The BBQ Gestapo Shut Me Down

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tx smoker

Legendary Pitmaster
Original poster
OTBS Member
★ Lifetime Premier ★
Apr 14, 2013
9,954
14,545
Lago Vista, Texas
Bummer folks. I was informed a couple of days ago that I could no longer use my grill or smoker at the condo we are renting while I build our new house. No propane, no charcoal. Electric only. As much as I don't like it I do undersand the rationale though. In the mean time I went out and bought a Cajun Injector XL double door electric smoker to tide me over until I get the house completed. It was on sale at Academy for $100 off so it seemed to be a good deal. I fired it up yesterday and followed the instructions (yes, I actually read them) just to see how it worked. I didn't put any meat on, just did a dry run to get a feel for it. I had my offset really dialed in and was turning out some world class Q but now I have to go through the learning curve again.

Some observations and questions for those in the know regarding electric smokers:

-There appears to be a plus/minus 7 degree temperature differential. That means temp swings of 14 degrees from the set point. Set at 225 it goes up to 232, shuts off, then comes back on at 218. Is this normal?

-The instructions mention "chips" on a regular basis. I don't have chips, only chunks. I got my hatchet out and chopped some small pieces but they still barely lit up, I got little or nor smoke, and it took over an hour before I got any smoke at all. Not good.

-Are chips more suitable for this type of unit or should I consider pellets? I need do something different, that's for sure. After 6 hours only 5 little chunks of wood were burned and 3 of those were still in tact to a large degree. Obviously this is not enough smoke to make it worthwhile.

-One problem causing the lack of smoke is that when the unti hits 232 degrees and shuts off, the power to the element heating for the smoker wood cuts off too.The wood has barely started to smoke when it hits temp then the heat is gone so no more smoke until it drops back to 218 and the heating elements fire back up. This pretty much sucks :-)

-I checked out Todd's site and saw a couple of products that may help but I have a couple of questions regarding those too. Are his pellet trays / tubes used in addition to or instead of the factory chip tray? The space I have for the smoker tray is only 8" wide, 6 1/2" deep, and 1" tall. That doesn't leave me much room for anything and the tops of both heating elements are enclosed with meal housings so without tearing something apat I don't have the availability to use a supplemental pellet or chip source.

Any help or guidance would be VERY much appreciated!!

Smokeless in Cedar Park,
Robert
 
Sorry to hear that, but it sounds like you are on the rebound. Solid answer from David. Good Luck with the new smoker and getting the house built and getting out of that purgatory you are in.

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How about a pic of that new electric smoker so we can all take a peek. We all love pics! 
 
Robert, morning.....  Todd's smoke gens replace the chip smoking stuff in the smoker...  They make smoke regardless of the temp in the smoker....  Usually consistent smoke for up to 12 hours depending.....   The AMNPS can be lit from both ends for double the smoke...  A variety of pellets gives a variety of smoke flavors.....   They work awesome in electric smokers...  Check to see how much space is next to the burner in your smoker... usually the AMNPS is set on some type of rack, for air flow, in the lower portion of the smoker...  Setting Todd's units directly of a heating element doesn't work too well, in my experience.... the pellets burn up way too fast and at times catch on fire....   to the side of the burner seems to work best for me....   Maybe the AMNTS will work also...  They put out a lot of smoke and need a larger smoker, usually, to accommodate the amount of smoke...   You can always call Todd....   He will give you the true skinny......

Dave
 
Bummer folks. I was informed a couple of days ago that I could no longer use my grill or smoker at the condo we are renting while I build our new house. No propane, no charcoal. Electric only. As much as I don't like it I do undersand the rationale though. In the mean time I went out and bought a Cajun Injector XL double door electric smoker to tide me over until I get the house completed. It was on sale at Academy for $100 off so it seemed to be a good deal. I fired it up yesterday and followed the instructions (yes, I actually read them) just to see how it worked. I didn't put any meat on, just did a dry run to get a feel for it. I had my offset really dialed in and was turning out some world class Q but now I have to go through the learning curve again. Let's get that house finished!!!

Some observations and questions for those in the know regarding electric smokers:

-There appears to be a plus/minus 7 degree temperature differential. That means temp swings of 14 degrees from the set point. Set at 225 it goes up to 232, shuts off, then comes back on at 218. Is this normal? That is very normal. Even though the element shuts off, it is hot enough to raise the smoker temp a few degrees, and when it comes on it takes awhile to get hot enough to start raising the smoker temp.

