Grill mailbox test

[NewBuilder]

I'm hoping to do some ribs next weekend. The weather is getting warmer and my new oven smoker is almost ready to use. I'm going to use my unused Weber kettle as my "mailbox". My tube smoker puts out a lot of smoke so making some dust to try.

 

[JLeonard]

Be interesting to see how well it works.
Jim

 

[SmokyMose]

Curious to see how it works.
My Weber is crying just from hearing the word "unused"...

 

[TNJAKE]

You got an exhaust on the oven?

 

[NewBuilder]

You got an exhaust on the oven?

Yes, I used the original exhaust stack, you can see it coming up from the back of the top. I tried to recycle as much as I could from the original oven.

 

[Cajun Smokes]

Curious to see how it works.
My Weber is crying just from hearing the word "unused"...

I'm curious to see how it works too. Seems like a solid smoker idea

 

[cmayna]

If you are using a Amazen tube pellet smoker, AMNTS, try filling it half full. Lay it horizontally and shake it left to right quickly for a minute. You will end up with the tube half filled. Keep it horizontally and light an end.

 

[bill1]

Yes, I used the original exhaust stack, you can see it coming up from the back...

I love oven smokers. The door and the grates work so well! Like an oven!
But I don't think you have the right "draft" going here. The Weber's too tall and the oven's too short. You could put a fan on the weber and force the smoke along. But I'd recommend you make up some stubby legs for the weber and extend the oven's exhaust up another couple feet. Or else raise the oven another ~18"

 

[NewBuilder]

I love oven smokers. The door and the grates work so well! Like an oven!
But I don't think you have the right "draft" going here. The Weber's too tall and the oven's too short. You could put a fan on the weber and force the smoke along. But I'd recommend you make up some stubby legs for the weber and extend the oven's exhaust up another couple feet. Or else raise the oven another ~18"

Thanks. I wasn't sure how well it would work so I didn't permanently attach the top in case I needed to get access to the vent to extend the exhaust.

 

[NewBuilder]

If you are using a Amazen tube pellet smoker, AMNTS, try filling it half full. Lay it horizontally and shake it left to right quickly for a minute. You will end up with the tube half filled. Keep it horizontally and light an end.

Thanks for the advice. I did use dust and the amount of smoke produced was greatly diminished and it burned longer.

 

[NewBuilder]

I'm frustrated and a little disappointed. I wanted to build a smoker that I can use when it's colder with less trouble than my pellet grill. The heavily insulated PID-controlled oven is well on the way to meet the goal. The tube smoker providing the smoke was a big part of my plans.

My daughter and son-in-law think the tube smoke smells delicious but it puts me off. I wanted the smoke closer to the Yoder, my friend's Traeger or even a campfire. I may need to look at a small firebox??

 

[SmokyMose]

I agree with bill1. I think you're going to have draft problems. The small firebox would work if you could figure out how to attach the pipe to it.
Why not just do a mailbox? Cheap and easy.

 

[NewBuilder]

I agree with bill1. I think you're going to have draft problems. The small firebox would work if you could figure out how to attach the pipe to it.
Why not just do a mailbox? Cheap and easy.View attachment 485405View attachment 485406

I'm going to take bill1, and your advice and redo the chimney. Do you think you can burn a small wood fire in a mailbox? I was thinking of using a small tent stove and piping that into the oven.

 

[SmokyMose]

I'm going to take bill1, and your advice and redo the chimney. Do you think you can burn a small wood fire in a mailbox? I was thinking of using a small tent stove and piping that into the oven.

No, you can't build a small wood fire in a mailbox. Well, I guess you could but it would have to be a very small fire. The idea is to use pellets or dust in an amazn tube or tray.
I'm sorry, but I guess I'm not clear on what you're wanting to do...

 

[NewBuilder]

Sorry about that. I wanted to use the weber as a "mailbox" for the tube smoker. The tube worked very well in the weber but I didn't like the smell of the smoke it produced. What I didn't understand was smoke from a tray or tube had a different profile than smoke from hot wood coals. I'm going to go with smoke from a wood fire in something like a small tent stove vented into the oven - not what I originally wanted to do.

 

[bill1]

Those that like the smoker tubes basically start with wood pellets and end up with what are essentially little charcoal "tubes" instead of briquettes. Over half the energy is still in there. The purists here like it that way...you don't burn the wood "all the way".

You on the other hand prefer to start with charcoal and burn it to ash. And there's nothing wrong with that. There are longtime members here who buy Royal Oak briquettes 100's of pounds at a time and that's all they use. You may want to search the forum for Weber smokey Mountain fans...most of them tend to, like you, prefer to just use charcoal, even for long smokes.

But for them the charcoal is also the heat source, not just a smoke source. I guess I'm unclear about your oven...is it electric and you intend to run 220V out to your patio and use the factory elements inside to provide most of your heat? So the charcoal is ONLY for flavor? If not, you're going to lose most of your heat in the flexible hose you're showing. Kitchen ovens are better insulated than most backyard smokers but still, if charcoal is your heat source you're going to want to keep the heat close to that oven. Did you consider putting the charcoal in the oven itself, or maybe in the pots&pans drawer at the bottom, with some holes into the oven for the heat and smoke to enter?

And if you get a big mailbox, I think it will work fine with charcoal. Start them in a chimney and then pour them in. I'd put them on a steel mesh raised floor so air can enter from the bottom and go out the top rear or side directly into your oven.

 

[NewBuilder]

You on the other hand prefer to start with charcoal and burn it to ash. And there's nothing wrong with that. There are longtime members here who buy Royal Oak briquettes 100's of pounds at a time and that's all they use. You may want to search the forum for Weber smokey Mountain fans...most of them tend to, like you, prefer to just use charcoal, even for long smokes.

[/QUOTE]
I'm very new to smoking, and successes only started after I bought my pellet grill and joined this site a few years ago. I enjoy the food's flavour cooked in my pellet grill and figured I get the same flavour from the tube. I loved the idea of the simplicity of the tube and reading about how well it works.

My oven smoker is actually PID-controlled gas. There is a cut-down Weber gas grill case and burner assembly at the bottom of the oven. My build's final result may not be a full success, but I enjoyed building it and the stuff I have learned. I wouldn't do it again thou.

 

[mike243]

Looks like a galvanized mail box? you take risks using it for very much heat

 

[SmokyMose]

Not seeing a galvanized mailbox....