Doing a test run..

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mawil1013

Smoke Blower
Original poster
Nov 18, 2016
94
11
Carolina's.
Update: After the trial run I went into my man cave to ponder. It's Friday and we are looking at 4 inches of snow here in the Carolina's tomorrow. So for now I'm not focused on the Amazn. Stopped by the grocery to purchase more Pork butt and fat back to make another batch of andouille.  Going by the patty test of the last batch, I didn't fall in love with the flavor so I'm trying a different recipe.  I'm wondering if the last batch smelled sour because of the apple pellets? Has anyone notice this with their apple wood pellets, its was very heavily smoked. As well as after the trail run, the cooker itself seemed to smell that way?  So to wrap this up, making the next batch of sausage Saturday morning, and hopefully weather will permit me to hot smoke with chips also.  Thanks again to everyone's interest and help, great group here!

Here's what I'm doing on a test run and thanks to everyone who's been working with me, ur assistance has been greatly appreciated.    My unit is a Masterbuilt 20078715, 30 inch Digital.  Door will be closed tight, oven controls will be off, the grease tray is slid forward just enough to create a better air gap then when closed all the way, but still would allow grease to drip into it (if I was cooking something but I'm not), For now I have a cardboard tube to use for a vent exhaust stack and vent/damper is 100% open.  The chip tube is installed. I'm starting pellets at 10PM, and hope to see it still smoking when I check at 7AM, (it should run that long?) FWIW: the chip burn pan is removed, which should allow better air flow from grease drain hole to pellets?  My goal is to see if it will actually burn through all the pellets without stopping at corners. I added as many extra pellets around both corners that I could without them falling out.  Nothing left to do but wait for 10PM fire up then see if it's still smoking when I hit the hay at 11PM and then investigate tomorrow morning at 7AM. ~ Sorry Folks, I have no handle. Usually people call cynical and bitchy. Go figure ;)   At 10PM I torched the pellets and left door open for 9 minutes before closing door all the way, no flame, was smoldering and outside air temperature is 41F, by 10:47 PM the internal temperature was 88F (too hot) and the smoke was too dense for my liking. I can begin to see that the mail box set up may be required to get a low temp and hopefully lighter or less dense smoke.  *5AM; Outside 31F, Internal Smoker 100F, quality very light smoke.    6AM internal dropped to 57F and WOW, not happy at all, it ran until 5AM then went out, I never opened door the entire time, see last picture. Not happy at all. I never touched a thing, just let it run and took readings. Not happy, fire went out with half pellets burned.





 
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I only have 2 smokes down but I had the mailbox mod from the start.  I used it during the seasoning process for MES40 after doing the recommended seasoning with the chip loader and tray.

I have had no real issues but I learned that the recommended 10 minutes of good flame to start the AMNPS is not to be underestimated.  Also a I used a rectangular / square wall hanging mailbox rather than the traditional round one.  So far so good.  At some point I'll post my mod to the mailbox mod thread as I feel it is very streamlined and there is little to no info on using the type of mailbox I'm using for the mod.

Best of luck!
 
 
So how did it turn out?

Al
Not good, I just added last picture showing that after running from 10:15PM last night until 5AM this morning the pellets went out half way through! Makes no sense at all. If it had stayed lighted it would have been able to have run 14 hours. If pellets were bad it wouldn't have run 7 hours, I did nothing to it but sleep! I'm glad I woke just in time to see the 100F and one hour later it died! Makes no sense, I can't operate with something so unreliable! Someone needs to explain this situation to me. I'm glad I took pics to prove it.
 
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Inside the cooker there really is no room to raise it, today I'll buy a mail box but what is used to make the transition from pipe to side hole and how long should pipe be between mail box and cooker?
 
 

You may want to get more air under the AMNPS

Here is a cheap an easy fix,Staples binder clips.I used the largest they had


This works in the smoker also,I don't have that pic

Richie
Inside the cooker there really is no room to raise it, today I'll buy a mail box but what is used to make the transition from pipe to side hole and how long should pipe be between mail box and cooker?  The picture of mine there shows it after 8 minutes of smoldering and flame. I actually went in twice with torch to ensure a solid flame, the picture was right after I blew out the flame.
 
I've only used the 5x8 tray a couple times inside the mes (it's usually in the mailbox) and I put it above the hole for the water pan on the 2nd Gen mes like you have. Chip tube pulled out a couple inches. Worked good.
 
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Inside the cooker there really is no room to raise it, today I'll buy a mail box but what is used to make the transition from pipe to side hole and how long should pipe be between mail box and cooker?
Hi mawil.

A 3inch 90degree duct joint goes from the MES to the pipe/hose that people are using to then connect to the mailbox, see here:


For length of pipe between mailbox and cooker that is up to you and what you plan to do.  Some guys want as long of a pipe as makes sense to avoid adding heat from the AMNPSI wanted as simple and as streamlined of a setup as I could make. 

