Adding a tube smoker?

[pwebster2]

Hello all,

Looking for some feedback on whether to add a tube smoker to my Smokin-it model #1 or not.  I'm new to smoking and have used my model 1, 6 or 7 times so far.  I'm not getting a rolling smoke out of the vent.  It seems to vent whiffs of smoke as I increase the temp for maybe 10 or 15 minutes and then what appears to be nothing.  I'm getting smoke flavor but am missing the heavy bark and smoke ring on the bigger muscle meats and color on chicken.

Smoker junky has suggested I purchase a smoker tube for about $30. 

I've tried soaking the wood chunks in water and not soaking them.  My feeling is soaking the wood in water or not makes no difference and the steam created might be counterproductive.

Suggestions?

Thank you!

[Hub]

Unless you are one of the rare folks that really wants heavy smokiness (creosote) just ease up a bit.  "Blue" smoke is produced by a well tuned stick burner or pellet cooker.  "White" smoke is produced by smoldering wood and some smoke augmentation units working several ways.  There's nothing wrong with it, but most people like their barbeque to be a combination of the meat, the rub, the sauce, the wood, etc.,  instead of just smoke.  Bear down and taste you results and evaluate carefully, particularly after the cook, not during it.  If you want to see lots of white smoke, you might not be doing yourself a favor.

One of the most interesting phenomena, often cited here, is that smokiness increases after the cook not during it. 

Hub

[LostArrow]

Smoker tube won't work due to low airflow.
No smoke ring with Lectric smokers , it's ok doesn't effect taste.
Problem many people have with Lectric smokers is too much smoke flavor!
As Hub says when cooking the cook becomes desensitized to the smoke flavor.

[HighOnSmoke]

Very good advice from Hub and LA! I actually got too much smoke when I owned my Masterbuilt electric.

[teesquare]

Another concurrence! I agree with all of the above. Thin blue smoke - not white, and too low airflow in the Smokin It or Smokin Tex units to bother with an Amazen

[pwebster2]

I really appreciate the feedback from some veteran guys. 

If I look back with honesty on my first few smokes, I had great smoke flavor. 

Hubs comment on the combination of flavors is important to remember for the newbies.

Thanks again!

[deestafford]

What is said about the  thin blue smoke is right on target. 

You want the smoke to love and caress the meat---not mug it!

On TV you see Steve R and others with roaring smoke coming from the smokers in the background and we assume that is the way it should be.  That is all for show. 

If you can manage the air flow into your cooker you can use your tube smoker.  I do it.

As LA said, electric smokers don't have a smoke ring and smoke rings are just for looks and is a chemical reaction of wood smoke.

Also, I don't recommend soaking your wood.  It does no good.  I know that's what all the books and TV show tell you but don't do it. You get better quality of smoke without it.

Some of us will put a pan of water in our smoker to help with the moisture.

Also, make sure you have a top quality remote thermometer and cook to internal temperature and not time.

Keeping a log of your cooks really helps to remember from cook to cook what went well and what went ungood.  It will help you understand why your cooks turn out as they do and will help with the consistency of your cooks.  It will also let you know that sometimes if you do everything just right a cook won't turn out as it should because the piece of meat was just onery and no matter what one did it would not cook well.

Dee

[Ka Honu]

What they said...

... and NEVER SMOKE WITH WET WOOD!!

Sorry, didn't mean to yell (Well actually I sorta did). Wood doesn't smoke till it's dry so you're not getting more smoke; you're just delaying the actual smoke waiting for the wood to dry. Until then you're making steam mixed with nasty stuff (like creosote). It adds flavor but not any flavor you ever want added.

[deestafford]

Sumpthin' I forgot and The Turtle's whispering disunremember my brain.  Spray the food with cooking oil and don't oil the grates. Hopefully, you don't think I'm trying to insult your intelligence.  I just don't know your experience level and just passing on some things I learned from the smart folks here. Dee

[old sarge]

pwebster2 - If you are getting good smoked food from your smoker, then the smoker is doing it's job. TBS is always desirable, but not always achievable. I have a Cookshack and the initial smoke is opaque but rather heavy. After a while, 30 or so minutes, it settles down and I can detect the faintest wisps of smoke coming out of the smoker for the next few hours. I am assuming that the wood initially used up all the oxygen  available and has been reduced to a slow smoldering lump, thus less smoke. In any case, while I worried about smoke when I got the unit a couple of years back, I have stopped the agonizing. It will belch once or twice on occasion, but not much. In any case, I get great ribs and butts from the smoker, and don't have to tend it and feed more wood.  Just a couple of ounces at the start and I am done.

AS for adding a tube smoker, I am assuming you are talk about one from Amazin, it will not stay lit in most cases with your smoker as it is too air tight. From what I have read on other forums, users had to drill an additional hole to allow for additional air.  They do work well with less air tight smokers.