Masterbuilt MPS 230S

[tareed94]

Bought this thing cheap from Lowe's as "damaged" because it was missing the knob. Bought a new knob after not hearing from Masterbuilt for a few days, but they shipped me one about 2 weeks later for free. So I've got a large chrome knob on it for now.

I followed the season procedure in the manual and believe I used Hickory chips to season it. Jumped in and tried to do ribs for my first cook in about 4 hours from some recipe I found online... Obviously, that did not work out well. The temp was high enough the fat never fully rendered and it didn't get tender. They had the consistency of beef jerky.

Fast forward a couple months to last weekend. Smoked a brisket (bought the smallest I could find from HEB and then cut it in half so if it came out bad it wasn't TOO expensive) for about 12.5 hours at 250 with a mixture of Mesquite and Apple chips. I'll be switching to either an AMNPS or wood chunks once these are gone, although wrapping them in foil with some holes worked pretty well to keep them from just burning away with the propane fire. Brisket came out pretty good, especially for my first real smoke. Had a nice ring, decent bark, and was very moist. Smoked unwrapped for about 11 hours, then wrapped in pink butcher paper for about an hour and a half until it got to 200* IT.

I've got a gasket kit on the way from BBQ Smoker Supply which will be here on Friday, and a 6-Probe InkBird thermometer that will be here on Thursday. Excited to learn what other mods could help me get a better smoke, and experiment with different things. I was impressed with how well this unit holds heat and can adjust heat (according to door thermometer) in stock form. Biggest thing I'm trying to discern at this time is why use the AMNPS instead of wood chunks, and how I would effectively implement the AMNPS in my smoker.

 

[fivetricks]

If I'm not mistaken, you'll actually want to select the AMNTS (Tube smoker) rather than the "P" (pellet smoker) this is do to lower availability of oxygen within a propane smoker.

The short answer as to why you need one is simple. Several hours of no maintenance, uninterrupted, predictable, thin blue smoke.

You don't know how valuable that is until you chase your tail trying to produce it lol

 

[tareed94]

If I'm not mistaken, you'll actually want to select the AMNTS (Tube smoker) rather than the "P" (pellet smoker) this is do to lower availability of oxygen within a propane smoker.

The short answer as to why you need one is simple. Several hours of no maintenance, uninterrupted, predictable, thin blue smoke.

You don't know how valuable that is until you chase your tail trying to produce it lol

See, right there is something I wouldn’t have known. Lol. Where would be best to put the tube? Oh believe me, that brisket I did I was wrapping chips at least once every two hours to stick down there to keep that thin smoke. One time grease dripped in a hole and set the little pack on fire and raised my temp up to 350. I had ran to the store to get a lawn mower (mine died) and when I came home there was a lot of smoke and the temp was way up.

 

[solman]

a lot of people put a cast iron skillet over the propane flame as a wood chunk holder. i took the stainless steel wood chip holder that came with my masterbuilt propane smoker, and used a wok rack as a new base so the chip holder sits closer to the burner. it does an awesome job at smoldering wood chunks since the holder gets hot enough to ignite the wood.

i have a pellet tube too, but wouldn't use it in my propane smoker. for one thing, i can never get it to produce thin blue smoke, it's always heavy white smoke. and i could never get it to produce noticeable smoke flavor either. wood chunks may take some work to baby sit, having to put a new chunk on every so often, but you also don't need smoke for the entire cook time either.

 

[tareed94]

a lot of people put a cast iron skillet over the propane flame as a wood chunk holder. i took the stainless steel wood chip holder that came with my masterbuilt propane smoker, and used a wok rack as a new base so the chip holder sits closer to the burner. it does an awesome job at smoldering wood chunks since the holder gets hot enough to ignite the wood.

i have a pellet tube too, but wouldn't use it in my propane smoker. for one thing, i can never get it to produce thin blue smoke, it's always heavy white smoke. and i could never get it to produce noticeable smoke flavor either. wood chunks may take some work to baby sit, having to put a new chunk on every so often, but you also don't need smoke for the entire cook time either.

I've seen the cast iron skillet mentioned and was leaning towards that route. I've got some wood hanging out that I'll need to use as chunks (good bit of fig and oak) so I'd need the cast iron route. I may go with a pellet tray or tube later in some kind of configuration whether it's the mailbox mod or adding a tray holder under the burner like I've seen somewhere on here.

For the tube, I saw a video of a guy that microwaved the pellets for like 5 minutes to get the moisture out. That may help you get a better smoke so the pellets aren't as wet, since pellets like to pull moisture from the air.

