MES Mailbox Mod! for use with AMNPS

[martcrna10]

The SS Scitch-Brite pad definitely works. Here's a pic of it after smoking for 6 hours on Sunday. Cleaned right up with Purple Power and hot water.

 

[johnmeyer]

You might try two of them next time. I haven't done this yet, but it would be interesting to see how much gunk gets picked up by the filter furthest from the smoke source.

 

[martcrna10]

You might try two of them next time. I haven't done this yet, but it would be interesting to see how much gunk gets picked up by the filter furthest from the smoke source.

I'll definitely give that a try. I believe I can fit the other two in the reducer between my smoke generator and the dryer tube leading to the MES.

 

[BuckeyeSteve]

Hi Folks, I'm Steve.

I bought the AMNPS and put it in my MES. The results were far from amazing. So I decided to build John's popcorn can modification. I added a gas vent roof cap for two reasons. I thought it would help prevent raw smoke from going straight into the duct. It also made the installation very easy. No cutting and bending tabs. Just poke it through the hole, slide the elbow over it and secure with a couple of screws.

Here it is after a 2 1/2 hour test run.

Here's a stand I made to elevate the pellet smoker.

I was wanting to test it for 4 hours but got rained out. Overall, I am very happy with this modification. Shortly after lighting it I noticed the amount of smoke increasing, so I covered one of the air holes with a refrigerator magnet, and was able to achieve blue smoke throughout the test without touching it.

The only issue I’m having is the glass was covered with the sticky brown substance you see in the roof cap picture. What is this, and what can I do to reduce it? I bought the SS Scotch Brite, but after several soaks in Dawn I couldn't get all of the oil out of them. What are you cleaning them with?

I’m using the CookinPellets Perfect Mix.

 

[chopsaw]

That weather cap is an interesting idea . I wonder how crushed charcoal wrapped in cheese cloth would work in there .

 

[johnmeyer]

The inside of the smoker is going to get coated with smoke residue because that is what smoke does. However, you should no longer get really thick, shiny, pure-black substance inside your smoker. Instead, that gunk should be all over the inside of your can and in the long tube leading to the MES.

The one surprise to me, in looking at the picture of the inside of your can after your test smoke, is that the residue there looked brown instead of black, and that after several hours you didn't have more of it. If you look at the pictures I posted in my popcorn mod thread (one of which I have included below), the lid usually gets completely coated in thick black creosote after only a few hours of smoking. By contrast, the inside of my smoker just has a coating of light brown, which is what you want. You can just leave that alone after each smoke, or you can wipe it off with any good degreaser. If you have a glass door, a little isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol) does a great job removing that in a flash, and leaving it streak-free.

For me, once I got rid of all the creosote that had built up in my smoker before I started always using the "mod," I never bothered to clean it much because that old creosote was no longer finding its way onto the food, so I ceased to have the taste problems that plagued all my earlier smokes using the MES chip loader, or even when using the AMNPS inside the MES, without the mailbox/popcorn mod.

After_zpsgekclsoz.jpg

• johnmeyer
• Apr 2, 2017

 

[BuckeyeSteve]

John. The duct is clean as well as the inside of the can. Only the lid got covered by the brown goo. The bottom of the water pan and the glass was also covered. The exhaust on the smoker is black, but I think it's from when I put the AMNPS inside the smoker and had a lot of white smoke.

Do you think it could be the pellets I'm using?

 

[martcrna10]

I bought the SS Scotch Brite, but after several soaks in Dawn I couldn't get all of the oil out of them. What are you cleaning them with?

Hey Steve,
I use Purple Power degreaser and hot water to clean the SS Scotch-Brite. I just spray it down so it's soaked, massage it throughout the pad and then rinse thoroughly with hot water. Takes about 5 minutes. I do the same thing after each use to clean it.

 

[BuckeyeSteve]

Hey Steve,
I use Purple Power degreaser and hot water to clean the SS Scotch-Brite. I just spray it down so it's soaked, massage it throughout the pad and then rinse thoroughly with hot water. Takes about 5 minutes. I do the same thing after each use to clean it.

Thanks. I'll have to get some of that.

