Breaking in the new MES30 and AMNPS!

mammoth

Newbie

Original poster

Sep 7, 2012

7

10

Modesto, Ca

• Sep 11, 2012

• #1

Good morning everyone! I'm just about to fire up my new MES and smoke a rack of spare ribs that I picked up a few days ago when I ordered my smoker. I did the 'seasoning' process on the smoker, and the AMNPS per the directions yesterday. I'm really looking forward to climbing this learning curve, and since this forum helped push me over the edge and you guys seem to love to look at and talk about smoking I figured I would post my experience.

I'm new to smoking this way, but fairly skilled in a wide variety of meat prep. I'm not expecting, or even shooting for perfection on these ribs...just getting my feet wet to see how it all goes. I'll do 3-2-1, but haven't decided on a wood yet.

The ribs...

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• mammoth
• Sep 11, 2012

Smoker in it's temporary new home. I have 2 grill islands with 2 fridges and a kegerator. I'm considering an in-island insallation to replace the kegerator or a dead fridge...

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• mammoth
• Sep 11, 2012

The setup prior to pre-heat...

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• mammoth
• Sep 11, 2012

 

chef jimmyj

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• Sep 11, 2012

• #2

Congrats on the new Smoker. That Rack looks really meaty, should be some good eats...JJ

 

mammoth

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Original poster

Thread starter

Sep 7, 2012

7

10

Modesto, Ca

• Sep 11, 2012

• #3

The rack comes from The Long Ranch, just outside on Manteca Ca. I roast whole pigs in large cinder block pit so I buy 8-10 pigs a year from them. They have a little store on site that sells various cuts. Great pork products for anyone in the area that wants particular cuts or a whole hogs. They aren't cheap, but they have a high quality product and it's the kind of place I like to support.

http://thelongranch.com

 

Last edited: Sep 11, 2012

smokinhusker

Legendary Pitmaster

Oct 20, 2010

8,179

77

Mountains west of Colorado Springs, CO

• Sep 11, 2012

• #4

Wow those are some meaty ribs! Good luck with the first smoke.

 

scarbelly

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Jul 26, 2009

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• Sep 11, 2012

• #5

Good luck with that first smoke - Those tomatoes are looking good too 

 

mammoth

Newbie

Original poster

Thread starter

Sep 7, 2012

7

10

Modesto, Ca

• Sep 11, 2012

• #6

Scarbelly said:

Good luck with that first smoke - Those tomatoes are looking good too 

Click to expand...

I really geek out on natural foods, so I'm one of those weird people who has removed his front lawn in order to plant a vegetable garden. We're picking about 30 pounds of pesticide free heirloom tomatoes per week right now, WAY too many. That's about 1/3 of yesterdays picls, the rest went with the wife to give away at work.

Should I throw some of those in the smoker along with the ribs at some point? Any special tips? I've got a giant bowl of peppers (Scotch Bonnet, Ghost, Serrano, Jalapeno, etc) to choose from too.

 

smokinhusker

Legendary Pitmaster

Oct 20, 2010

8,179

77

Mountains west of Colorado Springs, CO

• Sep 11, 2012

• #7

Those are great looking tomatoes! You can smoke them for spaghetti sauce or salsa along with the peppers and some onions.

 

mammoth

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Original poster

Thread starter

Sep 7, 2012

7

10

Modesto, Ca

• Sep 11, 2012

• #8

Uh oh, trouble! :)

It would seem that things got a bit too hot for a while during the first couple hours. I went outside maybe half way through and notice the smoker was at almost 260 degrees. I think I was the victim of two things...a black smoker coming temp just as the hot California sun started beating directly on it, and an aggressive burn in the AMNPS.

I used the warm up time to help dry out the pellets as I've seen mentioned here, probably didn't need to do that step.

Ribs are looking a little black, but I'll hang in there until the end. I foil wrapped one and I'm letting the other stay naked.

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• mammoth
• Sep 11, 2012

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• mammoth
• Sep 11, 2012

 

chef jimmyj

Gone but not forgotten. RIP

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May 12, 2011

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• Sep 12, 2012

• #9

They still look great, I don't think they are too dark. You may want to try my Foiling Juice some time, makes some great ribs and not as sweet as Johnny Triggs recipe...JJ

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/110881/foiling-juice-chef-jimmyj

 

Last edited: Sep 12, 2012