New guy with MES - planning my first smoke

[normanaj]

I was planning to get the AMNPS tray just because I’ve seen it recommended the most, is the tube a better choice?

All I can say is I use the tube with ubolt mod and ground pellets IN my MES and I get nothing but thin blue smoke.

 

[TShepp84]

Well so far not really happy. I’m getting good smoke (yes, putting chips in every 40ish, no biggie) but the onboard thermometer must be a joke. I had it set to 235* for the first 2 hours as I just expected the temp to fluctuate low. When I pulled the ribs off after 2 hours to foil them, they didn’t seem to be “cooked” much at all. I stuck my Weber instant thermometer in them and they were only 140-145*. I did butter, sugar, honey, wrapped them up quick and threw them back in on the middle rack and bumped the temp to 245* and letting them go for 2 hours...I’ve already got a Thermopro on order but it won’t be here until Tuesday. Crossing fingers things will still be ok.

 

[fivetricks]

With the inaccuracies of the mes, I just put everything in there (minus cheese, sausage, etc) 275 and let it roll.

 

[TShepp84]

Well maybe I panicked a little too much as everything turned out just fine! Pulled the ribs out after being wrapped corn 2 hours and boyyyyy were they tender. I could barely get them out of the foil onto the rack without them bending in half! I brushed them lightly with SBR and put back in at 230* for 40 minutes and they were DONE!! The bones literally slid right out of the meat - I know some aren’t a fan of this but I thought they were damn near perfect. The ribs had a decent crust, stayed nice and moist, and flavor was pretty darn good. I’m just shocked and could not believe that I was able to create a delicious fall off the bone rib myself with such ease. Hell, most of the time was just watching football and looking out the window making sure the smoke was rolling.

A few observations and critiques:

• I think I was just a tad heavy on the rub seasoning or need to try something else. I used Famous Dave’s Rib Rub just because I wanted simple and easy. This rub actually had a decent little spice to it, which I liked, but the hickory smoke seemed to amplify it and make it more powerful...if that makes sense.

• The hickory smoke flavor was quite prominent. I was surprised by this as I kept just a decent flow of smoke and literally only dumped in a palm’s worth of chips about every 30-40 minutes BUT now I do recall about half way in I did have a small flare up fire in the chip tray that I had to blow out. I think due to this small fire, the “bad” smoke may have filled the smoker too long before I realized it and was able to air it out.

All in all it was a great first attempt and I cannot wait to keep with this new hobby and try more stuff!! Thank you everyone for chiming in and providing good tips.

 

[Winterrider]

They look tasty. Yes a decent thermometer will tell you what your smoker temp actually is at. Their probe and temp are rarely correect.

 

[Braz]

Excellent first go at ribs. Congratulations.