New MES Bluetooth Digital smoker

[brickguy221]

You'll have to test out all your pellets by themselves in the AMNPS . If you have problems then use those pellets in the AMNTS. You didn't make a mistake buying the 12" AMNTS. That's all I use in my 40" Mes Gen 1 and I'm at 700 ft. Above sea level.
-Kurt

That's a good point and I may just go the direction you suggest and then if too much smoke on something, switch to the MAZE on that particular pellet.

I didn't mean anywhere in my post that I made a mistake buying the 12" tube, I was just questioning if I made a mistake trying to convert to pellets. I was happy with my wood chips, I just didn't like having to add chips every 20 minutes or so, thus decided to try to convert to pellets to eliminate that task.

I also would like to hear some input from someone that might know if fruit wood pellets are a problem to burn-keep lit-smoke-etc. I was disappointed to hear that Cherry pellets are a problem thus I am wonderiong about other fruit wood pellets such as Apple, Peach, etc.

I will know in a couple of hours if the 12" tube solves the Jack Daniels problem.

 

[Bearcarver]

 
That's a good point and I may just go the direction you suggest and then if too much smoke on something, switch to the MAZE on that particular pellet.

I didn't mean anywhere in my post that I made a mistake buying the 12" tube, I was just questioning if I made a mistake trying to convert to pellets. I was happy with my wood chips, I just didn't like having to add chips every 20 minutes or so, thus decided to try to convert to pellets to eliminate that task.

I also would like to hear some input from someone that might know if fruit wood pellets are a problem to burn-keep lit-smoke-etc. I was disappointed to hear that Cherry pellets are a problem thus I am wonderiong about other fruit wood pellets such as Apple, Peach, etc.

I will know in a couple of hours if the 12" tube solves the Jack Daniels problem.

I replied to that, saying the ONLY pellets I ever had trouble with was Straight Cherry in my AMNPS.

Bear

 

[mummel]

Pellets + AMPS are fricken genius IMO if you can actually get the damn thing lit!

 

[dennispfaff]

I purchased two 5 lb bags of "mountain cherry". When I lit two rows in the AMNPS It produced tons of smoke. I'll probably mix it with other wood pellets and I doubt I am that much of a gourmet at smoking to tell the difference. I also bought a 5lb bag of Mesquite/Alder mix. How would that blend with cherry.
Dennis

 

[Bearcarver]

I purchased two 5 lb bags of "mountain cherry". When I lit two rows in the AMNPS It produced tons of smoke. I'll probably mix it with other wood pellets and I doubt I am that much of a gourmet at smoking to tell the difference. I also bought a 5lb bag of Mesquite/Alder mix. How would that blend with cherry.
Dennis

I never used Mesquite (I'm Chicken), so I can't help you there.

I didn't get any Alder until after I Smoked all of my Salmon, so I've been saving the Alder for when I get more Salmon. Haven't gotten any Salmon since. Alder is supposed to be THE BEST for Salmon.

Bear

 

[jted]

I purchased two 5 lb bags of "mountain cherry". When I lit two rows in the AMNPS It produced tons of smoke. I'll probably mix it with other wood pellets and I doubt I am that much of a gourmet at smoking to tell the difference. I also bought a 5lb bag of Mesquite/Alder mix. How would that blend with cherry.
Dennis

Hi I will weigh in on the Mesquite /Adler mix. What you have is the strongest smoke in the Mesquite and a subtle smoke in the Adler. Like Bear does the Adler is great for Fish. The Mesquite is strong so many use it for short smokes. I am not sure why they mixed it. They know more than I. Personally If I wanted to mix the cherry it would be with hickory. I asked Todd about this and the ratio of Hickory vs Cherry and he recommended to just put the cherry on top of the Hickory.  That may not be what you are looking for.

30 or more years ago a fishing buddy was working in Pennsylvania and brought home some venison summer sausage smoked with Cherry. That was the best, I have never had any better. You could tell the cherry flavor. I will never forget the meat or Frank Patton. Sadly he passed on not to long ago. 

 

[dennispfaff]

Here is a shot of the Mesquite/Alder blend. I got it on EBay for $6.00 with free shipping - could not pass that up. Although I have not yet used it, I am thinking about doing a brisket one of these days and trying this smoke. And when I do the brisket, it will be my FIRST one (that tells you how inexperienced I am at smoking).
Dennis

image.jpg

• dennispfaff
• Jul 9, 2015

 

[Bearcarver]

Hi Dennis!

