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. 

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.

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.

No.

Does it enhance/increase the smoke flavor in the meat?

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. 

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?

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%!

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?   

I’ve been emailing Mike Hurd about a downdraft hood. He just told me that shipping was free on orders over $50 through Sunday.

Adding one to the 680?

Thinking about it. Disappointed to hear that it doesn’t add smoke flavor.

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.

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.

FWIW-The ad does say that the Godke is SS.  Wonder why he paints them? 

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.