# Pellet tube in vertical gas smoker



## bearmanminship (Apr 19, 2021)

So I bought a masterbuilt dual fuel smoker about a year ago. I’ve made numerous mods on the thing but with no truly pleasing results. The food it turns out is good but not what I’m looking for. I either end up with no smoke or billowing white smoke and every now and then can achieve a short lived tbs. I have no problem with temp control and here is a list of things I’ve tried to get the right smoke 
Cast iron pan with : chips, chunks, foiled chunks, moving the pan higher and lower from the flame, etc. 
I have also spent hours and hours looking for ways to make this thing work as I want it to, so I just ordered the pellet tube smoker and can’t for the life of me find a picture of where I could place the thing to produce the right smoke as intended. Checked the known forums and google.  Any help on this ?

I have used the maze pellet smokers with okay results with the burner lit and it’s great for cold smokes but I want something I can use for every single cook with no issues.


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## SmokinEdge (Apr 19, 2021)

Air flow is key. Also the tube was made for high elevation, thinner air atmosphere, I live at 6400’ and have a tube as well as a maze that I built. I use both, but prefer the maze. That said, the smoke from pellets is actually less, in terms of taste, than lump charcoal, which is very mild. Pellets are great for cheese, but leave a lot on the table with meats, no matter how you burn the pellets.


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## SmokingUPnorth (Apr 19, 2021)

What kind of pellets are you using in the pellet tray?  I’m not too familiar with that smoker but how much wood do you use when smoking?


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## bearmanminship (Apr 19, 2021)

SmokinEdge said:


> Air flow is key. Also the tube was made for high elevation, thinner air atmosphere, I live at 6400’ and have a tube as well as a maze that I built. I use both, but prefer the maze. That said, the smoke from pellets is actually less, in terms of taste, than lump charcoal, which is very mild. Pellets are great for cheese, but leave a lot on the table with meats, no matter how you burn the pellets.


Got it. Could lump charcoal be used as a substitute for chips or chunks in the wood tray?


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## 912smoker (Apr 19, 2021)

Not familiar either but have you tried charcoal in the pan ? I added a small pan to my MES after seeing it on a youtube vid. I got them lit and ready outside then placed them in the smoker. Was pleased with the outcome


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## bearmanminship (Apr 19, 2021)

SmokingUPnorth said:


> What kind of pellets are you using in the pellet tray?  I’m not too familiar with that smoker but how much wood do you use when smoking?


I’ve used many different brands of pellets in the tray. Most seem to work well until the fire is lit or grease drips on them.
As far as wood goes, on 5 - 6 hour cook I could go through 2-4 medium chunks of any given wood. But I tend to give up some where mid way through and just wrap the meat and put it in the oven. Saves me the strife and potentially ruined meat.


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## bearmanminship (Apr 19, 2021)

912smoker said:


> Not familiar either but have you tried charcoal in the pan ? I added a small pan to my MES after seeing it on a youtube vid. I got them lit and ready outside then placed them in the smoker. Was pleased with the outcome


Strictly charcoal? Or charcoal with chips/chunks ?


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## old sarge (Apr 19, 2021)

You could try an external smoker.  Here is a link to one made by SI and includes an independent comparison between Smoke Daddy and SI:








						cold smoke generator
					

cold smoke generator



					www.smokin-it.com


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## 912smoker (Apr 19, 2021)

bearmanminship said:


> Strictly charcoal? Or charcoal with chips/chunks ?


I'd try a cook with with only charcoal and 1 with added chunks and compare results until you achieve the desired results


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## cmayna (Apr 19, 2021)

Back to the original question, where exactly are you locating the pellet tube?   Pics?  Also per your last sentence, what issues are you having with the pellet tube during a hot smoke?


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## bearmanminship (Apr 19, 2021)

cmayna said:


> Back to the original question, where exactly are you locating the pellet tube?   Pics?  Also per your last sentence, what issues are you having with the pellet tube during a hot smoke?


Tube is on the way to my house now. I was just wondering where people were sticking them and if they needed to have some sort of cover above them to prevent drippings. You were one of few people I could find to post pictures of your rig. The tub in front of the water pan seems smart. It doesn’t get to hot there and ignite the pellets?


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## OldSmoke (Apr 19, 2021)

I have a 230 which is similar to the dual-fuel unit. I did not have consistent results with a tray. Those seem to work best in electric units. I switched to a tube and that worked better. Make sure to dry your pellets first in a microwave or in an oven. I kept a small cookie tray lined with foil just above the lowest rack to catch drippings and cover the tube. I slide the tray toward the back to move the smoke toward the door so it fills the cabinet instead of just running up the back wall and out the vent. I have since moved the tube outside the cabinet into a smoke generator.


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## BrianGSDTexoma (Apr 20, 2021)

I use the tube in the pellet and electric.  I been getting lot better flavor mixing pellets with chips.  Small hand full each and shake a little each time.  Get about 4 hours.


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## Winterrider (Apr 20, 2021)

BrianGSDTexoma said:


> I use the tube in the pellet and electric.  I been getting lot better flavor mixing pellets with chips.  Small hand full each and shake a little each time.  Get about 4 hours.


I may need to try that as I believe chips give much better flavor than pellets.


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## bill1 (Apr 20, 2021)

What makes this difficult (compared to electric smokers) is the air you need to burn gas is much greater than what you need to smoke wood (chunks, chips, or pellets.)  Tubes and mazes are supplied a very high-heat ignition source to "light" and then that initial burn provides ignition for the traveling flame front.  Even in a hot oven , the whole thing doesn't burst into flame if the only air source is what it naturally wants to draw.  In a gas cooker though, there's always more air movement (same problem in a pellet grill) so it's harder to keep these balanced between flame-up and "going out".  And if you get the balance right at 210F, it may not work at 350F.  This is the beauty of putting your smoke generation external to the cook box.  It's not that you want the smoke "cold", so there's no need to separate it by feet, you just want to isolate the smoking chamber, in both temp and airflow, from the cooking chamber.


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## cmayna (Apr 20, 2021)

Thus why I have had so much luck using a mailbox mod set up on my electric smoker.  Will say though that using a seperate smoke generator for a gasser is probably a wise choice.

I heard about mixing pellets and chips together but never gave it a try.    Wonder what ratio.   I assume the chips would be dry?


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