I'm thinking you might want to try that with a small Brisket flat, or something cheap first???

Just a thought.

Bear

 

[dennispfaff]

Hi Dennis!

I'm thinking you might want to try that with a small Brisket flat, or something cheap first???

Just a thought.

Bear

Absolutely. Just my wife and I for our first one. I know Costco sells them.
Dennis

 

[Bearcarver]

Absolutely. Just my wife and I for our first one. I know Costco sells them.
Dennis

LOL---You're a Lucky Guy!!

If I used any Percent of Mesquite, I'd be eating alone!!

Bear

 

[brickguy221]

 
I replied to that, saying the ONLY pellets I ever had trouble with was Straight Cherry in my AMNPS.

Bear

Bear, I read what you said, but that didn't answer my question if other fruit pellets such as Apple, Peach,etc. and such pellets are troublesome also.

If you have to mix the Cherry with anything to get it to burn, I would think that you aren't getting the full benefit of the cherry flavor, but I may be wrong there.

 

[floridasteve]

I lived in Tucson for 10 years (30 years ago). Everything there is cooked on mesquite. Haven't tried it in my smoker, but will probably order some, as I love a good smokey flavor. If I only wanted a light smoke, I'd cook in a crock pot and add a few drops of liquid smoke.

 

[brickguy221]

Ok, I smoked 3 slabs of baby back ribs today using Jack Daniels Pellets and the 12" Tube. It did put out more smoke than the MAZE, but not all that much smoke. In other words, a bit more would have been better. I smoked the ribs at 230* for 3 hrs, then sprayed them with apple juice, wrapped them in foil, and put back into smoker for 1.5 hrs and raised the temp to 250*. The ribs ended being to the borderline point of "falling off the bone" and were extremely tender. For the being done part to my liking, they were PERFECT and probably one of the best if not the best I have smoked except for one thing.... The smoke from the Jack Daniels pellets was weak and didn't have the same taste-flavor as my ribs do when using Jack Daniels wood chips. My wife doesn't like a strong smoke taste, and even she admitted a strong enough smoke taste and flavor just wasn't there. .... I am of opinion that even if I would put in a second smoker to create more smoke with Jack Daniels Pellets, that the taste is still not going to be there because I don't think the pellets are going to give the same taste as wood chips.

I am still new to this pellet game and trying to learn and am wondering if other pellets will also give off a weaker wood-smoke taste than wood chips do? For those of you that have used for example both wood chips and pellets such as Mesquite, Hickory, Apple, Pecan, Peach, Cherry, etc. etc.....  do the pellets have the same taste as wood chips do? FYI, Jack Daniels doesn't, so I don't recommend buying JD pellets.

 

[brickguy221]

I purchased two 5 lb bags of "mountain cherry". When I lit two rows in the AMNPS It produced tons of smoke. I'll probably mix it with other wood pellets and I doubt I am that much of a gourmet at smoking to tell the difference. I also bought a 5lb bag of Mesquite/Alder mix. How would that blend with cherry.
Dennis

Hmmm ... I wonder what the difference between your Mountain Cherry pellets and Todds Cherry pellets is as I have some of his Cherry but haven't tried them yet, but it appears they don't burn-smoke good from what a couple of others have reported.

 

[brickguy221]

I lived in Tucson for 10 years (30 years ago). Everything there is cooked on mesquite. Haven't tried it in my smoker, but will probably order some, as I love a good smokey flavor. If I only wanted a light smoke, I'd cook in a crock pot and add a few drops of liquid smoke.

I love Mesquite on  Steaks, Tri-Tips, Hamburgers, and etc such meats. I have been using it on those meats for several years. I have some Mesquite pellets but haven't tried them yet, so I don't know if they will give the same smoke taste as wood chips do or not.

I am new to this pellet game and so far have tried Jack Daniels and Pit Masters Choice pellets and found both to be weak in both smoke and taste flavor. I hope the rest of my pellets are better than that or else I am out approx $120 in pellets, 2 smokers, gel lighter, butane torch and etc. of which I will have to write off as a bad investment .... sigh.

 I do love the convience of the pellets in terms of after getting them lit, just put in smoker and move on and not having to add wood chips every 20 minutes or so.

