# New AMNTS Oval tube will burn Dave's Coarse Pellet Dust



## indaswamp (Mar 3, 2019)

Do you think pellet dust will stay inside the new Amaz-N oval tube? I may go this route for a somewhat cooler fire.


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## indaswamp (Mar 3, 2019)

I can report back that yes, the new A-maze-N Oval tube does burn Dave's crushed pellet dust very nicely. After microwaving it 6 minutes (2 minute intervals then stirring) to dry, I used a paper plate as a funnel to pour the dust into the oval tube. Some did fall out, maybe 1%... I just took the paper plate the oval was on to catch over spill and poured it back into the tube. I packed it good with a knife steel and kept filling until it would not take anymore. Lit it with a torch, let it burn and blew it out. placed it in the bottom of my smokehouse and nice TBS rolling out the vents. Started it @ 5:30am....lets see how long she rolls...


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## indaswamp (Mar 3, 2019)

Also burning cooler.... Ambient temp. is 64* and top therm. probe is running 71.6*.....pellets were running 87ish*....


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## tx smoker (Mar 3, 2019)

Keith....this is some great info for those that are looking to get into cold smoking, especially cheese where temps need to stay very low. Thanks for sharing.

Robert


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## indaswamp (Mar 3, 2019)

No problem Robert....It's how I roll.....


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## indaswamp (Mar 3, 2019)

Well, it has been 2 hours so I opened the smoke chamber door to check the burn rate on the dust... It is between 1/4 and 1/3 consumed. Should go about 7 hours on a full, packed tight, oval of dave's coarse pellet dust. Perfect.


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## indaswamp (Mar 3, 2019)

tx smoker said:


> Keith....this is some great info for those that are looking to get into cold smoking, especially cheese where temps need to stay very low. Thanks for sharing.
> 
> Robert


I give credit to Dave....He gives credit to Mr. T....
I just experimented with the dust in the new oval and it works....


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## tx smoker (Mar 3, 2019)

_"No problem Robert....It's how I roll...."_

Yes it is, and "how you roll" is the personification of so many things that are so good about this forum: people voluntarily sharing experience to help others through the learning curve. Fortunately I have the equipment and having learned what I needed to know from SMF, I had that aspect under control. My comment was primarily for the benefit of others who may not be so sure how to go about cold smoking and/or what equipment to use. Certainly others can learn from this.

Robert


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## indaswamp (Mar 3, 2019)

<thumbs up>


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## daveomak (Mar 3, 2019)

That's cool that the dust burns so much cooler than pellets in the tube...   Good test and good find....  Now folks can have a cooler smoker for cold smoking stuff.....  

.........


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## indaswamp (Mar 3, 2019)

My smokehouse is 36cu.ft......so I imagine a much smaller MES will get hotter with either. The large volume will definitely help with cold smoking.

Got 6.5~7 hours of good clean TBS. Awesome. When this batch of BBB is finished curing and equalizing, I plan for 3~4 nights of 7 hours TBS with a rest in the refrig. in between.


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## indaswamp (Mar 3, 2019)

Trial run #2 underway...

I found a 2' piece of 3/8" rebar in the garden stuff (use them for stakes) and used that to really pack the dust in tight. I poured about two inches up the tube, then would pack it down tight. I got 2.5 plastic 16 ounce cups of dust in the tube. I may be able to get 8 hours of smoke packed tight; which would be great because my plan is to roll cold smoke to the BBB at night (higher humidity-better for cold smoking, colder temps-better for cold smoking) while I sleep then refrigerate between smokes. Plan on 3~4 nights of smoke because I am a smoke hound like Bear.......


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## indaswamp (Mar 3, 2019)

Pic. of the complete burn from the first tube of dust...


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## indaswamp (Mar 3, 2019)

5 hours in on test #2, less than 2/3 of the dust in the tube has been used up. Pack it tight as you can and you should get 8 hours of good clean TBS.






You can see the TBS rising off the tube.

