Get from todd http://www.amazenproducts.com/category_s/62.htm all over the forums people swear by them and te prices are marked pretty low right nowI finally bit the bullet and did the mailbox mod for my MES 30. Worked wonderfully but I still haven't found a good pellet to use.
Did not bother with the oversized flex hose. Bought two adjustable 3" elbows.
Yes, get Todd's pellets. Some people compare his prices to pellets you can get at Home Depot. My advice? Don't obsess about the price. Why? Because when used in a smoking tray, as opposed to a Traeger pellet grill, you only use a handful with each smoke. The price is pennies for each smoke. What matters is the quality of that smoke, and Todd's pellets are the best, hands down.
Yes, get Todd's pellets. Some people compare his prices to pellets you can get at Home Depot. My advice? Don't obsess about the price. Why? Because when used in a smoking tray, as opposed to a Traeger pellet grill, you only use a handful with each smoke. The price is pennies for each smoke. What matters is the quality of that smoke, and Todd's pellets are the best, hands down.
I like it because it is food-grade tin, whereas mailboxes are often made of materials that are not completely food friendly. It is also cheaper. This one was left over from popcorn I received as a gift, so it was free. Even if you buy them at the source I cited, it is only $14. It's hard to find a metal mailbox for that price.
99% certain it is a 3.5 gallon. At least that is what I said a year ago where I provided a link to a place that sells the tins:Do you happen to know what size your popcorn tin is? 3.5 gallon, 1gallon?
I clean mine after each use in order to increase the efficiency of condensing the creosote, and to avoid the sort of situation you describe. I clean mine in my ultrasonic cleaner, but now that I have some "Purple Power" (after someone recommended it in these forums) I'm pretty sure one could just spray that on the inside surfaces, let it sit for five minutes, and then rinse it off with really hot water. So, you don't need the fancy machine to do the job.After three years of the mailbox mod I noticed the center row of the Amnps had hardened drips in it. I usually use one row and the first corner on shorter smokes so the middle row is empty. Creosote tar stalactites formed on the ceiling of the mailbox that harden in between smokes that I knocked off with a grill scraper. The entire inside of the mailbox is coated with a creosote shell like an M&M that I left alone. You may want to periodically inspect the roof of your mailbox.