Hard time keeping AMAZN tray lit

[carlbq]

It is 37 degrees in Houston, windy. I am trying to smoke two five pond dry cured bellies. I use a big green egg as the smoking chamber. I put the AMAZN tray in a small modified weber with a ten foot run of flexible aluminum tube into the bottom of my egg. So if there is any heat it doesn't reach the egg. I can't stay lit. Tried hickory sawdust for the first time, can't keep it lit. Mixed pellets and sawdust, can't keep it lit. Now am all pellets with some small lump pieces mixed in and have moved the AMAZN tray into the bottom of the egg. Watching it way too much and am afraid to go anywhere in case I need to go light it again. All the pellets are tods, so is the sawdust. When it was 80 degrees I had no problems with my weber, tube, egg set up at all. Was hoping to do it with nice cold temps and to keep all heat out of the egg chamber but can't seem to keep things smoking. Is the problem the under 40 degree temps? I'd really like to be able to not babysit this.any ideas? Input ? Solutions?

 

[wild west]

I've found that the cook chamber (in your case the egg) needs to be warmer than your smoke chamber to create enough air flow. If you notice smoke coming out of the weber only before it goes out its back draft and will snuff the amazn out. If you get some heat in the egg like maybe 60* it will pull the smoke from the webber

 

[carlbq]

I also aim an old desk fan so it goes over the top of the egg to help pull air and smoke out. I only got 1 and 1/4 rows burned from 845 am until 630 pm and called it quits.

 

[daveomak]

Wild West got it....    Warm the egg...  put 5 or 6 lit briquettes in the egg so it will draft...  those few briquettes shouldn't elevate the temp too much...    cut down on the length of flexible duct to 1-2 feet and place the AMNS directly under the egg...   You do want the egg to be around 60-70 degrees F for good cold smoke, and you want the meat to be the same temperature...  If you add cold meat to the smoker, it could cool the smoker and stop the air flow....   It's called a cold dam......

 

[sirsquatch]

This is why I put my tray in my LBGE, draws and stays lit without any issues and doesn't heat up the Egg enough to get outside the cold smoking range. I put the platesetter above and then the grid on top of that with the bacon on that. I need to come up with a dual layer grid or hanging solution for later bacon cooks but I'll touch on that once I get my bacon post up.

IMG_4041.JPG

• sirsquatch
• Dec 19, 2016

 

[carlbq]

All: thanks much.

Dave: thanks, I do have about a 6' length of flex duct, so I will get some short length and put under like you said. Do you really think I need the heat in my egg? I'd really like to keep it as cool inside as possible and with the fan going over the top I would think it helps draft.

Squatch: last thing I did was to put the tray in the egg, like your pic, but it still went out. I have no idea why. Maybe I should have nuked the pellets first? I had 0 luck with the sawdust.

 

[daveomak]

I think the cold smokin' works better at 60-70....    that being said, I have never cold smoked below 55 deg. F...  s'pose I should try it....

 

[carlbq]

If you do please let me know how it goes. I've done a bit of reading and in a lot of places cold smoking well under 50 degrees or even in the winter was done during long smokes . Ive got both slabs wrapped up right in plastic wrap and I'm the freezer since I pulled them out of my egg yesterday evening. I'll let them sit I'm refer until Friday and then slice. I'm hoping that some of the smoke took.

 

[dirtsailor2003]

For cured meats it really is best to have the smoke chamber above 40 degrees. When I cold smoke bacon I place the tube smoker (I don't have the maze) directly in the smoke chamber. The smoldering pellets only raises the pit temp 10-15 degrees above the ambient outdoor temp.

For cold smoking bacon I prefer the pit to be between 55f-65f. I smoke 6-8 hours a day with a rest in between. Usually a total of 18-24 of smoke.

On occasion I do cold smoke fresh meat. Things like pork chops, steaks. For that you do want the pit temp at or below 40. Draft issues can be a problem as Dave has already outlined above.

 

[sirsquatch]

All: thanks much.

Dave: thanks, I do have about a 6' length of flex duct, so I will get some short length and put under like you said. Do you really think I need the heat in my egg? I'd really like to keep it as cool inside as possible and with the fan going over the top I would think it helps draft.

Squatch: last thing I did was to put the tray in the egg, like your pic, but it still went out. I have no idea why. Maybe I should have nuked the pellets first? I had 0 luck with the sawdust.

Do you have the bottom vent all the way open? I generally light with a torch on the fire grate in the Egg with the top open, let it burn for ~10minutes before blowing the flame out, put he platesetter on then the grate then the slabs. I only use pellets and have never had an issue with it going a full 10+ hours. I don't think it has been above 40 since I started this bacon and it was 20 when I woke up this morning with it still smoking. 

