I felt the need for some cold smoking this winter so it was time to do the mailbox mod on my MES. My first run a few weeks ago (salmon) had my AMNPS consistently not making it through the first row. This was OK because the salmon only needed 3-4 hours of smoke, but I had to relight the AMNPS two or three times.
So, I did some research and increased air intake, drilling three 1/2" holes in the mailbox door, several more 1/4" holes in the floor (in addition to the mounting holes the mailbox came with), and adding 1" bolt "legs" to my AMNPS. And I bought fresh pellets straight from Amaze-n for the next go-round (I've had the ones I used for the salmon laying around for a few years).
So after three weeks of about 15lbs of bellies curing in Pop's brine and drying, I endeavored yesterday to smoke bacon. I got everything going around noon, planning to reload at midnight and pull bacon this morning. My new air intake mods seemed to work like a charm. It smoked like a chimney. And yet, the damn thing went out half way through. Twice. In the middle of the middle row. I had to relight it around dinnertime and then the reload at midnight was out when I woke up around 6am. There are good reasons why AMNPS go out prematurely (bad airflow or lighting technique), or don't make turns (bad loading technique), but...in the middle of the middle row? I'm completely perplexed. I microwaved the pellets for the second go-round just to see and it still happened.
The only reason I bought the MES is so I could fire it up before bed, not wake up to disaster, and have BBQ ready to eat for lunch. I feel like I'm so close! Help!
Bonus pic of bacon:
So, I did some research and increased air intake, drilling three 1/2" holes in the mailbox door, several more 1/4" holes in the floor (in addition to the mounting holes the mailbox came with), and adding 1" bolt "legs" to my AMNPS. And I bought fresh pellets straight from Amaze-n for the next go-round (I've had the ones I used for the salmon laying around for a few years).
So after three weeks of about 15lbs of bellies curing in Pop's brine and drying, I endeavored yesterday to smoke bacon. I got everything going around noon, planning to reload at midnight and pull bacon this morning. My new air intake mods seemed to work like a charm. It smoked like a chimney. And yet, the damn thing went out half way through. Twice. In the middle of the middle row. I had to relight it around dinnertime and then the reload at midnight was out when I woke up around 6am. There are good reasons why AMNPS go out prematurely (bad airflow or lighting technique), or don't make turns (bad loading technique), but...in the middle of the middle row? I'm completely perplexed. I microwaved the pellets for the second go-round just to see and it still happened.
The only reason I bought the MES is so I could fire it up before bed, not wake up to disaster, and have BBQ ready to eat for lunch. I feel like I'm so close! Help!
Bonus pic of bacon: