Since you guys all agree that the tube seems to burn better than the
AMNPS, I'm curious to find out why you think that is the case.
Does it provide better air contact to the pellets within? Or is it larger in cross section, so that there are more pellets in any given "length", and that larger "cherry" helps keep things going, and, effectively pre-dries the pellets near the flame-front so that the moisture is driven out of the pellets as the burn progresses?
Also, I'd be curious to find out at what elevations you folks are located.
I'm at 5300 feet or so here, and normally I have no problems with various of Todd's pellets in an
AMNPS in my MES-40. But I do nuke or bake them, or I just put the
AMNPS loaded with the pellets into the smoker while I'm pre-heating it so that they get dried ahead of time.
And usually, it's quite dry around here. We're high and dry. And that dryness may be why I've had such good luck, even at this elevation, as long as I pre-dry the pellets.
But recently, I've had a couple of failures of the pellets to burn, dying out at between 1 and 2 hours into the smoke. And the only thing different has been high humidity (like 50 to 70%). I've been told (in other threads - so forgive me for beating the same horse in multiple threads!) that 5300' is too high for the
AMNPS. But the fact that it normally works for me, but has failed during high humidity leads me to believe that the relatively high elevation here demands dry conditions.
There's another thread going on right now about humidity effect on pellet burning.
Based on my recent observations, I'm sure that the pellets can absorb moisture during the course of a smoke. And if other factors are such that your system is close to the edge of proper burning, then humidity may well be a big factor.
On the other hand, if you are at a low elevation and have good air flow, then pellet moisture content may not be enough to tip the balance.
It's interesting!
OK. A few photos just to keep this post on topic!
Last batch of jerky. Mmmmm! :)