Smoke Tube Experiment: Friend or Foe? | Mad Scientist BBQ
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- Опубліковано 3 чер 2024
- Today we tested out smoke tube versus no smoke tube and did a blind taste test with some juicy ribs. Check out the results in this video!
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So here's my experience with this - and I have really dug into it. I cook something every week on my Traeger, for 2 years now.
It comes down to an amount of smoke to thickness of meat ratio.
A really thick cut of meat, like a Pork Shoulder or a Whole Turkey? Smoke tube all the way. It just seems like the bitterness does not seem to happen when there is so much more surface areas and thickness of meat. The smoke flavor doesn't seem to overpower larger meats.
A rack of ribs though - the meat is pretty thin layers and a smoke tube will really overpower the seasonings and natural taste of the meat.
Also consider how much pellets you put in the tube. If you put less than a 1/3 of a tube, you get about 1 hour of heavy smoke, and the rest the more casual smoking of the Traeger - this gives you a little extra KICK of smoke, but won't be enough to bitter up the flavor, even on thinner smaller meats.
Just my 2 cents from lots of cooking the past 2 years.
Thanks for details! Gonna try this
I agree. Pork butt needs a smoke tube.
Agreed. I get best results with the smoke tube on large roasts. Terrible with pork ribs. It explains why my ribs would come out dry with the smoke tube.
@@richardsavila I don't think it explains why your ribs come out dry. I use a tube with my ribs and never have that problem. Not even when I don't wrap, which I'm about 50/50 on doing. Try moving the tube or your ribs to a different spot. I put my tube on a far end and the ribs as far over in the opposite as I can. YMMV
@@kmb1 I’ll give it a shot. Thanks
I feel like Jeremy wanted to say: “it’s good, but not as good as my offset smoker”. lol
Bro.... i thought he was gonna say it
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I got tired of staying up on a Saturday night Sunday morning to tend to my offset. takes a lot of work to keep it going for 21 hours at a constant temperature
I've been a chef/line cook for 12 years and I just picked up a pellet grill. Love it but I just can't get what I want the way I used to running the offset at the restaurant. Your videos have given me the knowledge the execute great BBQ without the greatest equipment. I also appreciate your heart for charity and care for people in general. Thanks Jeremy.
Buy a MAK smoker!
you'll love a weber smokey mountain. they are super easy to use and very affordable. you can find them used all the time 😊
Thanks a lot for doing this experiment, I got a smoke tube, because my pellet smoker was not putting out enough smoke. Well, I switched pellets and started using bear mountain pellets. The smoke was so much different, I don't use my smoke tube now. I learned from you that quality pellets make a difference. Thank You, Charlie
One of my tricks with a smoke tube is using what ever pellets your cooking with in the tube, but before loading the tube I mix it about 50/50 by volume with the shredded wood chips of whatever flavor I am after.
Wow, thank you for the idea!! Going to try this
I use all chips.
my smoke tube is the shorter version with shorter smoke time.
@@ericfarley1475 do you notice a huge difference in flavor?
@@SoLucky .
@@SoLucky hey lucky, not really. I didn't think I was getting enough smoke flavor without anything so I tried pellets in the tube then chips.
chips burn up faster just by their nature.
so 6 of one half dozen of another.
As a new pellet grill owner (got too lazy for my WSM), I'm loving all the pellet content!!
Loved this! New to pellet smoking with my Ok Joe and have a tube I've used before on my gas burner. Cant wait to try adding the tube to see what results my family prefers... Thanks guys, keep the great content coming!
Best content out there Jeremy in regards to smoking foods! Consistent and informative content. Thank you!
Good test, for sure! I believe the decision to use a smoke tube also depends on the quality of the pellet smoker. A higher quality smoker like a GMG or Traeger will control the level of smoke better than a lower quality smoker. I use a smoke tube in mine for shorter cooks where I want more smoke flavor; i.e. Jerky, snack sticks, etc. For longer cooks, I get enough time on the grill to get the level of smoke flavor.
Nice vid.
