Off Brand Pellets not staying lit in Amazen smoker

[ndwildbill]

Has anyone ever used "BBQR'r Delight pellets in an Amazn smoker?  I bought several one pound bags in assorted "flavors" on Amazon.  Had some jerky in the smoker drying, tried to get some Mesquite BBQ Delight pellets going in the Amezen, but could not get them to stay lit.  Microwaved for a minute..like I do with most pellets...put them in the amazen, lit with a propane torch.  Looked like they were going at first, but would not keep a flame.  Blew on them, tried to get cigar ember, but really would not get that hot...back with the torch, lit them again. Again would not keep a flame, but blowing, I was able to get a fairly decent cigar ember, and fairly good TBS...outside the MES 30....put it in the mes, left side, same as always, shut the door...2 minutes, no smoke.  Pulled the Amazen out of the MES, relit with the torch, let burn for 15 minutes (flame went out after about a minute) blew for good ember, back in the MES...again, 2 minutes no smoke.  Ok, decided I really did not want mesquite flavor smoke on my jerky anyhow.  Emptied the Amazen, had a little bit of Todd's Maple, and a little bit of Todd's Oak pellets left, mixed them, threw in a few of the BBQ Delight mesquite pellets.  Lit with the torch, let burn for 10 minutes or so, blew out the flame...had some trouble with that...then blew for a really good cigar ember.  Oh, ya, decided I wanted more smoke than usual, had a bit over 2 rows of pellets in the amazen, so I lit both ends, good TBS from both ends...put in the Mes, and worked just fine...ok about the time the two rows started coming together, grease dripped on the pellets and must have caught...suddenly thick white smoke was billowing out of the MES, temp rose, for a few minutes, then smoke stopped, and temp came back down...Had some nice "burnt ends" on a couple of pieces of jerky!!!

Anyway, did I buy some worthless pellets with this BBQ Delight brand?  Anybody else use them??

 

[dr k]

 
Has anyone ever used "BBQR'r Delight pellets in an Amazn smoker?  I bought several one pound bags in assorted "flavors" on Amazon.  Had some jerky in the smoker drying, tried to get some Mesquite BBQ Delight pellets going in the Amezen, but could not get them to stay lit.  Microwaved for a minute..like I do with most pellets...put them in the amazen, lit with a propane torch.  Looked like they were going at first, but would not keep a flame.  Blew on them, tried to get cigar ember, but really would not get that hot...back with the torch, lit them again. Again would not keep a flame, but blowing, I was able to get a fairly decent cigar ember, and fairly good TBS...outside the MES 30....put it in the mes, left side, same as always, shut the door...2 minutes, no smoke.  Pulled the Amazen out of the MES, relit with the torch, let burn for 15 minutes (flame went out after about a minute) blew for good ember, back in the MES...again, 2 minutes no smoke.  Ok, decided I really did not want mesquite flavor smoke on my jerky anyhow.  Emptied the Amazen, had a little bit of Todd's Maple, and a little bit of Todd's Oak pellets left, mixed them, threw in a few of the BBQ Delight mesquite pellets.  Lit with the torch, let burn for 10 minutes or so, blew out the flame...had some trouble with that...then blew for a really good cigar ember.  Oh, ya, decided I wanted more smoke than usual, had a bit over 2 rows of pellets in the amazen, so I lit both ends, good TBS from both ends...put in the Mes, and worked just fine...ok about the time the two rows started coming together, grease dripped on the pellets and must have caught...suddenly thick white smoke was billowing out of the MES, temp rose, for a few minutes, then smoke stopped, and temp came back down...Had some nice "burnt ends" on a couple of pieces of jerky!!!

Anyway, did I buy some worthless pellets with this BBQ Delight brand?  Anybody else use them??

I have bbq'rs deligtht one pound pecan pellets I used in my AMNTS with good results.  I'll have to try it in the AMNPS and get back to you.  Have you used your AMNPS in you MES a lot with great results till now?

Kurt

 

[ak1]

I've heard that some types of 100% flavour wood pellets are harder to keep lit on their own just because of the wood type. How true this is I don't know, but it may be the cause of your problem.

 

[daveomak]

Did you preheat your smoker to get a draft started..... If the meat is cold, it could cause a cold dam and stop the draft....

 

[ndwildbill]

Thanks everyone for the replies.  I have used the AMPNS in my MES many times with good results, but primarily with pellets from A-Maze-N.  First time I used any brand of mesquite though.  I had put some ground beef jerky in the MES about an hour before trying to get smoke.  I had started it at 130 degrees to start drying the jerky, and had bumped the temp to 150 before putting in the AMPNS.  After fooling around  with the BBQrs delight pellets, dumping them, getting a mix of oak and maple pellets started, the ambient temp in the MES was a steady 150 according to  my Mavrick.  I do have some other "flavors" of BBQrs delight pellets, I'll give them a try, and also will order some mesquite pellets from Todd.

Thanks again for the replies.  I'll put up a post when I try some of these things...need the rain to stop first though.

 

[westby]

I use the same pellets in my tube that I use in my Rec Tec.  I've had good luck with Lumberjack Hickory, OHC and MHC pellets.  Haven't even had to nuke them.  I have also heard that 100% flavor woods like cherry are hard to keep going.

 

[dr k]

 
Has anyone ever used "BBQR'r Delight pellets in an Amazn smoker?  I bought several one pound bags in assorted "flavors" on Amazon.  Had some jerky in the smoker drying, tried to get some Mesquite BBQ Delight pellets going in the Amezen, but could not get them to stay lit.  Microwaved for a minute..like I do with most pellets...put them in the amazen, lit with a propane torch.  Looked like they were going at first, but would not keep a flame.  Blew on them, tried to get cigar ember, but really would not get that hot...back with the torch, lit them again. Again would not keep a flame, but blowing, I was able to get a fairly decent cigar ember, and fairly good TBS...outside the MES 30....put it in the mes, left side, same as always, shut the door...2 minutes, no smoke.  Pulled the Amazen out of the MES, relit with the torch, let burn for 15 minutes (flame went out after about a minute) blew for good ember, back in the MES...again, 2 minutes no smoke.  Ok, decided I really did not want mesquite flavor smoke on my jerky anyhow.  Emptied the Amazen, had a little bit of Todd's Maple, and a little bit of Todd's Oak pellets left, mixed them, threw in a few of the BBQ Delight mesquite pellets.  Lit with the torch, let burn for 10 minutes or so, blew out the flame...had some trouble with that...then blew for a really good cigar ember.  Oh, ya, decided I wanted more smoke than usual, had a bit over 2 rows of pellets in the amazen, so I lit both ends, good TBS from both ends...put in the Mes, and worked just fine...ok about the time the two rows started coming together, grease dripped on the pellets and must have caught...suddenly thick white smoke was billowing out of the MES, temp rose, for a few minutes, then smoke stopped, and temp came back down...Had some nice "burnt ends" on a couple of pieces of jerky!!!

Anyway, did I buy some worthless pellets with this BBQ Delight brand?  Anybody else use them??

The BBQr's Delight Pecan works fine.  Same with the Traeger Pecan.  I've noticed that when pellets burn in the AMNPS and AMNTS they develop an incline after a couple of hours with white ash at the bottom 1-2" of black coal up to the top of the unburned pellets.  Even with the Gen 1 40" I leave my chip loader pulled out an inch for an hour or more then push it in to see how the lower air flow affects the burn.  Once the incline is developed then I can keep my chip loader in all the way.  You can't see the incline in the MES with the water pan etc.  I really observed it cold smoking in my grill. 

-Kurt