Pellet Fan
Pit Talk -- Comments and Questions Regarding These Pellet Pits => Traeger => Topic started by: ScottWood on April 12, 2018, 12:33:46 PM
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The Traeger forum here seems to be pretty quiet.
Just ordered the Don Godke downdraft for one of my Traegers. Depending on performance I will order a second one for the other cooker.
I know that there were a few threads on the old site about downdrafts but thought we needed one here also. :-)
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never attempted the downdraft mod. Agreed it's kind of depressing that most Traeger owners are moving on and this section of the forum is so quiet. If it makes you feel any better, PH is pretty much dead except for Que Ball's posts. Seems to be about a half dozen active users.
DK
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never attempted the downdraft mod. Agreed it's kind of depressing that most Traeger owners are moving on and this section of the forum is so quiet. If it makes you feel any better, PH is pretty much dead except for Que Ball's posts. Seems to be about a half dozen active users.
DK
The one things I can give the old site credit for is that it helped me find this one. :-)
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I posted this in General Discussions, I should have put it here..
I have been looking at the Down Draft Hoods. Hurd & Don Godke are the two that come up.
Any comments on either out there? I see the Don Godke one has a adjustable opening at
the top. Ant thoughts on why, when the purpose is to keep heat stable and more smoke in
the chamber?
I have the Traeger 075.
Thanks in advance.. :2cents: :cool:
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I posted this in General Discussions, I should have put it here..
I have been looking at the Down Draft Hoods. Hurd & Don Godke are the two that come up.
Any comments on either out there? I see the Don Godke one has a adjustable opening at
the top. Ant thoughts on why, when the purpose is to keep heat stable and more smoke in
the chamber?
I have the Traeger 075.
Thanks in advance.. :2cents: :cool:
According to his website the butterfly opening at the top is to let you open it up to run hotter. He says it gives you the benefit of being able to open it as if the downdraft wasn't there.
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I did a Product Review of the Hurd and it was pretty good! Not sure who copied who on the downdraft...I though the Hurd was 1st but I maybe wrong! Almost positive that the Hurd model has the articulating opening 1st!
(http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n90/lwnna/Pellethead/Product%20Reviews/Hurd%20Down%20Draft%20Hood/IMG_0001.jpg)
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What exactly is this mod trying to accomplish? I've read a few things but not exactly clear. Can anyone help me out?
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To the best of my knowledge, if folks were having grate temperature issues, it was to try and even those out. When I did the product review, I found about a 7% decrease in pellet consumption. And some said that since it was a lower area for the smoke to exit the exhaust, it might keep the smoke in the chamber longer. No way with my intellect to quantify that!
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I agree with Bentley, I have GMG and with the Don Godke, I am using less pellets. Also my grate temps are more even.
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The Traeger forum here seems to be pretty quiet.
Just ordered the Don Godke downdraft for one of my Traegers. Depending on performance I will order a second one for the other cooker.
I know that there were a few threads on the old site about downdrafts but thought we needed one here also. :-)
Love my Blaz'n GS. However, the pellet consumption seems fast. After seeing the downdraft (Godke), and hearing the testimonials on using less pellets, I decided to go for it. I like the option to open the top for hot cooks. Will crank it up and report results after it arrives. Like the idea of keeping the smoke across the lower rack during low-slow cooks. Godke claims the the lower pellet consumption will pay for the mod.
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Downdraft will be here tomorrow. Will get it attached and working asap. Maker suggests opening the chimney cap to max. Did so today and cleaned 2.5 years of soot out of the chimney and cap. No need to remove the chimney itself, just removed the cap, put a wad of paper in the bottom of the chimney and scraped the sides with a wooden (free) paint stirrer. Then vacuumed all the loose crud. Scraped the cap with a 1" wood chisel. What a yuck! Pics and report to follow. :cool: :cool: :clap: :clap:
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Here 'tis. Not as thick gauge as I expected, but nicely fitted. Easy to install. Below are the pics. Maintained good temp at the grates, except a little hotter in the middle at the low temp of 180* with the upper vent closed for smoking.
Started at 350* with upper vent opened and maintained for 30 minutes.
(https://i.imgur.com/8yQuwdrl.jpg)
Ready to install with new long bolts:
(https://i.imgur.com/rrfILADl.jpg)
installed then set for 350 with adjustable vent closed. The Maverick reads 352 (dark in pic)
(https://i.imgur.com/fJC9EwAl.jpg)
Sensor in middle of grates:
(https://i.imgur.com/vOMnuPil.jpg)
At 180* with the upper vent closed-measured temp varied vs 183-187 Not bad.
