Opinion on tube smokers?

[top_gun_de]

Hi,

I went through all the forum, but I found no mention of tube smokers. Is nobody here using one?

I use a regular smoker box on my Genesis, and so far while it works, it works only so long. Refilling is impossible at low heat, because it needs to sit below the grate and needs medium heat to start for good.

The smoker tubes like amazen promise to work for several hours and independent of the burner, so I should be able to reload it for really long cooks.

Yet if nobody here uses it, there seems to be a disadvantage. Or is it just the fact that you all use dedicated smokers?

Best regards,

Detlev

[Skip]

I have used an Amazem Tube to smoke cheese. It work Great! Now to try smoking almonds sometime soon.

[Dewesq55]

I am thinking about getting an Amazen Tube to add smoke to rotisserie cooks on my gasser.

[bep35]

I use an Amezen tube when grilling on my Weber Genesis gasser. I have the 6" and filling it 1/4 of the way gives me about 45 minutes of smoke. Just right for grilling vegetables, potatoes, steak or chicken.

[jmoffatt]

I have the 6 and the 12 inch I use them in my masterbuilt to supliment the smoke they work very good

[Letmebefrank]

I have the amazen tube and the amazen maze and like them both. Before I learned about using a waterpan in my pellet grill I tried them in there. Haven't yet tried it on my gasser, but I did use one for a whole hog I did on a rented propane grill. They do burn for hours. It's kind of a white smoke, not the perfect blue smoke, but they do work.

[Lynn_B]

I use the 6 & 12 Amaze-n-ing tube I think it's called. I have a pellet grill and I like more smoke than it provides. However they'll only work up to around 230? I think. After 4 to 6 hours, depending on the type of meat they say it won't accept anymore smoke

I like me the control the tubes give. I can easily add or take away

[oldsteve]

I have the 12" A-Maze-N tube smoker I bought to use on my Yoder pellet grill. It works great! It's been feeling lonely lately because I've been using one of my Weber's with the Slow and Sear almost exclusively to make things. I would still purchase one because it works wonders smoking cheese and nuts.

[top_gun_de]

Thank you for the feedback

I went ahead and ordered a similar tube from a local maker in 6", my theorie is that it's generic exhaust pipe for cars with a welded plate wherever you get it from unfortunately it will sit untested until next weekend as I spend this weekend on a meeting in London.

[IrondeQuer]

Poor man's version: tin cans, two lit briquettes and some wood chips. This is on a kettle but would probably work on a gasser too.

[Powersmoke_80]

Nice!

[top_gun_de]

I see that I never reported back about my experience

I got a local brand. One of the german distributors for pellet smokers happens to know a guy who builds the tubes from stainless steel, and he sells them under his label "Back to smoke" together with about three pounds of pellets, completely flavour-wood, no fillers, for 29€ = a little more than 30 USD.

At 225°, a fill of the tube lasts a little longer than an hour, and it's really easy to refill, although it's not really necessary. If I want to refill it, I take it out of the BBQ with a pair of tongs and refill it, then relight it. This takes maybe two minutes.

Compared with a smoker box, it is much more intensive at 225°, and while my box will only work well when it's on the flavouriser bars, I can just lay the tube on the grate because the smoldering pellets are self-sustaining.

Compared with the Napoleon tube, the holes are a lot wider, allowing more air inside. I find that it works great for me. I fill it, and then use my small blowtorch to start it. What I found: It works reliably when laying flat, in a standing position it will go out after a while.

I could find the Amazen-tube in my country, but like most low-volume imports it suffers from a bad price-point. Besides, I find that Amazen is ridiculously expensive for pellets. I get a jar with 12kg = about 25 pounds of pure hickory pellets for about 16€ plus shipping.

The smoke is strong enough for me. I enclosed a picture of the last pulled pork which I started last weekend. The smoke is visible enough, I think. Btw: I cleaned the lid in the summer. All the black crust that is visible is from this little pellet-thingy :-O

Best,

Detlev
​

[jharner]

I bought an Amazen Tube ( 12 inch ) to use with my pellet grill. I think it does help but cooked two briskets ( 12lb & 13lb ) last Saturday and did not realize until 4 hours later that it did not stay lit. Briskets still turned out great, good smoke flavor.

[top_gun_de]

They need oxygen, so you need to consider the position. In gas grills, placing them close to the running burner seems to give them good enough air flow. I have no clue about a pellet smoker, though. I believe they were created with gas grills in mind.

How much of the tube was burnt?

[CeramicChef]

I've only used my Tube Smoker to cold smoke cheese. Understand that I cook exclusively now in kamados and the makers of the Tube Smoker do not recommend them for kamado use while cooking in kamados. The airflow is simply too low and the Tube Smokers will NOT stay lit.

I would occasionally use the Tune Smokers when I had a kettle and they put a good consistent smoke on everything ranging cheese to fish to poultry to beef and pork. In the right application, the Tube Smoker is a very nice tool.

I can easily recommend the Tube Smoker if you have a kettle, bullet smoker, or other high airflow cooker.

[Munch]

Just used mine for the 1st time today. Costco cheddar and Colby jack and a rogue chunk of Swiss.