# Burning dust in the AMNTS



## chopsaw (Dec 20, 2018)

Since seeing Dave's post on making / using dust , I wanted to try it out . Doing the wet method made it a little fine for the tube . So after thinking about it I remembered I had a hand crank grinder that I only used once . That was enough . Worked pretty good for what I wanted . To passes thru the biggest plate I had . First time thru takes a bit of back and forth . Second time was pretty easy . Leaves big enough pieces that it don't all fall thru . 






So as a test I filled a 6" tube about half way , and lit it . Put it in the mailbox . Acted like it didn't want to burn , so I moved it into the smoker itself . Not much difference . Went about what I was doing . Came back an hour later to nice , slow , clean blue smoke coming out the exhaust . So I thru a couple pieces of white bread in to test the color . I was surprised that at half full , smoker temp was 100 or so ,,, it burned for 4 1/2 hours . Nice and steady . Got some nice color on the bread . These were hickory pellets ground down .





So the next day I used some chicken legs . This time I filled the 6" up and put it in the smoker . Smoked the legs at 250 . I think they took some nice color . The smoke is really light compared to what I'm used to out of the tube , but like the results . 





Need to do some more testing and keep track of burn times .


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## tropics (Dec 20, 2018)

Had one of them chanks years ago (okay Ages)
Nice I have the tray and I haven't had a chance to use the dust I made.
Richie


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## SonnyE (Dec 20, 2018)

I'm sold on the dust method of smoking.
To me, it seems like it is milder flavored as well.
Or at least, much easier to judge.
So, how was the smoked toast?


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## SonnyE (Dec 20, 2018)

tropics said:


> Had one of them chanks years ago (okay Ages)
> Nice I have the tray and I haven't had a chance to use the dust I made.
> Richie



Probably when you were a young shaver like that elf in your lap... :)


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## chopsaw (Dec 20, 2018)

SonnyE said:


> So, how was the smoked toast?



You know I tried it . Gave me thoughts of smoked croutons for my once a year salad .


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## ab canuck (Dec 20, 2018)

Lol, I like the idea of that chopsaw. I have not been around home enough to get that done and off the todo list. But I am writing it down now.


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## tardissmoker (Dec 20, 2018)

chopsaw said:


> You know I tried it . Gave me thoughts of smoked croutons for my once a year salad .



Your yearly trip to the dark side?


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## gmc2003 (Dec 21, 2018)

Nice idea and even better results. 

Point for sure
Chris


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## normanaj (Dec 22, 2018)

I'm going to have to try this myself.Will have to see how it works with the u-bolt mod.


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## chopsaw (Dec 22, 2018)

normanaj said:


> I'm going to have to try this myself.Will have to see how it works with the u-bolt mod.


I have the u bolts on mine , but just on the front .


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## normanaj (Dec 22, 2018)

Looks like I need to start grinding up some pellets then!


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## chopsaw (Dec 22, 2018)

Norm , let us know how it works out . I need to do some more runs to see how long it burns .


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## normanaj (Dec 22, 2018)

chopsaw said:


> Norm , let us know how it works out . I need to do some more runs to see how long it burns .



I'll be loading up the smoker Tues morn.I will let y'all know how it worked out.


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## gmc2003 (Dec 22, 2018)

Chop, let us know how the grinder holds up after a few uses. 

Chris


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## chopsaw (Dec 22, 2018)

Will do Chris . As long as you let the tool do the work , I don't see a problem , but if it's something that holds other value I wouldn't use it for this . My original thought was a manual coffee grinder .


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## gmc2003 (Dec 22, 2018)

Yeah I was just wondering how the gears that do the actual grinding would hold up to wood. I think it's a great idea and I can get hold of an old 1950's or so manual grinder that my in-laws have. I would just need to insure the wife that it wouldn't break. 

Chris


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## chopsaw (Dec 22, 2018)

No gears involved , just auger , blade and the die . I don't think a smaller die would work , so keep that in mind . I would grab that grinder and keep it for the family value .


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## normanaj (Dec 22, 2018)

No way in hell I'm going to be allowed to use the wife's KitchenAid grinder attachment,that was shot down immediately.

I really want to try this Tuesday but I need to come up with a grinder or alternative way to get the consistency you did chopsaw.Started thinking blender,food  processor or coffee grinder but can't try that either as they are all off limits.The third beer isn't really helping my cause either!


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## chopsaw (Dec 22, 2018)

Fill up an old sock and tie a knot in it . Run it over with the car a few times .


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## normanaj (Dec 22, 2018)

Just found a cheapo coffee grinder at the local Savers for $5.Works like a charm...pulses just like a food processor.I'm gonna light a tube after supper and see how it works.


