Asmoke Pellet Grill - first cook and reviews

  • Hi & Welcome...Chicken looks fantastic BTW.

    Anyone have any advice on how best to clean these?

    I just will/have given em a light wash when to crappy...used to wash the Pit Boss ones too!

    IMO they will need the occasional wash/rinse off.

    Z Grill MINI.....Aldi Gasser.......Thermoworks Smoke...., Masterbuilt portable Charcoal Grill.

  • Didn't get a photo, but if you are wondering about capacity, I did 2 kg of chicken pieces last night and that pretty much filled it up. Yeah I probably could have squeezed a couple more in if I needed too, and I didn't use the extender rack, but that should give you a good idea about size.



    Traeger - Weber Family Q - Ziggy Twin Burner - Charcoal Grill - Akorn Kamado - Hark Tri Fire - Jumbuck Pizza Oven - Go Anywhere - Asmoke Pellet Grill - Hibachi Grill - Anova Sous Vide x 2

  • I tried a little rack of ribs from aldi, only half a kilo, in the asmoke for lunch today.

    I was really impressed with how quick it lit and came up to temp and it held 107c pretty solidly the whole time, despite it being pretty gusty outside.

    All up it was 3 hours with 30 mins in foil and finished with a honey Chipotle glaze.

    It does blow a bit of ash around but I'm hoping that calms down once it's seen a few cooks. Or perhaps some different pellets might help.

    I've just about used up the little bag it came with so I'll try some others next.

    I also noticed the smokey flavour was quite pronounced compared to my GMG.

    Royal Kamado, Primo Oval XL, Akorn jr, GMG Daniel Boone and Pit Barrel Cooker

    Edited once, last by Kookabanus (September 11, 2020 at 5:59 PM).

  • Hey all,

    I’m brand new to the smoking game and just unboxed the Asmoke and gave it a maiden run on a 2kg Coles brisket. I ran it at 250F until the internal temp hit 190F at around the 7 hour mark. It was still a bit tight so I wanted to let it run for a few more hours but at the 8 hour mark, plumes of smoke started to bellow out of the hopper. I didn’t really know what to do so I killed the power and pulled the meat out in case the thing lit up.

     


    After 15 minutes it was getting stronger so I started pulling the grill apart to see if there was a fire in the hopper. I noticed the fire pot was almost full to the brim with ash and there was a red glow from inside the auger tube. I started it back up and held the prime button down to try and push out the burning pellets, but with the fire pot of ash, the pellets weren’t clearing the tube and just bunching up. I hope this isn’t a design or manufacturing flaw. I managed to clear out the pot and I just cranked the temp setting to high and let the hopper run empty.

    Anyone have any experience or advice to prevent this happening in the future? Thanks all!

  • First question, what type of pellets were you using ? It sounds like they create a lot of ash.

    Looking at the design of the pot, it doesn't look any different to my GMG Davy Crockett which can cook for well over 12 hours without me ever having the problem of pellets being blocked by ash in the pot. I do clean it out every few cooks but your aSmoke is new so lack of clearing the pot wouldn't be an issue or the cause.

    Big Green Egg - Asmoke Pellet Grill - Weber Kettle - Maximus Pizza Oven - Dragon Hibachi - Ziggy Portable - baby kamado - Grillz 2 burner - Cobb BBQ - Converted Gas Bottle Spit - Charbroil Grill2go - Anova sous vide - Digi Q controller - plus Tip Top Temp - Smokeware cap - Grill Grates

  • Thanks for the reply Gumb. They were the Asmoke supplied applewood pellets. After the hopper fire stopped, there was liquid dripping from the hopper lid. I wonder if the pellets were wet somehow and caused a blockage in the auger? They were sealed just before I started the cook.

  • Hi,

    After the hopper fire stopped, there was liquid dripping from the hopper lid.

    Maybe you should have cleared the fire pot at this point before you primed it.

    Not sure why this happened other than that "but with the fire pot of ash"...."I started it back up and held the prime button down to try and push out the burning pellets"

    I noticed the fire pot was almost full to the brim with ash and there was a red glow from inside the auger tube. I started it back up and held the prime button down to try and push out the burning pellets, but with the fire pot of ash, the pellets weren’t clearing the tube and just bunching up.

    I did notice lots of ash also with my first cook like Kookabanus mentions.....could it be the pellets??:shrug:....Second cook I used mainly Lumberjack Pellets.....did notice it seemed less ash than first cook, especially on clean up!

    After the hopper fire stopped, there was liquid dripping from the hopper lid

    :eek:

    Z Grill MINI.....Aldi Gasser.......Thermoworks Smoke...., Masterbuilt portable Charcoal Grill.

  • After the hopper fire stopped, there was liquid dripping from the hopper lid

    Probably moisture from the pellets the same as you get on the top vent of a kamado with charcoal or any wood fired BBQ. The fuel has a certain moisture content which causes that but the advantage is that it's not a dry heat like in your indoor oven so the food is more moist.

    Big Green Egg - Asmoke Pellet Grill - Weber Kettle - Maximus Pizza Oven - Dragon Hibachi - Ziggy Portable - baby kamado - Grillz 2 burner - Cobb BBQ - Converted Gas Bottle Spit - Charbroil Grill2go - Anova sous vide - Digi Q controller - plus Tip Top Temp - Smokeware cap - Grill Grates

  • Squirta I had a similar experience to you although not as bad. After the burn in I realised I had smoke coming through the hopper. I could see there were some pellets smoldering in the end of the auger, being fanned by the shutdown procedure.

