Question on a-maze-in smoker

[Crow Hunter]

I have an electric, round, vertical smoker. I am smoking some kielbasa today. I filled my a-maze-in smoker tray with pellets (tray, not the tube), lit one end. I had it on a rack three or four inches above the heating element, which is round, the tray is not directly over it. I was smoking at 200 degrees. I went out to check it and smoke was pouring out of the smoker. I checked and the entire tray of pellets was burning. This has happened to me before, any ideas? I had blown out the flame on the pellets, so they were just burning coals at the one end, no flame.

[Big Dave2]

Maybe the heating element is catching the whole tray on fire at once? Is there someplace in your smoker to put the A-maze-n smoker away from the element?

[Mike89]

maybe spray water on them...

[Jim Almquist]

Maybe you could make a little tin foil boat to help deflect the heat under the smoker tray.

[leech~~]

Wood smokes as it smolders. If to much air is getting to it, it will burn. That's why must smoker boxes just have small hole in the top of them. When I'm grilling on the gas grill I will wrap smoking wood in a few layers of tin foil and poke a few holes in the top of it with a tooth pick.  Works pretty good. If your wood is burning and not smoking it is getting to much air. You can't always reduce the heat depending on what your cooking and for how long, so try putting some tin foil over your box and poke some holes in it.

 

Three things that a fire needs to burn are Heat, Oxygen, and Fuel (wood).  Reduce the Oxygen she will smoke.

Edited January 26, 2018 by leech~~

[Crow Hunter]

I will try the foil. The smoker is 3-4 inches above the heating element, on a rack. I would think that should be far enough away. I am getting the sense that the smoker is running hotter than the temp gauge in the cover is reading, I guess I will replace the gauge for a second time.

[Big Dave2]

21 minutes ago, leech~~ said:

 

Three things that a fire needs to burn are Heat, Oxygen, and Fuel (wood).  Reduce the Oxygen she will smoke.

 

Going to have to disagree with you as far as the a-maze-n smoker is concerned. If you look on BBQ forums you will see lots of people having trouble with that device that is solved by adding MORE air to the mixture, especially on electric smokers that are not necessarily designed with an intake. 

 

I still maintain that the heating element being directly under the a-maze-n smoker is the reason the whole thing was burning. I would try moving it or deflecting the heat like mentioned above. The a-maze-n smoker is meant to burn slowly from one end to the other.

[Grainbelt]

 

18 minutes ago, Crow Hunter said:

The smoker is 3-4 inches above the heating element, on a rack. I would think that should be far enough away.

 

That is not far enough, can you place the tray to the side the same amount of distance? I would fill just one row the furthest from the burner. You need to have your vents open pretty much all the way to provide enough oxygen for the pellets to burn and it doesn't hurt to microwave the pellets for a minute or so prior to putting them in the tray to make sure they are dry.

[leech~~]

9 minutes ago, Big Dave2 said:

 

Going to have to disagree with you as far as the a-maze-n smoker is concerned. If you look on BBQ forums you will see lots of people having trouble with that device that is solved by adding MORE air to the mixture, especially on electric smokers that are not necessarily designed with an intake.

 

I still maintain that the heating element being directly under the a-maze-n smoker is the reason the whole thing was burning. I would try moving it or deflecting the heat like mentioned above. The a-maze-n smoker is meant to burn slowly from one end to the other.

 

Dave since heat is one of the 3 things fire needs to burn I agree with you. Everything will burn at some point with enough heat. But, since the heat source can not always be moved or adjusted to low in a smoker. Limiting some of the air to your wood source will also slow the burning of it. Same reason to damper down and bank a wood stove, to slow down the burn.

Edited January 26, 2018 by leech~~

[Crow Hunter]

Here is a pic. The heating element is a continuous loop, if you took a rubber band and made a circle with it, it would look like the element. There is a tray that touches the inside loop of the element; you are supposed to put your sawdust/pellets in it and they should smoulder, that does not work, poor design in my opinion, that's why I got the a-maze-in tray. the rack the a-maze-in tray is sitting on is 2.75" above the element. I suppose I could take the tray that touches the element out to see if that helps. I wonder if I got a couple of fire bricks to set the a-maze-in on if that would fix it.

Edited January 26, 2018 by Crow Hunter

[Big Dave2]

28 minutes ago, leech~~ said:

 

Dave since heat is one of the 3 things fire needs to burn I agree with you. Everything will burn at some point with enough heat. But, since the heat source can not always be moved or adjusted to low in a smoker. Limiting some of the air to your wood source will also slow the burning of it. Same reason to damper down and bank a wood stove, to slow down the burn.

 

There's no damper or even an air inlet on an electric smoker. The only adjustment possible is partially closing the outtake which is not always a good idea. Plus you need some air when burning smoking wood or you will end up with a white thick smoke that won't taste good on your meat, you want thin, blue smoke.

 

In my particular smoker (Masterbuilt 40") it is advised by most on the BBQ forums to take out the stock chip loader while using an a-maze-n smoker to allow for air flow. 

 

 

13 minutes ago, Crow Hunter said:

Here is a pic. The heating element is a continuous loop, if you took a rubber band and made a circle with it, it would look like the element. There is a tray that touches the inside loop of the element; you are supposed to put your sawdust/pellets in it and they should smoulder, that does not work, poor design in my opinion, that's why I got the a-maze-in tray. the rack the tray is sitting on is 2.75" above the element. I suppose I could take the tray that touches the element out to see if that helps.

 

Hard to get a sense for distance or depth by a photo but I would still suggest either getting the tray further from the element some way or try the deflector shield mentioned above.