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## normanaj (Dec 23, 2018)

Never got around to lighting one after supper so I decided to smoke some bluefish today so I'm giving it a try.Really had to let it go outside for a good 20 minutes to get it going,its been in the smoker for about 15 minutes and producing TBS though a little on the weak side at the moment.


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## chopsaw (Dec 23, 2018)

It's different from whole pellets for sure . I'm so used to the heavy smoke . I'm getting ready  to give it a try again today also .


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## normanaj (Dec 24, 2018)

Worked awesome for me,I got just about 4 hours out of the 6" tube.I have an 8lb butt going on later,very interested to see how many hours I get out of the 12".


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## normanaj (Jan 6, 2019)

Never did get around to that 8lb butt but I do have a 3.5lb brisket flat in today,it went in at 6am.I used two 6" tubes in my MES30,the first tube lasted until 10am and the second lasted until 1:40pm,that's closing in on almost 8hrs of low continuous TBS with the door only opening once.Should have used a 12" tube and not open the door at all...next time.

The combo of crushed pellets and u-bolt mod really makes the AMNTS very versatile.On long smokes like this its the only way I'll do it going forward at this point.

Thanks chopsaw for starting this thread,its been a game changer for me!


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## chopsaw (Jan 6, 2019)

Been meaning to get back to this . I did some smoked sausage before Christmas . I used the 12 " tube in the mailbox . Wasn't happy with the color , but the smell and flavor was great . The smoke is so light from what I'm used to , but I like it . I think the 6 " tube works better . I also think it needs to be inside the smoker . Keep posting ur thoughts Norm , I'm watching .


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## normanaj (Jan 7, 2019)

I put the tube(s) inside the smoker bottom left under the water pan.The brisket I did yesterday is the best I've done in the MES,going to post some pics in the beef section.


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## normanaj (Jan 12, 2019)

Going to do this again with a whole chicken tomorrow.Will post results but I do believe the end result will be awesome.Completely sold on smoking this way in the MES.


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## SonnyE (Jan 18, 2019)

normanaj said:


> Going to do this again with a whole chicken tomorrow.Will post results but I do believe the end result will be awesome.Completely sold on smoking this way in the MES.



Wait for it... wait for it... Oh! Never got a roundtoit! Darn it!

I dissolve pellets by adding water to them. Once broken down, I put them in a heavy aluminum pan I have and bake them in my MES 30 till dry.
Wa-La Oodles and Oodles of saw dust.
A 1/4 size steam table pan works great as well.

I use dust for everything I smoke now.


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## chopsaw (Jan 19, 2019)

normanaj said:


> Going to do this again with a whole chicken tomorrow.


Norm did you get to do the chicken ? 

I got a Ham hanging now . 6 " tube with hickory and oak dust . Inside the smoker . Really makes some nice smoke like this .


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## normanaj (Jan 19, 2019)

chopsaw said:


> Norm did you get to do the chicken ?
> 
> I got a Ham hanging now . 6 " tube with hickory and oak dust . Inside the smoker . Really makes some nice smoke like this



I did,just spaced to post results,chicken came out awesome.I used a 6" with apple/hickory mix...tube was still making smoke when the chicken came out.

Was going to throw down on some pulled pork for the Pats/Chiefs game but we're in for some really crappy weather tomorrow,freezing rain and ice.If it were snow no problem that's easy to deal with,but the ice is a different story.I could have done it today but I only just got home now.


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## normanaj (Jan 27, 2019)

Doing another brisket today and doing exactly like last one.At 193 right now so I'm at exactly 8 hours and the second 6" tube is still smoking.

I've done enough smokes now to say the AMNTS with u-bolt mod and crushed pellets are a winner,the TBS using this method is perfect.I can't thank chopsaw enough for starting this thread!

The pellets I ground this time are Pitboss hickory.They were all I had left...guess I need to get my lazy @$$ to the store before next weekend!


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## chopsaw (Jan 28, 2019)

normanaj said:


> I can't thank chopsaw enough for starting this thread!


Happy to see you took notice and tried it . It does work good . I did the ham and it came out great . I think I lost the pictures , my laptop decided to stop working . Have to check my phone .


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## Murray (Feb 10, 2019)

I have a big box of Bradly pucks and an MES 30 smoker, can’t really use the pucks in the smoker. I see on this post people are reducing pellets to sawdust and using sawdust in a tube smoker. Any reason I can’t use my grain grinder to reduce Brably pucks to sawdust and use that sawdust in my 6”  tube?


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## chopsaw (Feb 10, 2019)

Murray said:


> I have a big box of Bradly pucks and an MES 30 smoker, can’t really use the pucks in the smoker. I see on this post people are reducing pellets to sawdust and using sawdust in a tube smoker. Any reason I can’t use my grain grinder to reduce Brably pucks to sawdust and use that sawdust in my 6”  tube?


