A-MAZE-N Dust - Opinion on all around best wood dust in 5lb bag size?

[skycam]

PS  What the hell is wattle wood??
All the best. 

Wattle is an Acacia and just happens to be Australia's floral emblem, hence our colors are "Green and Gold".

So what type of saw do you use to make sawdust of this consistency that will support combustion, is particle size that critical?

 

[Bearcarver]

PS  What the hell is wattle wood??
All the best. 

Wattle is an Acacia and just happens to be Australia's floral emblem, hence our colors are "Green and Gold".

So what type of saw do you use to make sawdust of this consistency that will support combustion, is particle size that critical?

Crosscutting is best, if you can't get Todd's dust.

Radial Saw

Miter Saw (Chop saw)

Possibly table saw dust (depends on the blade in use)

Bear

 

[geerock]

The dust particle size is important to a degree.  But you have to remember that you are going to have to dry the dust out from fresh cutting yourself.  And the finer the dust, the easier and quicker to dry.  I have a local orchard nearby that is always replenishing their trees so I get all the fruit woods I need.  I just run the wood thru a table saw with a collection bag and then put it out in the sun spread out over a sheet of plastic and let the sun do it's thing.  If you want it quicker, just spread it out thin on a baking sheet and put in a low temp oven.  Stir it around a couple of times and you should be good to go.  Remember if you are using a water pan for your smokes that it gets pretty humid in the smoker and can keep the smoke output real low or even stop it if you are dry enough with the dust to start with.

All the best.

PS    Happy Holidays to all!

 

[Bearcarver]

The dust particle size is important to a degree.  But you have to remember that you are going to have to dry the dust out from fresh cutting yourself.  And the finer the dust, the easier and quicker to dry.  I have a local orchard nearby that is always replenishing their trees so I get all the fruit woods I need.  I just run the wood thru a table saw with a collection bag and then put it out in the sun spread out over a sheet of plastic and let the sun do it's thing.  If you want it quicker, just spread it out thin on a baking sheet and put in a low temp oven.  Stir it around a couple of times and you should be good to go.  Remember if you are using a water pan for your smokes that it gets pretty humid in the smoker and can keep the smoke output real low or even stop it if you are dry enough with the dust to start with.

All the best.

PS    Happy Holidays to all!

Good point geerock,

I never thought about cutting logs & limbs on a table saw (sounds dangerous).

I was thinking of cabinetmaking scraps, which are generally kiln dried from 6% to 8% moisture content.

Working in cabinet shops for 20 years gave me a one track mind.

Thanks,

Bear

 

[iso]

Opinoins vary so YMMV.

You can smoke any meat with any wood. DJ has an excellent wood pairing guide here. I tend to pick smoking woods to match the meat being smoked. Hickory/mesquite/oak lend well to beef. Cherry/hickory lends well to pork. Fish goes well with fruitwoods.

I've been looking at the AMAZEN dust smoker for cold smoking cheese - another topic all together.

 

[tjohnson]

Has anyone managed to create their own sawdust for the Amazen burner that works?

The company won't ship dust outside the US and supplies here in Australia are limited to Mesquite, Mesquite or Mesquite, hell, we don't even grow mesquite here.

We have our own hardwoods like apple mallee, mulberry, yellowbox, wattle etc but I need to get the dust consistency just right for continued combustion.

Roger Of Oz

Hey Roger!

I have shipped to Australia and I actually have a distributor in your back yard!!!

Contact Andrea at http://www.mistygully.com and she can set you up.

In answer to your question regarding sawdust, "Sawdust is Sawdust", but there are different grades or sizes of sawdust.  It ranges in size from wood flour all the way up to a 1/8" chips that are used in butcher shops and commercial smokers.  The perfect sawdust to burn in a AMNS is similar in size to the sawdust that comes off a miter saw or table saw.  I've got some customers that make their own sawdust or have friends that can get it for them.

Caution:  Cabinet shops are in the "Cabinet Business", and not in the "Sawdust Business".  The sawdust in their bins could contain glue, laminate, pine and other nasty stuff.  Unless you're 100% sure what's in the sawdust, I would not use it.

Hope this helps!

Todd

 

[teesquare]

Opinoins vary so YMMV.

You can smoke any meat with any wood. DJ has an excellent wood pairing guide here. I tend to pick smoking woods to match the meat being smoked. Hickory/mesquite/oak lend well to beef. Cherry/hickory lends well to pork. Fish goes well with fruitwoods.

