RogueWave
Got Wood.
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2014
- Location
- Southern...
First off, for the record, I have no affiliation with A-MAZE-N.
If you're looking for the short answer, you can skip to the "Conclusion:"
As a small business owner, 40 hours a week sounds like some far away dream. My hobby time is limited. I would love to do some competition someday, but for now, I’d prefer to serve my family and friends (now you KNOW I’m lying) some barbecue WITHOUT… shunning them for a full day while I cook it. On a limited budget, the small, vertical gasser seemed the obvious choice.
But therein lies the game…
For a year I tried, desperately, to make the chip tray in my Smoke Hollow gasser work properly. I thought chunks roughly 2 c.i. would do the trick.
Thus began a year of Hell, fighting between white smoke, blue smoke and no smoke. If I pre-smoked my chunks for about 45 minutes to get through the billowing white, I could generally expect 20 minutes of blue smoke before they petered out. And there was a very palpable difference in taste when I allowed the meat to bask in the white smoke.
I tried dry wood, soaked wood, pre-heated and even my old, heavy cast iron smoker box, which just happened to fit. Near same results across the board.
So I finally gave up and ordered what I was told a year ago was the way to go… a 12” AMNTS from A-MAZE-N.
http://www.amazenproducts.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=AMNTS
I ordered from Amazon Prime for the delivery speed and because I needed to use my credit. When the unit came, I immediately recognized a problem. Mine had 2 open ends.
Before I set up a return through Amazon, I first emailed Todd at A-MAZE-N to ask about this. He said a few like this had gotten through and offered to send me another unit PLUS the cap for the old one if I wanted to keep it. In the meantime I could use my defective unit, as-is.
I reluctantly accepted this no-brainer offer. So many times, it’s not a problem-free product that makes for good vibrations, so much as the customer service offered when there IS a problem. Clearly Todd is a firm believer in customer service.
My research had indicated that I need a well ventilated location for the AMNTS in a propane smoker. Otherwise the propane burner will chew up much of the Oxygen, leaving little for the smoker, starving the combustion and extinguishing the smoke.
I had a position picked out for the unit. The 2 side vents are down near the propane-burner level and so is the wood chip tray. I modified the tray handle so that I could lay the tube in front of it, i.e. between the front door and the chip tray laying horizontally, left to right. The chip tray needs to remain in place to continue to direct heat around rather than allow it to go straight up.
I tried the first unit… as-is… the following Sunday. I struggled a little. Despite my efforts, I didn’t keep the flame going for 10 minutes after lighting as per the instructions. The smoke eventually petered out.
Then when I did get it going, I went Tim (The Toolman) Taylor on it and torched it a little TOO well. The flame climbed over the top of the mound of pellets, down the other side and the whole thing blazed like wildfire!
A few days later the package arrived. Not only was the new unit filled with pellets… but he included an extra 2 lb. bag of Pitmaster’s Choice, just for good measure!
I ground the weld off of one of the open caps, removed the cap and pushed the new one on. It holds plenty tight without a weld.
I loaded ‘er up with pellets, torched ‘er good and let the flame go for 10 minutes per instructions.
I had about 8 lbs. of dino bones coated with EVOO and seasoned with a moderate dusting of Bovine Bold ready to go. The smoker gave me 3 hours of perfect blue smoke before I decided the ribs had had enough and I pulled the smoker from the pit. Just about half of the tube had burned; right in line with the 6 hour estimate for a full tube.
Kids loved the dino bones! Wife and mother REALLY loved ‘em!
Me? Well…
Conclusion:
I wrote this review in hopes that it may help save some other poor schlub from a year of pain and suffering while hoping that he’s GOING to figure out a way to make his chip tray work!
Life is good! Everyone with a gasser… or electric… or even a pellet smoker… should try one a’ these. What a difference! And the funny thing is… during my research I discovered that these weren’t even originally designed for gassers. Someone tried one along the way and reported the positive results to Todd. Just remember, for a gasser, the key is said to be enough ventilation near the AMNTS. My pit appears to be within the "Goldilocks Zone." Just right.
And this, of course was the first trial. More testing is needed. And Lord knows there will be more testing. If I notice different results, I'll post 'em.
Going forward I will either use some foil as a barrier in the smoker when I want to limit smoke time… or just fill it only as full as I’d like.
That said… I really want to do a brisket next so that I can ledder’ rip for a full 6 hours! Too bad the stuff is up to 5 bucks a pound now for Choice grade.
So maybe a pork shoulder.
Barbecue has become fun again. Thanks Todd!
Pics below...
1. The unit in position (chip tray behind and sand pan above)
2. Chip Tray with handle straightened and raised
3. The glorious and continuous TBS (rarely photographs well, as many of you probably know)
(Had to eradicate the bamboo privacy screen that was along the fence last Fall. Haven't decided on its replacement just yet. At least the palms have some breathing room now.)