Don't see why not . Let us know how it works .


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## Murray (Feb 10, 2019)

chopsaw said:


> Don't see why not . Let us know how it works .


Just got the 6” tube smoker in the mail loaded with pellets. Since I’ve never used the tube I figured I use the tube first with the pellets giving me a reference point then try sawdust. Just hoping the tube made for pellets won’t over fire with sawdust.


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## normanaj (Feb 10, 2019)

Murray said:


> Just got the 6” tube smoker in the mail loaded with pellets. Since I’ve never used the tube I figured I use the tube first with the pellets giving me a reference point then try sawdust. Just hoping the tube made for pellets won’t over fire with sawdust.



I've been using pellets that have been ground in a cheapo coffee bean grinder...not quite the fine consistency of dust,more like crushed.Fine dust doesn't work so well.

I've done a half dozen smokes with crushed pellets in the tube with u-bolt mod and I'm getting an avg. of 4hrs of TBS  from the 6" tube.


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## Murray (Feb 10, 2019)

chopsaw said:


> Don't see why not . Let us know how it works .



A-MAZE-N website says no to burning sawdust in a tube smoker. I’m guessing fire hazard?


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## GaryHibbert (Feb 10, 2019)

Murray said:


> I have a big box of Bradly pucks and an MES 30 smoker, can’t really use the pucks in the smoker. I see on this post people are reducing pellets to sawdust and using sawdust in a tube smoker. '
> 
> Murray, I had the same thought about Bradley pucks.  So I used Dave Omak's method of wetting them down and "disassembling" them.  The final result was not really  dust--a lot coarser.  I then dried them in the oven.  Loaded up my AMNPS, fired the "dust" up.  It simply WOULD NOT BURN!!!  After 2 attempts I gave up and tried putting the stuff in the chip tray in my MES 30.  It burned up real fast at 275* but put out real thick smoke.  Not good.
> DaveOmak suggested that Bradley might have added a natural fire suppressant to the Pucks.
> ...


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## chopsaw (Feb 11, 2019)

Murray said:


> A-MAZE-N website says no to burning sawdust in a tube smoker. I’m guessing fire hazard?


I wouldn't buy dust to use in the tube . This thread is about making your own course ground mix from pellets .


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## Murray (Feb 11, 2019)

chopsaw said:


> I wouldn't buy dust to use in the tube . This thread is about making your own course ground mix from
> 
> 
> chopsaw said:
> ...


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## Murray (Feb 11, 2019)

Thanks, guess I see if I can find someone on a buy and sell site, trade for pellets or chips.


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## chopsaw (Mar 3, 2019)

Did a small ham using the 6 inch tube and the homemade dust . Really works good . Puts nice color on the ham .
Burned for a little over 5 hours . Fill it a second time . Really like the thin smoke it outs out .


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## daveomak (Mar 3, 2019)

Nice looking ham....   I'd eat it....


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## normanaj (Mar 3, 2019)

chopsaw said:


> Did a small ham using the 6 inch tube and the homemade dust . Really works good . Puts nice color on the ham .
> Burned for a little over 5 hours . Fill it a second time . Really like the thin smoke it outs out .



Looks good.

Doing a small whole chicken today as we are having quite the calm before the storm.One 6" tube  3/4 full should do the whole smoke no problem.


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## Bearcarver (Mar 3, 2019)

Ham looks Great, Rich!!
Mighty Tasty, I'm betting!!
Nice Job!
Like.

Bear


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## chopsaw (Mar 3, 2019)

daveomak said:


> Nice looking ham.... I'd eat it....





Bearcarver said:


> Ham looks Great, Rich!!
> Mighty Tasty, I'm betting!!



Thanks for the comments . The tube with the coarse ground dust puts out nice clean smoke . 
Dave got me hooked on the ham , I'm doing about one a month . I buy 2 butts and trim out about a 3 lb hunk from one , trim the fat then make sausage from the rest .


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## chopsaw (Mar 3, 2019)

normanaj said:


> Looks good.
> 
> Doing a small whole chicken today as we are having quite the calm before the storm.One 6" tube  3/4 full should do the whole smoke no problem.


Norm , I'd be interested in the color on the bird using dust . 
Our weather just started . Windy and cold , snowing pretty good , maybe I should say hard ,,,


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## normanaj (Mar 3, 2019)

chopsaw said:


> Norm , I'd be interested in the color on the bird using dust .
> Our weather just started . Windy and cold , snowing pretty good , maybe I should say hard ,,,



I'll snap a pic after it comes out.

Right now the weather is spectacular here but that's going to change.


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## normanaj (Mar 3, 2019)

This is it...color looks good.


