Drying Pellets in a Microwave

[mattu1665]

Looking forward to trying out my new Amazin smoker tomorrow and was wondering how long some of you microwave your pellets to dry them out? I did a test run outside of the smoker earlier this evening and I was having difficulty keeping it lit. Is there an amount of time per row of pellets?

 

[s2k9k]

I put about a cup in a glass measuring cup and give them 1 minute in the microwave and that will fill just over 1 row in my AMNPS. I do see some condensation on the inside of the glass just out of the microwave so that tells me there is moisture in the pellets but here in SE Ga the humidity is like 80-100% and even though I keep the pellets in an airtight container I think this humidity gets everywhere!

 

[pops6927]

I've never had to, but are you in a particularly humid area?  I keep mine in ziploc bags in coffee cans inside the house, and they're ready to burn with no problems.  The biggest problem is providing enough oxygen to get them to burn.  And, you have to get them well started.  A lighter won't do it, you have to use a torch and hold the torch on them for several minutes, keeping them cherry red at least ½" into the pellets, then remove the torch and let them burn with a flame for a minute or two, then blow the flame out and let them smolder for a minute before putting them inside your smoker, and make sure you provide enough airflow to keep them smoldering.  Todd has a refillable torch that works quite well and butane refill cans are cheap and can be bought at any cigarette store.  Or, you can invest into a propane torch with a propane tank on it and it will do the job too.

 

[tjohnson]

I've never microwaved pellets before a smoke, but some guys make it part of their procedure

If you're having trouble keeping the pellets going in your MES, it's most likely starved for oxygen, or you rushed the starting process

There's a few tricks to keeping the pellets going in your MES......

Pull out the chip pan 1 1/2"

Pull out the chip loader 1 1/2", but do not remove

Open the exhaust all the way

Do Not use water in the water pan

Some of us add a 3" 90° elbow to the exhaust, to increase the draft

Todd

 

[sigmo]

I've got to try some of those tricks.

I have not been able to keep mine going with the hickory pellets.  I have not tried any others.  I'm in Wyoming at a bit over 5300' elevation, so I know the air pressure is a lot lower than it may be for a lot of you folks.  I just checked a butt that's been in overnight, and the pellets went out a bit under halfway through the Z channel.  It almost burned to the middle, but not quite.  So it was started OK, and burned for a number of hours, but then died right in the middle of the path sometime.  I DO have water in the tray, and I don't have an extension on the air outlet to increase the draft.  But I did have the chip tray pulled out an inch and a half and had the chip dumper thing pulled out about halfway, too, and the vent was all the way open.

I'm thinking that the lower air pressure (lower oxygen availability) at my elevation may be the culprit, so I'll need to increase the draft to get enough oxygen to assure good smoldering action.  I just re-lit it, and took the chip dumper completely out for now.

I like the extra humidity created by water in the pan because it's so dry here (usually), but maybe it's just too much.

To try to get things to work well this time, I had pre-cooked the pellets in place, in the maze for a couple of hours at 225°F (preheating the smoker excessively) before even lighting them.  That was done with the water tray empty and no meat in the smoker.  So maybe the pellets were nice and dry to start, but picked up moisture as the run proceeded, and that finally snuffed 'em about four or six hours into the run.

I'll look for a chimney extension and try it without the water in the pan next time and see if that'll keep things smokin' along better.  I keep thinking that elevation is an important part of this equation.  At work, we do analyses that require us to know the true barometric pressure (not the "corrected to sea level pressure" that's reported by weather services).  And our true barometric pressure is more like 26" of mercury instead of 30.  So the available oxygen is considerably lower here than it would be for someone at sea level. It's enough that we need different jets in gas or propane furnaces, etc.  So it stands to reason that it'd also be a factor in keeping pellets lit, too.

I have a ECB smoker, and had to modify it to get it to burn at anything approaching the temperatures it was supposed to achieve for this same reason.

I'm using the AMAZIN smoke generator in an electric smoker, the MES 40.  I love the smoke flavor I've been getting using the AMAZIN, but I have to babysit it and keep re-lighting it, so I do need to adjust my procedure, obviously!

I'll try the no water and the chimney and see if that gets things to burn more reliably.

I'm glad I found this thread because I was just going to start a new one asking the same question.

Great forum, guys!
 

 

[mattu1665]

Hopefully it wasn't beginners luck but the amaz n smoker worked great. I dried a cup of the cherry pellets for one minute in the microwave as suggested, opened the tray 1" and the loader 2" and the vent was fully open. I got the pellets going with the amazn torch and let them burn for a while before blowing out the flame and placing into the MES.

I went out for a couple hours and when I came back there was TBS flowing out the top of the vent. I've been hearing a lot about the Amaz N Smoker since following this website and I have to say it works as well as I have heard from others. It's official; I have now drunken the Koolaid.

 

[sigmo]

I think it would be informative for everyone posting to this thread to state what their elevation is and what kind of pellets were used.

It seems to me that maybe some types of pellets will burn better than others, and it also seems like the elevation will have an effect.

It sounds like the cherry worked very well for you.  I have some cherry, but have not tried it yet, so I'm no help there.  :)

Good information, everyone!

How  about this checklist for gathering some results:

Elevation above sea level.

Water in the pan or not.

Type of pellets used.

How far open was the vent?

How far open was the pellet tray?

