New MES Bluetooth Digital smoker

[bionicbeast]

Hmm, thats what I always had thought a smoker was for, to leave the smoke on there the whole time lol. But when i saw that 6 hours wasnt usually needed I wasnt sure. Maybe he meant it takes less than 6 hours to cook most meats? I'll primarily be doing beef and chicken.

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Hmm, thats what I always had thought a smoker was for, to leave the smoke on there the whole time lol. But when i saw that 6 hours wasnt usually needed I wasnt sure. Maybe he meant it takes less than 6 hours to cook most meats? I'll primarily be doing beef and chicken.

Yup---Depends on what you're smoking & how you lay the smoke on.

Many, many hours of light smoke is a good thing, but even a short time of heavy smoke can be a bad thing.

My Ribs usually get at least 2 or 3 hours of smoke before foiling.

Those who don't foil might put 5 or 6 hours of smoke on their Ribs.

My Butts usually get about 6 or 7 hours of smoke before foiling.

My Bacon gets about 10 hours of smoke. Those who cold smoke Bacon might give it 20 to 40 hours of smoke.

Bear

 

[bionicbeast]

And the foiling, if I remember correctly, is where you add some sort of baste/flavor sometimes and then foil it for the last hour or so to get it really moist and cooked through properly?

 

[Bearcarver]

 
And the foiling, if I remember correctly, is where you add some sort of baste/flavor sometimes and then foil it for the last hour or so to get it really moist and cooked through properly?

All the meats are different, but yes when I foil Butts, Ribs, Chuckies, and such, I add some type of liquids to it, but that's up to you if you want to do that.

My Step by Steps (Below) tell if & when I do those things, but that's just me.

BTW: Since you are new here, you should stop by "Roll Call", and introduce yourself so you can be Welcomed Properly.  

Bear

 

[bionicbeast]

Ya I have those bookmarked, they are very well done. I'm super excited to go buy my smoker later this week. Gonna do the Gen 2.5 based off of your intense research on all the different models. Was almost the "Proud" owner of a Gen 2 before I read that post you made, so thanks a bunch!

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Ya I have those bookmarked, they are very well done. I'm super excited to go buy my smoker laster this week. Gonna do the Gen 2.5 based off of your intense research on all the different models. Was almost the "Proud" owner of a Gen 2 before I read that post you made, so thanks a bunch!

That's Great !!

I usually get a Headache when I try to help Gen #2 owners.

I love my 2.5.

Bear

 

[bionicbeast]

So what are you thoughts on this AMPS vs Cold Smoker issue? To me they seem to have the same purpose, but the cold smoker seems to be just a little bit less of a hassle, which I was thinking would be nice for a newbie.

 

[smokingearl]

I use the amps. Will smoke for 11 hours without having to baby sit it. I do a lot of brisket and pulled pork so the Amps is my best friend. It's not hard to learn to use at all. I always thought I'd get the cold smoker attachment when I could afford it, but now I don't see any reason I need it.

 

[Bearcarver]

 
So what are you thoughts on this AMPS vs Cold Smoker issue? To me they seem to have the same purpose, but the cold smoker seems to be just a little bit less of a hassle, which I was thinking would be nice for a newbie.

Personally I would think the AMNPS would be less hassle, but I've been using the AMNS and the AMNPS for near 7 years now.

All I do is keep my pellets Dry, load as many pellets I want to use, light it properly, and put it in my Smoker. It gives me Perfect smoke for up to 11 straight hours, without touching it.

I don't have to connect it to the MES & disconnect it to put my cover on.

I never have to clean it, other than tapping it on my Galvanized Ash Can, when I empty it.

My AMNPS never jams on me.

I can stop it any time I want & save the unburned Pellets for next time.

Also my MES doesn't have to share my GFI outlet with anything.

Bear

 

[bionicbeast]

Hmm, some valid points. I think the main one that would matter for me is the cover part. But otherwise i think the cold smoker shares many of the other aspects, like easy loading just dump chips in and then ash tray gets cleaned out after. And no need for external heat from the torch (which is kind of intimidating for an entry level pyromaniac lol).

Lets say i did get the AMNPS over the cold smoker, I live in Arizona so its always hot and dry. I saw some guy microwaving his pellets to get them dry before lighting them on fire. Would that be necessary for me? And his whole process took the span of an 11 minute video, so maybe thats why i was turned off by the seemingly simply load the cod smoker and flip the switch. Plus if you need to turn off your smoke, wouldnt you need to open the door and release heat by doing so with AMNPS (minus mailbox mod)?

 

[candurin]

It takes me less than 5 minutes to light my amps.

I load the pellets in the tray and leave them alone for an hour before smoking (my pellets are stored in a cool, dry area as is). Then I light them with my propane torch and let them stay ignited for a minute or two. Then blow out the flame and I'm ready to go.

If it is warm and sunny out, I'll just leave them in the tray on top of the smoker. You could also leave them unlit in the AMPS inside the smoker while you are preheating. That should get them plenty dry.

It really is akin to burning the large incense sticks (I miss my late teens and early 20's!). Once the smoke starts, I've never had an issue with it going out.

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Hmm, some valid points. I think the main one that would matter for me is the cover part. But otherwise i think the cold smoker shares many of the other aspects, like easy loading just dump chips in and then ash tray gets cleaned out after. And no need for external heat from the torch (which is kind of intimidating for an entry level pyromaniac lol).

Lets say i did get the AMNPS over the cold smoker, I live in Arizona so its always hot and dry. I saw some guy microwaving his pellets to get them dry before lighting them on fire. Would that be necessary for me? And his whole process took the span of an 11 minute video, so maybe thats why i was turned off by the seemingly simply load the cod smoker and flip the switch. Plus if you need to turn off your smoke, wouldnt you need to open the door and release heat by doing so with AMNPS (minus mailbox mod)?

