Been Lurking, Now in with ya...and bummin'!

My name is Ed.  I'm in Plowville, PA in SE PA outside Reading.  I'm an ex-chef, now just avidly and passionately cooking at home.  I cook a lot of Cajun/Creole.  Make my own tasso and andouille in an MES Digital 30 I borrow from a neighbor who only uses it to make jerky during deer season.  As I said, I've been lurking, just reading and reading and absorbing a the wisdom, experience and goodwill I see everywhere here on SMF.  After reading about the AMNPS I had to get one and did.  It sounded like just what I needed to get the kind of smoking time I want to get the andouille as smoky as it should be without it getting too cooked inside.  Well, I got the AMNPS and was eager to put it to the test, but wasn't yet ready to do a run of andouille yet, so I got some tassostarted curing (we're on day 2 of 5) and figured I'd do a beer can chicken and a half of shoulder (picnic) left from the tasso (there's just the two of us, me and my Proverbs 31 woman of a wife, Rachel).  I figured, I know what I'm doin'.  I'll make a grand entrance on SMF!  Instead...epic fail:


Brined (Slaughterhouse), Rub (Memphis). Looks great...right?  Tasted good enough...




And the PP...looks OK, eh?  Tastes good...especially with SoFlaQuer's finishing sauce (seen in the upper left).

So, what's the problem?  You can see, but you can't smell or taste with these pictures.  The problem...baked, not smoked.

It was chilly, in the mid 30's.  I was having a hard time keeping the MES hot enough (I would've been happy with 225), so I didn't want to open the door.  And I saw some smoke coming out the vent and since it was kinda windy I figured I shouldn't expect to see much.  So, when the chicken is up to temp (160 in the breast) I open up the MES to find...


Those are BBQers Delight Pecan pellets out of a 20 lb. bag.

I tried so hard to get everything right ladies and gents.  Placed on the rails to the left, chip try open 1 1/2", loader open 2" ...everything like Todd said:

"Fill the rows in the AMNPS with your pellets

Light the pellets thru the hole for 45 seconds

Allow the flame to burn for 10 minutes and blow it out

Place the AMNPS on the rails towards the bottom left of your MES 30 or 40

Pull out the chip pan 1 1/2"

Pull out the chip loader 2"

Open the exhaust 100%"


AMNPS to the left, chip tray open 1 1/2".


Chip loader out 2"...isn't this what that means?  Help! Todd also said, "If your AMNPS dies out after 15 minutes or so, it was most likely not started correctly, or you have damp pellets. If your AMNPS goes out after an hour or more, then it's starved for oxygen". This looks like it went out pretty fast, no?  But it was lit...it was flamin' for 10 min. and then when I blew it out it was generating copious smoke for a while before I put it in the MES.

 BUT, as I said, I was having a hard time getting and keeping the smoker temp up in the 225-230 range, so I read some posts about this and saw MES people saying they had to close the top vent to get the temp. up in the cold.  So, I took the step that was, perhaps, the fatal flaw in the whole process?  Behold..


Was this it?  Was closing the top vent the fatal flaw?  After all my prep time and "smoking" time (baking time) was this what did me in?  Is using the AMNPS that....precise?  Does every factor have to be exactly right or...epic fail?  Please, speak comfort to me friends!  I'm discouraged...as it turned out the only smoke this chicken and pork got was what was coming off the smoker walls and racks!  I'm used to having everything I undertake cooking-wise turn out like I intended.  I have been humbled.  Maybe that was the the Lord's purpose and plan for me in this one!  I need to learn all I can from this run.  What do I have to make sure I get out of this humbling experience friends?  Thanks for indulging me my lament. Ed

PS I love SMF and all you people.  I'm here to stay and I ain't givin' up!  With your help and the Lord's grace I'll get it.