# I put charcoal briquettes in my Amazen Smoke Tube!



## crankybuzzard (Oct 26, 2015)

In my never ending quest to achieve the ever elusive smoke ring in an electric smoker, I ordered an additional 18" smoke tube from Todd!

My thought was that MAYBE with the combination of 225 degrees from the heating element, a full tube of Pit Master's Choice, and a full tube of briquettes, I could get at least a slight sign of the pink ring I sorely miss!

I bought some Kingsford briquettes, measured them, and discovered that they were 1/4" too wide to fit into my tube!












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__ crankybuzzard
__ Oct 26, 2015






So, I whipped out the old Barlow (pocket knife), and started whittling.  After shaving them down, it looked good enough to stuff into the tube!












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__ crankybuzzard
__ Oct 26, 2015






After stuffing 10 of the briquettes into the tube, I broke out the MAPP gas and put some heat to it!  Hey Todd, that's a virgin run of a new tube right there!












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__ crankybuzzard
__ Oct 26, 2015






Into the pit it went!  Along with another 18" tube of pellets.  I had an eye of round roast in the pit to use for jerky at the time.  The pit was preheated to 225 degrees and I let it run until the center temp of the roast was 150 degrees, about 2.75 hours!

When I pulled the roast from the pit, I noticed that the briquettes had burned up completely, so I pulled the tube to inspect.  












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__ crankybuzzard
__ Oct 26, 2015






I discovered that this is not what it's gonna take to get a smoke ring in my large smoker!  Dunno if it would work in a smaller one or not. 

Why am I posting this if it were a fail?  Why not?  

I experiment with stuff a LOT!  Sometimes the experiments work, other times not so much.  Perhaps my fail will entice others to go further.  Also, I had fun doing it, even if my wife thought I was nuts for shaving down charcoal briquettes...  :biggrin:


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## sfprankster (Oct 26, 2015)

I don't know if I would have gone to the effort of carving them to fit.

Couple of whacks with a framing hammer would make them fit.


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## JckDanls 07 (Oct 26, 2015)

yea..  I have read where people just break them up and put the pieces in the tube...  think they got the same results as you though ...  keep experimented though..  as you said...  "It's fun"


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## crankybuzzard (Oct 26, 2015)

Just for clarification, I had 2-18" tubes in the smoker.  One with Pit Masters Choice, the other with the briquettes.   Next time, I'll crush the coal and fill it....  Might make a difference.


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## foamheart (Oct 26, 2015)

Save your tubes for your pellets. I used a couple of charcoals in the chip tray of the MES40 while using the cold smoker for smoke. This is what my brisket looked like.













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__ foamheart
__ Oct 26, 2015






But it didn't have that distinctive firebreather taste.


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## chef jimmyj (Oct 26, 2015)

You want a Pink Ring? Soak the meat in a Brine with Cure #1 for 8 hours. Rinse and Smoke...POOF! Instant smoke ring! Chemically the the Nitrite in Cure and the Nitrogen in the smoke do the same thing...JJ


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## a g k (Oct 27, 2015)

Interesting thread as I too like to experiment. Mine took a different path than yours, I put 1 partially burned briquette (from a previous weber grilling; closed off air when done grilling which left enough briquette to just fit in 12" tube). Filled tube with cherry & pecan pellets leaving enough room for 1 now smaller briquette which I lit with a torch. While I have not had much trouble lighting pellets in the tube, this worked great .

  A G K


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## crankybuzzard (Oct 27, 2015)

Foamheart said:


> Save your tubes for your pellets. I used a couple of charcoals in the chip tray of the MES40 while using the cold smoker for smoke. This is what my brisket looked like.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Yeah Foam, we were able to get a decent result in the old man's MES as well, the problem I have is the shear size of my vertical...  6 feet tall and 28" x 24", that's a lot of space for a few briquettes to provide the required nitrogen dioxide and CO


Chef JimmyJ said:


> You want a Pink Ring? Soak the meat in a Brine with Cure #1 for 8 hours. Rinse and Smoke...POOF! Instant smoke ring! Chemically the the Nitrite in Cure and the Nitrogen in the smoke do the same thing...JJ


I've never done it with a brine, but have rubbed with TQ and let it sit for several hours before rinsing and rubbing again.  I just like experimenting...  High tech redneck here...


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## westby (Oct 27, 2015)

It's strange that you can't get a ring.  I run a pellet grill along with an Amazen tube (both using Lumberjack MHC blend) and I can get a ring just fine.













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__ westby
__ Oct 26, 2015


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## rc4u (Oct 27, 2015)

use Vision Grills lump oak charcoal. in one side of my smoke hollow 44 and chips in the other side...I start the lump in the starter and no heat on that side and then the chunk hickory or apple n cherry in with it and then just chunks of wood on the other......it seems to work good...and I really like the Visions brand lump nice little logs and lumps and chunks....20 # bags for $16 so not so cheap but don't use that much..seems to keep even temps and jhave heat on both sides...jeff


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