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[old smoker]

ok Memphis pellet fans I need your help. Here is my problem I bought my elite used this winter used it for the first time yesterday. Temp was around 30 degrees,  a light breeze. I used lumberjack hickory pellets. the grill started fine I set the temp at 225 prepped three racks of baby back ribs using the 3 2 1 method   During the cook my wife came outside and said where is the smoke I like smoke. my answer babe I don't know, I trusted the Memphis, big mistake. the ribs looked good but were the worst ribs I have ever smoked in five years plus of smoking. the ribs were overdone fell apart and the Worst part......... there was NO!!!!! SMOKE FLAVOR. PLEASE HELP ME. My wife thinks I got screwed buying the Memphis I am hoping that I didn't. thank you in advancer your help. One more thing there was no smoke to speak of after it first started up for the first time. I lowered the top to 180 for the last hour to firm up the ribs thinking I was cooking at too high temp at 225. But again little or no smoke. thanks I hope I have made myself clear. sorry didn't mean to write a novel

[old smoker]

thanks for your input I only wish my ribs looked that well. I will use your advice on my next cook. question when cooking at 250 how long was the cook?

[old smoker]

l no I did not use the probe but I will next time thank you for the help Jim

[pmillen]

I don't own a Memphis so I'm speculating here–

1.  What have you been smoking on the past five years?

2.  Did your ribs from the Memphis have a typical smoke ring?

3.  The next time you smoke something, lay something white in there—a ceramic tile or a plate—and see if there's smoke deposited on it.

[old smoker]

good idea with checking with something white I will do that. as for the smoke ring none at all

[old smoker]

thank you everyone I will try Playing with it this week when time allows. I will keep you updated on my search for a smoker ring and flavor on my elite. thanks again Jim

[Bentley]

If it is not putting out the smoke flavor you expected, you did!  Whether it can be corrected or not, I guess we will see.  You should contact Memphis CS and see if their technical suggestions work first.

Is the Traeger the only pellet unit you have previous experience with?  Your wife liked the smoke taste the Traeger put out, is that what you are saying?  You seemed to have been happy with the way the Elite cooked a month ago by some of your posts, what has changed your mind?  Just this one cook, your wifes comments?

ok Memphis pellet fans I need your help. During the cook my wife came outside and said where is the smoke I like smoke. my answer babe I don't know, I trusted the Memphis, big mistake.......... there was NO!!!!! SMOKE FLAVOR. PLEASE HELP ME. My wife thinks I got screwed buying the Memphis I am hoping that I didn't.

... I bought a used Memphis and am happy with it...

[Bar-B-Lew]

I did these on my Elite at 275 degrees for about 3.5 hours last week.

[Deebo1133]

I am sitting here very nervous about taking delivery of my Memphis.....It has to be a sufficient smoker. I know the good folks on here wouldn’t steer me wrong. Gtsum2....I am assuming you are happy since you sold your Yoder? I have not seen one thing making me doubt the Mak as a smoker.....the evidence keeps piling up against the Memphis

[Deebo1133]

I don’t expect it to be a stick burner....but when someone is saying “No smoke flavor”....that is concerning. Old Smoker is obviously new to operating his Memphis....hopefully he just has to get it figured out.

[Deebo1133]

And thank you for that nice long response to my question gtsum2....I appreciate you taking the time.

[Bar-B-Lew]

I have a Memphis, MAK, Traeger, and Blazn and cannot tell a difference in the smoke taste on the food coming off either of them.  I have them 1) because I can  2) they each serve different purposes for me 3) and they were all bought at different times for different reasons.

Traeger - didn't know about any other pellet grills at the time and stumbled across Traeger, tested one, and bought a bigger model
Memphis - was concerned about temp swings on Traeger because I didn't know any better, watched a performance review, and bought it because of its tight temps
MAK- thought Memphis was too big for small cooks and bought it after performance reviews
Blazn - all 3 other grills were down for different reasons and got a great deal on a used model.

Bottom line as others have noted, if you want the taste of thick white bellowing smoke, there isn't a pellet grill out there to my knowledge that will replicate that.  I have read quite a few stories though of folks who thought they did, didn't like their pellet smoker at first, and then have come to the realization after using it for months that the flavor profile is better for them than what they used to like.  It all comes down to individual taste buds.

[Bentley]

Maybe you have already done something like this...

Pro vs Elite, maybe different, the Elite is quite a bit bigger and simply may need that setting, have always thought each unit has its sweet spot...but do this one time and tell me if you see any difference.  Run the Elite to 250, let it run for about 5 minutes, then set it at 200°.  Leave it for an hour.  Come back and watch it for 10 minutes and tell me about the smoke...Will just be curiosity on my part!

Between all the cooks I have done and playing around with it, for my unit...I can say with certainty it does not put out as much visible smoke at 180-200 degrees as it does at 250.  There is no debate with my unit on that.

[bregent]

> the ribs were overdone fell apart

Just a comment for this - the Memphis produces strong convection current, probably stronger than most other pellet grills - so food may cook much faster at a given temp than it did on other smokers you have used. Adjust time and/or temp accordingly.

[Conumdrum]

Hate to bring this up.  My Yoder seems to do fine.  Turn it on, set temp, wait till temp and throw food on.  Done, great, everyone raved at 4 + years.  And a few had been stick smokers and BBQ restaurant eaters.

That said, I don't compete, worry about others.  I'm in an isolated town of 2,000,000 folks.