Anyone use wood pellets in their MES?

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Those Ribs look Great, DW !!!
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Doesn't get any better, and sounds like everything went Great !!
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Don't worry too much about minor Temp fluctuations----Just try to keep your average near where you want it.

It probably looks to many like I worry too much about temp accuracy, but I only try to get mine that close, because I do "Step by Step" posts on nearly everything, and if mine aren't accurate, it would be hard for others to follow to get the same result.

Keep up the Good Work!!
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Bear
 
I have the http://www.basspro.com/RedHead-Spor...ric-Smoker-by-Masterbuilt/product/1505111257/ smoker. I really struggled to get the wood chips into the side twist feed tube. I found this thread a few days ago and decided to give the pellets a shot. Sure made my life easy. I typical do my smoking with one hand free, my 19 month old has to go help daddy so he goes out in my other arm. Even he could load the pellets without them getting hung up. I have to say the brisket is the best yet. I just cooked a small one this time for our family of 4 with two small kids, but it smells and tastes great. Used hickory pellets this time. The smoke was great and had no issues. I also use a wireless thermoter even though this smoker didnt come with it. igrill mini.



 
I use pellets with my AMPS that I burn in an inexpensive grill I bought at Wal Mart and connect to my MES with dryer hose, as shown in following picture.  

 
I use wood bits or pellets . If I want a longer smoke time I use the pellets , less smoke time I use the wood bits . I find the wood bits start to smoulder quicker then the wood chips , and as I type this , something I haven't tried is mixing the bits and chips together
 
I'm new to this smokin' thing...just exactly how does this product work? I'd like to find something that I don't have to keep opening the door to my MES 30 Analog smoker. Does this replace the chip box? Does it fit in the same spot?

Just trying to figure out how this works!

Thanks in advance!!
 
The AMNPS is a separate steel "tray" that holds pellets. You light the pellets with a torch, then put it inside your smoker, just somewhere on the bottom. It's about 6x8x1 inches so it doesn't fit into a specific spot like the cylindrical one that came with the MES. With just a little practice, the AMNPS will burn continuously for on the order of 8-10 HOURS of light smoke, which is a huge convenience over the other methods. You won't have to open the door to check on it, you'll just see light smoke coming out of the top vent.

THere's a few more details to making it work, no big deal, often explained elsewhere here on the list. I love mine, many of us here wouldn't get along without it.
 
Sorry for changing in mid stream but if the tube works good in the MES could it also be used in a off set smoker to any degree of usefulness?
 
Hi, I just got a Gen1 MES30, and a 5x8 AMNPS. I tried them both yesterday for the first time, using Lumber Jack Maple/Hickory/Cherry pellets, smoking at 225F.

The AMNPS worked nicely, and I was getting what looked to me like thin blue smoke for the time that I needed (~6 hours). But I had to keep it cooking for a while longer than expected, and when I shut it down at the end (9 hours), I found that it had gone out after burning about 1 1/3 rows.

I had it sitting on the rails to the left of the heater & chip area. I had a shield above the AMNPS, so no dripping on it, and I had the chip tray installed, loader tube pushed in, and top vent fully open. No water in the water pan. I had to open the door several times during the process.

After several hours of smoking, my guess is the pellets would have been dried out more by the heat, even if they had started out not perfectly dry.

So did I starve it for air somehow? Should I pull the chip loader tube out a little, or something like that?
 
Yes. Pull out the loading tube about 1 to 2 inches. I am using a Amazen tube and that is what I had to do. Also I have tried using pellets in the chip tray with no problems.
 
Throw the chip tray out. Leave the top vent wide open and like said above, pull the loading tube out a few inches for a solid air flow. Make sure your pellets stay humidity free if possible. I buy then transfer to gallon zip lock bags and store in pantry away from any water or heat source... believe it or not, makes a big difference.
 
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Thank you both for the suggestions, I will try those.

I already put a few pounds of pellets into a sealed container with a desiccant pack, to help draw out any moisture. Hopefully that will help eliminate concerns about damp pellets. I could also try microwaving them before use, but I currently only have 1 type of pellet, so keeping some dried shouldn't be too bad.
 
Yeah, dry pellets can be important, they don't stay lit well if they have absorbed much moisture. You can microwave them, you can leave them in a hot smoker for a few hours before lighting them, you can FedEx them to Iraq and back, but however you do it, get em dry. Fresh from Amazen they're good to go, but the plastic bags don't keep them forever. I use recycled plastic peanut butter jars, and they seem to hold for 6 months or so, but not forever.
 
I bought a 12 inch stainless steel pellet smoker tube on Amazon.  It is  hexagon in shape so it won't roll and it fits perfectly in my 30 inch MES.  The brand is Lizzq and goes for about $13 versus the AMAZEN for over double the cost.  It works great.  The first time I filled it up and it smoked for over 5 hours.  Way too long for my BB ribs, so now I fill it about half way and get a good 3 hours plus of steady smoke.  I highly recommend it.  I bought one for my son who has a Traeger and he uses it to supplement in his smoker.
 
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