Here is a review I hated to loose and was able to find with Goths advice.
I've used the large 8 inch Smoke Daddy now for my fourth smoke and thought I'd drop a thread on it's perfomance. Overall I'm really pleased with the cold smoker. There are some things I've discovered using it that you might like to know before you decide to buy one.
1. Very easy to mount onto any smoker. Didn't take me 45 minutes to complete the project. I would suggest putting it on your smoker with a union. Much easier to take off and put on with the union. And you will need to take it off to clean and to dump out any unburnt chips.
2. Was a good value for the money. I don't think you could make one of these buying your own materials much cheaper than you can buy the unit already made. I would suggest buying it without the air pump.
3. I've had a little trouble getting the chips and pellets burning. I've spent 30 minutes relighting and relighting to get the SD burning. Once you have it burning it burns well. The way I did it the last time was to put in a piece of lump coal in the bottom that I had soaked in alcohol. I got it started and waited until it was glowing then I put a small layer of pellets / chips on top of this. Once it started smoking good I went ahead and filled it up.
4. I wouldn't leave this thing alone for 4 hours depending on it to smoke the entire time without assistance. I've had to check on it and occasionally take a screwdriver and run it down the inside wall and fluff up the chips a tad. With just pellets it might work the way it says it will but I've not tried that. I've also had to tap on the side or use the screwdriver to ruffle up the chips to move on down the chamber and burn a little better.
5. The reason I wouldn't buy the air pump is because I am going to buy a pump that puts out more air that has a regulator on it. I have one ordered. I think the unit needs more air to put out the smoke I'm wanting out of it. As a matter of fact, I think I would buy the "Big Kahuna" if I were to do it over again. Mine at it's best isn't giving me quite the smoke I want. I think it's probably plenty of smoke but I like to have less, more, enough, and way too much ..... to work with. The larger air pump with the regulator will give me the advantage of doing this. The one that comes with the unit is 2500 cc/ minute 3.0 P.S.I and has a blow by as a means of controling the amount of pressure. I've never had to cut it down. I ordered an air pump that delivers 5000 cc/minute at 4.5 P.S.I. I think this will give me greater control and I personally think it needs more air to run effectively. http://www.aquacave.com/elite-optima...agen-1406.html
6. The unit needs to be taken off the smoker and cleaned after each use. The lid and the bottom stick to the main body with the juices from smoking the wood chips for hours. I've had to heat the rim top and bottom to get them off. No problem with a propane torch. I've found that isopropyl alcohol works great to clean it back up to new.
All in all I'm happy with the Smoke Daddy. It's takes some getting use to and like an old truck you have to know what to do to make it start and run right. I'd buy it again without hesitation.
I've used the large 8 inch Smoke Daddy now for my fourth smoke and thought I'd drop a thread on it's perfomance. Overall I'm really pleased with the cold smoker. There are some things I've discovered using it that you might like to know before you decide to buy one.
1. Very easy to mount onto any smoker. Didn't take me 45 minutes to complete the project. I would suggest putting it on your smoker with a union. Much easier to take off and put on with the union. And you will need to take it off to clean and to dump out any unburnt chips.
2. Was a good value for the money. I don't think you could make one of these buying your own materials much cheaper than you can buy the unit already made. I would suggest buying it without the air pump.
3. I've had a little trouble getting the chips and pellets burning. I've spent 30 minutes relighting and relighting to get the SD burning. Once you have it burning it burns well. The way I did it the last time was to put in a piece of lump coal in the bottom that I had soaked in alcohol. I got it started and waited until it was glowing then I put a small layer of pellets / chips on top of this. Once it started smoking good I went ahead and filled it up.
4. I wouldn't leave this thing alone for 4 hours depending on it to smoke the entire time without assistance. I've had to check on it and occasionally take a screwdriver and run it down the inside wall and fluff up the chips a tad. With just pellets it might work the way it says it will but I've not tried that. I've also had to tap on the side or use the screwdriver to ruffle up the chips to move on down the chamber and burn a little better.
5. The reason I wouldn't buy the air pump is because I am going to buy a pump that puts out more air that has a regulator on it. I have one ordered. I think the unit needs more air to put out the smoke I'm wanting out of it. As a matter of fact, I think I would buy the "Big Kahuna" if I were to do it over again. Mine at it's best isn't giving me quite the smoke I want. I think it's probably plenty of smoke but I like to have less, more, enough, and way too much ..... to work with. The larger air pump with the regulator will give me the advantage of doing this. The one that comes with the unit is 2500 cc/ minute 3.0 P.S.I and has a blow by as a means of controling the amount of pressure. I've never had to cut it down. I ordered an air pump that delivers 5000 cc/minute at 4.5 P.S.I. I think this will give me greater control and I personally think it needs more air to run effectively. http://www.aquacave.com/elite-optima...agen-1406.html
6. The unit needs to be taken off the smoker and cleaned after each use. The lid and the bottom stick to the main body with the juices from smoking the wood chips for hours. I've had to heat the rim top and bottom to get them off. No problem with a propane torch. I've found that isopropyl alcohol works great to clean it back up to new.
All in all I'm happy with the Smoke Daddy. It's takes some getting use to and like an old truck you have to know what to do to make it start and run right. I'd buy it again without hesitation.
