So, I bought a new MES and a ProQ Amigo. I reviewed the MES Analog smoker in the review section (very good results BTW). This one is a different animal and for someone who has only used electric for smoking, it's a pretty steep learning curve. First, I think the Amigo is too small to do real smoking. It needs another stacker unit which I'll probably buy from one of the only sellers left in the USA on ebay (Weber must have run them out of town). It has a huge water pan, which is probably not a bad thing. However, when using it on the lower level, it touches the charcoal and I think smothers it. I've had it going now for 1.25 hours and I got up to 200, then down to the 180s. I took the water pan out and added some additional hot charcoal and the temp shot up to 202 quickly. Then I moved the water pan to the higher level right under the meat. It plunged down to 180 and is now climbing back up to 187. I went ahead and put the St Louis ribs on. I used the Minion charcoal method because this thing seems a little small to me and I was afraid it would get too hot...maybe I was wrong. The good thing is I can now put more charcoal in through the lower door and the water pan won't be in the way. I can definitely see the advantage of the larger ProQ models such as multiple vents on the bottom. This one has no vents on bottom. The pan sits in the lower base and there is an air gap all the way around that can't be adjusted. More to come...
