I've listed three other smoker devices a few days ago, last night I tried out the A-MAZE-N AMNPS 5x8 pellet smoker which can be used for cold or hot smoking.
This experiment was without food in the 3D smoker but I did put a full drip pan of ice on the first shelf to help keep temperatures down.
This experiment would be like I was smoking cheese or salmon, etc. I wanted to see what the rise in temperature would be in the 3D over a 4 hour period with maple wood pellets as the fuel. The ambient start temperature was 67 f and after 4 hours it was 50 f.
These A-MAZE-N products are pretty reasonably priced and having used their 6" pellet tube on my cheese a week ago, I ordered and received two days later this larger 5x8 unit which boasts smoking pellets for up to 11 hours with 15 oz of pellets and the 6" tube I used for the cheese I was able to get 2+ hours with just under 3 oz of pellets.
I was impressed with the length of smoke generated and amount of smoke generated with this device. I put in enough pellets to fill the device by one half the way around which should last at least 5 hours, which it did and had pellets left over as well as you can see in the picture.
I am sure there are many who have used this type of device and would like to hear about your experiences as well. As you can see in the picture of the chart, the box temperature did not get above 84 degrees during the entire 4 hours the device was inside the 3D. I had placed the AMNPS unit on the bottom of the box, near the bottom drain hole and also removed the firebox, I am sure there are many ways to place the unit so let me know how things worked for you so I can continue to learn about these smoker devices.
The thing I liked about using this temperature chart (I have an iGrill2 bluetooth thermometer) you can actually see that when the pellets first started to burn and all the way through the 4 hour experiment, the temperature stayed pretty consistent. The only thing I would have changed about this is after 2 hours replacing the ice or as I have been told use 2-3 liter bottles of ice instead which would probably work the best and keep moisture from inside the 3D box.
Anyway, this was just an experiment giving me information about consistent temperatures inside the box with the AMNPS 5x8 pellet smoker device, which was the only reason I conducted the experiment. I would also like to try this device while actually cooking meat instead of using chunks of wood in the fire box, either way, it's good to know there are many devices which really work well besides the great smokes we get from the Smoking-It smokers by themselves.
This is the fourth smoker device I have tried so far, the Smoke Daddy, Smoking-It cold smoke insert, A-MAZE-N 6" tube pellet and now this AMNPS 5x8 pellet smoker device. I have been happy with all 4 of these devices when used for cold smoking and will give them a try for hot smoking in the future as well. Sometimes, the easiest thing to do is to use the device that came with the 3D, the standard fire box which works great, I like to experiment and try different things and these listed here are all great for cold smoking, I'd like to hear how some have used these for hot smoking as well during a standard smoke and what you have smoked during those time. Thanks for reading and also your comments regarding your experience with each of these devices as well.
Carl
