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[RichW]

Today I added 40,000 btu's of gas heat to my previously modified SB 24.(previously shown in this category)  With the sliding heat shield  giving me access to the fire pot in the center third of the grill I decided to get aggressive with the heat potential and added a cast iron propane burner above the fire pot.  This burner is the LP-Cast2 on https://tejassmokers.com/Cast-Iron-Burners/24 site with required accessories.  This burner can be lit off easily by a propane torch or by getting the pot burning at max pellet rate and let the flames light the gas burner.  I ran a few quick test on just how this burner would be affected by the heat shield open and closed and how the smoke low would possibly effect the flame and the bottom line is the flame just kept burning and putting out serious heat.
This burner has an external air mix venture that is outside the grill and is not subject to lack of oxygen.  This was a simple install requiring a 7/8" hole done with an electricians bit through the grill wall and a couple of pipe nipples and union inside the grill for easy removal.  The speed that this adds to this grill was put to use this evening; after smoking a couple of 12 oz. x 1.5"  strip steaks at 170 deg. for about 45 min. I set the grill to 500 and about two min. later I opened the gas valve.  Less than 3 min. later I dropped the steaks on to the grill and seared like never before, and the smoke did not subside like it did in the past; I pulled them at 130 deg.  My wife said the steaks were very well flavored and tender.  I thought the one I devored to be in the top 5 that I have ever eaten.  I will post photos of the mod when I get daylight.  Most of my career has been about modifing equipment, and this one was begging to happen and I am glad I did it.

[pmillen]

The pellet smoke doesn't get burned by the gas flame it passes through?

[RichW]

I too was surprised that the wood smoke at full auger speed did not get consumed by the burner.  I will try and shoot a video next time I do some steaks, which is when I intend to use the gas / pellet combo.  There is a grill made in Canada, Black Mountain, that uses propane for the heat and a pellet dispenser for the smoke.  I can't quite explain why the smoke is still present, but it is strictly a temperature of burn that when high enough should incinerate the smoke.  Maybe the pellet pot is still to cool to burn the smoke off  and it passes through the burner where the flame impingement isn't directly acting on all of it.  At any rate I was pleased with the results and taste of the steaks.

[LowSlowJoe]

It seems I'm not fully understanding the point of this modification....

  Is it just to get a higher searing temperature? or what?

[RichW]

It seems I'm not fully understanding the point of this modification....

  Is it just to get a higher searing temperature? or what?

That's exactly why I did the modification and only use the gas to get the temps up in a hurry.  I sears like the pellets alone never did.  I really also like to get a quick caramelized coating on "sauce on" bbq'ed pork, this will allow me to use the center of the grill and get a bubbly pork steak or chicken halves to the table when the rest of the meal is ready and not when the grill is finally hot enough on just pellets producing the heat.

[slaga]

We have all smoked our food at a lower temperature to get more smoke flavor and then raise the temperature to cooking temperatures to cook the food. I've considered doing something like this. My intended purpose would be to use the gas for heat and the pellets for smoke. Always run the pellets at "smoke mode" and supplement the heat needed to maintain whatever temperature with gas.

[Mudflap]

I get the idea and it seams to work. Are you just using this to get to 500 faster and then shutting off? Not sure of your controller setup. Just a thought, if temp of grill gets higher then pellet controller is set wont the auger stop feeding and in that case wont you get less smoke? Could some of that smoke be from drip tray burning at a higher temp because flame is closer and hotter? When I do the revers sear on my GMG it smokes at 500 but it is from juices from steak dripping on drip tray and burning off. Yes there is still some smoke because I am burning wood but most of it looks like it did on my old gas grill from the flame tamers/drip tray.

Mudflap

[RichW]

I get the idea and it seams to work. Are you just using this to get to 500 faster and then shutting off? Not sure of your controller setup. Just a thought, if temp of grill gets higher then pellet controller is set wont the auger stop feeding and in that case wont you get less smoke? Could some of that smoke be from drip tray burning at a higher temp because flame is closer and hotter? When I do the revers sear on my GMG it smokes at 500 but it is from juices from steak dripping on drip tray and burning off. Yes there is still some smoke because I am burning wood but most of it looks like it did on my old gas grill from the flame tamers/drip tray.

Mudflap

Yes I am using the gas to get hot and stay hot primarily when searing, but I can set the controller to constant feed if I wish.  With the grill controller set to 500 and the lid open I can still get wood smoke and plenty of heat from the manually controlled gas.  I do know that there is smoke from the meat drippings, but there is a distinct wood smoke aroma while cooking and definitely a better flavor than I had using just the pellets to get hot enough to sear, which would be more flame than smoke. I am leaving the burner on at full while cooking steaks and I will try a video of this for further analysis, but so far I feel I now have a lot more versatility than pellets alone.