Oh- one more thing....packing the tube with the rebar smashes the pellets up so no need to really try and get the pellets all broken up before hand after wetting and drying... get most of them and call it good...no need to spend a lot of time on it...packing them in the oval will take care of it.


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## indaswamp (Mar 4, 2019)

Just over 9 hours of smoke from the Oval filled with Dave's coarse pellet dust. Impressive. I think I will start with 2 smoke sessions over two nights and do a fry test to check the smoke...might be enough. I'm excited....Hurry up and cure little buckies!!! LOL!!!


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## indaswamp (Mar 5, 2019)

Did another trial run tonight with Cherry, Apple, Maple blend pellet dust. I've cooked a lot with both Apple and cherry over the years, but never maple. I wanted to smell the smoke. I'm using pitboss blend of 50% maple, 25% apple, 25% cherry. Made coarse dust with it and packed tight in the oval. I also put a grate over top of the oval and placed a gallon ziplock of cool water in the grate above the smoke to test for creosote. 6 hours in I checked it, no sticky feel to the bag and a very light yellow tint. Perfect.
I know that the dust in the Oval burns such that it maintains a glowing red ember a little larger than the size of a charcoal briquette (I stopped half way through a burn, dug out the burnt dust to check it, and the glowing ember fell out), which is plenty hot enough to get a good clean burn. I'll tell ya, I was expecting to get some creosote...and I am impressed with dust in this oval.


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## Murray (Mar 5, 2019)

*A-MAZE-N DUST cannot be used with the A-MAZE-N TUBE SMOKER*

A quote from their web site. I guess there must be a difference between sawdust and your homemade pellet dust?


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## indaswamp (Mar 5, 2019)

Murray said:


> *A-MAZE-N DUST cannot be used with the A-MAZE-N TUBE SMOKER*
> 
> A quote from their web site. I guess there must be a difference between sawdust and your homemade pellet dust?


Yes, there is a difference. I am using Dust made from pellets. I call it "Dave's coarse pellet dust". He started a thread on it couple 3-4 months ago. put pellets in a bowl, add hot water a little at a time and watch the pellets expand. mash them with a spoon. Add just enough hot water to break them up, keep them as dry as you can. Spread out on a foil lined cookie sheet and bake in oven (or smoker when hot smoking if you have the room) 270* for 2 hours or so....

The coarse dust works beautifully in the oval....but ya gotta pack it tight....8~9 hours clean TBS....


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## zwiller (Mar 5, 2019)

My thought is that dust would probably work in the tube for cold smoking but could catch fire if hot smoking but Todd is likely playing it safe/CYA.  Hard to please everyone.  

 indaswamp
 Are you gonna try hot smoking with it?  I plan to make some dust soon and compare to Todd's dust and then someday try hot smoking with it.  I think @TomKnollRFV converted to all dust recently and that has piqued my interest.


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## daveomak (Mar 5, 2019)

I would try using the dust in the tube below 160, then when smoke is done, crank up the heat..   Of course, that's for cured meat only...   or, whole muscle meats due to the meat being sterile on the inside....


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## indaswamp (Mar 5, 2019)

zwiller said:


> My thought is that dust would probably work in the tube for cold smoking but could catch fire if hot smoking but Todd is likely playing it safe/CYA.  Hard to please everyone.
> 
> indaswamp
> Are you gonna try hot smoking with it?  I plan to make some dust soon and compare to Todd's dust and then someday try hot smoking with it.  I think @TomKnollRFV converted to all dust recently and that has piqued my interest.


I do not need a tube for hot smoking...or even warm smoking for that matter.... I run propane and becasue I have such a large volume in my cooking chamber, I can run the gas a little hotter than guys with smaller commercially made set ups. 
With one row of jets blocked off on my 18,000BTU burner, I can run as low as 90-200*. I have micro control over the flame to +-3*.
For hot smoking, I pull the 4d nails blocking the jets and run both rows. I can run ~180-275*. 
I use the leftover charcoal formed from the previous cook to get a fast flame started. I use mainly chunks on my 16" CI pan. 
Pellets are too finicky in my set up and put out white smoke often. With the chunks, I get 4~6 hours of good TBS from a small flame fire. It works for me.....