I personally did  not care about any additional heat (if any) being added by my AMNPS because I feel I can deal with it easily and living in TX I will have ambient temps over 90 degrees for most of the year so handling the added heat from the AMNPS (again if any) would/should be resolved when I handle the heat from it just being plain hot all year.  This also only an issue when doing cold/colder smokes.

I wont be able to show pictures of my setup until I get back to my MES this weekend but what I did was use a rectangular / square / flat wall hanging mailbox and attach the joint directly to the mailbox.  I bought two strong magnets and placed them on the side of the mailbox as the mechanism that would hold the mailbox to my MES.  I then just plugged the whole unit into the chip loader hole and viola, I was done.

It works as once piece.  It can be easily removed or re-added.  It is compact, simple, elegant, and streamlined.  Should I ever need a longer hose I will just add a longer hose.

Having done two smokes with it and having no real issues I think I have hit a homerun but I still need to get another handful of smokes done with including a multi row AMNPS smoke.  All of mine have been single row and just a slight turn from the first row to the second row of the AMNPS.

To give you an idea of what I did I basically merged the two ideas below and used magnets to hold the mailbox to my MES. 

I can open my MES door 90 degrees and not disturb the mailbox mod when the mailbox front door is closed. 

My mailbox mod does not touch the ground at all and is secure.

I can remove or re-add my mailbox mod in under 10 seconds.

I can always add a hose to my design later if needed but I doubt I will at this point.

I can always open the mailbox door a little or a lot for more air, I drilled three 3/8" holes in the door but I don't think they are needed.

The only quirk I see so far is that I need to start the AMNPS flame and starter burn OUTSIDE the mailbox as there is very little room above the AMNPS when in the mailbox and the flame just burns directly against the top of the mailbox and can snuff out more easily than I like.  Solution, just start it out side the box for the 10 min, blow out and then add to the box... done!

I hope this info helps you with your mailbox mod ideas :)

Flat Box Mod from DA MAXX


Elbow Joint Directly between MES and Mailbox by DDW44 (imagine this to the flat mailbox in the image above and the flat mailbox flush to the MES so that the MES door can open 90 degrees and the flat mailbox does not go below the bottom of the MES to get anywhere near contacting the ground)

 
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Here's what I'm doing on a test run and thanks to everyone who's been working with me, ur assistance has been greatly appreciated.    My unit is a Masterbuilt 20078715, 30 inch Digital.  Door will be closed tight, oven controls will be off, the grease tray is slid forward just enough to create a better air gap then when closed all the way, but still would allow grease to drip into it (if I was cooking something but I'm not), For now I have a cardboard tube to use for a vent exhaust stack and vent/damper is 100% open.  The chip tube is installed. I'm starting pellets at 10PM, and hope to see it still smoking when I check at 7AM, (it should run that long?) FWIW: the chip burn pan is removed, which should allow better air flow from grease drain hole to pellets?  My goal is to see if it will actually burn through all the pellets without stopping at corners. I added as many extra pellets around both corners that I could without them falling out.  Nothing left to do but wait for 10PM fire up then see if it's still smoking when I hit the hay at 11PM and then investigate tomorrow morning at 7AM. ~ Sorry Folks, I have no handle. Usually people call cynical and bitchy. Go figure ;)   At 10PM I torched the pellets and left door open for 9 minutes before closing door all the way, no flame, was smoldering and outside air temperature is 41F, by 10:47 PM the internal temperature was 88F (too hot) and the smoke was too dense for my liking. I can begin to see that the mail box set up may be required to get a low temp and hopefully lighter or less dense smoke.  *5AM; Outside 31F, Internal Smoker 100F, quality very light smoke.    6AM internal dropped to 57F and WOW, not happy at all, it ran until 5AM then went out, I never opened door the entire time, see last picture. Not happy at all. I never touched a thing, just let it run and took readings. Not happy, fire went out with half pellets burned.


(



One of the major problems with the Gen 2 smokers (which is what you own) is inadequate airflow. That's why the pellets flame out. But I've had the same problem with my MES 30 Gen 1. I know that the problem is inside the smoker because when I leave the AMNPS on the ground after lighting it, the pellets burn forever. But I've noticed in my smoker the hotter the temp, the better and longer the pellets burn. I'm thinking of doing the mailbox mod this year but haven't yet decided when I'll get to it.
 
 
Not good, I just added last picture showing that after running from 10:15PM last night until 5AM this morning the pellets went out half way through! Makes no sense at all. If it had stayed lighted it would have been able to have run 14 hours. If pellets were bad it wouldn't have run 7 hours, I did nothing to it but sleep! I'm glad I woke just in time to see the 100F and one hour later it died! Makes no sense, I can't operate with something so unreliable! Someone needs to explain this situation to me. I'm glad I took pics to prove it.
How cold did the weather get during the night?
 
 
Hi mawil.

