Smoke tube question

[bfletcher]

The other day, Beaser mentioned that some folks use a smoke tube. I'm not used to smoking at temps less than 250f, and I come from the charcoal fuel camp. It's my experience thus far that even at <200f on the Ironwood I'm not satisfied with the smoke taste. For those of you who use a tube, or similar device is there a strategic location you recommend? Is a tube or the maze equally acceptable, or is one preferred over the other? In your experience, do you smoke with one of these at temps around 250f-275f with satisfying results? Thanks for any feedback.

 

[PriceMP5]

I get a great amount of smoke on my ironwood especially when using the super smoke setting. I used a smoke tube when I had the pro 575 model in which i used to place it on the hopper side opposite of the smoke stack. I haven’t used a smoke tube yet on my ironwood because I haven’t done any cold smokes, but I think I would place it in the front since the down draft system is located in the back.

 

[pkitch]

I just got one and used for the first time this weekend. I also tried some Lumberjack Pellets (Hickory) which seem to be highly regarded.
Using the two on ribs (220f) I got the best smoke taste yet. As I used the two together, I can't really say if the tube accounted for it or the new pellets, but my rationale was that to date, I don't feel I was getting enough smoke flavor, and that I might consider using cheap (Pitboss) pellets essentially for fuel (not providing much if any) smoke flavor, then using a higher grade of pellets with the smoke tube.
I am going through 40lb bags every couple of weeks so am curious to see if this approach might cut the expense significantly...?

 

[Seed]

The Ironwood doesn't smoke enough if really at all IMO.. A tube or maze helps quite a bit. Just be sure to keep it away from your food as it can be hot and actually cook meat that is close. I personally put my tube on the right side, opposite the drip vent deal.

 

[Biffdotorg]

I made a batch of chili last week. I figured I would dig out the LumberJack hickory as well and give all my chili fixins about an hour of smoke on the 780. This was set at 170, and it fluctuated from 165-175 as it was quite windy that day.

I also decided to use a smoke tube for this hour. I made two mistakes.

1. Don't light the whole smoke tube, light one end and let it smolder to the other end.
2. Get a good location for your tube central or away from the grills thermometer. I had it on the right side, and kept sliding in my pans until it was right below the thermometer. It soon hit 750 degrees and alerted the wifi app that my grill was at a dangerous temp and started to shut down. Well, at least I now know that feature works.

I restarted, smoked for an hour, then threw my chili together in the crock pot after browning the burger, celery and onions together first.

Great chili!!

 

[BarricadeGT]

I use an amazen smoke tube on my ironwood 885, as biffdotorg mentioned, keep it away from the temp probe as it produces heat.

I light one end with a heat gun, let it burn vertically for about 5min, lay it horizontal in the smoker and let it smolder down. I usually place it away from the food in the corner or side. No issues yet!

 

[bfletcher]

I tried the 12" tube over the weekend. I started with it on the food grate but was seeing ugly, white smoke (through the door gaps). So I moved it below the grease pan and then I could only see TBS. I'm not smart enough to know how those different locations could make the difference between white smoke and TBS or if it was figment of my imagination.