I’ve used tubes with varying results too but I’ll admit, the best results I’ve had when I cook big thick meats, like beercan chicken, Dino ribs, turkeys, etc, then placing the smoke tube under the heat shield/drip pan, in one corner, so the smoke isn’t as “direct” but still circulating the whole chamber.
Obviously don’t place it right next to the burnpot, don’t crank the grill up high and you’ll be fine, while not making the meat bitter.
And I smoked like that for a long long time..
I love my smoke tube, but will only use em occasionally, depending what my end goal is..
I've got a friend who introduced me to smoke tubes. He almost always froze whatever he was putting on the grill and used the smoke tube in the pellet grill when thawing. Once thawed, he'd season and grill as normal. We never did a side by side comparison but I don't recall ever not liking his ribs. Mostly I use mine for cold smoking cheese.
thanks for this... i recently started smoking, and bought my first pellet grill, and was curious about the smoke tubes and you guys for sure answer alot of my questions i had with it, like the dirty smoke or would it dry the food, also another thing i didnt think about, was the placement of it. Thanks Guys!!! greatly appreicated.
I've owned cheap pellet smokers, right up to high end ones like the Fec-100, and I can tell you - supplementing the smoke is necessary on any pellet smoker. The smoke profile is so light on pellet smokers that you are basically cooking in an oven, with a slight lick of smoke, slight.. and that's the truth. That being said, smoke tube does help for large cuts. For my old FEC, an aluminum tray with a few charcoal bricks and a wood chunk really helped with the smoke flavour.
Thanks for this comment. Have a Masterbuilt vertical with propane and live fire (basically, a 250 dollar smoker), using lump and wood chunks- been using that for about two years. Recently got a pellet smoker and I am loving the convenience and the results of the meat itself are great, but I am just not getting much of the smoke flavor that I'm used to. And I am using quality pellets. I am going to have to try the tube to bump it up.
I have a Yoder YS640s, and really like the smoke flavor I get out of it. I only use a smoke tube on things like poultry where I'm cooking at 375 to render the skin. At 375, there's not much smoke flavor from a pellet grill, so I bump it up. That would be an interesting experiment to see, FYI. Higher temp, smoke tube vs no smoke tube.
Cool video. Always wonderd about those smoke tube. Merry Christmas 🎄
You guys are awesome! Love the hoodies
The guy put it so well in the beginning. I used to try to "chase" stick burner quality smoke with my pellet cooker and a smoke tube, until I finally just bought an offset. I've tried several different types of tubes and it's simply not possible. That being said, they're great tools for cold smoking things like cheese and sausage etc.
Thanks for the smoke tube video. I hope you do more pellet grill videos in the future. Would you do one using wood chips instead of pellets? Thanks Jeremy. I think I have seen all of your videos. God bless, Jim
Good stuff. Ty Jeremy
Great video..I’ve been pondering how to get more smoke flavor out of my traeger Mesa..I hadn’t thought of the off flavors and creosote bitterness especially on larger cuts like brisket or a pork butt…great video as usual.
A few years back, I began cooking ribs on my Rec Tec at 275, rather than 225. I made this switch because I get my preferred texture at this temperature. The downside is that I get less smoke. At this temperature, I'm only cooking the ribs for about 2 hours before wrapping and the smoke tube really works great for me in this context. I'm not getting overly smokey results, thankfully, but I definitely could see it being an issue for longer cooks or with simpler seasonings than I use. Great content as always, Jeremy!
Nice point
I would jus tsimply use the smoke tube on one fill. A longer cook means that it's just getting more heat. Meats generally get all the smoke their gonna get at about 3 hours. . . and if it does get too much smoke after that point, that's when it can get risky of off-putting tastes of smoke, such as a dirty / bitter smoke. Anyways, once I wrap meats, hell I can throw them in an oven at that point.
Exactly how I cook my ribs, 275 for 2 hrs with a smoke tube then wrap and 275 for another one hr/45 minutes to finish the 2 hour smoke works perfectly for me and produces a great but not overpowering or bitter smokey flavor. And yes good pellets make a big difference so experiment. I have also found that it works much better for big cuts of meat like brisket/pork shoulder but only for 2 hours or so then take it off.