RogueWave
.
If you're looking for the short answer, you can skip to the "Conclusion:"
As a small business owner, 40 hours a week sounds like some far away dream. My hobby time is limited. I would love to do some competition someday, but for now, I’d prefer to serve my family and friends (now you KNOW I’m lying) some barbecue WITHOUT… shunning them for a full day while I cook it. On a limited budget, the small, vertical gasser seemed the obvious choice.
But therein lies the game…
For a year I tried, desperately, to make the chip tray in my Smoke Hollow gasser work properly. I thought chunks roughly 2 c.i. would do the trick.
Thus began a year of Hell, fighting between white smoke, blue smoke and no smoke. If I pre-smoked my chunks for about 45 minutes to get through the billowing white, I could generally expect 20 minutes of blue smoke before they petered out. And there was a very palpable difference in taste when I allowed the meat to bask in the white smoke.
I tried dry wood, soaked wood, pre-heated and even my old, heavy cast iron smoker box, which just happened to fit. Near same results across the board.
So I finally gave up and ordered what I was told a year ago was the way to go… a 12” AMNTS from A-MAZE-N.
http://www.amazenproducts.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=AMNTS
I ordered from Amazon Prime for the delivery speed and because I needed to use my credit. When the unit came, I immediately recognized a problem. Mine had 2 open ends.
Before I set up a return through Amazon, I first emailed Todd at A-MAZE-N to ask about this. He said a few like this had gotten through and offered to send me another unit PLUS the cap for the old one if I wanted to keep it. In the meantime I could use my defective unit, as-is.
I reluctantly accepted this no-brainer offer. So many times, it’s not a problem-free product that makes for good vibrations, so much as the customer service offered when there IS a problem. Clearly Todd is a firm believer in customer service.
My research had indicated that I need a well ventilated location for the AMNTS in a propane smoker. Otherwise the propane burner will chew up much of the Oxygen, leaving little for the smoker, starving the combustion and extinguishing the smoke.
I had a position picked out for the unit. The 2 side vents are down near the propane-burner level and so is the wood chip tray. I modified the tray handle so that I could lay the tube in front of it, i.e. between the front door and the chip tray laying horizontally, left to right. The chip tray needs to remain in place to continue to direct heat around rather than allow it to go straight up.
I tried the first unit… as-is… the following Sunday. I struggled a little. Despite my efforts, I didn’t keep the flame going for 10 minutes after lighting as per the instructions. The smoke eventually petered out.
Then when I did get it going, I went Tim (The Toolman) Taylor on it and torched it a little TOO well. The flame climbed over the top of the mound of pellets, down the other side and the whole thing blazed like wildfire!
A few days later the package arrived. Not only was the new unit filled with pellets… but he included an extra 2 lb. bag of Pitmaster’s Choice, just for good measure!
I ground the weld off of one of the open caps, removed the cap and pushed the new one on. It holds plenty tight without a weld.
I loaded ‘er up with pellets, torched ‘er good and let the flame go for 10 minutes per instructions.
I had about 8 lbs. of dino bones coated with EVOO and seasoned with a moderate dusting of Bovine Bold ready to go. The smoker gave me 3 hours of perfect blue smoke before I decided the ribs had had enough and I pulled the smoker from the pit. Just about half of the tube had burned; right in line with the 6 hour estimate for a full tube.
Kids loved the dino bones! Wife and mother REALLY loved ‘em!
Me? Well…
Conclusion:
I wrote this review in hopes that it may help save some other poor schlub from a year of pain and suffering while hoping that he’s GOING to figure out a way to make his chip tray work!
Life is good! Everyone with a gasser… or electric… or even a pellet smoker… should try one a’ these. What a difference! And the funny thing is… during my research I discovered that these weren’t even originally designed for gassers. Someone tried one along the way and reported the positive results to Todd. Just remember, for a gasser, the key is said to be enough ventilation near the AMNTS. My pit appears to be within the "Goldilocks Zone." Just right.
And this, of course was the first trial. More testing is needed. And Lord knows there will be more testing. If I notice different results, I'll post 'em.
Going forward I will either use some foil as a barrier in the smoker when I want to limit smoke time… or just fill it only as full as I’d like.
That said… I really want to do a brisket next so that I can ledder’ rip for a full 6 hours! Too bad the stuff is up to 5 bucks a pound now for Choice grade.
So maybe a pork shoulder.
Barbecue has become fun again. Thanks Todd!
Pics below...
1. The unit in position (chip tray behind and sand pan above)
2. Chip Tray with handle straightened and raised
3. The glorious and continuous TBS (rarely photographs well, as many of you probably know)
(Had to eradicate the bamboo privacy screen that was along the fence last Fall. Haven't decided on its replacement just yet. At least the palms have some breathing room now.)
RogueWave
.
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