 

[chopsaw]

You must have good pellets and great air flow . Have you cooked in it yet ?

 

[BuckeyeSteve]

You must have good pellets and great air flow . Have you cooked in it yet ?

No. I was going to smoke some chicken last night but got rained out. Forecast looks good Wednesday. Probably try it then.

 

[johnmeyer]

John. The duct is clean as well as the inside of the can. Only the lid got covered by the brown goo. The bottom of the water pan and the glass was also covered. The exhaust on the smoker is black, but I think it's from when I put the AMNPS inside the smoker and had a lot of white smoke.

Do you think it could be the pellets I'm using?

I don't know anything about Cookinpellets. I've only use Todd's pellets and dust, and have tried about eight different types.

I did look at the Amazon reviews for the Cookinpellets, and if you search on "A-Maz-N" you'll find quite a few people that use them with the AMNPS, and all of them reports good results.

 

[Bearcarver]

Hi Folks, I'm Steve.
The only issue I’m having is the glass was covered with the sticky brown substance you see in the roof cap picture. What is this, and what can I do to reduce it? I bought the SS Scotch Brite, but after several soaks in Dawn I couldn't get all of the oil out of them. What are you cleaning them with?

I’m using the CookinPellets Perfect Mix.

I usually use something called "Awesome", and it really is Awesome. I tried alcohol & it didn't work worth a hoot.

However you can clean the glass real easy without any chemicals, like in the below Link:
Cleaning MES Window without chemicals


Bear

 

[BuckeyeSteve]

Just did my first cook with the popcorn tin mod. It was a huge success. Achieved TBS throughout the entire two hour smoke. Hands down the best food I’ve made on this smoker. The chicken was juicy, and the smoke penetrated the skin on the chicken and gave it an amazing taste with absolutely no off flavors. The zucchini absorbed the smoke flavor and the corn was cooked well.

I put a ss scrubber in the flexible pipe just before the elbow going into the smoker. I thought that may restrict the airflow enough to condense the creosote in the pipe. Nope. Everything came out clean including the scrubber. Looked just like before I put it in.

Can't wait to smoke babyback ribs this weekend.

 

[johnmeyer]

Great looking food! Glad it's all working for you.

 

[mikedaub]

Looking good.. You might have just motivated me to do a little experiment this weekend and make my own...

 

[BuckeyeSteve]

Looking good.. You might have just motivated me to do a little experiment this weekend and make my own...

You should, you won’t be disappointed. Let us know how it went.

 

[gregers05]

Does anybody else have issues keeping the smoke flowing in the right direction when cold smoking? I did my first cold smoke on cheese earlier this week and noticed a few times where the smoke was not coming out of the MES but coming out of the air holes in the mailbox. I had to turn the MES on for a minute or so to get the draft back. That however, obviously raised the temps too much for my liking. I also had a foil tray filled with ice to keep temps down in the MES.

Any ideas what can be done to keep the draft going without the MES being turned on? I have thought about a computer fan in the Inlet or Outlet of the MES to help pull air, but wondering what other ideas there may be?

 

[daveomak]

The cheese and the smoker itself need to be above ambient temperature... If not, you are creating a "cold air dam"...
I have had the smoke and air reverse flow when I put in cold bellies....
The cold air is heavier than the outside warm air... that's why the smoke and air flow backwards...

 

[Bearcarver]

Does anybody else have issues keeping the smoke flowing in the right direction when cold smoking? I did my first cold smoke on cheese earlier this week and noticed a few times where the smoke was not coming out of the MES but coming out of the air holes in the mailbox. I had to turn the MES on for a minute or so to get the draft back. That however, obviously raised the temps too much for my liking. I also had a foil tray filled with ice to keep temps down in the MES.

Any ideas what can be done to keep the draft going without the MES being turned on? I have thought about a computer fan in the Inlet or Outlet of the MES to help pull air, but wondering what other ideas there may be?

Note: Putting ice in the pan creates much too much Humidity in an MES.

Freeze water in a Jug or two. Then put in MES instead of Loose Ice, like in the Pic below:
Gives you the Cold, without the unwanted extra Humidity: