Twin Chuckies (with my New AMNPS---"Pellets")

[Bearcarver]

Looks Great Bear! I'm not big on that McCormicks either. Salty and just kinda off to me. I like Bear view from the Bear himself.

Steve

Thanks Steve!

That McCormicks Montreal seems to have a lot of stuff that doesn't dissolve or go away. Not sure what it is---maybe seeds??? Too salty too.

Four of us ate of it, and none of us liked it. I'm not fussy with rub. I tried about 10 different rubs. Some were better than others, but this is the first time I actually disliked one.

Thanks again,

Bear

 

[garyinmd]

Thanks Bear, I have a older MES 30 that does not have the internal probe, never thought to look at that.  If my MES 30 ever dies I will have as 40 on the deck shortly there after, right now it is hard to justify to the boss I need more than the one.    I  do not post every smoke

  but still sit in the back ground to learn from you and the other masters.

Thanks

Gary

 

[meateater]

Looking great Bear, I thought you went nutz and was smoking with rabbit food for a minute. I hope Mrs. Bear don't see you using her cutlery on the smoker. 

 Just might have to get some pellets when I run out of dust. 

 

[venture]

Nice post Bear.  But the real story, for me anyway, is Todd.  Will this guy never quit?  I would never have figured that thing would work, but???

Good luck and good smoking.

 

[jak757]

Looks great Bear.  I'll be using one in my new MES 40 very soon.  I'm looking forward to it!!

 

[SmokinAl]

Nice job Bear. Great looking chuckies, and another very informative tutorial! Thanks!

 

[africanmeat]

OMG thet looks yummy bear

thanks for the Qview

 

[Bearcarver]

Looking great Bear, I thought you went nutz and was smoking with rabbit food for a minute. I hope Mrs. Bear don't see you using her cutlery on the smoker. 

 Just might have to get some pellets when I run out of dust. 

Thanks Buddy !

Shhh--Don't tell her!

Bear

Nice post Bear.  But the real story, for me anyway, is Todd.  Will this guy never quit?  I would never have figured that thing would work, but???

Good luck and good smoking.

Thanks Merv!

He'll never quit making the things work better. This one took a few changes & adjustments, but he got 'er done!

Bear

Looks great Bear.  I'll be using one in my new MES 40 very soon.  I'm looking forward to it!!

Thanks John!

That's great!   

John
 

 

[Bearcarver]

Nice job Bear. Great looking chuckies, and another very informative tutorial! Thanks!

Thank You Al !!

Bear

 

[gersus]

Another awesome smoke, Bear. Keep up the good posts!

I don't want to hijack this thread but I have been wondering something for a while now.  Why do I need an AMNS? In my MES I've been using hickory or cherry wood chips.  I put just a few in the loader at a time and only maybe 3 or 4 times during a smoke.  This bears plenty of smoke flavor in whatever I'm cooking, even when I smoked BBB at 120 degrees, so I don't understand the NEED for an AMNS. I read nothing but praise for the AMNS and I can see it does its job well. 

 

[venture]

Now, if we would soak a pellet, and stick it in the hole a carpenter bee made?  Would that be like a finger in the dike? (please don't change the spelling of that)

Good luck and good smoking

 

[captturbo]

The chuckies look fine and all but what made me go

was that sammich with the cheese on it. Yum!

 

[nwdave]

Cold smoking tool, adapted to the hot smoking environment.  The first time you want to smoke cheese, you'll see why we sing the praises of the AMNS and the AMNPS.

A word about pellets.  Not all pellets are created equal.  During the prototype tests (mine started last winter) we discovered that most pellets are blended with either alder or oak.  Note, I say most, there are exceptions.  Unfortunately for me, most of mine that I had in stock were alder blended with whatever.  Alder blend does not fair well in the AMNPS.  Oak is just fine.  It gets tricky.  I'd suggest not running out and buying a 20# bag of something until you know exactly what's the blend.  Traeger doesn't say on the bags, at least in my neck of the woods.  Bear Mountain is mostly alder blended with whatever.  For some reason, Apple pellets are fickle too.  Drove me crazy (not a long trip) until Todd shipped me some good Apple.  Then the game was on.  I know that Todd is stockpiling some GOOD pellets for us.  While expensive, I've found BBQdelight to be good to go. 

A trick I used with getting the pellets started.  Same routine as Bear's except, since I've got a aquarium air pump laying around from a previous smoke generator atttempt, I use that to blow on the coals.  I've got an inline valve to control the air flow and that really works great. 

As you noticed, Bear's was with an MES.  My tests were with a GOSM.  I'm sure Todd shipped prototypes out to members with different types of smokers, just to get a good data base and information. 

The AMNPS is like any other tool:  Once you get the hang of it, you'll wonder how you managed to get along without it.

~Dave

 

Another awesome smoke, Bear. Keep up the good posts!

