AMNPS and CookinPellets

[q could it be]

Just started smoking about 4 months ago and love it.  Ask for smoking products for Christmas, and lo and behold, got some unusual rubs and a 40 pound bag of CookinPellets.  Unfortunately, I am having trouble keeping the pellets lit in my AMNPS (they burn out about 1/5 of the way up the row).  Anyone mind sharing any tips that have gotten this brand of pellet to work in an AMNPS?  My MES is 30" (#20077515) and has the slanted heat shield.  I had the 20070411 MES but the smoker broke after about 5 cooks.  They would only replace with the slanted version (but at least the vent is still on the top).  Appreciate any tips you can give.  Thanks,  g

 

[GaryHibbert]

Not sure what you mean by cooking pellets.  If they are the type to be used in a pellet pooper, they don't burn well at all in an AMNPS.  If you got them to burn that long, you did a lot better than me when I tried them in my AMNPS in the MES 30.  I was able to get them to work in the chip tray, but the brand I was using seems to be the exception to the rule  in that instance.

Gary

 

[q could it be]

Gary,

Finally got the brand "cookinpellets" to work yesterday in the AMNPS/MES.  Burnt until I stopped it 7 hours in.  Quite tasty.  The missing link for me was provided by Goldmine1965 and Worktogthr -- blowing the lit pellets a lot to have a nice bed of coals.  Will probably look into getting a heat gun (good idea Goldmine) to save on the lungs -- got lots of smoke blow back yesterday when doing this step.  Thanks, greg