“I don’t like a lot of smoke on food”. The things that pellet grillers tell themself. 😂
Nothing says "manbun and stupid beard" more than a pellet grill. They should change the name from Trager to Stayfree.
@@scotimotti You should add all that salt to your next cook. Sorry, some of us dont have 15 hours to spend looking at a fire but I guess that makes us less than you. Stay salty, champ.
@@scotimottibro why are you so angry lmao
@@williamhermann6635they clearly don’t have kids, or at the very least they must not pay attention to them much if all they use is an offset
Thanks Guys. Merry Christmas from Australia 🇦🇺🇺🇸🤓🎄
I have a smoke tube and like to mix pellets and wood chunks together, but really only use it for special occasions or big cooks. But thanks for the tips about keeping it about from the internal temperature prob
I’d love to see you cook on one of the backyard gravity smokers like the char-griller 980 or even the masterbuilt just to get your opinion on the smoke flavor and the bbq they put out.
This was a great video. I’ve never used a smoke tube because I figured the smoke flavor would be similar to me burning a dirty fire in the offset.
My Timberline 1300 has a lighter smoke flavor unless I use super smoke setting. Super smoke adds more wood flavor to whatever you are smoking without an acrid or wet smoke flavor.
My GMG Davey Crocket cooks with a smokier fire and more wood flavor than my 1300 set on super smoke. The choice brisket I did on it last Christmas barely fit, but was one of the best briskets I’ve ever eaten.
My pit boss pro is between the 2 as far as smoke flavor.
I love my Davey Crocket. Have you devised a way to cook a third rack of St Louis Ribs in them yet? Or know where to purchase a portable two story shelf for ribs using it?
A friend of mine literally suggested BBQ HQ and Eric to me yesterday so I was pleasantly surprised to see him in your video. I’m going to visit his store the next time I’m in So. CA. Love the rib test…. great video!
Great comparison! Thanks
I have used a smoke tube on my Traeger Pro780, especially at temps above 250, and only for a couple of hours. I think it enhances the flavor, but I have not experienced dry bark or that harsh over smoked flavor. I enjoy your videos and content.
I’ve had a Recteq for over 4yrs and you’ve hit it on the nail by not running the smoke tube long. I will burn half a smoke tube to get the desired smoke profile.
@Roderick Hood yes! about a half a tube full. I think it is worthwhile.
I just got a Pro 575. I’d be interested to know where you placed the smoke tube in your 780.
Yes I agree for pork ribs and smaller cuts. That said with large briskets I've used a full smoke tube without noticing any negative effects and certainly no bitterness. I think the key is understanding that pellet grills and smoke tubes can create that drier, chewier bark and to have a water pan and spritz earlier when needed.
@@kenbratz847 I place the smoke tube at the back of the grill, away from the stack but not too close to the temp probe.
I had an interesting experience with my relatively new Traeger using Cookin Pellets. Had great results with ribs - good smoke flavor - all summer long. It was generally about 95-100 degrees outside (I live in California). Then I did the exact same thing in November (60 degrees outside) and got almost no smoke flavor.
My immediate thought is that perhaps your olfactory glands do not perform the same... second thought... humidity rather than temperature. I just can't see why outside temperature would work in that direction. If anything, I would think the opposite direction. When it is cold, you have to burn more pellets per hour, hence more smoke per hour... truly perplexing...
Im surprised it worked at all. Treagers are notorious for having problems when you use any pellets other than Traeger brand.
Thank you for this. I have been cooking on a pellet smoker for the last 11 years. Prior to that I used a vertical wood smoker. I far and away prefer the pellet smoker because it doesn't over-smoke what I'm cooking. Everyone said "Oh, you need a smoke tube", and I said "no I don't". I'm also one of those that hate the over-powering smoke flavor of the wood smoker. After watching this, I'm convinced that I'll never need to worry or wonder about buying a smoke tube again. Thanks for the video.
