MES and the Amaze-in smoker

[L20A]

I was smoking some butts this week and I tried to use my new A-maze-n pellet smoker and I had no luck with it. I couldn't get it to stay lit. I had the vent open all the way. I tried numerous times & even lit it on both ends but it went out soon after putting it in the smoker. Luckily I had some nice hickory chunks that I put in the MES side port and got some smoke to the butts. I have read some reviews of the pellet smoker that reported excellent results in MES smokers. So, finally to my question: How do you keep the pellet smoker going in your MES smoker? The only way I can think of is to get it going and pull out the side port tray and leave it open so there is enough air to keep the pellets going. I took the pellet smoker & lit it today and set it in my gas grill & closed the lid and it smokes very well for 4 hours. So, I can say that my issue in the MES is lack of air to the unit. I will try to experiment tomorrow with the MES as I have suggested & will report my findings. I can't be the only one to have had this problem. (Can I ?) Any input will be appreciated. BTW, the butts were excellent!!!!

Edit to correct my misspelling of the a-maze-n pellet smoker product. Sorry.

[Richtee]

Drill a hole..perhaps 1" or so... the same size you can find a plug for. Or, make a hunk of sheetmetal and rivet it to slide over and cover said hole.

[chefrob]

have you tried to contact todd (the owner).........i'm sure he can help, good guy.

[Scarbelly]

Todd has some experience since he has 3 MES units. He has some tips for the AMNPS and I will give him a shout on email to come here and help you.
He is a great guy who stands behind his product. Give him a little time to get back to you

[MossyMO]

Todd has some experience since he has 3 MES units. He has some tips for the AMNPS and I will give him a shout on email to come here and help you.
He is a great guy who stands behind his product. Give him a little time to get back to you

I sent him a heads up email when this thread started also Scar, looks like we have this double covered!

[L20A]

Thanks. You guys & gals are the best. I am confident that this will work out well.

[Scarbelly]

I know he is on his way home from his cabin so he may not check email until tomorrow

[TJohnson]

Yup, it was 80° at the cabin, so we stayed late!
Freak temps for October in Minnesota, so we gotta enjoy them before we drop below zero!!

Most electric smokers, including the MES 30 and 40 have a difficult time creating a good draft. You need some intake air for proper combustion of the burning pellets.

Follow the starting instructions, and make sure you allow the flame to burn for "10 Minutes" before you blow it out. You need a good bed of coals to keep the AMNPS burning. Don't Rush This Step! Think of it like starting charcoal. You need some red hot coals to keep it going.

Also, adding a chimney to the exhaust of your MES really helps it draft. You can get a 3" aluminum elbow from Home Depot or Lowes for a couple bucks.

I own (3) MES 40's, and both the AMNS and AMNPS were tested extensively in these smokers. Below are a few tricks to help the AMNPS burn in your MES. Try them and you should notice a huge improvement

When in doubt, you can call me at (952)412-0484 if you have any questions.

Cold Smoking
• Pull the chip pan out 1 ½”
• Pull the Chip Loader out about 2" - DO NOT Remove
• Place the AMNPS on the rails, or on top the chip pan housing
• Install Water Pan - Use as a heat/Smoke deflector

Hot Smoking
• Pull the chip pan out on 1 ½” - Do Not Remove! Chip Pan Doubles as a
"Heat Shield" for the door and bottom.
• Pull the chip loader out, ¼ MAX - Control Draft buy push/pull in or out.
If you remove the Chip Loader, air moves too fast thru the MES.
• Place AMNPS on the rails – Try with lighted side away from the element
or facing element, to see what position works best.
• Install Water Pan with No Water in the water pan - Excess moisture
will keep the pellets or sawdust from burning properly. If you feel you
need extra moisture, fill a
small loaf pan and set it on the lowest shelf.

Happy Smoking!

[L20A]

Thank you for the quick reply. I get it all and will follow your directions, which I am sure will fix my problem with the MES. The only thing I am not too sure about is the chimney. Do I remove the factory vent & put a pipe on instead? Possibly you have a pic of this so I can better see what you mean. Thanks again.

[L20A]

I just spoke with Todd and he answered all of my questions. Excellent customer service & a great guy, too. Thanks to all of you who assisted me with this. Now I gotta go get smokin!

[curious aardvark]

one thing I noticed in your pics - though with pellets costing about the same as platinum over here I've not bothered trying them - your 'pellets were huge.
Looked molre like small sticks than what I Think of as pellets.
Might that have been the problem - the larger the 'pellet' the less surface area there is in contact with other pellets so the greater the chance of them going out.

Just how it looked to me. The pellets I've seen, have been just that: small pellets of compressed wood about 1/2 inch square (but round lol). Yours looked much bigger than that.
Could be an issue - maybe break the big pellets up a bit,

[L20A]

one thing I noticed in your pics - though with pellets costing about the same as platinum over here I've not bothered trying them - your 'pellets were huge.
Looked molre like small sticks than what I Think of as pellets.
Might that have been the problem - the larger the 'pellet' the less surface area there is in contact with other pellets so the greater the chance of them going out.

Just how it looked to me. The pellets I've seen, have been just that: small pellets of compressed wood about 1/2 inch square (but round lol). Yours looked much bigger than that.
Could be an issue - maybe break the big pellets up a bit,

Actually those are the pellets that came with the device. They burned well in a test on my gas grill. The problem is the MES doesn't have much air flow so the fire was starved for oxygen & went out. I am following Todd's advice & am sure all will work fine. Thanks for trying to help.

[chefrob]

let us know how it works out!

[L20A]

Chefrob, I'm gonna do some cold smoked cheese today & wil report back.

[ganny76]

On the cold smoke, I took my chip dumper completely out and my chip tray completely out and had no problem. I had the same problems as you during my hot smoke. Havent tried todd's recommendations on the hot yet. Sure they will work though.