I don't want to hijack this thread but I have been wondering something for a while now.  Why do I need an AMNS? In my MES I've been using hickory or cherry wood chips.  I put just a few in the loader at a time and only maybe 3 or 4 times during a smoke.  This bears plenty of smoke flavor in whatever I'm cooking, even when I smoked BBB at 120 degrees, so I don't understand the NEED for an AMNS. I read nothing but praise for the AMNS and I can see it does its job well. 

 

[venture]

gersus, you do NOT need an AMNS. 

The price is so reasonable that I would recommend you try it.  Only then will you know why so many experienced smokers here are pointing you in that direction.

Good luck and good and good smoking.

 

[tjohnson]

Another awesome smoke, Bear. Keep up the good posts!

I don't want to hijack this thread but I have been wondering something for a while now.  Why do I need an AMNS? In my MES I've been using hickory or cherry wood chips.  I put just a few in the loader at a time and only maybe 3 or 4 times during a smoke.  This bears plenty of smoke flavor in whatever I'm cooking, even when I smoked BBB at 120 degrees, so I don't understand the NEED for an AMNS. I read nothing but praise for the AMNS and I can see it does its job well. 

gersus,

You certainly do not need an AMNS.  Many guys get along fine without it.  Like any other tool out there, if it can make your job easier or the finished product better, it usually a good investment. 

The AMNS and now the new AMNPS make smoking a little easier.  The biggest advantage of using one, is the duration of good quality TBS.  Bear got 5 hours out of 1 1/2 rows @ 230° during his chuckie smoke.  Without the AMNPS, he would be filling the chip loader every 30 minutes or so.

Let's say you want to do an overnight smoke or a 12 hour bacon smoke.  Light the AMNS and forget it!

Todd

 

[chefrob]

looks great bear and another great smoker from todd!

 

[teeznuts]

 Just had chuckie tacos myself. Looks great!

 

[Bearcarver]

Another awesome smoke, Bear. Keep up the good posts!

I don't want to hijack this thread but I have been wondering something for a while now.  Why do I need an AMNS? In my MES I've been using hickory or cherry wood chips.  I put just a few in the loader at a time and only maybe 3 or 4 times during a smoke.  This bears plenty of smoke flavor in whatever I'm cooking, even when I smoked BBB at 120 degrees, so I don't understand the NEED for an AMNS. I read nothing but praise for the AMNS and I can see it does its job well. 

Hi gersus,

Like a few have said, "You don't need an AMNS", but I just smoked 17 pounds of Bacon with one yesterday. I'll be slicing it on Monday, and posting it all sometime this week. After reading that, you may change your mind. Here is a small preview----I got 11 1/2 straight hours of perfect smoke, without touching anything. It was the most perfect smoke I have ever done. I didn't taste it yet, but it looks perfect, and the whole thing went off without my doing anything with wood chips, chunks, or dust, after I put the AMNS in the MES 40 at 7:30 AM.

If you are getting continuous smoke from an MES at 120˚, you are very lucky. Have you gotten that since Summer has started?  Will you be able to get that when the ambient temp is 90˚. The MES is insulated so good that to maintain 120˚ in the smoker, the element doesn't have to come on often enough or long enough to make chips burn for any length of time. People used to try all kinds of things, like charcoal in the chip drawer, soldering irons in a pan, hanging a creosote creator on the side & drilling a hole in the side of the MES, but nothing has even come close to the AMNS & AMNPS---IMHO. These things are Awesome.

And thank you for the compliments,

Bear

 

[Bearcarver]

The chuckies look fine and all but what made me go

was that sammich with the cheese on it. Yum!

Thanks Cappy!!

Bear
 

 

[Bearcarver]

Cold smoking tool, adapted to the hot smoking environment.  The first time you want to smoke cheese, you'll see why we sing the praises of the AMNS and the AMNPS.

A word about pellets.  Not all pellets are created equal.  During the prototype tests (mine started last winter) we discovered that most pellets are blended with either alder or oak.  Note, I say most, there are exceptions.  Unfortunately for me, most of mine that I had in stock were alder blended with whatever.  Alder blend does not fair well in the AMNPS.  Oak is just fine.  It gets tricky.  I'd suggest not running out and buying a 20# bag of something until you know exactly what's the blend.  Traeger doesn't say on the bags, at least in my neck of the woods.  Bear Mountain is mostly alder blended with whatever.  For some reason, Apple pellets are fickle too.  Drove me crazy (not a long trip) until Todd shipped me some good Apple.  Then the game was on.  I know that Todd is stockpiling some GOOD pellets for us.  While expensive, I've found BBQdelight to be good to go. 

A trick I used with getting the pellets started.  Same routine as Bear's except, since I've got a aquarium air pump laying around from a previous smoke generator atttempt, I use that to blow on the coals.  I've got an inline valve to control the air flow and that really works great. 

As you noticed, Bear's was with an MES.  My tests were with a GOSM.  I'm sure Todd shipped prototypes out to members with different types of smokers, just to get a good data base and information. 

The AMNPS is like any other tool:  Once you get the hang of it, you'll wonder how you managed to get along without it.

~Dave

All good info there, dave!

Bear