I did a similar experiment using Porter Road spares in my Rectec Stampede. Adding the smoke tube caused a slightly acrid flavor. I do use a smoke tube in the Stampede when I smoke home cured bacon. I want a pellet smoker that has swapable pellet hopper cartridges to make it easier to change the type of wood. I have considered cutting the safety grate out of the hopper so that I can change pellets rather than having to let them run out. That’s my only issue with my grill. Otherwise, it’s awesome. Love your channel !
CHALLENGE: Bring in a smoker amateur (little to NO experience), give them access to one of your smaller/cheaper smokers, and everything he needs to smoke. Give him a brisket or other common cut. See if you can have him smoke it with COACHING NOTES ONLY. aka hands off. Would love to see if your experience and teaching ability transfers directly to good bbq, or if hands-on experience is the only way! Also, I totally volunteer!
I personally think it adds a good smoke flavor vs just a pellet grill. I run 2 smoke tubs when I am doing a long smoke like pork butt, brisket and beef ribs and find it much better than without. I have never had any bitterness with a smoke tube. I think the pellet grill does not produce enough smoke flavor no matter what pellet i use. Not even as good as my electric cook shack.
Same!
You should try pecan wood pellets by lumber jack.. super smoky
I agree
Invest in a stick burner!
@@Yayanese ty I will. I have tried a lot of different pellets but I always run hickory since it has the strongest flavor in pellets that I have been able to find. Mesquite may be slightly stronger but it doesn't go good with all meats where hickory typically does.
I've found the same thing, so I only use the smoke tube on short cooks or with jerky. The great thing about a smoke tube is that you can run it for however long you want depending on what you're cooking.
I looooove my double-stack grill grates I bought from The BBQHQ. It was green to see those used in this video. I am so glad that I bought them for my GMG Bowie Prime.
I use a smoke tube and put wood chips in it in addition to pellets, gives me a little more smoke. I used to use an electric smoker with wood chips, so I was used to more smoke flavor. When I switched over to a pellet grill, I was initially shocked that there wasn't near as much smoke flavor, even though you get a great smoke ring.
100% same as me, I still use my propane master built more then my pit boss!
I've been using my smoke tube with wood chips only for some time...works Great!😀
I've tried to like the smoke tubes, cold smoking cheese and I've done my own bacon. I simply do not like the taste AT ALL. Maybe a short burn on a long cook would be okay - haven't tried that yet - this just provided some reinforcement of my own findings. Thank you for these comparison videos and your breakdowns on pellet smoking. FYI...I use Lumberjack pellets. I've tried others and prefer Lumberjack by far.
Do you rest your cheese after smoking?
10:53 from here on, is the funniest bit of barbecue content I've ever seen. Lol this should become the new way to blind taste test.
I was givin a Brinkman off set smoker 3 days ago for free. Never smoked food in my life!!! Your videos are very informative for a beginner like myself!! Keep up the great work!
Good video and this was super informative. Other variables I would be interested in would be if it would be more of a desireable flavor on a different type or cut of meat such as something thicker like a pork shoulder where in the end of the cook the bark is boss. Also adding the smoke tube at different intervals of the cook or for shorter periods with thinner meat.
Sorry but I love heavy smoke stick burner style, central Texas
Me too. The smoke tube ribs kind of had a bitter smoke flavor
Very good to know. I have a smoke tube but have only used it with pork butts and brisket. I was afraid of using on smaller cuts for the very reason you experienced. I'd really love to see you do the same experiment with a pork butt and hear your take.
Interesting outcome and greatly appreciated this video. I've only ran a Traeger grill, so no experience with an offset, and figured the offset guys were getting way more smoke, so a "tube" would level out the playing field, but guess not.
Would love to see you do some hands on work with the Yoder pellet grill and see how it compares to other pellet grills. That's my next pellet grill I'm upgrading to in the future.
I typically use one for a cold smoke, but rarely for a normal cook. I have found a difference in how much smoke pellets produce so tend to focus on that. If you want more smoke it's time for a smoker upgrade. Can never have enough pits 😆 Good stuff! 🍻
I have a Grilla Silverbac, hands down my favorite pellet grill! My go to for a smokey flavor on thicker meats is either Bear Mountain or Knotty wood pellets mixed with around 25% charcoal pellets. Also use a smoke tube but only about 4 inches full. You only need the tube for maybe the first hour.
