Let the games begin! #4 Arrived Yesterday

[Phat termite]

I've been a BGE guy since 1992, I love the eggs but need to cook more than the eggs would hold,... So, after reading many reviews and looking over many forums, I decided to buy a "Smokin IT" #4. I'm looking forward to lots of great food ahead.


Mike

 

[mnsmoker]

Wow!! Jealous to say the least, you should be able to handle it on that beast, good luck and happy smokin!

 

[swthorpe]

You are in the right place, Mike!  You can't go wrong with the SI smokers, and with a #4, I see lots of good Q in your future.  Cheers

 

[DivotMaker]

Congrats, Mike!!  That is truly a formidable beast!  We've had a few #4 owners here, but haven't seen very many posts of actual smokes in the #4!  I'm looking forward to seeing your successes.

Let us know how we can help!

 

[old sarge]

Mike,

That is one huge smoker. You may want to check out the Auber and Model 3 posts to see how folks integrated the Auber into their units, more or less permanently by wiring it into the existing system components. At least one individual has done it in a manner that allows him to toggle between digital and analog.  This way if the digital goes down he can throw a switch and refer back to analog, and vice versa. Most of the mods with Auber have photos.

Enjoy your King of the Smoker Hill.

Dave

 

[Phat termite]

Thanks for all the encouragement, I must say, I have had this thing for 5 days and have cooked 5 times on it. I started of with 2 pork butts on day 2, day 1 was all about getting it seasoned. So, I set the smoker up a bit low on the temp side and it took much longer than I anticipated, like 28 hours of smoking. Good flavor but I was missing the bark, after reading through the forum posts I think I've got that figured... I'll try a couple more in a few days. Since then I have been trying to duplicate the smoked salmon that I've been cooking on my egg's. I've done 3 batches so far, with a 4th cooking as I type, I'm getting closer, definitely a whole new game for me after 22 years eggin.... The reason for the #4 was so I could cook salmon in large batches & sell it at the local green/farmers markets.... I'm certainly getting closer with every batch. I would like to figure out how to get more smoke through it, I'm now starting at 150 for the 1st 2 hours & bumping it up to 175 for the balance (3-4 additional hours +/-),,, Any ideas how to get more smoke would be appreciated, I have been using 2-3 pcs of pecan about 1/2 the size of my fist. This afternoon, I added some apple pellets in a piece of tinfoil to the firebox hoping for more smoke. I must say, the quality of the #4 is way beyond what I expected, it really is a professional piece of equipment that was over engineered. I still haven't used the PID yet, but I will as soon as I figure out how I want to set it up for the entire cook time on the salmon. Any additional guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Happy Smokin,

Mike 8)

 

[DivotMaker]

Great to hear you're digging the #4, Mike!  It's kind of a challenge to keep smoke rolling during those low-temp smokes.  I use chunks that I split into slivers, and enough to last the whole time.  Brian (PorkBelly) came up with a really cool idea for "time-released" smoke using chips.  He uses a chip screen, with 3 piles of chips in the box.  One pile is dry, one is soaked in water for a brief time, and the other pile soaked longer.  Sorry Brian, I couldn't remember how long you soaked the two batches.  Anyways, it allows the dry wood to smoke right away, and as the other piles dry, they smoke at different times!  Seems like a great idea for low-temp long smokes.

 

[Pork Belly]

good luck with your #4, post some pics of your smokes....

 

[Smokster]

Hey Nike, welcome to the club and congrats on the #4. That unit really is a commercial unit and will serve you well for it's intended purpose.

I agree with Tony (DM) as we don't see to many posts with the #4, which is why you have my attention. It is a great bang for the buck but a bit large for most of us on this forum. Enjoy and let us know how it turns out for you.  And post some pics, they make us really happy.

 

[DiggingDogFarm]

I would like to figure out how to get more smoke through it, I'm now starting at 150 for the 1st 2 hours & bumping it up to 175 for the balance (3-4 additional hours +/-),,, Any ideas how to get more smoke would be appreciated,

I'm also a #4 owner. I strongly recommend the A-Maze-N smoke generators....light it and you get 10-12 hours of reliable smoke.
I own wooded land in PA and can retrieve all the chunks that I want but I prefer to spend a little money on pellets or sawdust because it's so reliable....it's a no-brainer.



~Martin

 

[McKay]

Martin did you modify the 4 to get the amazn to work?

 

[DiggingDogFarm]

Nope, no modification of the smoker.  8)


~Martin

 

[id2nv2nj2ca]

Nope, no modification of the smoker.  8)


~Martin

I currently have a Masterbuilt electric smoker that I couldn't keep the AMAZEN pellet smoker smoking in and had to do a mailbox modification. How do you keep yours lit? Thanks. I'm looking at buying a 3D or 4D and doing my research.

 

[NDKoze]

I have done some testing with the AMNPS and the AMNTS and have found that both work well, but different.

The AMNPS smokes longer but not as heavy of a smoke. So, this is great to use when cold-smoking bacon or other long smokes.

The AMPTS is my favorite because it stays lit better and provides a heavier smoke albeit for a shorter time. I have a 6" and an 18" model and use both depending on how long I need to smoke for.

I documented my thoughts/testing on this in the following thread:
A-MAZE-N Cold Smoke Generator

I still really don't see much need for the A-MAZE-N smoker except for cold-smoking. For all other smokes I prefer to use chunk or chips. If you are going to use for a hot smoke, you'll need to come come up with some type of tent/cover to prevent drippings from dropping on the smoker. Or, if you get a #4, you will most likely have enough room to have the meat on one side of the smoker and the smoker on the other side.

For the tube, I remove my smoke box and rest the tube on the front of the smoke box frame and the back of the tube on the #3 element. This rests right about the drain hole where air can come in. Since I am cold smoking I remove my drip plate to allow for more air to get to the drain hole.

I had some trouble with my earlier tests, but I think it is because my mini-torch was not getting the pellets lit adequately enough. My kids got me a propane torch for Christmas a couple years ago and I have not had my A-MAZE-N smokers go out on me since.

I slight wind is necessary to get some air flow though. Otherwise others have used fish tank aeroators or even a James Jerky Dryer if you have one to keep air moving through the smoker. The A-MAZE-N going out on you is easily remedied with a few slight tweaks that do not require modifying your smoker.

I would think On the #4 it would be even easier since to keep lit since you have more air/space.