Tought Time with Alder Pellets

[surfer joe]

I'm using an AMNPS in an MES Gen 2.5 40".  I've had a few successful smokes with hickory pellets. Today I tried alder pellets to smoke salmon. I was using pellets from Bear Paw products. I had a terrible time with these pellets and never could get them to stay lit. I had a good burn and smoke going for 15 minutes before putting the AMNPS in the smoker. This was the same approach I used with hickory. Pellet tray was in proper place and elevated. Chip loader was out a couple of inches in dump position. After about three fails I punted and used the chip loader with my emergency stash of chips. Happy with the result in spite of the pellets.

Any thoughts on this challenge? Not sure if alder is tougher to use or maybe the brand I chose?

 

[daveomak]

Sometimes, drying the pellets has to be done, to remove the moisture from the wood... I like to dry them, in the smoker while preheating it.. 275 for a couple hours... or the micro works too....

 

[surfer joe]

Thanks Dave. I'll give that a try on my smoke today.