new MES30, going to smoke a pork butt for the first time tomorrow

brickguy221 · Sep 17, 2016

Dr K said:
Were you the one that used Jack Daniels charcoal pellets in the past and did you still have problems with the AMNPS staying lit. I have never had any sort of issues with the mailbox mod and AMNPS. I have a local pellet distributor that sells Bbq'ers Delight one pound bags like Todd does for $4.50/bg. I wanted to try the Jack Daniels one pound bag. From my research I have found they are made from the maple wood charcoal the whisky is dripped through as well as oak saw dust but they are midnight black pellets that appear to only be charcoal. If I like the one pound bag, they sell 20lb. bags for $24.00. I looked at Todd's site but couldn't find the large 20lb. bag. I'm still loaded with Todd's pellets.
-Kurt

Kurt, that was me. I couldn't get the JD Pellets to stay lit in the AMNPS. At Todds suggestion, I tried the TUBE. I had a bit of difficulty getting them lit correctly in the TUBE, but once lit, they stayed lit although the smoke wasn't all that heavy. Since then I purchased the SMOKE RING from Smoke Daddy and it was easy to light, stayed lit and smoked good with the JD Pellets as it also does with the other pellets.

You are correct on what the JD Pellets being made from the charcoal the whisky is dripped thru and not the pure wood from the barrels. I too am loaded with Todds pellets and really need to get rid of some. I have some cherry, pitmasters choice, and one or two e of others that I have never used and probably won't, plus one or two I tried once and probably won't use. I ordered too darn many kinds the first time I ordered some. All I use anymore are Hickory, Oak, Mesquite, Pecan and was using JD on ribs, but lately have been using Pecan on ribs instead.

brickguy221 · Sep 18, 2016

Goldmine1965 said:
What kind of smoker do you have? I have the MES 30 and I just checked and the Smoke Ring does not fit on the bottom where most people put the AMNPS. I thought of putting on the shelf above the food but don't want to get ash on the food.

My Smoker is a 2.5 Bluetooth 40" Smoker. I place mine on the floor mounted on a tiny rack approx 1 1/2" off the floor on left hand side.Put yours next to the wall on the bottom shelf and you will get no ashes on the food.

dr k · Sep 18, 2016

Goldmine1965 said:
What kind of smoker do you have? I have the MES 30 and I just checked and the Smoke Ring does not fit on the bottom where most people put the AMNPS. I thought of putting on the shelf above the food but don't want to get ash on the food.

If you have the oval water pan the width of your smoker it fits on any level not just the intended level right above the heating element. I have mine on the second from the bottom level to make a higher obstacle for the heat to go around for even heating. I put a rack on top of watet pan as a jig to center it in the smoker and remove the rack if I don't need it for food. Now you can use the bottom rack for the smoker generator. If you have the gen. 2 with the slant drip tray and baby water pan, just take those out and use a foil pan as an empty water pan/drip catcher on the second from the bottom level and the smoke generator on the bottom rack. Or do the mailbox mod which I prefer. Mailbox mod or not I keep my water pan on the second from the bottom level. This its what mine looks like.

CAM00898.jpg

dr k
Aug 28, 2016

-Kurt

tjdcorona · Sep 18, 2016

Loins are hard to cook - keep an eye on it so it doesn't dry out

tjdcorona · Sep 18, 2016

Loins are hard to cook - keep an eye on it so it doesn't dry out

tjdcorona · Sep 18, 2016

I have the signature series MES - and I love it.

For me - babybacks aren't the best choice for ribs - they got popular cause of a jingle - not the flavor. BUT.........

Use the 3-2-1 method at 225.

I preheat also at 270 for one hr then turn down to 225 while I have door open.