How far open was the pellet loading hopper?

Do you have a vent extension (draft improving chimney), and if so, how big is it (pictures are nice.  :)

Did you pre-dry the pellets or not?

What lighting procedure did you use?

If it went out, how far into the maze did it burn before dying out?

Any other information I've forgotten?

Thanks again everyone on this forum.  Awesome info!  I've been able to get some fantastic results, being a total newbie, simply by reading on this forum and benefiting from the great knowledge and experience of everyone who posts here.  Thanks!

The picnic butt I just took off is looking, smelling, and tasting fantastic.  It's resting right now, but when I get into it, I'll get some photos and perhaps post a thread about it (for whatever it'll be worth).  I gave my wife a few bites of what fell off before I got it wrapped up for the rest, and she is amazed and can't wait for it to be done resting (asked me how long it had to rest!) 

 

[nozzleman]

Elevation above sea level. 500ft

Water in the pan or not. No, and according to Todd you are not supposed to use water in the pan or it will cause it to have issues staying lit.

Type of pellets used. I have used oak and hickory.

How far open was the vent? 2/3

How far open was the pellet tray? 1"

How far open was the pellet loading hopper? 1/2"

Do you have a vent extension (draft improving chimney), and if so, how big is it (pictures are nice. :) no

Did you pre-dry the pellets or not? no

What lighting procedure did you use? torch until it was burning a flame on it's on, then I let it burn for 10 minutes before blowing it out. I had no issue keeping it lit in my MES 30", in fact it probably burned faster than it should have. I think I got about 9 hours of burn our of it.

 

[sigmo]

Thanks for the info, Nozzleman!

It looks to me like I should try running the smoker without water in the drip pan.  I like the way it keeps the meat moist while smoking, but if that's what's killing my pellets, then I've got to give that a try!
 

 

[roller]

I have never had any trouble lighting Todd`s pellets....

 

[tjohnson]

If you look at the size of the water pan in your MES, it's HUGE

All that surface area is actually boiling, and causing steam

The New 2012 MES has a very small water pan, compared to the older model.

They now include a drip tray, that drips into a much smaller water pan, instead of a large water pan/drip pan

If you want to keep some moisture in your MES, try using a small loaf pan with a little water in it.

My bet it's the excess moisture in your MES that's causing it to go out

TJ

 

[sigmo]

Thanks, again, everyone.

I did another smoke a while back, and this time, I left the water pan dry, took the chip loading hopper completely out, and did pre-dry the chips in the microwave.  It's amazing how much steam comes off of them when you do that!

I had the vent completely open, as usual.

So the real difference was simply not putting any water in the drip pan.  And this time, the pellets did not go out.  So I have to agree that having water in the drip pan must create enough humidity in the smoker that eventually the pellets absorb enough to cause them to go out.

I may try the technique of putting in a smaller water pan along with the bigger drip pan to get some humidity, but at least now I'm able to keep the pellets going for the entire smoke run!

Thanks!
 

 

[moikel]

I am in Sydney

 pretty humid my house not far from western parts of harbour. I now microwave,I am getting Todds pellets through misty gully here.Other local stuff not as good & moister.Chip loader out no water unless its melted ice when I have done cheese. 5 mins burning before going into master built always helps. MICK

 

[mikelikessmoke]

Make a tent out of aluminum foil to cover your AMAZIN PELLET SMOKER.

I had random problems with mine going out for no apparent reason when I would have my MES 30 fully loaded with meat.

I opened the door once to check if it was still smoking and actually saw a chicken quarter dribbling like a faucet right on the burning pellets. 5 minutes later, no smoke at all!

Meat dripping onto the pellets will certainly extinguish them.

Once I discovered this...... No problems except running out of delicious smoked meat!

 

[sigmo]

That's a good point about making sure the smoker is covered/shielded from drips!

I started out with a tent over mine, but now I just have one end of the bottom rack covered with foil and in place at all times to make sure nothing can drip onto the smoker.  I'd imagine that not only would fat dripping onto the smoker likely put it out, but really, burning fat gives a nasty flavor IMO.  It's kind of the same with grilling.  If the fat drips onto the coals and burns, to my taste, the resulting smoke adds a bitter, nasty taste.

So I agree with that tip.  the smoker needs to be protected from any liquid that might drip down into/onto the pellets.

I'm thinking that one of the problems I probably do have, though, may be the path for the airflow in the bottom of the smoker.  I ought to create a duct that will direct the incoming air over towards the AMAZIN PELLET SMOKER to give it some more direct draft.  The way things are in mine, with the left end of my bottom rack totally covered in foil as a drip shield, the air around the maze tray may become stagnant and depleted of oxygen, contributing to the pellets going out.

So in my case, it may be that my particular setup for the anti-drip shield might be choking off the air flow around the smoldering pellets.

I might have to do a little bit of experimental duct-work or open things up a bit around the edges of my shield so the pellets are still protected but some air can flow around the edges to encourage oxygen to flow over the pellets.

 

[bobkomar]

I have found that I need a decent draft to keep my tube going in my Smoke Vault 24. I put mine on the lowest rack, just above the water pan, with water in it. I open the dampener on that side of the smoker to full open, and then choke it down slowly till I get the thin blue smoke. I plan on getting a bag of play sand and filling the water pan, then running a small loaf pan with water in it, or nothing at all.