The smoke tube is the bomb. My Pit Boss produces little to no smoke. The first time I used a smoke tube was the first time I had a smoke ring on my brisket. Funny I bought a pellet smoker that produces little to no smoke. I had to buy a smoke tube for 20 bucks to get the smoke flavor.
In my experience, where the smoke tube really shines, is if you have something like a Masterbuilt electric smoker. I went from producing what was essentially baked meat, with a tiny bit of smoke, to very tolerable smoked Foods. With the simple addition of the smoke too, I was getting good bark, and a fairly decent smoke ring. On that electric smoker, I never got the Smoke Ring, until I added the smoke tube.
You should compare using the smoke tube on a gas grill vs regular pellet smoker/grill. This would help some people who only have a gas grill (like myself)
I am going to be buying a pellet smoker in a year or so. I am wondering if a smoke tube will help when I am just using a gas grill for now.
I use it on my weber genesis...gives better smoke flavor then one of those wood chip boxes I think. I use it all of the time now when I make ribs as I don't have a real smoker.
I "smoked" on my gas grill before I bought my ret teq and it definitely helps
@@Eddien2727 Thanks, good info!
This was a great review and although I may try a smoke tube I am not compelled to start using one on a regular basis. Great test!
Nice test. All I have is my Weber two burner gasser. The tube works great. I start smoking with the burner off for a half hour (depends on outdoor temps), then fire up a burner indirect. White grape juice and rice wine vinegar spritz seems to knock back the bitter smoke. My favorite is sous vide chuck, freeze it, half thaw, cold smoke for an hour +, then bring it up slow at 250 to a final 133. Amazing bark.
I've been waiting for this one!!! So, what about using the smoke tube for the first hour and then removing it. You should get the color and maybe just a little more smoke flavor? Just a thought.
That’s what I was thinking
This is pretty much what I do. I let it run about 1.5 hours until the tube burns out and then take it out. I love the additional flavor without adding too much "dirty" smoke flavor.
Love this stick burner vs pellet vibe over the last few vids but would love to get your take on food cooked on combo charcoal /wood chunk machines such as masterbuilt gravity. I believe Charbroiler has a competing product of the same type as well. To me that seems like the best of both worlds...
I have the Masterbuilt gravity. Loving it so far. Im interested to get his take on them too. I like a lot of smoke and I've been able to get as much or as little as I want based on the amount of chunks I use. It's a cool setup.
Yes masterbuilt gravity would be awesome.
I've got a 22" WSM and a GMG, picked up the Char-Griller Gravity 980 and so far it's a nice combination of the two that may end up replacing them both.
Yes he's done some gravity stuff but need more! I have a MB 1050 and it puts the flavor DOWN!
I was thinking about getting a Masterbuilt but wanted to know what others think about the taste and smoke flavor it produces from the combo charcoal and wood chunks.
Agree 100%. I only use it now for short cold smokes but never as a supplement smoke for things over an hour or longer as it quickly becomes too much of a good thing
I just did a comparison of "already seasoned" ribs. One was Hatfield (bought at Safeway), one was Smithfield whiskey (bought at Food Lion) , the other was Costco dry rub. Love to see you do a comparison for viewers to see. It's yours!
You should do a Lone Star Grillz pellet smoker Review.
Best pellet smoker in the market hands down. You don’t even need a smoke tube for that think. It smokes like crazy.
I own one. It's been sitting in the crate for the last 3 weeks. I'm waiting for my car port canopy to arrive so I can keep my investment protected.
I have kept hearing about this! I need to get my hands on it
I’ve had my Recteq for about 4 years now, usually use a smoke tube for long cooks but I have never had a bitter or bark issue with any pellets. That rib on the left looked pretty thin, so maybe it dried out?
I just started messing with cold smoking. I used a tube with chips.
I put the tube into my fire box on my offset. My concern is the clean smoke. It appears not to be the cleanest also causing not so good taste. Whats your experience? Thanks.
