# Cold smoking with MES 40 + A-maze-n pellet



## maverickmay (Sep 13, 2012)

Hi everyone, I just recently picked up the A-maze-n pellet system and I'm loving the simplicity of it so far.  I haven't had the chance to taste any of my food yet (cold smoked cheese)

I followed  the directions and pulled the chip drawer out about an 1.5" and the chip loader about 2-3 inches.  I've played around with these a little bit, but it appears that all my smoke is leaking out of this rather than the top.  It's billowing from the bottom and barely even noticeable from the top.  Am I doing something wrong or is this fairly normal for this?

The smoker is placed at the bottom where the 2 little wire grates go across.  It's been burning without any issues and there's plenty of smoke to go around.













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I should probably clean the window every now and then!













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## mike johnson (Sep 13, 2012)

it looks to me like those 2 liters might be taking up to much area on the tray for good air flow.Try placing them standing up on the bottom. When i cold smoke in my MES40 I do pull the loader out about 1 inch but I set the AMNPS right on top of the burn box. It also looks like a can is sitting on your top exaust wich should be wide open.Heres a pic of some hot smoking but my AMNPS is in the same spot for cold smoking.













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## mike johnson (Sep 13, 2012)

why is there aluminum foil on top blocking off all the air flow. You need fresh smoke in your smoker DO NOT trap it in.Open your top top vent WIDE OPEN. and get rid of the aluminum foil trapping in all that heat. You probably wont even need those 2 liters with fresh air entering your smoker.


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## maverickmay (Sep 13, 2012)

Mike Johnson said:


> it looks to me like those 2 liters might be taking up to much area on the tray for good air flow.Try placing them standing up on the bottom. When i cold smoke in my MES40 I do pull the loader out about 1 inch but I set the AMNPS right on top of the burn box. It also looks like a can is sitting on your top exaust wich should be wide open.Heres a pic of some hot smoking but my AMNPS is in the same spot for cold smoking.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I set it up like you said and it's pouring out of the top now.  It seems like the cold air from the 2 liters was pushing down the smoke and causing it to go out the side. 

Looks like I have quite a bit of learning to do here, thanks for the tips


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## chef jimmyj (Sep 13, 2012)

Mike Johnson said:


> why is there aluminum foil on top blocking off all the air flow. You need fresh smoke in your smoker DO NOT trap it in.Open your top top vent WIDE OPEN. and get rid of the aluminum foil trapping in all that heat. You probably wont even need those 2 liters with fresh air entering your smoker.


 I was going to ask the same question. You have to get good flow from bottom to top and have the smoke exit the top vent or your cheese may turn out bitter tasting...JJ


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## scarbelly (Sep 13, 2012)

Chef JimmyJ said:


> I was going to ask the same question. You have to get good flow from bottom to top and have the smoke exit the top vent or your cheese may turn out bitter tasting...JJ


I agree with Mike and Jimmy - it looks like the smoke is being deflected back down by the foil


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## maverickmay (Sep 13, 2012)

thanks for the advice everyone.  I think I caught it before it was too late, it was about 20 minutes into the smoke when I moved  the 2 liters down to the bottom.  Temperature was having a hard time staying put after I moved them.  Got up to 85 and the cheese was borderline melting at the end of the smoke (1 hour and 45 minutes)

Overall, it looks like it came out good, I'm gonna let them age for about a week before I get the chance to try it out.

The foil was there for some peeled hard boiled eggs.  I didn't want to set them directly on the rack, but I did scrunch it up some and allow some more airflow to go through.













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And the A-maze-n smoker worked BEAUTIFULLY.  No more messing around with that chip loader and chip drawer anymore.  This  thing is here to stay!


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## smokinhusker (Sep 13, 2012)

Looks good! If you don't want to set the peeled eggs directly on the racks, if you have a Jalapeno Popper holder, you could try that to hold them.


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## mike johnson (Sep 13, 2012)

Im glad it all worked out for you.smoked cheese is the best.


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## daveomak (Sep 17, 2012)

MM, morning.....  Now that the foil was removed, next time the frozen bottles should work for you keeping the temps cooler...  This smoking thing is a learning curve... cheese looks good...  about the eggs, they make foil pans with holes in them...  seen them at w-mart... you could try one of those next time...  Dave


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