A-maze-n Smoker boxes

[DaveWNY]

When using these on a gas grill can I get away with putting down a layer of foil over the lit burner and then placing the smoker box on top of the foil? The reason that I am asking is that I only have a 3 burner grill and when trying to do indirect heat I am only using the far left or right burner, but I don't have room to place the actual smoker box and when using the pellets for a smoke source I basically burnt them up since the box was over 1 of the burners with the flavorizer bar.

My question is a layer or 2 of foil going to do it or should I try to elevate the box a bit higher by using an empty smoker box? This is basically until I am able to purchase a gas smoker that is really dedicated for this type of cooking.

Thanks
DaveWNY

 

[SonnyE]

Ya know Dave, you would probably be best served by an Amazen tube smoker with Pellets.
It wouldn't care where it is, could be easily used between the Off burners and still make bu-cu smoke.
Or you could lay it on top of your grill grates.

See, the pellets, once lit, just sit there in the Amazen device and smolder away.
Whether or not it infuses enough smoke is a matter of trying it here, there, or where it's just right.

 

[Will Smoke]

mmm maybe.. i would try it

 

[DaveWNY]

My biggest concern is really around the heat of the burner still being reflected enough not to burn the pellets but still allow for the correct temps to be achieved. At one point I had the A-maze-n box lit with Hickory pellets and an additional box lit full of apple chips and the burner completely off with the temp holding between 240 and 250, my concern is that with a 1/2 full maze box and a burner on I'd end up burning the pellets vs allowing them to smolder.... I'm also up for using a bunch of the foil mini loaf pans to raise the box up but if the flame will burn through then will it buy me anything...

 

[bregent]

I've never been able to keep the tray going with any gas burner running. Tube works well though. But if that's not a problem, then I think you could do it but rather than a piece of foil, use something thicker like a cast griddle or some plate steel.

 

[gmc2003]

The tray isn't made for gas grills. The tube is.

Chris

 

[SonnyE]

My biggest concern is really around the heat of the burner still being reflected enough not to burn the pellets but still allow for the correct temps to be achieved. At one point I had the A-maze-n box lit with Hickory pellets and an additional box lit full of apple chips and the burner completely off with the temp holding between 240 and 250, my concern is that with a 1/2 full maze box and a burner on I'd end up burning the pellets vs allowing them to smolder.... I'm also up for using a bunch of the foil mini loaf pans to raise the box up but if the flame will burn through then will it buy me anything...

Well, 90% of this is experiment, and the other 10% is luck.
And I always eat the evidence to hide it.

I've not found happiness with trying to infuse smoke on my gas grill. So I have a smoker for that, and the gas grill for all out Bar-B-Que.
I look at my MES 30 as a smoker first, outdoor oven second.
But before the MES, I've been smoking for some 50 odd years with home made electric smokers. And I tried smoking on my gas grill.
But I kind of came to the conclusion that my gas burner just has too much leakage and air exchange do to the heat the burners make. So, not really a smoker in my definition of a smoker. ;)

I do do smoking in my MES to get smoke flavoring, then finish other ways. Air Fryer, Grill, frying pan...

 

[Bearcarver]

I would also recommend the Tube (AMNTS) in this case.
That's one of the reasons the tube was invented after the Tray (AMNPS) was invented.
It puts out a lot more smoke than the tray, which should make up for the leakage of the Gas Grill.
Just put it somewhere far enough from direct heat or flames.

Bear

 

[johnmeyer]

You didn't say what make/model grill you have. I have an old Weber Genesis. I have posted before about using the AMNPS in that grill. Here's that post, complete with pictures:

AMNPS in a Gas Grill

There is another thread that is currently active that discusses how much smoke you can get in a gas grill, given how much air moves through it. Those who claim they can't get any smoke flavor are probably doing something wrong, but having said that, you do have to do a "belt and suspenders" approach to get good results. What I mean by this is that I not only use the AMNPS as shown in the link above, but also use a traditional smoke package, consisting of soaked wood chips in aluminum foil with holes poked in the foil. I place this directly over the flavorizer bars. Actually, I now use a Weber smoking tray, which has holes in the bottom, and then cover it with foil that has a huge number of holes poked in the top.

 

[DaveWNY]

Sorry About this. I am not 100% sure of the model since it is about 3 years old but it is a 3 burner Very similar to this but stainless for the grill lid.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Char-Broil-Black-3-Burner-Liquid-Propane-Gas-Grill/50329717

Surprisingly with the AMNPS and the extra smoker box with chips I do get a strong enough smoke flavor on the finished product. Not bad for what I will deem a try for a first time. The last smoker I had was a Brinkman barrel smoker that i solely used for smoking Salmon about 10 years ago. That worked out perfect then, but with 3 moves, getting married, kids, it didn't last through all of that.

I am thinking of getting the Masterbuilt Gas Smoker as my choice just to combat the wild ranges of temp and wind of outside.

 

[DaveWNY]

John- Just took a look at the older post about how you made the modifications... Having a grill to be able to do that is great. Unfortunately the Charbroil model I have really is contained in the bottom, so I have been using the side holes that are for a rotisserie as the natural holes to basically blow air into the chamber and then plug up the back with foil... It seems to work well. I think that a combo of getting the box off the grates with either a small drip pan or with a plate of steel if I can find one here.

Thanks for all the input guys!!

 

[yahoot]

Another solution is to use a smoke generator like the smoke chief.
www.smokehouseproducts.com/products/smoke-chief-cold-smoke-generator

It is made to attach to the rotisserie hole on a gas grill and will put out a ton of smoke. Burns pellets, but has a little blower in it.

I think they retail for about $100 (not cheap), but I really like it as an auxiliary smoke generator better than my tubes and mazes. Also great for cold smoking cheese, nuts, fish.