No Smoke Flavor

[GaryHibbert]

Do you use any liquid in your water pan? What temp do you smoke at? Where do you put your amnps?

Do you use any liquid in your water pan No, A MES is so airtight that it produces enough moisture just from cooking. I filled my water pan with sand and foiled it over to keep the sand clean. It acts as a heat sink and helps regulate temps.
What temp do you smoke at? Unless I'm cold smoking, I smoke everything at 240ish.
Where do you put your amnps? I put my AMNPS in a home made mailbox mod. Although lots of people have no problem, I just couldn't keep it lit inside the ME--not enough oxygen/air flow, even though the exhaust vent is ALWAYS kept wide open. It also makes cold smoking easier as there is no heat transfer from the burning pellets. I've been doing it this way for years.
Hope this helps Andy. Any other questions, just ask.
Gary

 

[tallbm]

Hello all. So I just got the 5 x 8 Amaze N smoker tray for my MES 30 electric smoker. I had no problem getting the pellets to light and stay lit and I believe have adequate airflow throughout the smoker because the pellets stayed lit the whole time. I just did a 20 hour pork butt and had consistent smoke billowing out for 15 hours of the cook time. Problem is, there is absolutely zero smoke flavor in my meat. The only flavor was from the rub I put on it. The pellets I used were the Pitmasters Choice that came with the amazing smoker tray. Any thoughts?

Hi there and welcome!

This may sound like a silly question but was the AMNPS below the rack where the meat was sitting?

If you put the AMNPS on a rack above the meat then the smoke may have just went mostly up and out. I mean there should still be circulation but smoking coming from below and filling the smoker but maybe the smoke production was so light it didnt get to circulate too much before leaving.

I once smoked ribs with jalapenos and chilitepin peppers above the ribs and the ribs got zero heat added to them. HOWEVER, the chilitepin (quite hot compared to a jalapeno) were on the rack UNDER the Jalapenos and the chilitepin oils carried up with smoke and moistures and made the jalapenos freakin unbelievably hot!!!

So this makes me think that the smoke form your AMNPS may have behaved the same way simply moving upwards and not circulating much around the inside :)

 

[andycaree]

Hi there and welcome!

This may sound like a silly question but was the AMNPS below the rack where the meat was sitting?

If you put the AMNPS on a rack above the meat then the smoke may have just went mostly up and out. I mean there should still be circulation but smoking coming from below and filling the smoker but maybe the smoke production was so light it didnt get to circulate too much before leaving.

I once smoked ribs with jalapenos and chilitepin peppers above the ribs and the ribs got zero heat added to them. HOWEVER, the chilitepin (quite hot compared to a jalapeno) were on the rack UNDER the Jalapenos and the chilitepin oils carried up with smoke and moistures and made the jalapenos freakin unbelievably hot!!!

So this makes me think that the smoke form your AMNPS may have behaved the same way simply moving upwards and not circulating much around the inside :)

 

[andycaree]

Here is a pic of the setup. The bag of pellets is standing in for the pork butt. Below them is just a drip tray so nothing would end up on the pellets. The tray in the top rack was full of apple juice.

 

[Inscrutable]

Although lots of people have no problem, I just couldn't keep it lit inside the ME--not enough oxygen/air flow, even though the exhaust vent is ALWAYS kept wide open.

Following, unfortunately no help to the OP.
Put a spiral ham and a boneless Turkey breast in my PB electric Saturday ... got busy and distracted and tray went out early. No double smoked ham, or smoked Turkey at all
Think I’m heading for the same problem as you Gary.

 

[Bearcarver]

Following, unfortunately no help to the OP.
Put a spiral ham and a boneless Turkey breast in my PB electric Saturday ... got busy and distracted and tray went out early. No double smoked ham, or smoked Turkey at all
Think I’m heading for the same problem as you Gary.

What's your elevation there??

Bear

 

[Inscrutable]

About 11 if I lay down

 

[Bearcarver]

About 11 if I lay down

Hmmm, At 11 feet ASL, you shouldn't have a problem keeping your AMNPS going.
However you should be a good swimmer.

Bear

 

[Inscrutable]

If we stayed put during Florence, we would have needed to be ... know others who swam out of their house here seeking safety.

 

[Bearcarver]

If we stayed put during Florence, we would have needed to be ... know others who swam out of their house here seeking safety.

Yup---We watched the Movie "Crawl", where big Gators were under the house )in the crawlspace) during a Hurricane, and a Girl had to save her injured Father. Scary!!!

Bear

 

[gmc2003]

Seeing that your from NC. I suspect that your used to smoked food from different restaurants or friends. The Mes isn't going to compete with a stick burner for true smoke flavor. One other thought is to lite both ends of the tray and see if that helps.

Chris

Edit - O for two. Sorry I read the wrong profile.

 

[Bearcarver]

Seeing that your from NC. I suspect that your used to smoked food from different restaurants or friends. The Mes isn't going to compete with a stick burner for true smoke flavor. One other thought is to lite both ends of the tray and see if that helps.

Chris

That's the only way to get Bitter Creosote type smoke from an AMNPS.
I tried it one time, about 8 years ago, and I put the second one out after about 2 hours!!! I recommend against it.

Bear

 

[gmc2003]

That's the only way to get Bitter Creosote type smoke from an AMNPS.
I tried it one time, about 8 years ago, and I put the second one out after about 2 hours!!! I recommend against it.

