Masterbuilt smoker vent position?

[daricksta]

 
For some people maybe, but not foe me. All I ever use any more is Hickory---For all meats!!

Bear

For some people maybe, but not foe me. All I ever use any more is Hickory---For all meats!! Oh, Bear! That's like being an artist but only painting with yellow. Granted there aren't as many wood pellet flavors to be found as in a painter's palette but you can create all kinds of flavor profiles by using different woods or even a mix of a couple of woods. I smoked a tri-tip roast a couple of weeks ago and used mesquite pellets when Jeff Phillips suggested hickory or oak because I wanted a particular smoky flavor--like it had been grilled over mesquite. It worked.

 

[jted]

 
Good question Gary---That's the important part---Getting back up.

It would be my guess after smoking at 250° for 4 hours, then dropping to 215°, it would take about 3 to 5 minutes to get back to 250°.

How about it Jted???

Bear

My MES 30 only gained 3 or 4 degrees per minute  so a recovery of say a good 10 minutes. When I had a stick burner (off set) the recovery time was faster but then I just opened the vent if I wanted more heat.  Jted

 

[Bearcarver]

 
For some people maybe, but not for me. All I ever use any more is Hickory---For all meats!! Oh, Bear! That's like being an artist but only painting with yellow. Granted there aren't as many wood pellet flavors to be found as in a painter's palette but you can create all kinds of flavor profiles by using different woods or even a mix of a couple of woods. I smoked a tri-tip roast a couple of weeks ago and used mesquite pellets when Jeff Phillips suggested hickory or oak because I wanted a particular smoky flavor--like it had been grilled over mesquite. It worked.

Yeah---I know----But every now & then I try a couple others, but end up back at Hickory. I guess I would have gotten along with Andy Jackson real good!!!

Bear

 
My MES 30 only gained 3 or 4 degrees per minute  so a recovery of say a good 10 minutes. When I had a stick burner (off set) the recovery time was faster but then I just opened the vent if I wanted more heat.  Jted

Hmm---That's pretty long. I'm sure it's longer when the big hunk of meat is cold too. I would do more like I said above---Take Pics before & After. Don't Spritz or Mop. And maybe look into some sand in the water pan, covered with foil. That would shorten the recovery time.

Bear

 

[daricksta]

 
Yeah---I know----But every now & then I try a couple others, but end up back at Hickory. I guess I would have gotten along with Andy Jackson real good!!!

Bear

Hmm---That's pretty long. I'm sure it's longer when the big hunk of meat is cold too. I would do more like I said above---Take Pics before & After. Don't Spritz or Mop. And maybe look into some sand in the water pan, covered with foil. That would shorten the recovery time.

Bear

Truth be told, I'd say my favorite smoking wood is hickory because, like it is for you, it's my favorite flavor. My favorite smoking wood to smell is oak. I've got a neighbor who I think is into smoking because I smell the oak smoke throughout the summer. It always upsets me when I smell his smoke instead of him smelling mine!

When I open the door of my MES 30 during a smoke the temp can drop up to 40° if I leave it open for about a minute (depending on what I'm doing). Recovery time can take up to 15-20 minutes which is why I do my best to limit when I need to open the door. However, over the term of a 3-6 hour smoke, I consider the recovery time negligible. During a stall period the door remains closed until the meat's moved past it.

 

[five string]

Bearcarver:

That link doesn't work...says page not found. They give you instructions that don't work either to get to the video. I've searched the site and can't find the video you are referring to.

Five String

 

[five string]

Disregard my post re: video link....for some reason it posted here....sorry

Five String

 

[greywolf1]

 
Yeah---I know----But every now & then I try a couple others, but end up back at Hickory. I guess I would have gotten along with Andy Jackson real good!!!

Bear

Hmm---That's pretty long. I'm sure it's longer when the big hunk of meat is cold too. I would do more like I said above---Take Pics before & After. Don't Spritz or Mop. And maybe look into some sand in the water pan, covered with foil. That would shorten the recovery time.

Bear

I like the idea of the sand in the water pan Bear , but I have a buddy that has a fireplace built of field stones and they retain the heat for a very long time . I was thinking of experimenting with polished stones , less chance of a dust storm on a windy day . I'll post the results on my findings

 

[Bearcarver]

Good idea!!

I w wouldn't worry about sand blowing around if it's covered with foil.

However I never put anything in my water pan---I just keep the door closed, as I explained above.

The reason I have never put anything in my pan is I don't want it to take forever to heat the sand, bricks, or stones at start-up, especially during the Winter.

Bear

 

[bmaddox]

 
-I just keep the door closed

And this is why I love the window. With the window to visually inspect the progress, my AMNPS in a mailbox mod, and my Maverick probes I can go all day without having to open the smoker door once. After a few hours of cooking my MES starts to hold it temps really well. As soon as I open the door the temp swings come back. I guess sand in the water pan would help that but I open the door so infrequently it is a non issue for me.

 

[philliro]

I have had my 30" Masterbuilt for about a year and with several slabs of practice I am now making very good ribs consistently. I too was uncertain about the venting but here is what I generally do. I generally open the vent all the way until I see smoke start to appear. I think it helps to get the wood chips smoldering - then after smoke appears I close it to about 1/4 of the way open. From that point I just leave it.