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## chopsaw (Mar 3, 2019)

Wow ! That looks fantastic .  Thanks for showing it . I need to make more dust .


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## indaswamp (Mar 3, 2019)

Just now seeing this thread... I am testing Dave's coarse dust in the new 12" AMNTS Oval tube and it is working awesome!
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/new-amnts-oval-tube-will-burn-daves-dust.284931/


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## indaswamp (Mar 3, 2019)

chopsaw said:


> I'm so used to the heavy smoke .


And this is why I no longer burn pellets in my smokehouse... lots of white smoke. I now use chunks on my 15" cast iron pan when warm and hot smoking. I get a bed of coals going with the propane and let it roll. I get great TBS in the smokehouse this way. I'm basically cooking with wood, but use the propane to moderate and hold the temp.

I'm jumping into cold smoking and I like the TBS the dust puts out *MUCH*, *MUCH*, better than the white smoke from pellets.


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## indaswamp (Mar 14, 2019)

Missed this thread first time around....I found out that the dust works well too.


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## solman (Mar 14, 2019)

chopsaw said:


> Wow ! That looks fantastic .  Thanks for showing it . I need to make more dust .



How do you guys light the dust?


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## chopsaw (Mar 14, 2019)

I use a propane torch .


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## indaswamp (Mar 14, 2019)

harbor freight heat gun works as well...and it's only $8 bucks.


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## solman (Mar 14, 2019)

I have both so that's good to know. The heat gun doesn't blow away the coarse dust?


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## solman (Mar 14, 2019)

Also, do you pack the dust down or just leave it as-is as you pour the dust into the tube?


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## chopsaw (Mar 14, 2019)

I leave it as it is poured in . Not packed . 6 inch tube burns about 5 hours .


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## indaswamp (Mar 14, 2019)

solman said:


> Also, do you pack the dust down or just leave it as-is as you pour the dust into the tube?


I pack it tight in the 12" and I can get a 9 hour burn....but this is cold smoking...


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## solman (Mar 14, 2019)

i wonder what affect packing it tight versus loose can have on the smoke. i picked up a tube, and did a trial run with pellets last night and was surprised at how much dense white smoke i got out of it. i was using CookinPellets Perfect Mix Smoking Pellets. i plan to convert the pellets to coarse dust for cold smoking.


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## indaswamp (Mar 14, 2019)

solman said:


> i wonder what affect packing it tight versus loose can have on the smoke. i picked up a tube, and did a trial run with pellets last night and was surprised at how much dense white smoke i got out of it. i was using CookinPellets Perfect Mix Smoking Pellets.


The dense white smoke is why I tried the dust before even seeing chopsaw's thread. I definitely do not want white smoke on a 24 hour cold smoke for Bacon.
Packed tight gave me the perfect TBS I was looking for...loose was still a little heavy, but I have a 36cu.ft. smokehouse so plenty of air flow and oxygen with just the tube burning...


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## solman (Mar 14, 2019)

i'll do a trial run with coarse dust packed tight to see if i can get thin blue smoke. thanks for confirming. i know ppl on this forum love pellets, but i definitely plan to stick to chunks in a pan over my propane burner for my hot smoke. all the videos i see on youtube of the tube and pellets show thick white smoke too, so i'm wondering if it's just the way it is with pellets.


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## indaswamp (Mar 14, 2019)

solman said:


> i'll do a trial run with coarse dust packed tight to see if i can get thin blue smoke. thanks for confirming. i know ppl on this forum love pellets, but i definitely plan to stick to chunks in a pan over my propane burner for my hot smoke. all the videos i see on youtube of the tube and pellets show thick white smoke too, so i'm wondering if it's just the way it is with pellets.


I have found that chunks work much, much better in my propane set up. Pellets suck in a CI pan on a burner....too finicky and lots of white smoke. Dust will work too, but too much trouble to make for use in the CI pan, you need a tall pile so it will not burst into flames...


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## chopsaw (Mar 14, 2019)

The thick white " smoke " is not always smoke . Condensation plays a large part of what you see .


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## solman (Mar 14, 2019)

chopsaw said:


> The thick white " smoke " is not always smoke . Condensation plays a large part of what you see .



yeah i get that too with my chunks on a hot smoke. condensation is to be expected, and it did confuse me at first thinking it was coming off the wood. but all the videos i see of the tube and pellets show white smoking coming off the tube. on my trial run last night with whole pellets, the white smoke didn't smell bad so i guess there's nothing wrong with it. but i still wouldn't want that on a long cold smoke.


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## chopsaw (Mar 14, 2019)

Yeah , I get the cold smoke concern . I get the heavy looking smoke from pellets in the tube . Never had any bad effects . The ground up pellets give a nice thin smoke . Give it a try and report back .


