Smoker tube on coals or on grate?

[Alsta]

First off, Thank you all for your great advise on a number of questions I've had.
Now without further adieu, another question!

I have a pellet tube and a bunch of pellets that I don't want to dispose of now that I've made the switch to a charcoal smoker.
Can I fill the tube and place it right on the coals for the same effect, or should I still just light and place on the grates?
Or even just toss the pellets directly onto the coals without the tube?

 

[TNJAKE]

If you've made the switch to coals I would use wood chunks for smoke. Keep the pellets and the tube for cold smoking

 

[Alsta]

If you've made the switch to coals I would use wood chunks for smoke. Keep the pellets and the tube for cold smoking

Don't know if I'm brave enough to go cold smoking yet. Still new to the smoking game in general and would like to get a better grip on hot smoke first

 

[Winterrider]

Cold smoked cheese ( approx. 3-4 hrs )is a very easy task. Can't even really screw that up, ( unless gets to hot and melts all over). Graduate from there. . .

 

[creek bottom]

^^^^^^^^^
This...

 

[SmokinAl]

Forget the smoke tube & pellets with your charcoal setup, just mix in a few wood chunks, and keep the tube for cold smoking. As said above cheese is about as easy as you can get.
Al

 

[Fueling Around]

I have used the smoke tube and pellets on my kettle.
I wanted pecan smoke. I didn't have any pecan chunks, but I did have pecan pellets.
Don't put the tube on the coals. You'll end up igniting the whole tube of pellets

 

[kilo charlie]

To answer your question.. do NOT put it on the grate as @Fueling Around stated.. they will all ignite at once and that's not what you want. If you want the extra flavored smoke and to use up your pellets, put it on a grate as long as it's far enough from the fire to not ignite all the pellets at once.

As the others have said.. Cold Smoking is super easy. Fill the tube with pellets, light it and let it burn for about 10 min then snuff out the flame and depending on the length of your pellet tube you should get a few hours of smoking out of it.

You can use your grill as a cold smoking vessel.. just don't like a fire in it. use the grates and place blocks of cheese on the grates and maybe a pan of ice in there depending on the ambient temps and in a few hours you will have smoked cheese. ( there are many posts about this on here if you want to research further)

 

[Colin1230]

Good advice from all. My favorite time to smoke cheese is when the ambient temperature is in the 40's.

 

[cmayna]

Yes, use it for cold smoking. What flavor pellets do you have?

 

[Alsta]

A mix of flavors, It was a bag full that I got from Amazon, Worked great for learning basics - just needed to get something better as I dislike propane ( Might as well cook on the stove )