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AMaze won't stay lit

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delaware smoker

delaware smoker

Fire Starter
Original poster
Feb 2, 2006
60
11
I smoked some cheese yesterday.I lit the A Maze tray with pellets,let it burn for ten minutes,and put it in my Char Griller Smoker.We had a breeze,and the A Maze smoked away In. the afternoon I smoked another batch.I relit  new pellets,put in smoker.The breeze died down,and the pellets wouldn't stay lit.They would burn for a short time,then go out.I kept relighting the pellets,and same thing would happen.I started the second batch at noon,at six pm.,I took the cheese out of the smoker.I'm not sure how much smoke they really got.How can I keep the pellets smoking,with no wind?
 
You might have to give it more intake air. Open the lower damper or crack the door open
 
I do have the vent on the firebox fully opened.I'll try and crack the lid open.Thanks for the replies.
 
Do you have a small fan you can set by the exhaust vent to the pit? Set it to blow in the direction the vent faces also causing a jet pump reaction. As the wind blows by it will cause a suction by the air dispplacment pulling more air out the pit allowing a better draft thru it. Fan at suction or inlet causes ashes, not good eats.

If it works great and easy, if not you put the fan up and think of something more involved.
 
Last edited:
In my upright smoker I usually have to keep both doors cracked, top vent full open, and then adjust the bottom dampers.

I don't know about the pellets, but when its cold outside it doesn't hurt when I give the dust 15-20 seconds in the microwave before lighting.
 
I always microwave my pellets or dust for a min. Then let sit 5 min then microwave again. I take at least 15 min to get the AMNPS going before I put it in. I make it a point to watch the clock from the time I light it till it goes in. No less than 15 min or it is going to give me fits.

Happy smoken.

David
 
Nuking the pellets to remove the moisture is a good thing. I usually do a minute, stir them up and do another minute. I put them on a plate or shallow dish so they are in a single layer.

Good airflow is critical not only for the burn, but also to keep the smoke moving and to not end up with stale smoke sitting in your smoker.
 
I put the AMaze with pellets in the side firebox,and put a fan in front of the vents.The smoke was flowing real good out of the stack.Half way through,the pellets quit smoking.It's driving me nuts.I'll try the microwave next time.

Bill
 
Try placing the AMNPS just inside the main chamber and i would even crack the hood

Make sure you have lots of air coming in from the intake

Yes, pellets do absorb moisture, so drying them out can help

Todd
 
TJohnson said:
 
Try placing the AMNPS just inside the main chamber and i would even crack the hood

Make sure you have lots of air coming in from the intake

Yes, pellets do absorb moisture, so drying them out can help

Todd
Click to expand...
I have put the AMNPS inside the main chamber,same results.It goes out half way through the first row.Even if I crack open the hood,would this help if there is no breeze blowing?Today the wind is blowing,I should lite the AMNPS,and see what happens.
 
Tube Smokers work very well in just about any low oxygen atmosphere. 

A pellet or gas grill has very little oxygen after the flame.  This is where the Tube Smoker really works well.  The Tubes have a larger mass of pellets than the AMNPS 5x8, and produce more smoke.

Tube Smokers also perform better at higher elevations.  The AMNPS 5x8 seems to struggle around 5,000', but the Tube Smokers perform well.
 
I also found that some pellets don't burn as well as others in the a-maze-n tray. I used exact same setup, weather was also about the same, microwaved the same amount of time, yet the cherry pellets (BBQ delight) kept flaming out. Apple work fine. Eventually I mixed them and it worked better.
 
So will a tube smoker work in a Kamado,which I have? I tried the AMNPS in my Acorn,it doesn't work,because it doesn't get much air to keep it smoking.
 
atomicsmoke said:
I also found that some pellets don't burn as well as others in the a-maze-n tray. I used exact same setup, weather was also about the same, microwaved the same amount of time, yet the cherry pellets (BBQ delight) kept flaming out. Apple work fine. Eventually I mixed them and it worked better.
Click to expand...
Cherry Pellets do not burn well on their own.  Not really sure why, but it's just the nature of the pellets.  I cover this issue in my instructions.

Layer the bottom 1/2 of the row with good burning pellets like Oak, Maple or Hickory

Layer the top 1/2 of the row with cherry pellets

The bottom layer is your fire and the top layer will smolder

Todd
 
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