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## indaswamp (Mar 14, 2019)

chopsaw said:


> The thick white " smoke " is not always smoke . Condensation plays a large part of what you see .


True...and being in south Louisiana, we get a lot of humidity. Sometimes it's TBS mixed with steam and it looks bad, but I can tell by how it smells. If it is bitter and almost chokes you-it's the wrong smoke for meat.


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## Murray (Mar 17, 2019)

chopsaw said:


> Don't see why not . Let us know how it works .


Ground up 2 Bradly pucks and packed them tight in my 6” Amazen Tube, had 1 1/4” of a course dust in the tube. Got about 1 hr. 45 mins of TBS. Thought I didn’t have a use for those Bradly pucks.


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## chopsaw (Mar 17, 2019)

Murray said:


> Ground up 2 Bradly pucks and packed them tight in my 6” Amazen Tube, had 1 1/4” of a course dust in the tube. Got about 1 hr. 45 mins of TBS. Thought I didn’t have a use for those Bradly pucks.


Good deal . What smoker you using ?  I don't pack mine tight . Maybe try that next time , see how long it goes . Also do you have pellets ?  I also use whole pellets with wood chips mixed it when I do hams and bacon . You might be able to do that with the pucks . Mix pieces in with pellets or dust .


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## indaswamp (Mar 17, 2019)

Glad someone found a use for Bradley pucks.....<thumbs up>


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## Murray (Mar 17, 2019)

chopsaw said:


> Good deal . What smoker you using ?  I don't pack mine tight . Maybe try that next time , see how long it goes . Also do you have pellets ?  I also use whole pellets with wood chips mixed it when I do hams and bacon . You might be able to do that with the pucks . Mix pieces in with pellets or dust .


MES 30, I got reading the threads about burning sawdust and thought I’d give it a try. I have a grain grinder for homebrew so why not. I was getting too much white smoke with pellets. I’m planning on grinding some pellets, especially those cherry ones that won’t burn and giving that a try. I like your idea of mixing chips with pellets. The chips I have are too big for the MES, they work but not ideal.


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## solman (Mar 17, 2019)

chopsaw said:


> Yeah , I get the cold smoke concern . I get the heavy looking smoke from pellets in the tube . Never had any bad effects . The ground up pellets give a nice thin smoke . Give it a try and report back .



Just wanted to report back that it's a big difference between using pellets and ground up coarse pellet dust. Pellets gave me thick heavy white smoke, while the coarse dust gave me thin blue smoke. Can't see myself ever using whole pellets for smoking anything, except to be ground up to be used as dust.


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## chopsaw (Mar 17, 2019)

Murray , do you use a mailbox , or tube in the smoker ? 



Murray said:


> I like your idea of mixing chips with pellets.


It works great , but I use a mailbox for that .


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## chopsaw (Mar 17, 2019)

solman said:


> coarse dust gave me thin blue smoke.


Yup . Works great . Thanks for the update .


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## skidog (Mar 18, 2019)

So I did the mailbox mod with a MES 30 I picked up for 89 bucks because it had a dent in the door. Pellets burn fine and complete but no TBS, only whitish grey. Drafts well through top of smoker. It's weird because when I smoked some cheese with the tray after first getting it I got TBS and I used it in an SRG . Anyway I decided to try grinding the pellets so I used my Nutribullet with the spice grinder flat blade. It ground it to decently small pieces. Lit it and let it sit for several minutes then put it int he mailbox, worked for awhile then went out. Tried again and this time drilled another hole in the mailbox, went out again so I gave up and went to bed. Might end up hooking the pipe to my Davy Crockett and pumping that TBS into the MES.


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## indaswamp (Mar 18, 2019)

What is the ambient temp outside? The smoke leaving the vent might not be hot enough to produce a draft. You may need to pre-warm the smoker first...


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## skidog (Mar 18, 2019)

It was drafting well. Smoke was coming out the top of MES really well. At one point I did turn it on for a few minutes with it set at 100 degrees, didn't seem to make much difference.
Temp outside was around 39*, inside MES was around 57*


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## indaswamp (Mar 18, 2019)

Gotcha...


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## Murray (Mar 18, 2019)

chopsaw said:


> Murray , do you use a mailbox , or tube in the smoker ?
> 
> 
> I use the tube in the MES 30 and in the mailbox mod. for hot and cold smoking.


