My first smoke what went wrong?

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I probably only hold the torch there for 20 or 30 seconds, but then when the flame goes out, I blow on it, down & toward the unburned pellets until the flame comes back. 

Then when the flame goes out, I do the same thing again. I keep doing this again & again. Sometimes the flame is going for 5 to 8 minutes before it goes out. 

Once I have a really big red cherry deep into the bottom of the pellets, it's ready to go in the smoker. This could take 20 minutes or longer, but I only spent time at the AMNPS of about 20 seconds, 6 or 8 times.

I also never use the torch again after that initial 20 to 30 seconds unless I can't get the flame back from blowing on the red pellets in the bottom.

Bear
Have you tried a hair dryer, or a inflatable mattress blower etc?
 
Nope---Not Yet !!

I probably should, because I don't have a lot of lung power left---However Maybe this is good for me, like the thing they gave me to blow into after my Surgery.

Bear
 
 
Heck, I don't even bother to remove the membrane any more.  It turns paper thin as long as you smoke them with the membrane toward the heat source and leave it there for the entire smoke. 

I'm right there with you on the membrane....It's not tough to remove before hand but can be a bit of a hassle....it's much easier to remove after they have been smoked. Comes off like a dream.....easy as pie. 

Those ribs are mighty fine lookin'! You will be churning them out like that in no time Rob.

On the AMNPS....I have one also and it works great but I was unaware of how well (or bad) the supplied chip pan works on the MES....If the AMNPS is so much better then by all means use it......The flavor that it provides is excellent!
 
 
I wonder if you put a candle under it and walk away if that would work too?  No torch needed, no time spent. 
No way would a candle stay lit outside on my Front Porch Railing.

I like the way I do it. Doesn't take a lot of my time, gives my lungs exercise, and always works!!!

Bear
 
I've yet to see a MES that has an accurate thermo. Sounds to me like yours is off quite a bit. My mes 40 (gen 2) is usually 30+ degrees off what the true smoking chamber temp is. When I was doing a shoulder yesterday my igrill was reading 218 while the mes was telling me it was 254. Big difference. My guess is your ribs needed more time because you didnt have the temp hot enough.


Just so you can see one for the 1st guess I just got very lucky.

See bottom temp.
 
Have another question that couldn't specifically find the answer to in any threads. For my next ribs in a couple weeks I will be following bears step by step spare...very similar to jeffs using all the tips I got here. Since my wife wants FOTB when I do wrap the ribs with apple juice do I pool it on the bottom of the foil then put the ribs bone side down over the liquid? Do you pour it over the ribs? Not sure the process. Also single or double wrap? Thanks so much guys this has been amazingly helpful.
 
Have another question that couldn't specifically find the answer to in any threads. For my next ribs in a couple weeks I will be following bears step by step spare...very similar to jeffs using all the tips I got here. Since my wife wants FOTB when I do wrap the ribs with apple juice do I pool it on the bottom of the foil then put the ribs bone side down over the liquid? Do you pour it over the ribs? Not sure the process. Also single or double wrap? Thanks so much guys this has been amazingly helpful.
I like to put them in a Foil Pan, because I had a Foil wrap tear on my one time---Lost all the juice to the water pan below & on the smoker floor. If you do that, Single is fine. If you only use foil, better use it Double.

I put the Ribs in & pour the juice over it & it runs off into the pan.

I also put them in Bone side down.

Bear
 
I've learned to do ribs in the oven, charcoal grill, gas grill, and the smoker. None of those came out right the first time. It took several tries before I got each right the way I like them. And I still tweak my processes.

The gas grill was the most trying. Probably took 30 tries before I got it right. The others were maybe 3-4 times on each.

Like I said though, I still tweak. My wife has only ever raved about wrapped Baby Backs. She has told me she does not like SLCs. I really don't care for BBs. She raved about the SLC ribs I posted above and all I did was tweak the temp (which I've done before) and use a different sauce. Go figure.
 
