Will an A-MAZE-N tube smoker fit into the wood chip loader access for a MES 40"?

bear36 · May 15, 2016

Hi All,

I have an A-MAZE-N 5x8 tray smoker for my MES 40" which works super well.

But I was thinking: What if I could free up some shelf space by using an A-MAZE-N tube smoker instead of my 5x8 tray, and place the A-MAZE-N tube smoker in the wood chip loader access on the side of the MES instead of the wood chip loader? By all the pictures I see on the net, the diameters look similar and if the dimensions were right, it would be a good space saver with hopefully the same smoke output!

Thing is I can't find the diameter dimensions of the tube smoker to see if it would work.

Anyone tried this before? If so, does it get enough airflow to maintain a nice smoke output? Would a 12" protrude too much outside the smoker to be effective?

Any advice/knowledge would be awesome.

Cheers!

Bear

dr k · May 16, 2016

Bear36 said:
Hi All,

I have an A-MAZE-N 5x8 tray smoker for my MES 40" which works super well.

But I was thinking: What if I could free up some shelf space by using an A-MAZE-N tube smoker instead of my 5x8 tray, and place the A-MAZE-N tube smoker in the wood chip loader access on the side of the MES instead of the wood chip loader? By all the pictures I see on the net, the diameters look similar and if the dimensions were right, it would be a good space saver with hopefully the same smoke output!

Thing is I can't find the diameter dimensions of the tube smoker to see if it would work.

Anyone tried this before? If so, does it get enough airflow to maintain a nice smoke output? Would a 12" protrude too much outside the smoker to be effective?

Any advice/knowledge would be awesome.

Cheers!

Bear

The chip loader chute gets really hot being right above the heating element and may ignite more or all the pellets than what you want.
-Kurt

sundown farms · May 16, 2016

I have a MES40 Gen 2.5 and a 12" AMZNTS. I had not thought of inserting it into the chip loader hole as it would easily fit--The TS is maybe half the diameter of the loader hole. I planned to try it this evening as was excited about your idea. But, Dr. Kurt pointed out why it will not work for hot smoking so that leaves near-cold smoking. If it worked--maybe it would on cold day in Houston TX-- then I could reload or chick the pellets without opening the door.

Air flow should not be an issue provided there is a little heat to make the box draft. Problem could be too much air causing it to burn to fast, create to much heat and makes to much smoke. May need to add a do-nut type ring of something around one one end to decrease the space between the TS and the chute.

If you are still interested I will let you know how the 12" length is with the chip loader's hole depth. Thanks for the interesting idea.

jirod · May 16, 2016

I do this from time to time. Fits nicely and the draw keeps the smoke flowing.

Like Dr K said, there are times the pellets will light up and start to burn sometimes, and they do seem to burn quicker. So while it does work, you have to keep an eye on it and sometimes you burn through pellets quicker (which pellets aren't expensive but do add up if you start using a lot of them).

dr k · May 16, 2016

A 3" diameter X 2' aluminum $3.00 vent pipe with an aluminum grate/wire coat hanger etc. inside of it to keep the AMNTS elevated for air circulation would work. You'd need to regulate air flow with the Mes top exhaust vent because the draft when hot smoking would really stoke this short run in the pic below. The other pic is one way I cold smoke with the same setup and the aluminum flex pipe into the charcoal door of my grill. I prefer the smoke to more freely escape the product chamber than through the small Mes top vent. I mostly use my Amnps. But needed both at the same time hot smoking Pastrami with the AMNPS with the Mes mailbox mod and cold smoking CB in the grill setup with the AMNTS before adding the CB in the Mes to finish.

CAM00809.jpg

dr k
May 16, 2016

CAM00807.jpg

dr k
May 16, 2016

-Kurt

bear36 · May 16, 2016

Didn't think of the extra heat Dr K, good point! and thanks for the extra info as well.

jirod: when you get that extra burn of pellets, does the smoke output become too much?

Sundown: yeah let us know, looks like I might give this a go.

Thanks for the input folks, and i'll post some info on how it goes when I get to give it a try.

Cheers

Bear

sundown farms · May 18, 2016

Here is the 12" TS inserted all the way into the feed tube. Based on the good ideas in this thread I will first buy four feet or so of flexible duct and insert the TS in the end of it for cold smoking. With the TS I do not think I need the mailbox that is needed for the tray. Kurt's idea about supporting the TS above the coil using coat hanger wire bent into a cradle (I think that is what he was talking about) could keep the pellets from burning really fast due to the coil's heat. At least it would help.

20160517_210353.jpg

sundown farms
May 18, 2016

20160517_210353.jpg

sundown farms
May 18, 2016

jirod · May 18, 2016

Bear,

Actually when the pellets catch on fire they don't really produce any smoke, and get burned up very fast. So you do have to keep an eye on it and try and blow them out if it happens. So you can burn through a whole tube of pellets and not can much if any smoke flavor out of it, which is a risk of doing it that way.

dr k · May 18, 2016

Sundown Farms said:
Here is the 12" TS inserted all the way into the feed tube. Based on the good ideas in this thread I will first buy four feet or so of flexible duct and insert the TS in the end of it for cold smoking. With the TS I do not think I need the mailbox that is needed for the tray. Kurt's idea about supporting the TS above the coil using coat hanger wire bent into a cradle (I think that is what he was talking about) could keep the pellets from burning really fast due to the coil's heat. At least it would help.
Tom

20160517_210353.jpg

sundown farms

May 18, 2016

In the pics above that you can't see I have my AMNPS elevated off of the bottom of the mailbox for better airflow from underneath as well as the AMNTS is elevated on a perforated piece of aluminum sheet metal that I slid into the aluminum vent pipe that fits in the chip loader opening. So air circulates all around the AMNTS. I prefer all combustibles to be outside of the food chamber.
-Kurt

bear36 · May 19, 2016

thats awesome, thanks Sundown and jirod!

its great having a forum that offers excellent/friendly advice like this.

much appreciated!

Bear

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Will an A-MAZE-N tube smoker fit into the wood chip loader access for a MES 40"?

bear36

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dr k

Master of the Pit

sundown farms

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jirod

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dr k

Master of the Pit

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bear36

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sundown farms

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jirod

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dr k

Master of the Pit

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bear36

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