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## wild west (Mar 19, 2019)

Ive been useing dust in the 5x8 tray for awhile now and realy like the quality of tbs it produces. The grind size i use looks the same as the op.... some dust falls through but some of the finer stuff gets trapped. I smoked some various types of sausage over the last couple of days and found the smoke to be too thin so i had to smoke for longer periods at lower temp. Example ..I started some summer sausage last night at about 8pm  with a full tray of dust because i wanted a 12hr cool smoke (80-90) and its still smokeing now with the same tray (21hr). The conditions were around *21f over night and smoker set at *90.  I always have gotten a full burn with dust but it is certainly slow. I think I'll try lighting both ends next time. I have a 12in tube but haven't tried dust in it. I use it in the gas grill (tried it in my mes 30 but was way too much smoke even with a mailbox mod) but will try it with dust to compare with the maze. I wont use whole pellets any more unless i want a heavy smoke on something. Just wanted to share my experience useing dust verses whole pellets.


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## chopsaw (Mar 19, 2019)

wild west said:


> Just wanted to share my experience useing dust verses whole pellets.


Glad you did . I agree , I did smoked sausage with ground pellets and the tube . The color on the sausage was way off for me . The flavor and the smell was good , but I like my color to be right on .


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## Bearcarver (Mar 20, 2019)

wild west said:


> Ive been useing dust in the 5x8 tray for awhile now and realy like the quality of tbs it produces. The grind size i use looks the same as the op.... some dust falls through but some of the finer stuff gets trapped. I smoked some various types of sausage over the last couple of days and found the smoke to be too thin so i had to smoke for longer periods at lower temp. Example ..I started some summer sausage last night at about 8pm  with a full tray of dust because i wanted a 12hr cool smoke (80-90) and its still smokeing now with the same tray (21hr). The conditions were around *21f over night and smoker set at *90.  I always have gotten a full burn with dust but it is certainly slow. I think I'll try lighting both ends next time. I have a 12in tube but haven't tried dust in it. I use it in the gas grill (tried it in my mes 30 but was way too much smoke even with a mailbox mod) but will try it with dust to compare with the maze. I wont use whole pellets any more unless i want a heavy smoke on something. Just wanted to share my experience useing dust verses whole pellets.




Flavor wise, I would say it's much better to have many hours of Light Smoke than a shorter time with Heavy Smoke.
You must have some air flow problem, because a Full AMNPS tray should get about 11 hours, give or take an hour or two.
What is your altitude there?

Bear


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## wild west (Mar 20, 2019)

Bear to clarify when i use pellets instead of dust i get about 12 hrs but it is a much heavier smoke. I do use a heavy smoke on summer sausage because the caseing gets removed.


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## Bearcarver (Mar 20, 2019)

wild west said:


> Bear to clarify when i use pellets instead of dust i get about 12 hrs but it is a much heavier smoke. I do use a heavy smoke on summer sausage because the caseing gets removed.




OK, Sounds good---I made that comment mainly because you mentioned you were thinking of "Lighting both ends", and in 9 years I only lit both ends of my AMNPS one time.
Then after about 1 hour I put the one end out, because the smoke was much too heavy for my liking.
So if you do that, I'd keep an eye on it, because you don't want any bitter taste.

Bear


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## normanaj (Mar 31, 2019)

Had the craving for smoked bluefish today but that stock has been exhausted so I went with char from the store,its kind of comparable.

This is my first time doing fish with crushed pellets (hickory...yes hickory!) in the tube.

Somehow I have the feeling this will be yummy.Will post some pics when it comes out


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## normanaj (Jun 23, 2019)

My coffee bean grinder finally died.On my way to the thrift store,hope I can find a replacement as I have couple of pork loins going on shortly!

Found one.A whole whopping $4.

Feeling much better now seeing that slow trickle of tbs.


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## SlowmotionQue (Oct 26, 2019)

I'm trying out the dust for the first time today.

I used a Ninja blender to make it and just poured it into a 12 inch tube about halfway full and lit it.

It does give a TBS outside of the smoker, but once inside of it, I had to take care to position it in such a way as to allow the tube to get maximum airflow.

Once I did that, yes, the smoke is light, much lighter than with the tube filled with whole pellets,  and it's a TBS vs the thicker white smoke typically seen when I burn pellets inside of the smoke tube.


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## normanaj (Oct 26, 2019)

SlowmotionQue said:


> It does give a TBS outside of the smoker, but once inside of it, I had to take care to position it in such a way as to allow the tube to get maximum airflow.



What smoker?

Have you modded the tube with ubolts?If not I highly recommend this read and you'll not be disappointed with the results.
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/u-bolt-mod-for-the-amnts.271846/


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## SlowmotionQue (Oct 26, 2019)

Rec Tec 590 Stampede.

I have two AMAZIN smoke tubes.  One twelve inch, one 18 inch.









The 12 inch has the U bolt.  I was running pellets in the 12 and dust in the 18 telescoped down to 12 but I wasn't running it full.

I propped it against the 12.  This served a similar purpose to the U bolt mod.