I put apple cider in the water tray - not water. (This isn't really for moisture believe it or not - it serves as a heat sink to even out the temp inside - some people use sand)

then 3 hrs in heat. 2 hrs wrapped in foil - put a little cider in there, and some honey over the ribs and wrap)

1 hr out of foil, and put on light sauce. Turns out awesome everytime. Try spare ribs and youll never go back!

tjdcorona · Sep 18, 2016

yes - also - vents w little less than wide open - you need smoke flow. do not open and close the smoker to spray it - they will be fine - set the heat / time and forget about it - you wont see the ribs till done.

echinacea · Sep 20, 2016

oh yeah, the loin came out perfect. as it turns out, it was split in half at the packager so i just did half. prehear for 30 at 275 then turned down to 220. add chips and spray every 45 minutes. it took 3 1/2 hours to get to 147degrees. wrapped it in foil with the sauce additive then on the plates. it was so soft and the smoke and rub were perfect. the kids wanted more....even the cat stole a piece off a plate

Bearcarver · Sep 20, 2016

echinacea said:
oh yeah, the loin came out perfect. as it turns out, it was split in half at the packager so i just did half. prehear for 30 at 275 then turned down to 220. add chips and spray every 45 minutes. it took 3 1/2 hours to get to 147degrees. wrapped it in foil with the sauce additive then on the plates. it was so soft and the smoke and rub were perfect. the kids wanted more....even the cat stole a piece off a plate

Sounds Perfect !!

Nice Job!

Bear

downsouthsmoke · Sep 20, 2016

echinacea said:
questions i have are;

1) how often do you add chips to the mes30? i was doing every 45min to an hour. for short smoking times like 2hrs, is this enough?

2) the manual says to leave the vent closed unless youre doing fish. others say full open yet others say cracked halfway. wouldnt that dry it out and lose heat?

3) do you empty the ash tray at any time during cooking, especially for long smokes

4) should you always have water in the pan?

Define unremarkable. Bad flavor? Tough? Curious what you felt the shortcomings were.

1) The need for more chips is more of an eye test for me. When I note the smoke beginning to waiver or wear out, I throw some more in it. You just have to find the feel. You could also use one of the AMAZEN products as outlined above. As for how long I continue to add chips, I'm really just going for a certain color. Once the ribs have reached my desired color, I stop adding smoke and just keep applying heat. There's split camps on this issue, but I adhere to the opinion that at some point your meat just stops taking good smoke (again, can usually tell by color) and starts taking on too much bad smoke and starts getting bitter. With ribs I would keep adding smoke to them until they hit a nice mahogany color and then kill the smoke. At this point you can either wrap them or just keep rolling naked, whichever you prefer.

2) I run the vent 100% open. You need good airflow. I'm sure there's a scientific explanation, but you want the smoke that's in there to get out at some point and not just linger. If you aren't letting the smoke out (even with a 50% vent), you're just drowning your meat in bad smoke.

3) Just keep your eye on the tray when you pull the handle to add more. If it looks full, clear it out. For ribs, you shouldn't be cooking with chips long enough to really need to empty the tray.

4) I always use the pan. Really a personal preference.

bregent · Sep 20, 2016

>oh yeah, the loin came out perfect. as it turns out, it was split in half at the

>packager so i just did half. prehear for 30 at 275 then turned down to 220.

Nice! Next time you might try a sear over a hot grill once it approaches your final IT.

echinacea · Sep 22, 2016

bregent said:
>oh yeah, the loin came out perfect. as it turns out, it was split in half at the

>packager so i just did half. prehear for 30 at 275 then turned down to 220.

Nice! Next time you might try a sear over a hot grill once it approaches your final IT.

i dont have a grill....someday ill have a smoker/grill. not sure if i want to go pellet or stick for that route....or even just gas for grilling

tjdcorona · Sep 25, 2016

I use a torch to get it lit. Also, I heat my smoker at 275 for 1 hr, so I put the pellets in there to dry. When Im ready they get lit quick and away I go at 225 for anything that goes in there.

tjdcorona · Sep 25, 2016

Loins cook quick - glad yours turned out - it took me a 3 to get it right.

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new MES30, going to smoke a pork butt for the first time tomorrow

brickguy221

Smoking Fanatic

brickguy221

Smoking Fanatic

dr k

Master of the Pit

CAM00898.jpg

tjdcorona

Meat Mopper

tjdcorona

Meat Mopper

tjdcorona

Meat Mopper

tjdcorona

Meat Mopper

echinacea

Newbie

Bearcarver

Gone but not forgotten RIP

downsouthsmoke

Newbie

bregent

Master of the Pit

echinacea

Newbie

tjdcorona

Meat Mopper

tjdcorona

Meat Mopper

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