Bacon burnt ends fail.

[NovaKane09]

Bacon burnt ends are one of my favorite things to smoke. And I had an awesome recipe nailed using my Traeger Tailgater with cherry pellets. Cubed and rubbed, in at 225° for 2.5 hrs.Then I sauce them up in a pan, cover, and put back in for an hr, then uncovered for 15 minutes. Most delicious stuff ever! Alas, the Traeger is just so small so I picked up an MES40 for more room. Today was my first try with anything in the MES and the Traeger recipe/times did NOT work for the bacon burnt ends. It was just an all around fail. For one, I couldn't keep my AMNPS lit (which I'm sure was a humidity issue. I'll be drying out my pellets beforehand from now on). So I used the chips I had on hand, which were hickory. My next wrong was that I sauced before I was truly happy with the color/bark but I was on a time constraint due to other things needing to get done. When I pulled it out and tasted, I was not pleased at all. The burnt ends were tough and the smoke flavor just was not there. Disappointed to say the least. Ended up in the trash.
So any input/tips to transitioning from the Traeger to the MES would be greatly appreciated.

 

[oldsmokerdude]

Ahh, the new smoker blues. Hang in there, you'll get it.

Do you have the AMNPS tray or tube? The tubes stay lit better (but still not great) in an electric. That's why many folks have "installed' the mail box mod. Look it up on the forum. It's an easy and inexpensive mod that will definitely help with the smoke flavor.

Other than that you already know what else contributed to the issue: different wood, rushing the product (you just rush good Q).

Lastly, it is difficult to achieve the bark you get from burning wood (even pellets). There are several ways to "cheat" at this (e.g. burn a couple pieces of charcoal in your chip tray, smoke in the MES and finish on a grill, as well as others).

In the end, I think you've stumbled upon the reason many of us have various kinds of smokers; some are better suited to different tasks than others.

Good luck. Let us know how the next batch turns out.

 

[NovaKane09]

Ahh, the new smoker blues. Hang in there, you'll get it.

Do you have the AMNPS tray or tube? The tubes stay lit better (but still not great) in an electric. That's why many folks have "installed' the mail box mod. Look it up on the forum. It's an easy and inexpensive mod that will definitely help with the smoke flavor.

Other than that you already know what else contributed to the issue: different wood, rushing the product (you just rush good Q).

Lastly, it is difficult to achieve the bark you get from burning wood (even pellets). There are several ways to "cheat" at this (e.g. burn a couple pieces of charcoal in your chip tray, smoke in the MES and finish on a grill, as well as others).

In the end, I think you've stumbled upon the reason many of us have various kinds of smokers; some are better suited to different tasks than others.

Good luck. Let us know how the next batch turns out.

I have the tray, and I'm buying a mailbox as we speak. As with the Traeger, it's all trial and error. Thank you.

 

[petehalsted]

A LOT of meat went through my MES30 with AMPS before I got the All-Star. And I love PBBE's. A couple of tips/hints I learned.

Don't use water in the Pan, especially with pork. The MES cabinet is so tight that you get a lot of moisture from the pork to start with you and just don't need it. Be sure to check out Bear's info on the different model MESs. You can do sand in the pan for a heat sink.

Next airflow is key, which is where the mailbox really helps, but depending on your exact model it can be achieved without, its just a matter of proper placement, vent opening, etc.

Make sure your tray is protected from drippings, I used a flatten pan to create a "roof" above the tray to divert drippings from landing in the tray.

Dry pellets are essential, and a minute or two in the micro can help with that, but I managed to use my MES in South Florida without issues, humidity is not a challenge that can't be overcome.

All my time with the MES and AMPS and talking to others with similar setup ups, 80% of all won't stay lit issues came done to: not lit well enough to start with. My go-to method was using a propane torch giving it a good 15-20 seconds of the torch, then let it burn for a bit. When I would put it in the MES my challenge was being able to blow it out without it relighting and flaming up. You want it lit that well.

Final thing, and I suspect this might be the issue that got you, Cherry Pellets by themselves don't do well. Todd from Amazen talks about this. I guess it has something to do with the oilness of Cherry or something, I always did a mix of Cherry/Apple and either pecan or maple.

I am sure a couple more smokes on the MES40 you will have it down and then your next challenge will be the meat budget to keep it full :-)