What pellets are you using?

 

[calcod]

I had the same problem with my maze using pellets but I was trying to just use the two outside troughs lighting each side. I thought this was why it wouldn't stay burning. The same smoke I was using the amaze tube as well. Neither would stay burning. Temp low 30s. Still don't know why they wouldn't burn. Oh,to make it worse I was using the same batch of pellets. Last night I used all of the same components and they worked flawlessly. I know I didn't help just sharing and don't give up on them. They were perfect last night.

 

[carlbq]

yeah, hard to figure...

 

[carlbq]

Vent is all the way open on bottom and top.

Using Todds pellets from Amazn products.

 

[carlbq]

So, I think I got some very good feedback and advice.

BIG Question:   Since I don't think I got good smoke last Sunday, is it ok to pull the bacon slabs out of the refer after being wrapped in plastic for 4-5 days and smoke some more, and then rest a few more days before slicing? 

OR would I be better off just slicing after several hours of not great smoke this past Sunday and resting in refer for 4-5 days?

 

[daveomak]

 
So, I think I got some very good feedback and advice.

BIG Question:   Since I don't think I got good smoke last Sunday, is it ok to pull the bacon slabs out of the refer after being wrapped in plastic for 4-5 days and smoke some more, and then rest a few more days before slicing? 

OR would I be better off just slicing after several hours of not great smoke this past Sunday and resting in refer for 4-5 days?

Cured properly, YES you can pull it from the refer and add more smoke....  That's no different than having it sit in the smokehouse for a few weeks....   Be sure to warm the meat above ambient temperature...   have the smoker above ambient temperature....  and go for it... 

I put 4 or 5 cold slabs of belly in my MES one morning and the cold meat caused a cold dam and the air started flowing backwards through the smoker...   Smoke was coming out my mail box mod...     cold air is heavier than warm air and that stuff happens....

 

[sundown farms]

There is a lot of great advice above but I want to add my experience as I also live in Houston. Humidity is the fatal issue for me.  Even though I keep the pellets and dust in the house with the AC going 8 months out of the year I still have to zap the pellets in the microwave twice for two minutes each. Some here say twice for three minutes but that could depend on the power of the unit. Then, while they are still hot, light them. Be sure you have good air flow but not too much as they burn too fast. Every time I open the microwave I am surprised the wave of moisture I can feel flowing out and up.

 

[carlbq]

Ok, so I am going to smoke the slabs more starting Friday morning since I have the day off. I am also going to nuke my pellets forst to try and get some moisture out.
How many days should I let it sit in the refer wrapped up after the second smoke before slicing?

 

[daveomak]

I leave my bacon slabs on a wire rack, unwrapped, after smoking..  seems to intensify the flavor.... like dry aging beef......  usually for a week or so.... 

 

[dirtsailor2003]

I leave my bacon slabs on a wire rack, unwrapped, after smoking..  seems to intensify the flavor.... like dry aging beef......  usually for a week or so.... 

Same here.

 

[wade]

When the air temperature approaches freezing the heat generated by the AMNPS is often not sufficient to keep itself alight. There are several things I do to ensure the burn is consistent.

Firstly it is even more important here to ensure that the moisture content of the pellets is low and that the pellets are warm - microwave them for 5 minutes just before you light them.

Secondly raise the air temperature that is entering the AMNPS chamber (in your case the Weber) so that it is warm enough to maintain the burn reliably. For this I use a reptile heater in my smokehouse but a 100w electric light bulb would be sufficient too. You only need to raise the air tempertature by a few degrees

Heating the AMNPS small.jpg

• wade
• Dec 22, 2016
• 1

AMNPS burn small.jpg

• wade
• Dec 22, 2016

Assisting the air flow through the smoker also helps. I have a variable speed fan built into the flue of my large cold smoker but when I was smoking in my Weber I used a small variable speed fan over the lid vent. A standard fan placed close to the lid vent to help encourage the flow of air through the smoker also helps

Kettle Fan.jpg

• wade
• May 7, 2016

Kettle Fan 1.jpg

• wade
• May 7, 2016

As has been mentioned above, as the meat has already been cured you do not need to keep the smoker chilled during the cold smoke. Like Dave, I like to smoke my bacon at about 60 F (15 C). Traditional smoked salmon is best smoked even higher at around 70-75 F (23 C) as part of the curing process is the removal of water.

Once the bacon has been smoked it does improve its flavour on standing. I leave it uncovered in the refrigerator for 24 hours and then vac pack it. I usually leave it at least a week before eating.