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## solman (Mar 8, 2019)

thanks for posting this. i'm trying to figure out the best cold smoking method for my first try at bacon, and this might be it. i wonder how well the coarse dust would work in their new expanding oval tubes. any thoughts on that?


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## daveomak (Mar 8, 2019)

Looking at the size of the slots, it should get plenty of air...  Do you have clamps to raise it up from the floor ??  Might be worth it... 








..


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## indaswamp (Mar 8, 2019)

solman said:


> thanks for posting this. i'm trying to figure out the best cold smoking method for my first try at bacon, and this might be it. i wonder how well the coarse dust would work in their new expanding oval tubes. any thoughts on that?


No different than the regular fixed12" Oval that I have. You could probably get 12~14 hours of TBS with the expandable 18".....


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## indaswamp (Mar 8, 2019)

daveomak said:


> I would try using the dust in the tube below 160, then when smoke is done, crank up the heat..   Of course, that's for cured meat only...   or, whole muscle meats due to the meat being sterile on the inside....


Exactly Dave...
I will only use it for cold smoking, and I might try it as a supplemental smoke generator for when I smoke andouille when I want a punch you in the mouth heavy smoke on the links...


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## solman (Mar 8, 2019)

i don't see myself ever needing to smoke something for 12+ hours, so maybe the 12" will be good enough. i plan to have it sit at the bottom of my 40" propane smoker right above the burner so it should get plenty of airflow without having to elevate it too much.


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## indaswamp (Mar 8, 2019)

FYI, my trial run was with no propane. Just the oval burning as a test run for cold smoking bacon. As Dave mentioned, might not work well with dust above 160*. You will have to experiment.


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## zwiller (Mar 8, 2019)

Hopefully someone will test but I wanted to let you guys know there are several guys using DIY/Dave's Dust (NKA DD LOL) in MES at high temps with success.  I plan to try it myself soon on some ribs.  Hopefully it works in a gasser.


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## solman (Mar 8, 2019)

indaswamp said:


> FYI, my trial run was with no propane. Just the oval burning as a test run for cold smoking bacon. As Dave mentioned, might not work well with dust above 160*. You will have to experiment.



the tube and dust is only for cold smoking bacon right now with propane off. for regular smoking, like ribs and such, i plan to continue using wood chunks and propane, which out really well for me.


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## normanaj (Mar 8, 2019)

zwiller said:


> Hopefully someone will test but I wanted to let you guys know there are several guys using DIY/Dave's Dust (NKA DD LOL) in MES at high temps with success. I plan to try it myself soon on some ribs. Hopefully it works in a gasser



Excellent success in the MES.

U-bolt mod and crushed pellets(not dust) is the way to go.A cheapo coffee bean grinder and a bag of pellets is pretty much all you need.

A packed 6" tube will go over 5hrs easy.I hit it with the torch really hard to get it going and let sit in the open for 5 mins or so and then in it goes.


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## indaswamp (Mar 22, 2019)

I want to share some info with you guys...
When using a heat gun to light the wood dust, it will blow the dust embers all over everywhere. The key to solve this issue is to use about 1/2 ~ 1 TBSP. of whole pellets on top of the dust. Light the pellets with the heat gun (they won't blow off the top of the oval).

Tube filled almost full with Dust...






1/2 ~1 TBSP. of pellets...







Pellets on top...






My tube holder... a tin veggie can. Keeps the oval from falling over while lighting...


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## indaswamp (Mar 25, 2019)

FWIW, the oval will hold 223 grams of coarse pellet dust, packed tight with a short rod of 3/8" rebar, which is just shy of 1/2lb.... so now I know how much pellets to wet to make Coarse dust...