A 3inch 90degree duct joint goes from the MES to the pipe/hose that people are using to then connect to the mailbox, see here:


For length of pipe between mailbox and cooker that is up to you and what you plan to do.  Some guys want as long of a pipe as makes sense to avoid adding heat from the AMNPSI wanted as simple and as streamlined of a setup as I could make. 

I personally did  not care about any additional heat (if any) being added by my AMNPS because I feel I can deal with it easily and living in TX I will have ambient temps over 90 degrees for most of the year so handling the added heat from the AMNPS (again if any) would/should be resolved when I handle the heat from it just being plain hot all year.  This also only an issue when doing cold/colder smokes.

I wont be able to show pictures of my setup until I get back to my MES this weekend but what I did was use a rectangular / square / flat wall hanging mailbox and attach the joint directly to the mailbox.  I bought two strong magnets and placed them on the side of the mailbox as the mechanism that would hold the mailbox to my MES.  I then just plugged the whole unit into the chip loader hole and viola, I was done.

It works as once piece.  It can be easily removed or re-added.  It is compact, simple, elegant, and streamlined.  Should I ever need a longer hose I will just add a longer hose.

Having done two smokes with it and having no real issues I think I have hit a homerun but I still need to get another handful of smokes done with including a multi row AMNPS smoke.  All of mine have been single row and just a slight turn from the first row to the second row of the AMNPS.

To give you an idea of what I did I basically merged the two ideas below and used magnets to hold the mailbox to my MES. 

I can open my MES door 90 degrees and not disturb the mailbox mod when the mailbox front door is closed. 

My mailbox mod does not touch the ground at all and is secure.

I can remove or re-add my mailbox mod in under 10 seconds.

I can always add a hose to my design later if needed but I doubt I will at this point.

I can always open the mailbox door a little or a lot for more air, I drilled three 3/8" holes in the door but I don't think they are needed.

The only quirk I see so far is that I need to start the AMNPS flame and starter burn OUTSIDE the mailbox as there is very little room above the AMNPS when in the mailbox and the flame just burns directly against the top of the mailbox and can snuff out more easily than I like.  Solution, just start it out side the box for the 10 min, blow out and then add to the box... done!

I hope this info helps you with your mailbox mod ideas :)

Flat Box Mod from DA MAXX


Elbow Joint Directly between MES and Mailbox by DDW44 (imagine this to the flat mailbox in the image above and the flat mailbox flush to the MES so that the MES door can open 90 degrees and the flat mailbox does not go below the bottom of the MES to get anywhere near contacting the ground)

I'm going to use the long pipe set up between mail box and MES, I want really light and cold smoke.  Also, I think it was Bear who noted that with the long pipe a lot of the creosote/heavy particles cling to cold tube and this gives a clear smoke.
 
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Sorry for delay, I was pondering, temp got to 31F, internal was 100F, vent was wide open.
That kind of really cold weather inhibits airflow inside a MES. Also I think 100°F is a little high for cold smoking. But I've had the internal temp up to 130 to almost 150° since I would turn on the heating element for short periods of time to try to get oxygen flowing inside the smoker. Those temps were way too high but I couldn't help it. Another reason why I don't cold smoke in cold weather like that is the poor circulation in my hands makes it feel like I'm getting frostbite. And the rest of my body just thinks it's too cold.

But as I think I've written before, my next cold smoke will use Dust which is supposed to do better at cold temps than pellets.
 
That kind of really cold weather inhibits airflow inside a MES. Also I think 100°F is a little high for cold smoking. But I've had the internal temp up to 130 to almost 150° since I would turn on the heating element for short periods of time to try to get oxygen flowing inside the smoker. Those temps were way too high but I couldn't help it. Another reason why I don't cold smoke in cold weather like that is the poor circulation in my hands makes it feel like I'm getting frostbite. And the rest of my body just thinks it's too cold.

But as I think I've written before, my next cold smoke will use Dust which is supposed to do better at cold temps than pellets.

Doing another batch right now, cooker is running good, not getting the smoke I want by running at 170, but should be enough, internal is 151, got my cold water ready. Gotta stay patient! Get smoke leather work gloves might help those hands.
 
Doing another batch right now, cooker is running good, not getting the smoke I want by running at 170, but should be enough, internal is 151, got my cold water ready. Gotta stay patient! Get smoke leather work gloves might help those hands.
Internal temp of smoker is 151°? I've also used jugs of frozen water to try to keep the temp down but the ice thaws fairly quickly and is rendered useless. As for gloves, I have a pair of suede gloves for my grill and I use silicone clothes for hot smokes. My problem with gloves for cold smokes is that it's harder to manipulate cheeses and also thinly-sliced meats when making beef jerky. I use the silicone gloves also for taking the AMNPS out of the smoker when the pellets have to be re-fired.
 
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I had issues with them going out also had this style made for me seams to be working great in multiple types of cooker. I will be testing a variable speed convection fan option for these units stay tuned.[ATTACHMENT=3133]IMG_3414.JPG (4,794k. JPG file)[/ATTACHMENT]
 
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