 

[solman]

if you look at youtube videos of pellet tubes or trays producing smoke, you'll see almost all of them producing pretty heavy white smoke. a lot of people here love their pellets, so i may be the only oddball one that doesn't think they're that great. people microwave their pellets to help get it lit, not sure it can help get better smoke. whichever way you go, hope you post up and let us know how it all works out.

 

[tareed94]

I'll probably pick up a cast iron skillet this weekend for the smoker (I've got one I use a ton in the house, literally never leaves the stovetop) and go after that point I left in the freezer from the brisket I did. I've gotta help a family member tow a car though, so I may not have time to babysit a smoker.

 

[solman]

i tried an iron skillet too but could never get it hot enough to ignite wood chunks when i wanted the smoker around 225F. if you encounter the same thing, don't give up on the idea of wood chunks, just find a thinner material. i used the metal chip tray that came with my smoker, ditched the "heat diffuser" and put it about 2" directly over the burner. even at 225F, that metal tray gets so hot it'll ignite any wood chunk i put in there.

 

[tareed94]

i tried an iron skillet too but could never get it hot enough to ignite wood chunks when i wanted the smoker around 225F. if you encounter the same thing, don't give up on the idea of wood chunks, just find a thinner material. i used the metal chip tray that came with my smoker, ditched the "heat diffuser" and put it about 2" directly over the burner. even at 225F, that metal tray gets so hot it'll ignite any wood chunk i put in there.

Maybe I'll go with a cake pan (not a non-stick one) because they're thin enough. On mine, the chip tray is the same as the heat diffuser. It's really dumb because if the flame kicks up, it lights your chips on fire and burns them off in a cloud of white smoke. Masterbuilt also specifically says not to use chunks, for whatever reason.

 

[tareed94]

I bought an aluminum sheet pan which is working fantastic for keeping the chunks from catching fire. I wrap it with foil before use so it is easy to clean up.

I just ordered a new regulator with a stainless braided hose that has a needle valve built in as I wasn't having much luck finding one online separately for some reason. This is the one I bought that will be here tomorrow. Just in time for a Labor Day brisket. Bayou Classic M5HPR-1 10 PSI Hose/Regulator Valve Assembly, for some reason I can't get a hyperlink to work.

 

[tareed94]

Got it to work, I threw a random space in there but it still links to the correct space.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009JXYSM/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc= 1

 

[solman]

The masterbuilt propane smoker burner is a low pressure burner under 1psi. The bayou classic that you bought is a high pressure regulator. It'll work but don't expect the built in needle valve to give you that much fine control.

 

[tareed94]

The masterbuilt propane smoker burner is a low pressure burner under 1psi. The bayou classic that you bought is a high pressure regulator. It'll work but don't expect the built in needle valve to give you that much fine control.

Well... that's unfortunate... Any recommendations for a needle valve? All I can find online is compression fit needle valves, but it seems like I'd need a flared one.

I wonder if I can swap the regulator from the MB hose to the BC hose. Hmmmm... I'll have to see when it comes in today.

 

[solman]

I use this from Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016IZZZU/?tag=smokingmeatforums-20

 

[tareed94]

I use this from Amazon,

I wasn't sure if that one would work. I pulled the 10psi regulator off last night. I'll remove the hose from the bottom of my MPS, screw it into the needle valve that previously had the BC regulator, then screw the stainless hose into the smoker. To keep the valve off the ground I'll wrap the stainless hose up the side of the smoker and use the side handle to hold the needle valve off the ground.

 

[SouthernSmoked]

If you have a "heat diffuser pan" as stated above, which is slotted, and sits
just above the burner spread some lava rocks on the bottom and stack some
above the slots (one layer high all around is fine).

Fire up the rig to high. After a few minutes you'll hear a popping noise, that's the rocks cracking and/or splitting. When the popping stops, turn off and let rig cool, replace any rocks that popped off the pan. (They won't pop any more after this, at least mine didn't.)

Now your ready to smoke. The rocks help even more to diffuse the heat. They will also catch a lot of ash (from your wood chunks) keeping the ash from falling down on your burner. (Reason for placing rocks over the slots)

To clean lava rocks after your smoke, remove pan, set it on the ground (away from anything you don't want to get ash on), use your grass blower on low and while standing several feet away blow the ash out. Stand away and work closer so you won't blast the rocks all over the yard. (I use a drip pan positioned above the diffuser pan, so I don't get and drippings on the rocks, which makes blowing everything clean a breeze. PUN INTENDED)
If you don't use a drip pan, just flip the rocks before your next smoke.
Drippings will burn off in no time.

I got this mod from somewhere on this forum a few months ago and it has
worked very well for me. Lava Rocks at Home Depot, Lowe's, etc. and last
forever.