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## solman (Mar 26, 2019)

so you're able to get 8-9 hours when using a 12" amazen oval tube with coarse dust packed tight, or roughly 223 grams worth? that's impressive. i have a knock off hexagonal shaped smoker tube and get 4 hours using 350 grams of pellets. with the same 350 grams converted to dust, i can't get over 6 hours.


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## indaswamp (Mar 26, 2019)

That's right solman....9 hours of clean TBS...packed tight as I can get it.


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## Walchit (Mar 26, 2019)

This gives me high hopes for my oval!


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## indaswamp (Mar 26, 2019)

Walchit said:


> This gives me high hopes for my oval!


FWIW, you can get the heat gun @Harbor Freight for like 9 bucks with a coupon...works great lighting pellets, I just put 1TBSP of pellets on top the dust to light.

Thanks @Holly2015  for the tip on the Harbor Freight heat gun.....


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## Walchit (Mar 26, 2019)

I have a small heat gun I use for putting shrink bands on my hot sauce! Not sure it would do it though. Is there a reason the heat gun is better than a torch?


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## indaswamp (Mar 26, 2019)

Walchit said:


> I have a small heat gun I use for putting shrink bands on my hot sauce! Not sure it would do it though. Is there a reason the heat gun is better than a torch?


Both work. but you have to buy refill canisters for the torch....
I think the torch is faster. I like the ease of the heat gun.


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## indaswamp (Mar 26, 2019)

BTW, on a whim (because I have dinner plans weds. night) I decided to do a cold smoke session today during the day. Temps. out side running 62* with the front that has passed, so I thought sure....why not? Temps should not rise that much in the smokehouse...
Well, I can report that with my smokehouse being lined with the 1/4" Hardiboard, it is acting as a heat sink and cooling the smoke chamber about 5 degrees. The ambient air is heating up faster than the hardiboard as the day progresses, and the hardiboard is sucking up the extra heat from the smoke chamber. The smoke chamber is running 2~2.5* above ambient during the day with the oval lit. When cold smoking at night, the residual heat in the hardiboard held the temps higher and lagged in cooling down from the ambient temp. So it was adding heat to the smoke chamber. I was running 7.5~9* above ambient temperature. This is one reason why I am not getting creosote build up on my meats, and why the ziplock bag test was a success and did not collect creosote.

I'm a happy smoker.....


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## solman (Mar 28, 2019)

indaswamp said:


> That's right solman....9 hours of clean TBS...packed tight as I can get it.



i think my math was off when i originally said i couldn't get over 6 hours. yesterday i did another cold smoke and i packed 220 grams of coarse dust into my knockoff smoker tube and got 7 hours of smoke.

maybe the type of pellets matter. i used Cookinpellets Perfect Mix pellets that i watered down, dried and crumbled. what pellets did you use to get 9 hours of smoke?


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## indaswamp (Mar 28, 2019)

Pitboss maple, cherry and apple

I got 11 hours from 80/20 mix of 80% pitboss hickory and 20% Lumberjack apple.


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## solman (Mar 28, 2019)

i may have to try out pitboss. at my walmart it's 40lb hickory for $24, and 20lb apple for $9.


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## indaswamp (Mar 28, 2019)

solman said:


> i may have to try out pitboss. at my walmart it's 40lb hickory for $24, and 20lb apple for $9.


The long burn may have been due to the Lumberjack... they use the outer layer of wood and bark and this may have prolonged the burn. Pitboss flavor pellets are a blend 60/40 oak or alder with the flavoring wood. The hickory is all hickory from my research because hickory is fairly plentiful and cheap...


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## solman (Mar 28, 2019)

how about reducing the air intake to the smoking tube to help it burn longer? reduce oxygen to the burning embers which in turn will help reduce smoke density and extend burn time. at least that's my theory.


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## solman (Mar 29, 2019)

I reduced the air intake to my 12" smoker tube to half what i would normally have open, and got close to 11 hours of thin blue smoke. That's with 224g of dust. Wide open air intake would get me 7 hours. This thread has been very helpful in tweaking my setup.


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## indaswamp (Mar 29, 2019)




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