I've been looking at the AMAZEN dust smoker for cold smoking cheese - another topic all together.

I think caution is needed when saying "any wood"....Just sawing/milling cedar, and many other "aromatic woods" can make you very sick. I would not recommend anyone use pine for another example, for a few reasons, including - it will make you sick... I think I understand what you meant -any commonly known wood that is used for smoking meats-

Just afraid someone might mis-interpret, and get a wild hare - and try smokin' a pork shoulder over a creosote post!

 -

 

[samaridad]

i mix and match. I put some down one channel and different one the other. GO FOR THE BIGGER SIZE...........I have learned to make my own dust... I love his product but ran out. didnt notice i had no hickory left. had to come up with something for the butts. I bought all his dust of wood. had bag all together and relized i was out. please support him great customer service

 

[jwsailor]

I guess everyone has their favorites; I use a lot of pecan and use it for most all my sausage, pork and chicken. However I do use some Hickory and oak occasionally. I even have a small pile of mesquite out back for beef, but I don’t do much beef.

Love my A-Maze-N, absolutely the best thing for sausage. 

 

[nexpress]

I like using the Hickory dust and mixing in some of the cherry.  I just got my AMNPS on Saturday.  I am looking forward to using Oak wood mixed with a little cherry for the first time on a brisket this weekend.  Buy   your dust and pellets from Todd.  He gives great customer service and he ships super fast IMO.

 

[SmokinAl]

I'm a hickory kind of guy.

 

[alelover]

I like hickory, pecan and apple.  I make my hickory and pecan dust on my mitre saw. It's quite plentiful here. Works great.

 

[Bearcarver]

I'm a hickory kind of guy.

Same Same Me !!

Bear

 

[domapoi]

It all depends on what you are going to smoke the most!

For me:

Beef and whole turkey: mesquite or whiskey barrel oak

Pork: apple

BB Ribs and pork belly: hickory

cheeses: usually maple or cherry

chicken:  pecan

and all the above:  avocado, lemon or orange is good for a change.

The latter ones are from trees I have myself and use a BlendTec blender to turn them into sawdust. Have you ever been to that site for Blendtec that answers the question "Will It Blend"? Well, along with iPhones and other items, they do do wood too.

 

[tjohnson]

I use Apple for my "Go To" Wood

Orange is absolutely wonderful, and awesome on Fish or Poultry!!

Todd

 

[johnyd]

Has anyone managed to create their own sawdust for the Amazen burner that works?

The company won't ship dust outside the US and supplies here in Australia are limited to Mesquite, Mesquite or Mesquite, hell, we don't even grow mesquite here.

We have our own hardwoods like apple mallee, mulberry, yellowbox, wattle etc but I need to get the dust consistency just right for continued combustion.

Roger Of Oz

Hey Roger, we do have it a bit more difficult at the bottom of the world eh!I looked at getting an amazen from across the ditch but it was over $100 by the time you convert Au$ into NZ$ and the dust was just as bad! 

Sorry to say Todd but its a rip off price in Aussie on your product. I know you sell at a good price in the States

Roger if you microwave the dust before you put it in the amazn it will burn even. I use the dust off a drop saw, I just stand there and dropsaw a bunch of native wood........ might take to the axe handle and make some hickory dust too!

 

[biaviian]

Has anybody used the wine barrel on anything other than cheese?  I tried it beef or pork (I can't remember which) and it was horrible...I think it was pork.  However, it is my go-to for cheese.  I'm wondering if it was just a fluke or if it really doesn't go with pork or other meats. 

The wine barrel also makes a great cheese.  I used that for my last batch and it all came out excellent (horseradish, pepper jack, and extra sharp white cheddar).

 

[biaviian]

I like using the Hickory dust and mixing in some of the cherry.  I just got my AMNPS on Saturday.  I am looking forward to using Oak wood mixed with a little cherry for the first time on a brisket this weekend.  Buy   your dust and pellets from Todd.  He gives great customer service and he ships super fast IMO.

Yeah, the shipping speed is amazing.

 

[domapoi]

Hey, I just recently got my AMNS and now they have come out with the AMNPS that handles both pellets and dust! Is Todd going to be phasing out the AMNS or is he going to keep supporting it and supplying dust for it as well?

 

[scarbelly]

Todd told me he was going to support both the dust and pellets.