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I've learned to do ribs in the oven, charcoal grill, gas grill, and the smoker. None of those came out right the first time. It took several tries before I got each right the way I like them. And I still tweak my processes.

The gas grill was the most trying. Probably took 30 tries before I got it right. The others were maybe 3-4 times on each.

Like I said though, I still tweak. My wife has only ever raved about wrapped Baby Backs. She has told me she does not like SLCs. I really don't care for BBs. She raved about the SLC ribs I posted above and all I did was tweak the temp (which I've done before) and use a different sauce. Go figure.
 
I like to put them in a Foil Pan, because I had a Foil wrap tear on my one time---Lost all the juice to the water pan below & on the smoker floor. If you do that, Single is fine. If you only use foil, better use it Double.

I put the Ribs in & pour the juice over it & it runs off into the pan.

I also put them in Bone side down.

Bear
Thanks Bear. It sounds like whether I go with a foiled pan or double wrap in foil I should simply pour the juice over the ribs with bone side down. Excited to try again...just wish it wasn't two weeks away. 
 
I've learned to do ribs in the oven, charcoal grill, gas grill, and the smoker. None of those came out right the first time. It took several tries before I got each right the way I like them. And I still tweak my processes.

The gas grill was the most trying. Probably took 30 tries before I got it right. The others were maybe 3-4 times on each.

Like I said though, I still tweak. My wife has only ever raved about wrapped Baby Backs. She has told me she does not like SLCs. I really don't care for BBs. She raved about the SLC ribs I posted above and all I did was tweak the temp (which I've done before) and use a different sauce. Go figure.
I wont give up. I'm definitely excited to try again now that I have the Maverick to help test the temperature of the MES. I never grilled ribs before, guess I was too intimidated. 
 
I agree with Damon. This is my second year smoking and I tried the "gadgets" at first when I bought my WSM. While the results were ok, I eventually tossed the gadgets, bought a good digital thermometer, and consulted the forums. Also, an important thing which I do with every smoke....take pics and document the progress. Even subtle things like wind and ambient temperature can affect the smoke. Keep a written log of your work and refer to it even if you've smoked the same thing numerous times. In addition, don't get caught up in wondering about "how many hours/lb.". It takes as long as it will take...cook to temperature. You can't rush perfection! Don't get discouraged and keep reading and smoking and you'll gain valuable experience. I hope this helps.
 
Well I'm back with two more smokes under my belt. The 2nd smoke I did was St. Louis ribs from Costco done 3-2-1 with jeffs rub at 230. They turned out tender and awesome. I ended up getting the maverick et 732 and with the bbq probe slid down the middle of second rack I ended up having to set the mes40 to 250 for maverick to register 230. My smoke last night was another fail. I got some Hormel baby back ribs ( I know) that were all uneven with the middle of one being an inch and a half thick. I went for 2-2-1 and did the bend test and they were far from done. I went another two and a half hours and still not passing bend test. It was late so I took them off anyway. To be blunt hey sucked. No smoke flavor not tender. What is the deal?
 
Sounds like they just weren't done yet rraczyla. Until they pass the bend test let them go or they aren't going to be tender. Not sure on the smoke issue.... I dont have a MES. On the last attempt the temp on your maverick was reading OK? It really sounds to me like you were cooking at a very low temp. 7.5 hours is a LONG time for ribs to go and they still werent done. I would bet you were really at 200 or below. 
 
7.5 hours for baby backs at 230F and wrapped?  Without pics all we can do is guess.  Sounds like they had a lot of the leaner meat on them, in which case they were probably a fail waiting to happen.  I'm going to say they were overcooked and the leaner meat tightened up.  Should have tasted chalky and dry.  I'll come back to this later.  Gotta run. 
 
Ok guys I have done ribs twice more and I think either my mes unit all together or the controller is not working correctly. I have a maverick et 732 on the second shelf through a potato. No matter what I cannot get the temp above 225. I have tried the metal sheet in bottom right at various angles and still can't get past 225 with my mes maxed at 275. Any suggestions?
 
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