Edited January 26, 2018 by Big Dave2

[Big Dave2]

57 minutes ago, Crow Hunter said:

I will try the foil. The smoker is 3-4 inches above the heating element, on a rack. I would think that should be far enough away. I am getting the sense that the smoker is running hotter than the temp gauge in the cover is reading, I guess I will replace the gauge for a second time.

 

3-4 inches above a heating element is not that much considering heat rises....

[leech~~]

56 minutes ago, Big Dave2 said:

 

There's no damper or even an air inlet on an electric smoker. The only adjustment possible is partially closing the outtake which is not always a good idea. Plus you need some air when burning smoking wood or you will end up with a white thick smoke that won't taste good on your meat, you want thin, blue smoke.

 

In my particular smoker (Masterbuilt 40") it is advised by most on the BBQ forums to take out the stock chip loader while using an a-maze-n smoker to allow for air flow.

 

 

I know Dave I have the Char Broil smoker which is a lot like the one you have. The smoker box sits over the heat element and has a lid with holes in the top to keep to much air getting at the wood and starting it burning. Is smolders-smokes for hours before needing refilling. There are air vents at the bottom to let in air for the wood smoke and exhaust vents at the top to let out smoke. Came with a remote so I can watch hunting shows and keep an eye on things and make adjustments from in the house!

 

Edited January 26, 2018 by leech~~

[Big Dave2]

15 minutes ago, leech~~ said:

 

I know Dave I have the Char Broil smoker which is a lot like the one you have. The smoker box sits over the heat element and has a lid with holes in the top to keep to much air getting at the wood and starting it burning. Is smolders-smokes for hours before needing refilling. There are air vents at the bottom to let in air for the wood smoke and exhaust vents at the top to let out smoke. Came with a remote so I can watch hunting shows and keep an eye on things and make adjustments from in the house!

 

 

I know, I remember the post. Have you ever used an a-maze-n smoker with it?

 

How do you like it? What have you made in it so far?

[leech~~]

1 minute ago, Big Dave2 said:

 

I know, I remember the post. Have you ever used an a-maze-n smoker with it?

 

How do you like it? What have you made in it so far?

 

I like it a lot. Got it from my kids for a birthday gift.  I have never really thought about adding or needing an additional smoking system because it puts out some very good smoke, I think.  I have done Brisket, two whole chickens, chicken Hot wings, pork loin and a shoulder roast so far. I'm learning a lot from my old nonadjustable smoker that you loaded up and had to keep playing with all day!

[Big Dave2]

Cold smoking stuff like cheese is another good reason to get an a-maze-n smoker.

[Mike89]

2 hours ago, Crow Hunter said:

Here is a pic. The heating element is a continuous loop, if you took a rubber band and made a circle with it, it would look like the element. There is a tray that touches the inside loop of the element; you are supposed to put your sawdust/pellets in it and they should smoulder, that does not work, poor design in my opinion, that's why I got the a-maze-in tray. the rack the a-maze-in tray is sitting on is 2.75" above the element. I suppose I could take the tray that touches the element out to see if that helps. I wonder if I got a couple of fire bricks to set the a-maze-in on if that would fix it.

 

 

I'm thinking cover the holes on the bottom with a chunk of steel,,,   just my 2 cents....   at least to try...

[delcecchi]

How about setting it on a couple of quarry tiles?

[ZachD]

Too much air should not be a problem with an amazing smoker.. If you leave it out in the open its not going to start a flame unless you sit there and blow on it even then it takes a little bit of blowing.

 

I would say its a little so close to the element

 

 

its a smoker like this right? there more parts to it that make it higher and another grate that you cook on? the chips should go like this I would say that bowl is suppose to act as a diffuser plate but it almost looks to small it should cover your heating coil completely I would say.

 

I would tinfoil that grate the a maze smoker is on and poke some holes on the bottom.

 

 

If you cant figure it out with the info people give here

go to smokingmeatforum

 

Post about it there more than likely Todd will see it and be able to help.

He is the one that invented the amazesmoker

 

 

[Crow Hunter]

Mine does look like the one above. There are three racks, I have the amaze-in smoker on the lowest of the three racks. If I move it up higher I will only have one rack to put meat on.

[smurfy]

16 hours ago, Big Dave2 said:

Cold smoking stuff like cheese is another good reason to get an a-maze-n smoker.

doing that right now!!!!!!!!!!!

[Big Dave2]

3 hours ago, Crow Hunter said:

Mine does look like the one above. There are three racks, I have the amaze-in smoker on the lowest of the three racks. If I move it up higher I will only have one rack to put meat on.

 

Need to put something between the a-maze-n smoker and the heat source.

[ZachD]

On ‎1‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 11:40 AM, Big Dave2 said:

 

Need to put something between the a-maze-n smoker and the heat source.

Agreed

You can always do a mail box mod. You would have to cut a hole in the side of the smoker though. But it would eliminate any problem if all else fails.

Edited January 30, 2018 by ZachD

[Crow Hunter]

Ah. Attach a box to the side of the smoker to put the amazein in?  Interesting idea. I was thinking of getting an unglazed tile a little larger than the amazein and try having it sit on that. I would not have a problem cutting a hole in the smoker if that would solve the issue, tho. Thanks for the thoughts, everybody.

[leech~~]

54 minutes ago, Crow Hunter said:

Ah. Attach a box to the side of the smoker to put the amazein in?  Interesting idea. I was thinking of getting an unglazed tile a little larger than the amazein and try having it sit on that. I would not have a problem cutting a hole in the smoker if that would solve the issue, tho. Thanks for the thoughts, everybody.

 

Try wrapping a sheet of tin foil over the top of it and poke small holes.  It's cheap to try.