I have tried both wrapping and not wrapping, and overall I think its well worth the trouble to wrap. The 3-2-1 methodworks fine but lately I have been happier with 3-2.5-.5; (that's 3 hours of smoke, 2.5 hours wrapped in foil with just good sprtiz of apple juice on the bottom of the foil, and then half and hour unwrapped to set a sauce glaze, and add a last touch of smoke.

Keep practicing. You can almost eat your experiments!

Bob P

 

[Bearcarver]

 
And this is why I love the window. With the window to visually inspect the progress, my AMNPS in a mailbox mod, and my Maverick probes I can go all day without having to open the smoker door once. After a few hours of cooking my MES starts to hold it temps really well. As soon as I open the door the temp swings come back. I guess sand in the water pan would help that but I open the door so infrequently it is a non issue for me.

 

[daricksta]

That's what I like about the 3-2-1 method: it's not set in stone. I always do variations of it if I've forgotten to foil or unfoil it the ribs on time. The method still works.

 

[greywolf1]

I smoked pork loin steaks last night with the vent closed for the first time , ( not the first time for the steaks but the first time with the vent closed) I am now using wood bits not wood chips , they seem to work great even at 190 in my MES , what I did find was the flavor was a little stronger which I don't mind but the wife did (happy wife happy life) .Other then that , the wood bits smoldered just fine , I got the hickory flavor but I will go back to 1/3 open  just to keep all happy in the house hold

 

[daricksta]

 
I like the idea of the sand in the water pan Bear , but I have a buddy that has a fireplace built of field stones and they retain the heat for a very long time . I was thinking of experimenting with polished stones , less chance of a dust storm on a windy day . I'll post the results on my findings

I tried filling the water pan with sand once--once. Now, I lift my MES 30 Gen 1 onto a small card table which I use for a stand. After I finish smoking and everything is cooled down I lower it back down onto a small hand truck where I secure it with bungee cords and wheel it into my garage. Well, the next time I took the smoker out and opened the door I saw all this damp sand piled up along the back wall of the smoker. I had thought the foil over the water pan would keep the sand in but I was woefully wrong. After spending about 30 minutes or so scraping and wiping and cleaning every bit of wet sand I could reach I decided no more sand for the water pan.

I keep it empty and foiled over. As a heat sink, there's been no difference in temperature stabilization between using a full or empty water pan. The primary function of the water pan, for me, is to catch drippings in the foil cover.

 

[mummel]

At the risk of skipping through 18 pages, in short, vent wide open and loader pulled out 2 inches in the dump position for the AMPS to work?

 

[bmaddox]

 
At the risk of skipping through 18 pages, in short, vent wide open and loader pulled out 2 inches in the dump position for the AMPS to work?

It depends on the unit. Every unit works differently based on location, elevation, temperature, etc. You will just have to use it and see how it goes. 

 

[mummel]

Im at sea level so I guess thats a plus.  My hope would be to close the vent as much as possible to use less energy but not to a point where I get creosote.  How will I know it's forming before its too late?

 

[bmaddox]

 
Im at sea level so I guess thats a plus.  My hope would be to close the vent as much as possible to use less energy but not to a point where I get creosote.  How will I know it's forming before its too late?

I would guess that the amount of energy conserved by closing the vent is virtually un-measurable. You are talking about the difference between 1 square inch when it is open or 1/4 square inch when it is "closed" (mine does not close completely). The 2.5 might have a larger vent but it is still a small area and a small amount of air flow. 

 

[foamheart]

The vent position is more a personal prefrence than a requirement of any position. Using an AMPs, I normally preheat to 275 with the vent closed. Then just before adding the AMPs to the smoking chamber I open the vent 100% to insure a good draft thru the chamber. 30 mins. later I will come back and regulate the vent for two reasons, it does allow less work by the heating element, thereby smoking with less heat, less smoke required, less chance of too much smoke. Too much smoke causes an incomplete burn and forms cresote.  Stale air does not do it, incomplete combustion does.

Also as almost quickly skipped over above, regulating air flow also allows both a longer smoke from the AMPs as well as requiring less to be needed. I have gotten 18 to 20 hours smoke from my AMPs by regulation. With 100% vent I believe its 12 hours?

Vent open, vent regulated, vent shut, all when done properly will produce quality smoke. You just have to learn how to do each correctly.

There is no right or wrong, only what you decide is right for you. Easiest is vent full open, less chance of mistakes or needing to figure out how to regulate. Completely closed off is also easy, if you have the patience to learn. Regulated is the best of both worlds.

 

[daricksta]

 
At the risk of skipping through 18 pages, in short, vent wide open and loader pulled out 2 inches in the dump position for the AMPS to work?

That's what Todd has recommended for the Gen 2. Not necessary for the Gen 1 and I'm not sure about the 2.5. I always recommend doing the minimum. Try it with the loader all the way in and see if there's adequate airflow. If the AMNPS snuffs itself out then try pulling out the loader. The few times I tried pulling the loader out a couple of inches I left it fill side up.