Bear

Couldn't agree more Bear, unless his Mes leaks like a sieve. It does look well used in the pic. Just tossing out another thought.

Inscrutable I doubt that the tray of apple juice is producing a lot of moisture sitting on the top shelf, but you probably will end up with a few glasses of smokey apple juice.

Sorry wrong name tagged - edited.

Chris

 

[tallbm]

Here is a pic of the setup. The bag of pellets is standing in for the pork butt. Below them is just a drip tray so nothing would end up on the pellets. The tray in the top rack was full of apple juice.
View attachment 471182

Hmmm that should have worked.

Is there any chance that what was billowing out was steam and that your pellets burned up quickly since they were sitting over the element area and may have burned up really fast and all at once? Then all you saw coming out was actually just steam. Steam and smoke look similar in many cases from a smoker.

If that isn't a possibility at all I would switch pellet brands and try 100% hickory and see what happens in that case.

I know that Pitboss Competition Blend is quite mild so if I smoke anything less than 5 hours with it I can light both ends of the AMNPS and it works well.
These days I doctor up Pitboss CB by mixing more 100% hickory in it so I end up with about 65% hickory total. That does the trick for me without having to light both ends of the AMNPS.
You may just have a weak pellet blend for a pork butt.

 

[andycaree]

Couldn't agree more Bear, unless his Mes leaks like a sieve. It does look well used in the pic. Just tossing out another thought.

Inscrutable I doubt that the tray of apple juice is producing a lot of moisture sitting on the top shelf, but you probably will end up with a few glasses of smokey apple juice.

Chris

Couldn't agree more Bear, unless his Mes leaks like a sieve. It does look well used in the pic. Just tossing out another thought.

Inscrutable I doubt that the tray of apple juice is producing a lot of moisture sitting on the top shelf, but you probably will end up with a few glasses of smokey apple juice.

Chris

I originally bought the amnps because I was tired of adding chips every 30-45 minutes. I read on here that it would be a good alternative that would provide good smoke flavor. Have any of you just used an old coffee can with a couple charcoal briquettes at the bottom and wood chunks? I’d think you should be able to get a few hours of smoke with a set up like that.

 

[gmc2003]

I originally bought the amnps because I was tired of adding chips every 30-45 minutes. I read on here that it would be a good alternative that would provide good smoke flavor. Have any of you just used an old coffee can with a couple charcoal briquettes at the bottom and wood chunks? I’d think you should be able to get a few hours of smoke with a set up like that.

Sorry I can't offer any advice one way or the other on this one. I'm strictly a charcoal burner. I only use my tray for cold smoking.

Chris

 

[tallbm]

I originally bought the amnps because I was tired of adding chips every 30-45 minutes. I read on here that it would be a good alternative that would provide good smoke flavor. Have any of you just used an old coffee can with a couple charcoal briquettes at the bottom and wood chunks? I’d think you should be able to get a few hours of smoke with a set up like that.

I have not. The only issue you may run into is air flow. The charcoal may go out too fast with a limited amount of airflow.
With your AMNPS you can definitely kick up smoke strength in 2 ways:

1. Stronger wood pellet (Hickory or Mesquite)
2. Light both ends of the AMNPS

Either one or both together should give you as much smoke flavor than you can handle :)

 

[andycaree]

Hmmm that should have worked.

Is there any chance that what was billowing out was steam and that your pellets burned up quickly since they were sitting over the element area and may have burned up really fast and all at once? Then all you saw coming out was actually just steam. Steam and smoke look similar in many cases from a smoker.

If that isn't a possibility at all I would switch pellet brands and try 100% hickory and see what happens in that case.

I know that Pitboss Competition Blend is quite mild so if I smoke anything less than 5 hours with it I can light both ends of the AMNPS and it works well.
These days I doctor up Pitboss CB by mixing more 100% hickory in it so I end up with about 65% hickory total. That does the trick for me without having to light both ends of the AMNPS.
You may just have a weak pellet blend for a pork butt.

You’re right, it could’ve been steam. But every hour or so I would quickly pop up in the door (I would get a face full of smoke) the pellets were burning slowly and consistently. So I don’t think they went up to fast. With a better location for the maze be in the lower left side opposite the heating element?

 

[tallbm]

You’re right, it could’ve been steam. But every hour or so I would quickly pop up in the door (I would get a face full of smoke) the pellets were burning slowly and consistently. So I don’t think they went up to fast. With a better location for the maze be in the lower left side opposite the heating element?

I think it would be BUT i dont think it fits there in an MES30, might only fit there in MES40

 

[Bearcarver]

You’re right, it could’ve been steam. But every hour or so I would quickly pop up in the door (I would get a face full of smoke) the pellets were burning slowly and consistently. So I don’t think they went up to fast. With a better location for the maze be in the lower left side opposite the heating element?

It's really hard to tell Smoke from steam exiting an MES, especially in the Winter.
Ive found with my Window in door MES, I just look through the window, and I can see the Smoke, and if I can't see the back wall through the Smoke, it's too much smoke.
If your MES doesn't have a Window, you can look down the Top Vent Hole, and see how much "Real Smoke" is in there. The Steam won't appear until it hits the outside air when it leaves the Smoker through the vent.

Bear