    Mine didn't get worse though, it eventually burnt itself out. Also my fire pot wasn't full of ash, that shouldn't really happen...

    I'm suspecting the pellets are particularly ashy.

    If I had thought of it at the time, I'm sure the priming would have pushed out the burning pellets.

    Royal Kamado, Primo Oval XL, Akorn jr, GMG Daniel Boone and Pit Barrel Cooker

  • Thanks everyone, such great feedback. I’ll try a different brand of pellets next cook and hopefully it doesn’t happen again. Being my first time with a pellet smoker, I hadn’t heard of this issue, but it’s great to be learning how everything works.

  • Without stating the obvious, you do cook with the hopper lid shut I hope.

    Big Green Egg - Asmoke Pellet Grill - Weber Kettle - Maximus Pizza Oven - Dragon Hibachi - Ziggy Portable - baby kamado - Grillz 2 burner - Cobb BBQ - Converted Gas Bottle Spit - Charbroil Grill2go - Anova sous vide - Digi Q controller - plus Tip Top Temp - Smokeware cap - Grill Grates

  • Yes mate, I don’t think you can shut the lid of the grill if the hopper lid is open. I was opening the hopper every couple of hours to check if I had enough pellets in there, the 2kg bag they give you lasted me the 8 hours with half a handful to spare.

  • I wasn't going to wait until tonight for my first cook so I cooked a sausage for lunch. It seared really well so after a while I moved it away from the open slots and cooked it indirect the rest of the way. Very happy with it and I can see my gas Ziggy getting used a lot less now.

    Big Green Egg - Asmoke Pellet Grill - Weber Kettle - Maximus Pizza Oven - Dragon Hibachi - Ziggy Portable - baby kamado - Grillz 2 burner - Cobb BBQ - Converted Gas Bottle Spit - Charbroil Grill2go - Anova sous vide - Digi Q controller - plus Tip Top Temp - Smokeware cap - Grill Grates

  • Had a crack at grilling a couple of small chicken breast fillets tonight. I didn't crank it up too high, mainly set it at 148c and started cooking over the open grill when it was at about 130c.

    After the chicken got to temp (65c), I set it back to the smoke setting and kept the fillets warm on the back rack.

    Big Green Egg - Asmoke Pellet Grill - Weber Kettle - Maximus Pizza Oven - Dragon Hibachi - Ziggy Portable - baby kamado - Grillz 2 burner - Cobb BBQ - Converted Gas Bottle Spit - Charbroil Grill2go - Anova sous vide - Digi Q controller - plus Tip Top Temp - Smokeware cap - Grill Grates

  • Tested out the sear on the asmoke tonight. Just a single steak a few mins on each side.

    I'm really happy with how it turned out and how the bbq performed. It almost felt like a quick burn on a little gasser, which is what I wanted with this unit.

    Royal Kamado, Primo Oval XL, Akorn jr, GMG Daniel Boone and Pit Barrel Cooker

  • What settings did you use and was it lid open or shut ?

    Big Green Egg - Asmoke Pellet Grill - Weber Kettle - Maximus Pizza Oven - Dragon Hibachi - Ziggy Portable - baby kamado - Grillz 2 burner - Cobb BBQ - Converted Gas Bottle Spit - Charbroil Grill2go - Anova sous vide - Digi Q controller - plus Tip Top Temp - Smokeware cap - Grill Grates

  • Gumb I had the lid and sear grate closed while it heated to 204C/400F

    I then opened the sear grate with the lid down for a minute to pre-heat the grills a bit more. The flame from the pot didn't seem wild enough to damage the lid.

    Once I put the steak on I turned the temp up one notch, I don't think it was necessary though. I mainly kept the lid closed but was opening it regularly to rotate and flip the steak, also to check the flames weren't getting out of control.

    I definitely wouldn't leave it un-attended at all for a sear with the lid closed. It wouldn't take much for a fatty cut to cause a flame big enough to damage the lid.

    Royal Kamado, Primo Oval XL, Akorn jr, GMG Daniel Boone and Pit Barrel Cooker

  • Hey guys, did a burn off on Friday and all went smoothly. Yesterday I took my Asmoke for its maiden voyage, an 8 hour cook with a mix of the pit boss and the provided asmoke pellets. Filled the hopper to the brim. I cooked a 2.3 kg pork butt. I started out on 225f then after 2 hours dialled it up to 250f after another 2 hours then all the way to 300f. Grill Temps were always around 25f under what the unit was set to according to my ink bird probe. Otherwise unit performed great, beautiful smell of apple wood running most of the day, easier to setup and get going than the kamado. Seeing as I've got heaps of pellets front the bunnings pit boss pellet

    Nice smoke flavour, it tasted great.

    Home made Lamb spit, Dino Egg - Kamado, Jumbuck Portable pizza Oven, Weber GA, Asmoke Pellet grill, Beefer - Chinese knock off

  • Nice one! It doesn't look like too much ash in there for an 8 hour cook.

    I've run out of the asmoke pellets so I'll be using other from now on. I'll be keeping an eye on the ash from now on to compare.

    Royal Kamado, Primo Oval XL, Akorn jr, GMG Daniel Boone and Pit Barrel Cooker

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