I only stop the smoke after I'm done smoking, and if I want to stop the smoke & save pellets when I foil my meat, I have to open the door to foil it anyway, and taking the AMNPS out takes about 3 seconds.

I'll be posting a thing (Probably tomorrow) on keeping pellets dry, but I can tell you AZ is a lot Drier than PA, and I never had to Nuke any Pellets or Dust, or put them in an oven, and I never needed a Mailbox for anything other than my Residential Mail.

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with the MES Cold Smoker, other than the things I listed in the other post, but I have heard of some jam-ups. That could have been operator error.

I just never wanted the hassle of the Cold Smoker attachment or the Mailbox & piping that goes with it.

Also I don't really care what anybody uses, I only give my opinions so I don't feel bad when somebody buys the one thing, and then ends up getting what I suggested later.

Same thing with those who get the MES Gen #2, and then end up not liking it, and having to get the Gen #1 or the Gen #2.5 that I recommend.

Bear

 

[smokesontuesday]

 
So what are you thoughts on this AMPS vs Cold Smoker issue? To me they seem to have the same purpose, but the cold smoker seems to be just a little bit less of a hassle, which I was thinking would be nice for a newbie.

I have both and the Cold Smoker attachment is much less hassle for me. Like a few others I have trouble keeping the AMPS lit whereas the cold smoker is just a switch flip and 6-8 hours of clean smoke.

Fill the chimney, get it good and smoldering, then crack the ash drawer just a touch for air flow and turn off the heating element in the cold smoker. It will burn and smoke chips for hours. I've gotten 12 hours off a single chimney but it's usually closer to 7-8.

 

[Bearcarver]

 
I have both and the Cold Smoker attachment is much less hassle for me. Like a few others I have trouble keeping the AMPS lit whereas the cold smoker is just a switch flip and 6-8 hours of clean smoke.

Fill the chimney, get it good and smoldering, then crack the ash drawer just a touch for air flow and turn off the heating element in the cold smoker. It will burn and smoke chips for hours. I've gotten 12 hours off a single chimney but it's usually closer to 7-8.

You shouldn't have trouble with an AMNPS, at only about 800' Altitude, but it sounds like you're doing Great with the MES Cold Smoker. That's Great !!

Bear

 

[smokesontuesday]

 
You shouldn't have trouble with an AMNPS, at only about 800' Altitude, but it sounds like you're doing Great with the MES Cold Smoker. That's Great !!

Bear

I have trouble with it maybe 1 out of 5 times. The cold smoker is just as reliable as the MES itself though. It's almost too easy.

 

[Bearcarver]

 
I have trouble with it maybe 1 out of 5 times. The cold smoker is just as reliable as the MES itself though. It's almost too easy.

That works best for you, I'd use it too!!

Bear

 

[bionicbeast]

 
I have both and the Cold Smoker attachment is much less hassle for me. Like a few others I have trouble keeping the AMPS lit whereas the cold smoker is just a switch flip and 6-8 hours of clean smoke.

Fill the chimney, get it good and smoldering, then crack the ash drawer just a touch for air flow and turn off the heating element in the cold smoker. It will burn and smoke chips for hours. I've gotten 12 hours off a single chimney but it's usually closer to 7-8.

Thanks for that input! That's exactly what I was looking for. I had a co-worker who said pretty the same thing, so the confirmation is great. he was saying he leaves the power on the cold smoker on the whole time though. Is that necessary or just until you get it smoking and then can turn it off and crack the ash tray to get natural smoke without the heating element being necessary?

 

[smokesontuesday]

 
Thanks for that input! That's exactly what I was looking for. I had a co-worker who said pretty the same thing, so the confirmation is great. he was saying he leaves the power on the cold smoker on the whole time though. Is that necessary or just until you get it smoking and then can turn it off and crack the ash tray to get natural smoke without the heating element being necessary?

I used to leave the element on all the time because that's what the instructions say but I quit doing that about a year ago and started turning it off. I've had one smoke in a year (~100 smokes) that I had to go out and relight the chips with the element. I'm not sure what happened that day other than it was really windy and cold. Neither of those should affect the chimney I'd think but that was the only thing out of normal that day.

I'm not hating on the AMPS at all. I'll definitely attempt to use it to cold smoke in my Oklahoma Joe when I want to smoke a whole bunch of cheese this fall. I just prefer the Cold Smoker for the MES. 

 

[remsr]

Bear explained things very well 6 or 7 hours on large cuts of meat 2 or 3 on ribs, anything more is a waste, cold smoking is different in that we bubble smoke and often smoke with no heat at all for many hours. The cold smoker will give you more smoke in less time than the AMNPS, but will burn longer, the AMNPS does require a torch to fire it up so cost wise the price of either is close to the same.
Fomeheart will confirm that as he uses both. Bottom line is that you will like both for different reasons.
Randy,

 

[smokingearl]

Bear explained things very well 6 or 7 hours on large cuts of meat 2 or 3 on ribs, anything more is a waste, cold smoking is different in that we bubble smoke and often smoke with no heat at all for many hours. The cold smoker will give you more smoke in less time than the AMNPS, but will burn longer, the AMNPS does require a torch to fire it up so cost wise the price of either is close to the same.
Fomeheart will confirm that as he uses both. Bottom line is that you will like both for different reasons.
Randy,

Smoking for more than 6 hours is definately not a waste. I smoke my 16 hour butts and 22 hour briskets the whole time and they are definately more smokey than if only smoked 6 hours. And with the thin blue smoke the AMPS provides it's perfect, not bitter or too much. You can light the AMPS with some gel fire starter and a bic lighter if you needed too, but a small torch works best for me.