Yeah, the foil definitely makes a difference.
Or does it?
Well, it's been around a month now, and I have been using the SDHD but without loading it with wood, or better put, foil wrapped wood. And so I decided today to do another test.
Using hickory splits, wrapped in foil with about a 1 inch slit running the length of the foil wrap, I tried it again.
I started out with Kingsford split hickory logs that I had around the house. I cut these and split them enough for a quantity which would fill each chamber of the SDHD about 3/4 of it's capacity.
I then decided to weigh just how much wood I had cut, for future reference. The weight is in ounces.
So I have about 2lbs 4oz of wood. That may seem like a lot. But some of that depends upon the density of the wood, but more importantly, in the following pics, you will see that this is not nearly enough to actually fill the left and right chambers of the SDHD.
I then proceeded to wrap the wood in foil. leaving the foil open at the ends. I want the wood to smolder, but I don't want to leave it to ignite. I left about a 1 inch slit along the foil to expose the wood which would face the fire pot.
I then loaded the SDHD with the foil wrapped wood, ends open, slit facing to the inside and thus the slit facing the fire pot.
I placed the SDHD, drip pan and grates into their respective places, and prepared the ribs and remotely lit the RT 590 Stampede and set it for 225°F.
When the RT 590 hit the target temp, I put the seasoned ribs on and let it run.
These ribs had been running for a little over 3 hrs. During that period, I noticed the same amount of smoke, and the same wifts of smoke, as well as the same smoke aroma as I would always get when burning pellets only.
This led me to know that the wood had not ignited, or at the least, was not in flames as the temp remained steady during this 3hr period.
It was just after this 3hr period that the smoke color began to change to a more whitish color, indicating that the logs had ignited, and at or around the same time, the temps started to climb. And climb, and climb.
Now recall, I had set the RT 590 for 225° for a low and slow cook.
The next half hour, has convinced me that this accessory is not for me if I am going to run it with wood in it.
After propping the lid open, opening the lid, for several minutes, I had seen enough. I took the ribs off when the temps finally hit 315° after struggling to keep them down.
While the ribs were on, and I was opening the lid in an attempt to keep the temps down, I saw periodic flames licking around where the openings of the SDHD would be. This is only a glimpse, a smidgen of what I saw, just before I removed the ribs. The small flame that you see is but part of what I saw.
I have used this item before, and I knew that in my hands, once the wood gets flaming, that for me, there is no coming back from it unless I do what I did next.
I removed the ribs, removed the grates, removed the drip pan, and this is what I saw.
Halfway fearing pellet burn back at this point, I knew that I had time to act and so I very calmly got my vice grips and my Channel locks my welder's gloves, dragged over my fire pit and removed the now in flames SDHD from the RT 590 and placed the flaming diffuser into the fire pit.
I shut the RT 590 down with the intent of restarting it and finishing the ribs using my stock diffuser.
And emptied it out.
I let the rest of it burn out while I reassembled the grill using my stock diffuser, replacing the drip pan and grates, being careful to lift the lid before restarting the RT 590 Stampede to finish the cook. I finished the ribs at a set 225° and ran them for another hour at that temp before taking them off.
My thoughts:
I speak only from my own experiences here. I readily admit that your experience and experiences may be different from my own, but in my hands, having tried all that I know to try, and tinkering with this device, I am now pretty much convinced that it is not going to work for me other than as a replacement stock diffuser.
The idea and process of loading wood into it, has resulted in widely unpredictable temperature swings that I am not willing to tolerate for my own cooks.
This unpredictability, at least for me, and in my hands, is whether I have gone with or without bothering to cover the wood in foil.
I can only imagine what may have happened had I been doing an overnight cook with an expensive cut of meat as opposed to not being at grill side when the temps started to rise?
I recognized that this cook was getting away from me at a little over the 3hr point, and that I had to act quickly, lest I ruin that slab of ribs.
My own experience, and calmness, as well as having the right tools immediately around to quickly remove the diffuser, helped me to quickly manage the situation.
At any rate, the ribs turned out great. Some of the best I've done.