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## normanaj (Nov 17, 2019)

I was using a coffee bean grinder to grind my pellets but found they lacked in durability as I just destroyed another one! So alas I switched to using a blender,besides being more durable I can grind much more at a time.


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## daveomak (Nov 17, 2019)

Try soaking them in hot water...  They fall apart...  decant the water and dry on a sheet tray in the oven at 275...  No grinder to wear out....






						Making dust from pellets...
					

Mr T told me he makes dust all the time for some of his smoking needs..  He ground the pellets in a food processor or something..  I tried it and it seemed a little tough on the machine.. Pellets are HARD !!!.. So I threw them in warm HOT water..  in about 4 minutes they were falling apart...  I...




					www.smokingmeatforums.com
				





...


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## normanaj (Nov 17, 2019)

daveomak said:


> Try soaking them in hot water... They fall apart... decant the water and dry on a sheet tray in the oven at 275... No grinder to wear out....



This is a no go when using the tube,the pellets become true dust and it just doesn't work well with the tube.Ground pellets are the way to go in the tube.


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## mike guy (Nov 19, 2019)

I tried to grind up some pellets in a food processor, but I don't think I'm getting the consistency right.  Those who have gotten the TBS out of the process can you post your tips and tricks for what kind of course ground you are aiming for?  

I'm ending up with a mix of very course pellets with very fine dust.  The fine dust just falls out.


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## chopsaw (Nov 19, 2019)

mike guy said:


> I tried to grind up some pellets in a food processor, but I don't think I'm getting the consistency right.  Those who have gotten the TBS out of the process can you post your tips and tricks for what kind of course ground you are aiming for?
> 
> I'm ending up with a mix of very course pellets with very fine dust.  The fine dust just falls out.


That's about what I get also . I try to stop before it gets ground to fine , but you're going to have some of that . 
I use an MES 30 . Hard to see TBS because of all the moisture that comes out as white smoke . Never been a problem for me . 

Also , I grind the pellets with an old hand crank meat grinder . Takes some effort , but that's all I use it for . Do like Norm , shop second hand stores . When that wears out go look for another .  I wouldn't use good equipment to grind pellets . 
I only do this because the tube needs a course grind . If I had a tray . I would just buy dust .


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## mike guy (Nov 19, 2019)

Thanks for the tips, I'll try and play around.  SlowmotionQue mentioned using a blender instead of a food processor so I might try that. 

I'm not only going by smoke color, but the way it smells.  It doesn't really produce a clean smelling smoke for me.  But I don't think I'm doing it right yet.  I'm pretty picky on clean smoke, so to see people were getting TBS out of these tubes really has my interest.  I like the pellet tubes for getting some additional smoke on short cooks, but I've never really been able to get a good quality clean smoke out of them that I'd use for longer smokes.   Pellets need a lot of air to burn clean I've found.  That's not to say that smoldering pellets don't have their use for some cooks.


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## chopsaw (Nov 19, 2019)

The tube is going to throw out heavier smoke . I use mine with a mail box . 
I do get TBS at the tube itself . 





Going by the smell is a good way to judge it .


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## normanaj (Nov 20, 2019)

I've been using a coffee bean grinder and this worked well except for the durability of the thin blades so I switched to using a blender,the blades on a blender are much more durable.

I just pulse the blender until I get the right consistency.Some fine dust is inevitable.


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## Bearcarver (Nov 20, 2019)

mike guy said:


> Thanks for the tips, I'll try and play around.  SlowmotionQue mentioned using a blender instead of a food processor so I might try that.
> 
> I'm not only going by smoke color, but the way it smells.  It doesn't really produce a clean smelling smoke for me.  But I don't think I'm doing it right yet.  I'm pretty picky on clean smoke, so to see people were getting TBS out of these tubes really has my interest.  I like the pellet tubes for getting some additional smoke on short cooks, but I've never really been able to get a good quality clean smoke out of them that I'd use for longer smokes.   Pellets need a lot of air to burn clean I've found.  That's not to say that smoldering pellets don't have their use for some cooks.




Like Chopsaw said, "The Tube can put out heavy Smoke".
That's why I only use my Trays.
And Remember A whole lot of hours of Light to medium smoke is Great.
However even a short time of Heavy, Dense Smoke can be Bad (Bitter).

Bear


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## mike guy (Nov 20, 2019)

Bearcarver said:


> Like Chopsaw said, "The Tube can put out heavy Smoke".
> That's why I only use my Trays.
> And Remember A whole lot of hours of Light to medium smoke is Great.
> However even a short time of Heavy, Dense Smoke can be Bad (Bitter).
> ...



I have a tray that I use for cold smoking.  It doesn’t want to stay lit in a hot smoke environment.  I like using the tube on short smokes to get a little extra oomph, but it’s kind of hit or miss.   Sometimes the flavor is bitter from smoldering smoke.  Just looking for a more reliable way to get tbs.  