I have never used wood chips with a smoke tube, so I really can’t say. I would imagine using wood chips could be a little intense if doing cold smoking. It would also depend on the size of your smoker. I would try out wood pellets instead, and see how that works out.
I use the maze instead of the tube for cold smoking,I also will use occasionally with my Weber kettle on long cooks but I set it on the same level as food.Ive had 4 different brands of pellet grills Traeger,Yoder,Camp Chef and a Req Tec.In my experience with these grills the Req Tec kills the others on performance,the temps don’t wonder high or low which the Traeger was the absolute worst at 40-50 degree range,if I set it at 215 it will go to 240 then fall back to as low as 185 very unstable.The Yoder and Camp Chef would have 20-30 degree swings,my Req Tec varies 1-2 degrees.I have also sprinkled pellets over my charcoal briquettes on my Weber Kettle on long cooks and have had good results with that method actually my favorite method and results when mixing the two fuels.The experimenting is almost as fun as the eating.🔥👍
I use a smoke tube on larger cuts like pulled pork for the reasons you guys stated. I only run it in the first couple of hours and it helps add some flavor.
I typically start at the lowest temp setting for a short time at the beginning of my cooks to add more smoke. Works out well.
Same here.
I think this depends on the brand of smoker and how much smoke it produces by default. I have an older Traeger Timberline and it never came close to my stick burner. When I added a smoke tube I did not miss my stick burner so much. I really think this is a YMMV deal. Plus they are great for cheese and nuts
What type of pelletrs are you using that you are getting such a great result?
Great video! Thanks for all your efforts. I just bought an A-maZe-n 12" smoker tube, can't wait to try it out on my Traeger that does not have a super smoker mode, but it will now! 😄 I really enjoy smoke flavor, so we'll soon see and taste how this works. I'll be making venison jerky on the Traeger this weekend. 😋 I gotta have more cowbell! I mean smoke!
I have a Pitts and Spitts pellet smoker. My technique to get the best smoke is to use smoked lard or smoked tallow. Along with the tallow or lard I use 100% Hickory pellets and Royal Oak charcoal pellets. This gives me the best smoke flavor. Definitely not the same as a stick burner, but pretty damn good!
Saved me from buying a smoke tube lol. I don't know if this has been done before but I think it would be cool to do a pellet smoker smoke off. See which pellet smokers actually produce the best flavor, bark, and cleanest consistent smoke. As well as temperature consistency though the cook. I would do it with mid grade smokers as not very many people have the nice high high end ones. Maybe briskets for a long cook. Sorry to pull you away from your stick burning roots haha!
Already filmed this! Comes out next week
@@MadScientistBBQ did you use a vertical pellet smoker as part of the comparison? I think vertical is the way to go over horizontal, but would appreciate you testing that out.
@Mad Scientist BBQ Awesome I look forward to it!!
@@MadScientistBBQ hopefully you got to test the Smokefire. Would love your opinion on this grill
This would be amazing. Looking to upgrade from my pitboss pos pellet grill.
I've been looking at the masterbuilt gravity smoker/grill for comparison
Be careful putting the smoke tube next to the grill's internal heat probe or it will screw up with the temperature setting.
Edit: I see he addresses that issue!
I somehow never even thought of this until he mentioned. I've been sticking it right there to try to give the smoke as much time as possible to cover whatever I'm smoking by putting it furthest away from the stack.
He addresses the issue but then puts the smoke tube on the left side anyway.
This is definitely an issue! I have a pit Boss 820D. First time I used a smoke tube, I put it to the left which was by the temperature probe - not thinking. Fortunately I have another grate thermometer that I use just for reference. After a while the unit was indicating 100° more than the grate thermometer. I figured out in a hurry and moved it. Made a big difference.
Awesome video. Love the different perspectives and how it really is about what someone personally likes. Honestly, I’m all about it tasting good over how good it looks. Looks don’t keep my winter bod going. 😂
I use a smoke tube when I have long cooks on my Weber grill, using the snake method with charcoal. Sometimes I just smoke cheap water-cured ham, they go for less than $1/lb a few times a year. I also do a rotisserie using the same fire setup with lamb and chicken and the smoke tube helps.
