Smoke Daddy

[hollrusl]

Not necessarily a pit boss accessory, but a pit boss compatible accessory none the less. Has anybody added one to their setup? Reviews seem to be excellent, though there aren’t a lot of them. Would like some more info before I drill a hole in my new smoker

 

[Jimsmokes]

Are you wanting to cold smoke with it?
If you're just wanting add more smoke to your cooks. Smoke tubes are a lot cheaper alternative. Which smoker do you have?

 

[hollrusl]

Are you wanting to cold smoke with it?
If you're just wanting add more smoke to your cooks. Smoke tubes are a lot cheaper alternative. Which smoker do you have?

I use two 12” smoke tubes and it’s still not as much smoke as I’d like. Plus, they only last about an hour (i use strictly wood chips as pellets don’t give enough smoke flavor) So I have to open the lid, refill and relight them several times. The smoke daddy is externally mounted and gives about 2.5 hours of continuous smoke with just chips. So it gets refilled less often and you don’t have to open the lid to do so.

 

[Private]

We did quite a bit of experimenting with the older versions of smoke daddy (they ended up giving us several, and some prototypes to try over the years). we also experimented with a whole bunch of tubes (mostly prototypes) that Todd Johnson gave us over the years.

The smoke daddy works OK, but the small diameter output tube tends to catch a LOT of creosote (basically, it acts as a venturi tube and that causes creosote in the smoke to condense). You have to clean it quite a bit. Wish it had a bigger output tube, but the MFG wanted to stay with the tiny tube so it would work on a gas BBQ (through the rotisserie hole). Reasonable business decision, but not the best flavor decision (IMHO).

Our collection of smoke tubes and generators now sit in a box and haven't been used in years. The one smoke generator we do use for smoking nuts and cheeses is the from Masterbuilt (goes into their electric smoker). It has a huge outlet pipe (several inches in diameter) and does a nice cold smoke (we just don't even plug in the smoker).

If you are cold smoking, smoke daddy works kinda OK, but you really have to watch the creosote. you also have to open up all the vents on your smoker so the smoke can move in, then move out. If you don't, your food will start to pick up that bitter creosote flavor (in our experience, this is true of all smokers - trying to "close up" to "trap the smoke" will just lead to poor flavor).

If you are looking to add smoke flavor to meat you are smoking, IMHO, you don't need the smoke daddy (or tubes, or anything else). You just need to turn down your temp (130 or so) and let your smoker do its job.

Keep in mind a fundamental "law" of smoking - temperature and smoke volume/quality are inversely related. So, he hotter you run, the less good smoke you get, and the lower you run, the more good smoke you will get. So, if you want good smoke, run "low and slow". Also keep in mind that meat pretty much stops absorbing smoke when its surface temp hits about 130, so cooking at a lower temp will keep your meat from hitting that temp for longer, allowing it to absorb more flavor.

The challenge (IMHO) is that many people want to smoke at a much higher temp (above 160) so they get finished faster and expect to get the same flavor as "low and slow"; then, when they don't get that same flavor, they turn to things like smoke tubes, smoke generators, etc. I confess, we tried.

I think in most cases, if you will just run at the lowest smoke temp your rig will do for the initial part (hours) of your smoke, you won't need extra generators. In other words, run at lowest smoke for several hours, then finish the meat at a higher temp.

For example, we usually start ribs with 4 hours at lowest setting. Briskets/chucks usually get about 8-10 hours of lowest setting smoke, turkeys get about 4-6, etc. Then we move on to cooking them through at a higher temp. For us, once we move on to the "cook" stage (esp. if we are wrapping), we move off the smoker and into a more controllable (and cheaper to run) unit like an oven, turkey roaster, etc.

Today, we are finishing a couple of whole chucks (cut down to manageable pieces of 3-4 pounds). We smoked yesterday for about 7 hours, then stewed them in a broth (basically carmelized onion soup) overnight until they were done. All going to a big "french dip" sandwich gig tonight. Make "garlic bread" toasted rolls, add beef and coleslaw, maybe some carmelized onions. Amazing!

As an aside - if you like carmelized onions, easiest way to make them at home is in a crock pot (google that). just a little oil, crock full of thin sliced onions, cook about 12 hours, then add a little salt. I do this at home, then freeze them flat in plastic bags so I can just break a piece off when I need it for a sandwich, scrambled eggs, gravy, or whatever.

Anyway, that is just what we have learned about tubes/generators. Good thing about smoking is that you have to find what works best for you