Over all a good result. Will make some minor adjustments. Good thing Godke has his name perforated below since the bottom of the vent sits right over a 3/8" grill bar. So there is plenty room for flow around the obstruction. Will see how it performs on a low slow this weekend. Will try to get some idea of pellet use. :bbq: :clap: :cool:
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I got mine, and installed it, just before I had to run to Arizona for a week long work trip. So far I have only been able to do a couple short cooks but so far it seems to be working well. I did throw a could probes on each side of the cooker and ran it at 225 for a few hours, then up to 350 for a couple hours, and the side to side temps are a lot closer than they used to be.
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I’m thinking about getting one of these.
Does it enhance/increase the smoke flavor in the meat?
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I’m thinking about getting one of these.
Does it enhance/increase the smoke flavor in the meat?
Honestly, I don't know yet. I've only had a chance to do a couple relatively short cooks with it, nothing that I could actually compare yet.
Hopefully I will be able to pick up a decently priced brisket for this next week.
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Not sure it enhanced the smoke flavor. Did SL spares last night with the upper butterfly closed. 260* 2 hrs naked, 1 hr foiled meat side down, and 30 min. sauced and naked with meat side up. They were not the usual tenderness, but were otherwise great flavor. Did not do the bend test as I was in a hurry for dinner. Otherwise I could not tell any difference. One thing I not is that the Godke downdraft is not as stout as Hurd. Hurd is double walled and looks stainless. ? Bentley might have some comments on construction.
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Not sure it enhanced the smoke flavor. Did SL spares last night with the upper butterfly closed. 260* 2 hrs naked, 1 hr foiled meat side down, and 30 min. sauced and naked with meat side up. They were not the usual tenderness, but were otherwise great flavor. Did not do the bend test as I was in a hurry for dinner. Otherwise I could not tell any difference. One thing I not is that the Godke downdraft is not as stout as Hurd. Hurd is double walled and looks stainless. ? Bentley might have some comments on construction.
The one that I got for my Traeger is stainless. It is relatively thin steel but thick enough for what it needs to do.
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I'll attach a few more pics later, but here is my downdraft installed in my bigger Traeger.
You have to remove the arm that holds the door from swinging all the way back, as it is in this picture, and sends a wire strap to hold the door. Sadly it broke the first time I tried to use it. I was able to modify the arm a bit and install it onto the door. Hard to describe but will share a picture of that mod shortly.
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No.
Does it enhance/increase the smoke flavor in the meat?
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No.
Does it enhance/increase the smoke flavor in the meat?
I am not sure but I did not think so either. If the pellet saving is significant then I will keep it. Otherwise not significant improvement over what I had before. Was hoping for the the increase is smoke effect. Will have to do a couple more low slows to confirm these findings.
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I have no use for one of these but I'm curious about the outcome when used.
The jury seems to be out on the 'enhanced smoke flavor' it claims. But there is a good bit of reports on its ability to help even out temps. Many of which claim lower pellet consumption.
The question I have is, how does the controller react to this device and what are the ramifications?
My Jr has a RTD that's about 8" above grate level (about an inch above the exhaust ports). Given that, the hood would lower the reading at the tip due to the heat being kept lower dimensionally. Could this lead to fuel starvation?
Does that make sense?
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My no is an absolute, and there is no such thing with such a subjective question, so I should have qualified that statement.
For me, I did not see any difference in the flavor of the foods I cooked. I also did not have issues with temperature variant's on the grates, so I did not see any real change in those readings. But...The data showed that the Hurd downdraft did decrease pellet consumption on my Daniel Boone by 7%!
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My no is an absolute, and there is no such thing with such a subjective question, so I should have qualified that statement.
For me, I did not see any difference in the flavor of the foods I cooked. I also did not have issues with temperature variant's on the grates, so I did not see any real change in those readings. But...The data showed that the Hurd downdraft did decrease pellet consumption on my Daniel Boone by 7%!
7% reduction in pellet consumption may not be worth the expense either. Hmmn! Wonder if I can send it back? ???
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I’ve been emailing Mike Hurd about a downdraft hood. He just told me that shipping was free on orders over $50 through Sunday.
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Adding one to the 680?
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Thinking about it. Disappointed to hear that it doesn’t add smoke flavor.
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Yeah, without the smoke flavor I cant think of a reason to buy one. I dont really have any issues with my temps, at least my cooks have all turned out like I expected since I got the 680 so I have not noticed temp issues.
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Thinking about it. Disappointed to hear that it doesn’t add smoke flavor.
I'm hesitant to say that it doesn't add smoke flavor until I have actually had a chance to do a longer cook on it. Hopefully tomorrow.
I really should do two briskets side by side, one on each of my Traegers and really do a taste test.
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FWIW-The ad does say that the Godke is SS. Wonder why he paints them?
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I have this DD hood on my 075.
shop.pelletgrillaccessories.com/product.sc?productId=207&categoryId=8
I have had it so long now I couldn’t tell you if adds smoke or not...but it’s never caused me problems.