For long cook meats, beef, I generally do not.
Since you did the video on pellets and the differences, I've been experimenting with different pellets and found the cookin pellets were far superior to say treager or the pit boss pellets with regards to flavour. I found the cookin pellets local and I won't go back.
I use cookin pellets in the UK, they aren't cheap but the oak pellets I've used have provided really good smoke flavour and zero harshness. The cook consistency is also way better than on my old cheap stick burner which just leeched heat so the end results are much better for me.
I haven’t used a smoke tube in a long time for the exact same reasons. The smoke flavor produced by smoke tubes is bitter, and can even ruin the meat in large quantities.
^^ THIS ^^
I have a custom recteq chuckwagon that I run a bbq catering business with. I have my method in which I very the early temps to create more smoke and move it up through the progression of temperature. It’s not quite as easy to get the full smoke flavor in comparison to the stick burner I use to use. But I’m hitting that 75% of the crowd with a nice level of smoke. I even did a few tests by smoking 50 chicken quarters on the offset and another 50 on my pellet. Most people didn’t know the difference. That’s when I went full pellet grill. I have a full time job as well and sometimes need to sleep while briskets are rolling. Btw my tip is to put real wood mini splits on the heat deflector. They catch fire and produce nice clean smoke if you need that big boost in smoke flavor on a hot and fast cook. Love the channel, keep testing!
I like a smoke tube for cold smoking cheese or enhancing beef jerk before I put it in the dehydrator. I have had good luck with them on a gas grill with burgers or kabobs because you can get them to burn a little cleaner with the additional heat while you are cooking and for the shorter cook time. A good tool for the toolbox.
Wish Eric had a youtube channel so there was a good pellet grill channel out there
Hey Harley, we have a channel with a lot more content coming very soon. Give us a follow.
There are a few pellet grill channels out there, but it really varies on brand. I focus on Yoder personally.
They sure do! ua-cam.com/users/TheBBQHQ
I find you get better results with a smoke tube not “over smoking” something by putting it on the same grate. When I’ve put it below my food it gets way too much smoke in my opinion.
Hmm maybe we missed an opportunity there.
I agree
This is very true. It tends to rise (obviously) and causes the meat to colour very quickly and dry out. I also find a water pan between the tube and protein helps and spritz earlier if need be. I definitely use a smoke tube for less time as well, rarely a full tube. Good experiment nonetheless the chewy bark can be an issue.
Great comment, I do the same and mix with wood chips and pellets. It comes out amazing.
Wow...I use tubes and I've used EVERY popular and non popular pellet out there. "Too Much Smoke ".....I can't get any....my pellet grill food taste like kitchen oven cooked meat. Not worth getting bite by one mosquito to cook it outside on a pellet grill. Mac and cheese seems to be the only thing that taste outdoorsy on a pellet grill
Nice video. Would love to see a comparison of setting and their actual impact on flavor. Primarily Super Smoke on Traeger models.
Well done. THX
Jesus Loves You
Great video as always! Would lobe to see a "how to cold smoke cheese/fish" from you!
I used a smoke tube on my gas grill and did a turkey last month for Thanksgiving and it was the best turkey I have ever had, and I'm 50. It give just the right amount of smoke. Thanks for the video!!
Ok i used to not care for the smoke time UNTIL i started buying actual wood chips instead of pellets. Makes a huge difference. They don't last very long but for 2 to 3 hour cooks it's fantastic. Most grocery stores have small bags of every kind of wood chips to use
I’ve used an 18” WSM for years with Kingsford charcoal and 3 to 4 fist sized chunks of wood (cherry, pecan, hickory ect.) and it is plenty of CLEAN smoke flavor, never bitter. I do use a smoke tube and also a smoker tray on my Napoleon natural gas grill just to add some smoke on my shorter length cooks. For long cooks on the WSM or other smokers you don’t really want smoke for more than 2-3 hours even for a 12 hour cook.
