Thanks for the replies. I’m using a pellet smoker,
rt700, which I think when using quality pellets is really good on smokes over 2-3 hours. I don’t really find I need supplemental smoke and it’s on par with a clean burning stick burner.
On short smokes it doesn’t quite leave me with the smoke I want, so the tube helps here. But it also can throw out dirty smoke, so my angle here is to find a way to burn dust to get tbs in the tray or tube inside the smoker while it’s hot and filled with smoke. I have no trouble keeping the tube lit with pellets. I use a looftlighter to get things going and you are spot on with the cigar analogy.
I don’t have vents to open, but the airflow is very high with the fan from the cooker. I just don’t think the tray and dust is meant to work in a smoky environment.