 

[dennispfaff]

Hmmm ... I wonder what the difference between your Mountain Cherry pellets and Todds Cherry pellets is as I have some of his Cherry but haven't tried them yet, but it appears they don't burn-smoke good from what a couple of others have reported.

I have no comment or comparison, and I can't imagine there is any difference in "cherry" and "mountain cherry". Probably a marketing thing. I like a lot of smoke that's why I lit both rows and accomplished that. Like FloridaSteve posted, that's the reason for a smoker.

The first time I bought a smoker about 5-6 yrs ago it was an Old Smokey round cylinder type. I threw in some mesquite chips and a rack of ribs and my wife still says they were the best ribs I have ever smoked. I was just a beginner then, probably just a little salt and pepper. Now, using an expensive smoker, mustard or EVO, rubs, wrapping, 3-2-1, Bluetooth, etc, etc, - I'm still trying to get everything perfect. [emoji]128512[/emoji]

Dennis

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Bear, I read what you said, but that didn't answer my question if other fruit pellets such as Apple, Peach,etc. and such pellets are troublesome also.

If you have to mix the Cherry with anything to get it to burn, I would think that you aren't getting the full benefit of the cherry flavor, but I may be wrong there.

What didn't I answer???

I said the "The only Pellets I ever had trouble with was Straight Cherry in my AMNPS."

That means "I never had any trouble with Apple, Peach, etc.----Only Cherry!"  I don't know how else you can read that.

And of course you don't get the full benefit of Cherry by mixing it, which is why I normally use straight Hickory.

I would like to use straight Cherry, but I can live without it.

Bear

 

[dennispfaff]

I love Mesquite on  Steaks, Tri-Tips, Hamburgers, and etc such meats. I have been using it on those meats for several years. I have some Mesquite pellets but haven't tried them yet, so I don't know if they will give the same smoke taste as wood chips do or not.

I am new to this pellet game and so far have tried Jack Daniels and Pit Masters Choice pellets and found both to be weak in both smoke and taste flavor. I hope the rest of my pellets are better than that or else I am out approx $120 in pellets, 2 smokers, gel lighter, butane torch and etc. of which I will have to write off as a bad investment .... sigh. :icon_sad:  I do love the convience of the pellets in terms of after getting them lit, just put in smoker and move on and not having to add wood chips every 20 minutes or so.
[/quote

I love Mesquite on  Steaks, Tri-Tips, Hamburgers, and etc such meats. I have been using it on those meats for several years. I have some Mesquite pellets but haven't tried them yet, so I don't know if they will give the same smoke taste as wood chips do or not.

I am new to this pellet game and so far have tried Jack Daniels and Pit Masters Choice pellets and found both to be weak in both smoke and taste flavor. I hope the rest of my pellets are better than that or else I am out approx $120 in pellets, 2 smokers, gel lighter, butane torch and etc. of which I will have to write off as a bad investment .... sigh. :icon_sad:  I do love the convience of the pellets in terms of after getting them lit, just put in smoker and move on and not having to add wood chips every 20 minutes or so.

Jim,
I am going to smoke a rack of pork loin baby backs ribs this weekend and use the Mesquite/Alder blend. I'll report the results.
Dennis

 

[brickguy221]

 
What didn't I answer???

I said the "The only Pellets I ever had trouble with was Straight Cherry in my AMNPS."

That means "I never had any trouble with Apple, Peach, etc.----Only Cherry!"  I don't know how else you can read that.

Bear

WOW, looks like I struck a nerve there and I am sorry if you read it that way as that wasn't my intent .... I read it and understood it the first time that the only pellets you had trouble with were the Cherry of which  you said you did. My statement was intended for input from anyone else and not just yourself, that may have experienced a problem with other fruit wood pellets .... When you said "Cherry",  that doesn't  mean you have also tried all other fruit wood pellets so thus my question was about the other fruit wood pellets as I previously posted. I don't know what is so hard to understand about my asking about "other fruit wood pellets".

 

[timetosmoke]

Just finished seasoning my Gen 2.5. The meat probe is about 3-8 degrees hotter then the inside temp. The inside temp is pretty spot on to my calibrated temperature gauge I have hanging in there.

You can put alot of meat on the 6 racks which is about 3.5" between each rack. The configuration options of the racks is what really matters to me. The bluetooth works really well and I like that the heating element and just about all other parts are serviceable. Should mean a longer lasting unit if I can replace parts when they go bad.