Smoke Tube Experiment: Friend or Foe? | Mad Scientist BBQ

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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[jakehowe]

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.

[deltaecho]

I feel like Jeremy wanted to say: “it’s good, but not as good as my offset smoker”. lol

[freighttrain]

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.

[garycotz]

I use a 12" (6 hrs) and a 6" (3 hrs) pellet tube. I LOVE THEM. The Q I make is competition grade and I get LOTS great comments on my butts ;-) . There is a trick to the pellet use... I microwave the pellets for 60 secs to remove ambient moisture in them before I load the tube. I put 1 pellet tube in my Masterbuilt electric smoker (bottom-left) and forget about it while it runs all night. Weber grill... use a foil cradle! AWESOME results.

[sci-frieddobbs]

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!

[EVMANVSGAS]

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.

[mealsu]

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..

[Wvubrad]

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.

[andyschad]

My wife does not like the lesser smoke flavor that tends to come off the pellet grill. She is also bothered by the fact, there is little visible smoke coming off the cooker, compared to my Bradley. So to combat this, I use a smoke tube...problem solved. Who cares how the meat tastes, she's happy, that's all that counts in the world of grilling.

[davidw]

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!

[doplinger]

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.

[FendersRule]

“I don’t like a lot of smoke on food”. The things that pellet grillers tell themself. 😂

[gironic]

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.

[terrybertrand]

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.

[klubj]

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

[steveyork]

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.🔥👍

[CalifLove]

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...

[williamellerman]

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!

[ops]

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)

[Rudyshotcha]

That would explain why I tend to get a better bark on brisket using a pellet tube with my traeger.