I've always been content with the smoke off my Smoke Fire. Should preface that with I like smoke as an enhancement flavor and not dominating. I've also heard about the acrid smoke from the tubes and I no way want that. Smoked cigs for 27 years (been cig free for 8 years), don't want to taste an ashtray which is what acrid smoke reminds me of. I'm glad I listened to someone when I got my first pellet smoker. He told me wait off on getting a smoke tube, see how you like it without first. That was some great advice. Nice comparison, can't wait for the pellet smoker comparison to come out. Good stuff, Thanks guys!!
Thanks for this vid. I use a vertical electric smoker and I have it dialed in where I like it for stuff cooking over 225, but under that it has trouble putting in enough smoke. This might be just what I need for smoking/curing my sausage, snack sticks, and other low temp work. Might just have to order one....
I use a tube with a pit boss and love it verses with no tube, the tube gets the flavor close to stick and wood chunk burning.
I’m experimenting with a smoke tube on my Traeger 780 Pro when smoking brisket. I didn’t like pellets in my smoke tube so use fine grade wood chips instead. I’m using red gum chips, an Aussie hard wood and get a smoke profile that is not bitter or over-smoked as a result.
Great video as usual. I would love to see if your opinions held if you did the same experiment only with pork butts. I use a smoke tube all the time in my Recteq grill as I never thought it tasted the same as my verticle smoker that uses wood chips as its smoking source.
Loved the blindfolds!
Great job Guys! IMHO I think smoke tubes simply can’t replace the flavor one enjoys from a stick burner. Proper fire management yields a unique flavor profile and smoke tubes are a fun gadget that replicates a poorly managed fire. Well done Guys!
These Work awesome! Although my pit boss 1150 don’t really need it when using the smoke mode.
Great test! I was wondering if it is worth it. I have a smoke tube that I used with my gas grill. I have not tried it on my pellet smoker.
I was definitely in the same position until I started making my own briskets and then started comparing that to different restaurants and then trying to smoke tube I thought I liked it at first but then like I said following barbecue scientist I finally begin to understand flavors clean flavors and no more smoke tube for me
Agreed. I have two smoke tubes and came to same result.
Reminds me when I started smoking w my crappy little masterbuilt chip burner. Didn't seem like it had allot of smoke, until I bought the cold smoker attachment and then did a cook w that. So much dirty smoke it was off-putting. I'm guessing that was similar to what you guys did here. Love these videos, I just get sad everytime at the end we don't get to taste the results with you lol.
I’d love to see you try a vertical pellet smoker. I have a vertical and a barrel one and I find the vertical puts a much stronger smoke flavor... it is that cleaner smoke too.
Such a good content ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Overlooked: If you're wanting to smoke something delicate like Cheeses, Fish or Jerky, or need to keep temps at an all time low, pre-smoke with a smoke-tube only in an enclosed BBQ'er without running your heat source. I can use a smoker-tube inside my propane BBQ'er without the temps exceeding 95°-110°F. Although some of these smoke-tubes are meant to burn pellets, I have no problem burning small wood chips which allows flexibility for varieties of woods.
Very interesting results. I have a pellet grill, but seldom use it. Maybe I'll give it another try. I love the smoke tube for cold smoking, but have never used it for hot smoke. Thanks Jeremy for a thought provoking video. Merry Christmas!
I only use those smoke tubes for cold smoking, and I built a special setup for that. Basically, it uses forced draft to suck the smoke from the smoke tube through some flexible duct with a couple rings of burner jets to recombust the smoke and make it cleaner, followed by misting jets and fans on the outside to cool down the smoke before it enters the hole I cut in the old refrigerator where I do my cold smoking. It looks super klugey, but it works, because really that's all you need--clean smoke and controlled temperature.
If it works, it works
I noticed the same thing on how the smoke tubes make almost a skin feel of the bark. I still use one every now and then. But, only on thick meats, like brisket and pork butt.
Hiya, interesting video and outcome; us here, we only leave it on for the first hour and then pull the tube. We have left it on until the wrap and found the same extra flavor; (some here like that though) we haven't seen the bark difference but maybe we were spraying it more often. just some feedback and thoughts. Love what you are doing though!