-The instructions mention "chips" on a regular basis. I don't have chips, only chunks. I got my hatchet out and chopped some small pieces but they still barely lit up, I got little or nor smoke, and it took over an hour before I got any smoke at all. Not good. Chips or chunks depends on the smoker.

-Are chips more suitable for this type of unit or should I consider pellets? I need do something different, that's for sure. After 6 hours only 5 little chunks of wood were burned and 3 of those were still in tact to a large degree. Obviously this is not enough smoke to make it worthwhile.

-One problem causing the lack of smoke is that when the unti hits 232 degrees and shuts off, the power to the element heating for the smoker wood cuts off too.The wood has barely started to smoke when it hits temp then the heat is gone so no more smoke until it drops back to 218 and the heating elements fire back up. This pretty much sucks :-)  This is a problem with all electric smoker's built in smoke generators. The ones that work best are usually too much smoke for a few minutes, then just right smoke for a few minutes, then no smoke---Time for more chips.

-I checked out Todd's site and saw a couple of products that may help but I have a couple of questions regarding those too. Are his pellet trays / tubes used in addition to or instead of the factory chip tray? The space I have for the smoker tray is only 8" wide, 6 1/2" deep, and 1" tall. That doesn't leave me much room for anything and the tops of both heating elements are enclosed with meal housings so without tearing something apat I don't have the availability to use a supplemental pellet or chip source.  Can you show a picture or two of the inside of your smoker? There must be a place for an AMNPS, which would be the best one for your smoker.

Any help or guidance would be VERY much appreciated!!

Smokeless in Cedar Park,
Robert
 
Thanks for allt he great input!! It is only on the patio that I am not allowed to use the grill or smoker. I can use it in the yard but that's another problem in and of itself. There is about a 3' sloping drop from the patio to the yard. My grill wieghs right at 350 pounds. Although it has wheels on it they are small casters and just dig into the dirt. Trying to roll it through the grass is painful at best. The smoker, although having larger wheels on it, weighs 500 pounds. Getting it down the slope is farily easy but rolling that monster back up on to the patio would be a nightmare if I had to do it every time. It about klled my wife and I just moving it here, getting it on to the patio, and setting it up.


I tried several times to upload pictures but all I am getting is the file name. It won't upload the picture.That's odd ecause i have sent tons of Q-View in the past but not today I guess...I'm gonna try and see if they show up as pictures or if it's just the URL.



 
Thanks for allt he great input!! It is only on the patio that I am not allowed to use the grill or smoker. I can use it in the yard but that's another problem in and of itself. There is about a 3' sloping drop from the patio to the yard. My grill wieghs right at 350 pounds. Although it has wheels on it they are small casters and just dig into the dirt. Trying to roll it through the grass is painful at best. The smoker, although having larger wheels on it, weighs 500 pounds. Getting it down the slope is farily easy but rolling that monster back up on to the patio would be a nightmare if I had to do it every time. It about klled my wife and I just moving it here, getting it on to the patio, and setting it up.


I tried several times to upload pictures but all I am getting is the file name. It won't upload the picture.That's odd ecause i have sent tons of Q-View in the past but not today I guess...I'm gonna try and see if they show up as pictures or if it's just the URL.




OK, Looking at this pic, I would say there's probably not enough air flow on the bottom drip pan, so I would get the AMNPS (5 1/2" X 8"), and put it as low as you can go on the left side.

First try----To the left of the chip burner on that half shelf.

Second try----On the bottom full shelf above the water pan, all the way to the left.

If you could put something under it, to hold the AMNPS up a couple inches, it could possibly work in the bottom left drip pan.

Bear
 
Looks like a perfect candidate for a "mailbox mod" and pellet tray or tube.  You could put it on the side or set it on the shelf below.  Just need an inlet point for the smoke to flow.
 
I'd ask if I could set up the large smoker in the parking lot and have a block party.

David
ASK NOTHING!!! I would just set up some tables, have the wife make some potato salad, slaw, beans, etc. Start passing out ribs and Pulled Pork to everyone in the complex. Then when they try to stop you you can incite a riot and overthrow the Socialist regime!! Then if that don't work, when you get your house built everyone else will follow just be close to your smoker, then you really got'em!!
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