Smoke Daddy Pellet Pro - Advice

[wade]

I am considering buying a Smoke Daddy Pellet Pro kit to fit to a new fridge conversion that is under way. Can anyone give me their personal experience - good and bad. Or any other recommendations for an equivalent unit.

Thanks

Wade

 

[wade]

Wow - the Smoke Daddy kits are obviously very popular - LOL

 

[Bearcarver]

I got one 4 years ago, and found it to be the biggest waste of $100 I ever made.

It put out either way too much bitter smoke or none at all. It was a PITA cleaning, as creosote gummed up the whole works. It didn't matter how you set the air. It would stop smoking, and you'd have to use a big screwdriver to tap the wood chips through the sticky creosote to get the smoke going again. Then the AMNS came out for 1/3 the price of the "Big Kahuna", so I quit screwing with it, and began enjoying my smoking with the AMNS. Then Smoke Daddy came out with their new & improved Backdraft design. My Son called them & Dennis told him how to convert it. My Son converted it, and it was still a POS. I got rid of it, and never looked back again.

You should get a small handful that say how wonderful it is, but the huge majority had the same problems I had.

That's my experience with it.

Bear

 

[wade]

Thanks Bear. I too bought one of the Big Kahunas when they were from Porky Pa's and had a similar experience. Like yours it was only used a couple of times and then was relegated to the "lesson learned" pile of recyclables.

This time though I am trying to get information on the Pellet Pro Hopper assembly for managing the temperature inside a commercial fridge conversion that I am doing. This is for managing the temperature for cooking brisket and/or ribs in quantity.

pellet_pro_hopper_assembly.jpg

• wade
• Dec 2, 2013

It looks as if it could do the job but wanted to get some first hand feedback before I splashed out on one.

Wade

 

[scootermagoo]

Here is my thread for my Smoke Daddy pellet burner conversion:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/132907/pellet-smoker-fridge-conversion

The down side(s), if there is one, is that it will not go any lower in temp than 200° - 225°.  The reason is 2 fold.  First, my fridge is well insulated, not much heat escapes.  And it's not like adding a larger flue will help, it is a forced draft unit.  Second, the Pellet Pro adds pellets on an interval to maintain the fire.  So, no matter if you need heat or not, pellets still are added to the combustion pot to keep the fire going.  That interval is adjustable, but if you stretch it out too long, the fire will go out.

Also, it would be nice for a little tighter control of the temp.  The auger shuts off right at your set point, so there is a substantial amount of "coast" in heat and the temp will spike above your set point.  It would be nice if the controller slowly ramped the auger down as it approached the set point to minimize this "coast".

Other than that, those are the only gripes I have, and those, by far, are NOT deal breakers.  I tend not to get too hung up on temp spikes.  Otherwise, it works great.  At lower temps, the unit produces more than adequate amounts of beautiful, thin blue smoke.  I do supplement with an AMNPS but probably wouldn't have to.  I usually burn 100% hickory pellets, that is a personal preference.  Those just produce, IMO, the most authentic, flavorful BBQ taste.  There is a BBQ joint near me that uses a Southern Pride Smoker.  He burns hickory in it and my fridge smell EXACTLY like his commercial SP smoker when it's in operation...........and he has great BBQ.

If you have any questions, PM me.  I'll do what I can to help.

 

[wade]

Thanks Scooter - that is a great help. Is there much scope with the unit itself for mods - to try to smooth out the spikes or account for the coast? Is the PLC that it uses programmable? 

How does the auger set point work? Does it simply feed a continual supply of pellets at a rate that you set or does it adjust the speed to control the pellet flow and the temperature?

 

[scootermagoo]

 
Thanks Scooter - that is a great help. Is there much scope with the unit itself for mods - to try to smooth out the spikes or account for the coast? Is the PLC that it uses programmable?

How does the auger set point work? Does it simply feed a continual supply of pellets at a rate that you set or does it adjust the speed to control the pellet flow and the temperature?

The only user adjustment that can be made is the time between pellet "bursts".  That is the only adjustment that can be made.  The "burst" length is non-adjustable, which, incidentally, is about 6-8 seconds or so.  The controller is of proprietary design and cannot be modified.

The auger runs at a fixed velocity with no variability.  It runs at a constant speed up to the set point and then shuts off once set point is met.  Once the temp drops to 4° or 5° below set point, the auger will run up to the set point again.  In between the previously described cycle, it will run at the time intervals to maintain the fire.  That is the only adjustment that can be made.  Does that make sense?  I have discovered, through trial and error, the sweet spot for that time interval.  Long enough to keep the fire going and short enough as to not add too much heat into the cook chamber.  So, after my tuning, the lowest temp I can achieve is about the 200-215 range.  Not low enough for sausage, from what I hear.  I haven't done sausage yet.  I'll guess I'll need another smoker for that.

At some point, I will probably add a new PID controller along with a small PLC.  I have programming experience with industrial PLCs so this would be a slam dunk.  And, I just can't leave shit alone............I have to fiddle all the time.

 

[Bearcarver]

 
Thanks Bear. I too bought one of the Big Kahunas when they were from Porky Pa's and had a similar experience. Like yours it was only used a couple of times and then was relegated to the "lesson learned" pile of recyclables.

This time though I am trying to get information on the Pellet Pro Hopper assembly for managing the temperature inside a commercial fridge conversion that I am doing. This is for managing the temperature for cooking brisket and/or ribs in quantity.

It looks as if it could do the job but wanted to get some first hand feedback before I splashed out on one.

Wade
[/quote]
Sorry about that Wade---Never heard of it. I thought maybe they just changed the name of the Big Kahuna.

Scooter will take care of you.

Bear

 

[dae06]

I made a similar (to the Smoke Daddy) generator and though it is pretty new to me, it seems to produce too much white smoke. It currenly gives off a very bitter taste. I will take "Jerky nut's" advice and try chips instead of pellets. This may create a more of a light blue smoke.

Here is a video of my homemade smoke generator. As you can see, it produces a heavy white smoke using pellets. After I made the video, I made an air intake adjuster on the bottom to control the air that is drawn into the generator.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljvhckr9ZYU