife's dad) until my son--who was then about 18 (he's now 21) --told me that's how he liked it best. I tried it and I've never looked back. Ever since that's the way I cook just about all our beef dishes. With a roast the wife gets the end cuts which are more well done. For burgers and steaks I leave hers on longer than mine and my son's.

daricksta · May 4, 2015

cmayna said:
Interesting, I almost did that same recipe using his Texas style rub but was too busy smoking some of his chicken wings on Saturday and couldn't mentally introduce the tri tip to the same smoker so I just quickly grilled the tri tip using his rub. But maybe this next weekend, I'll smoke some and hope I'll have a similar result as you did.

What kind of smoker do you have? And do you use wood chips or pellets or dust? In any guess I'm sure you'll rock it. Tri tip is very easy to cook in a smoker or on the grill.

I've never purchased any of Jeff's rub recipes but I've decided that later this year my wife will buy me his "Smoking Meat" book, which will give me three good smoking books. That way I'll have his recipes and I compare them with others that have become my go-to recipes for rubs and sauces.

cmayna · May 4, 2015

I have 2 big chiefs for Salmon smoking and a masterbuilt gasser for all other meats. The only real reason I did not try the tri-tip in the smoker was because I ran out of room with all the chicken I was doing.

daricksta · May 4, 2015

cmayna said:
I have 2 big chiefs for Salmon smoking and a masterbuilt gasser for all other meats. The only real reason I did not try the tri-tip in the smoker was because I ran out of room with all the chicken I was doing.

The trip-tip was the perfect size for my MES 30. Usually whatever meat I'm smoking is too long and butts up against the walls. I never cut them in half because I know they'll shrink more than enough during the smoking process. Still wish I'd had the money to buy a MES 40 when I bought my smoker but the MES 30 Gen 1 was well within my price range for an entry level model.

bamajeffe · May 6, 2015

I have been to the AMNPS website and looked around but was wondering if it was possible to use the pellets with my MES without purchasing a new box or if I need to just switch them out with one from the website?

cmayna · May 6, 2015

I'm sure you can burn pellets in the MES as is, but that would be almost the same as burning your regular wood chunks or chips and having to replenish the pan often, whereas with the AMNPS or AMNTS, once you get it lit it will sit there and smoke for a couple + hours.

daricksta · May 6, 2015

It will stay lit even in most imperfect conditions for at least 11 hours. Bearcarver's gotten 16 hours of solid smoke out of his AMNPS. I've gotten 7 hours and could've gotten more but the meat was done by then. I typically never smoke more than 6 hours.

daricksta · May 6, 2015

bamajeffe said:
I have been to the AMNPS website and looked around but was wondering if it was possible to use the pellets with my MES without purchasing a new box or if I need to just switch them out with one from the website?

I'm not sure what you mean by "a new box".

cmayna · May 6, 2015

cmayna said:
I'm sure you can burn pellets in the MES as is, but that would be almost the same as burning your regular wood chunks or chips and having to replenish the pan often, whereas with the AMNPS or AMNTS, once you get it lit it will sit there and smoke for a couple + hours.

I stand corrected for when I mentioned 2+ hours it is me using one of my shortened AMNTS. Yes far more hours when you use a AMNPS.

bamajeffe · May 6, 2015

Sorry...noob here and if I'm not mistaken on the website there are different trays for sale that you would put in the smoker for the pellets opposed to the tray that's already in for the chips...am I just mistaken or is that something I would need to burn the pellets?

cmayna · May 6, 2015

Yes the AMNPS, AMNTS are what I call smoke generators. You simply load the pellets into these cages and with a torch, light one end. Once you have it smoking real good, you then install it into your smoker, not immediately on or near your smoker's heat source. So with your MES, the heating element will be used for the heat source. There will be no chips in the chip tray. The AMNPS or AMNPS which is residing next or near your heat source, will supply the smoke.

bamajeffe · May 6, 2015

Ok I gotcha now...thanks for the help!

daricksta · May 7, 2015

cmayna said:
I stand corrected for when I mentioned 2+ hours it is me using one of my shortened AMNTS. Yes far more hours when you use a AMNPS.

I've read references to Todd's AMNS and AMNTS and read about them on his site but the only smoker of his I own is the AMNPS. When I was first told of his products and then read up on them I knew that the 5x8 AMNPS was the one I wanted. It's all I use to generate smoke.

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