Yesterday my new MES40 was waiting for me when I got home from work. I also purchased an A-Maze-N pellet smoker from Todd. I want to start out by cold smoking some salt, peppercorns and almonds using hickory pellets. Do I need to use the heating element in the MES40 or do I just use the A-Maze-N pellet smoker? How long should I let this smoke? Should I put the salt in a bowl or on a paper plate? I'm assuming the paper plate would let more of the smoke flavor get to the salt.