If you know any tricks to keep the tray lit in a hot smoker, lower oxygen, I’d love to hear them!


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## daveomak (Nov 21, 2019)

Keep the exhaust wide open....  keep the intakes wide open...


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## Bearcarver (Nov 21, 2019)

mike guy said:


> I have a tray that I use for cold smoking.  It doesn’t want to stay lit in a hot smoke environment.  I like using the tube on short smokes to get a little extra oomph, but it’s kind of hit or miss.   Sometimes the flavor is bitter from smoldering smoke.  Just looking for a more reliable way to get tbs.
> 
> If you know any tricks to keep the tray lit in a hot smoker, lower oxygen, I’d love to hear them!




Like Dave said, "Keep the exhaust wide open", but if you're using an MES, the top vent should just about Always be wide open.

The main things are Good air flow & DRY Pellets.
After that it's soooo important to get it lit really really good before you put it in.
I spend about 20 minutes (off & on) building the cigar-like cherry in the Pellets where I'm lighting it. I'm doing other prep things, but keep coming back to relight it for at least 20 minutes.
I hold the propane torch on the pellets until I get a good flame. Then when the flame goes out, I light it again (doesn't take much to light it again).
Then I keep doing that, until I can relight it just by blowing on the cherry area.
I'll do this a number of times, before I put it in.
Only then will I put it in my MES, and I put it in the best area of the smoker for air flow (depends on which smoker).
Sometimes it takes awhile to get it going more than a trickle, but eventually it gets going so good that you would have a hard time making it stop smoking. Only way to put out is to separate the burning pellets from the unburned pellets. It takes awhile to get used to it, but the only other thing I ever tried was a Big Kahuna, and that was a $100 Joke.

Bear


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## mike guy (Nov 21, 2019)

Thanks for the replies.  I’m using a pellet smoker, rt700, which I think when using quality pellets is really good on smokes over 2-3 hours.   I don’t really find I need supplemental smoke and it’s on par with a clean burning stick burner.  

On short smokes it doesn’t quite leave me with the smoke I want, so the tube helps here.  But it also can throw out dirty smoke, so my angle here is to find a way to burn dust to get tbs in the tray or tube inside the smoker while it’s hot and filled with smoke.  I have no trouble keeping the tube lit with pellets.  I use a looftlighter to get things going and you are spot on with the cigar analogy. 

I don’t have vents to open, but the airflow is very high with the fan from the cooker.   I just don’t think the tray and dust is meant to work in a smoky environment.


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## Bearcarver (Nov 21, 2019)

mike guy said:


> Thanks for the replies.  I’m using a pellet smoker, rt700, which I think when using quality pellets is really good on smokes over 2-3 hours.   I don’t really find I need supplemental smoke and it’s on par with a clean burning stick burner.
> 
> On short smokes it doesn’t quite leave me with the smoke I want, so the tube helps here.  But it also can throw out dirty smoke, so my angle here is to find a way to burn dust to get tbs in the tray or tube inside the smoker while it’s hot and filled with smoke.  I have no trouble keeping the tube lit with pellets.  I use a looftlighter to get things going and you are spot on with the cigar analogy.
> 
> I don’t have vents to open, but the airflow is very high with the fan from the cooker.   I just don’t think the tray and dust is meant to work in a smoky environment.




A tray is meant to work in a smoky or non-smoky environment.
However I didn't know you were using a pellet smoker.
A Pellet smoker is probably big enough & airy enough to use the Tube, without creating Too Much Smoke.

Bear


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## mike guy (Nov 21, 2019)

I’ll have to try the tray again.  The tube works fine, it just doesn’t produce tbs with pellets.  At least not consistently.  This thread indicates some success to get tbs using a crushed pellet dust hybrid, which sounds like fun to experiment with.  

Just need to get outside and light stuff on fire and see what I can manage!  That’s half the fun anyway.


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## chopsaw (Nov 21, 2019)

The smoke produced by the tubes varies greatly on how " hard " you light it . I fill the tube about an inch or so from the open end . Then I pull some pellets to the end , and that's what I light . I hit it with a torch , and let it burn until the flame goes out on it's own . Then I blow on it until it burst back to flames , when it flames out again , you should see white ashed over glowing pellets at the start of the burn . 
Another thing I do is mix in wood chips with the pellets . Smaller pieces work better . 
All this works with a MES 30 , and I'm using a mail box to help with heavy smoke .  So might be different with your smoker .


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## Kevinbthgrouse (Feb 29, 2020)

Thanks for the tip on making dust out of pellets got some cheese going in the smoker with the amazen tube with a beautiful tbs!


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