# Amazen pellet smoker with gas grill question



## llbts1 (Sep 22, 2013)

Here is my setup, Weber Genesis gas grill and my Amazen pellet smoker. I place the Amazen smoker in an aluminum pan so I don't have to clean up ashes. I light it, and sometimes it's hard to light and keep lit even with the butane lighter. So I wait the 10 minutes to let it get going good, place it into the gas grill at the lowest heat level, approx 225, and most of the time, I get about 30 minutes of smoke, and it goes out. The one time it didn't go out,  I had too many pellets in there and it jumped tracks. Now the problem lies with me somewhere I'm sure, (my wife tells me so). Am I not using this in the proper way? Is it not getting enough oxygen? Could it be the aluminum pan?  So far, I'm not really happy with it, but I am sure its operator error. Any ideals? Thanks, Larry


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## waywardswede (Sep 22, 2013)

Hi Larry

I have the same setup. I've only had my AMNPS a couple of weeks and have used it just 3 times so far. I tested it on the grill without the grill being lit and it worked great. Each of the times I've tried it with the grill lit it just barely burns. It stays burning but just barely, so I think it's not getting enough air.

I light the AMNPS with a propane torch and then use a heat gun to get it really roaring, it sounds like a jet when it takes off, so I know it's burning good before I put it in the grill. Next time I'm going to try to find a way to get more air in there to see how that works. 

David


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## llbts1 (Sep 23, 2013)

Thanks for the reply David. Maybe I'm not using enough pellets? The first time I used it, it burned so well, it jumped tracks, with adequate smoke. The last couple of times, I have to keep re-lighting it. How do you plan on getting more air to it?


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## cholla (Sep 23, 2013)

llbts1 said:


> Thanks for the reply David. Maybe I'm not using enough pellets? The first time I used it, it burned so well, it jumped tracks, with adequate smoke. The last couple of times, I have to keep re-lighting it. How do you plan on getting more air to it?


Prop the lid open a little?


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## waywardswede (Sep 23, 2013)

Yeah it might be that simple. I think the burners are using the oxygen so propping up the lid is probably all it will take. I'm not going to cut any holes in it so that's probably the best option. 

I'm going to be traveling through this weekend so I won't get a chance to try again until next week sometime. Let us know if you have any luck.


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## llbts1 (Sep 25, 2013)

Yeah, guess I could prop the lid up a little and see it that helps. Seems Ill loose some heat and smoke also?


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## waywardswede (Sep 26, 2013)

My guess is it won't have to be open much.  All smokers have a vent for the smoke, otherwise it get's stale, so I don't think that will be an issue.  And the grill has more than enough output to maintain smoking temperatures (225-275) with the lid cracked a bit, so other than using some extra propane I think it should be worth a shot.


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## casmurf (Sep 26, 2013)

I use myAMNPS smoker in my gas grill all the time I just use two of the three burners and put the aMNPS on the burner that is not lit.once I heat up the grill  (all three burners on high) then with two burners on low my Weber cruses at about 250 deg.Make sure your AMNPS is well lit to start.


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## gotbags-10 (Sep 27, 2013)

I use my amnps in my weber gennesis and it works great. I put it in the grease drip pan under the burner so it gets plenty of o2


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## fnm2121 (Feb 23, 2015)

Just order the tube smoker and tried it on my genesis. Seems to get enough oxygen to support it just laying on the cooking grate. Followed the directions and it worked as advertised.  My only problem is that I think it produces too much smoke and that smoke gets stale as a gas grill has no real method of allowing the smoke to escape (no chimney or upper vents). I did some chicken breasts and they were not so good. They had that over smoked creosote taste to them. I think its because the smoke just gets stale in there. Anybody have this issue before or have any suggestions on getting around it?


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## timblaktu (Jul 26, 2019)

This weekend I'm going to christen my new 3 burner Genesis II and AMNPS by smoking a pair of brined chickens with some hickory pellets, slow and low. I'm going to try's 

 gotbags-10
's suggestion of putting the AMNPS in the drip tray. I just checked the fit and it looks to be a much better location since it is under the meat but not _directly _under it, and the nearby grill cabinet doors seem like they could serve as a carbureter to let in more or less air as needed.

Edit: also like this guy's suggestion. I see using the drip pan is popular.


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