MES 30" experiment with chips

[ibbones]

I have been using my MES for over two years and had the AMNPS by the first week I bought my MES.  I have taken out the chip tray and pull out the chip loader a bit when I am smoking to keep the air going.  I am not one who can "never" keep the AMNPS tray burning and I am not one who "always" has a 12 hour burn without touching it.  Sometimes it will work good and sometimes it goes out.  But bottom line is I have used it almost since day one.

Monday I was at the grocery store (that's HEB to you Texas folks) and I saw a bag of Alder chips on the BBQ aisle.  I have never use Alder before and thought about trying the chips.

St. Louis ribs in the basket with my wood chips and other goodies.

Today I rolled out my MES and looked for the chip tray.  Found it and set it in place.

Put the ribs on after a good rub down and added a small bit of chips.  Smoked for about twenty minuted so I added more, and more, and more, and more. About two times an hour. What a pain to keep adding chips.  And sometimes I would have TBS, white smoke or dark smoke.  It ended up about six and a half hours to really good ribs but I have taken out my chip tray and dropped it in the trash.  OK, I got it back out and set it in the shed in case I get a newer smoker and give this one to my son-in-law.

Thanks to Todd at A-Maz-N for making a great smoker.  My MES is used a lot and I guess I just took my AMNPS for granted but nope, it HAS to stay with me.

 

[cmayna]

Bones,

Which generation MES do you have?  So you totally remove the chip tray?   Glad to hear you've had such good luck with the AMNPS.

 

[ibbones]

I have the Gen 1 from Cabelas.  The Sportsman Elite 30" and since almost brand new I have used the AMNPS.  I ended up with a bad of chips so I put the smoke chip tray back into the smoker and used it just like it came from the box.

  It worked.  It did work but the AMNPS just makes it sooo much better.  I had to add a pinch of chips here and there and if I grabbed too many, it would make dark smoke.

With the AMNPS, I just set it in and let her rip.  I do have days where the pellets burn really well and the next day they keep going out and my procedure never changes.  I mark it up to the humidity (always high where I am) and wind.

I did get a bag of Cherry Chips for Christmas last night and I will use them on short smokes but never on anything taking more than four hours.