Traeger Pro 780 + Smoke Daddy Magnum PIG cold smoke generator = HEAVEN

[RustyJake]

Just curious, can the smoke stack on the Traeger be modified to close part of it off to help keep the smoke inside the grill a little longer? Has anyone tried?

Search for Don Godke's downdraft mod

Don Godke's Downdraft

Don Godke's Downdraft patented pellet grill enhancement

dongodkesdowndraft.com

He has them for a few types of pellet grills, not sure on the Traeger models

 

[Julius Chen]

I really believe that the fan is pushing the smoke out before it can really penetrate the meat. I just smoked a butt and a rack of ribs today. My clothes have more smoke than the butt. The ribs are decent but it doesn’t take much for smoke to penetrate ribs. I used a long smoke tube and a large smoke box. Smoke was rolling out of the stack, just not leaving the flavor on the meat. I don’t think it’s really worth the trouble with the smoke tubes and hassle of trying to safely light and handle them, not to mention how the fan blows all the ashes around all over the meat too.

Found the following from another post. He blows out the open flame from wood chips before placing the smoke tube inside pellet grill. That should minimize the issue of ashes being blown all over the meat, right? And the smoke production lasts longer than a smoke generator can.

“Fill your tube, place tube on a concrete block or somewhere not in your grill, and torch the open end for about ten seconds or until it stays lit with a flame. let it flame on its own for about a minute, blow it out and place inside your smoker. That's it. Should give you about 5 hours of really good smoke.”

 

[Julius Chen]

@

Do NOT mount it next to the smoke stack. The smoke from the generator will enter the grill chamber and immediately be drawn up the chimney. The generator needs to be on the opposite end of the chamber from the smoke stack. so there is good smoke contact.

@RayClem DJDDAY mounted next to the smoke stack. He originally installed a metal pipe to move the smoke to the opposite side but found out it isn’t necessary.

 

[Shedd]

Found the following from another post. He blows out the open flame from wood chips before placing the smoke tube inside pellet grill. That should minimize the issue of ashes being blown all over the meat, right? And the smoke production lasts longer than a smoke generator can.

“Fill your tube, place tube on a concrete block or somewhere not in your grill, and torch the open end for about ten seconds or until it stays lit with a flame. let it flame on its own for about a minute, blow it out and place inside your smoker. That's it. Should give you about 5 hours of really good smoke.”

That’s the only way I would/did my smoke tube and smoke box. I wouldn’t put an open flame inside the grill. As you can see in my attached pictures it’s smoking really good but smoke is being forced out by the fan before it can do any good. The ashes are being blown around because of the fan, smoke tubes have holes completely around the tube so airflow as well as smoke can flow. Keep in mind inside my outdoor kitchen I turned my exhaust fan off for a short time showing how much and how fast smoke This allows the ash to be blown around inside the grill. However even if not using smoke tube I’ve noticed the inside (cooking area) is somewhat covered in particles from the pellets. Im used to some ash from wood in other smokers but not so sure what’s mixed with the pellets. I’ve also noticed the Traeger brand pellets (premium blend, most expensive) have a lot of dust particles inside the bag. More so than Bear Mountain.

 

[mikeytee]

Let's see if this video works here (it's a little large). Note that this is right after the initial lighting - the smoke quality improved a few minutes later... It's also running a cold smoke with the grill off. When the grill was running, I had to crank my air pump to above 55% for it to overtake the Pro 780's convection fan.


View attachment 8864

 

[mikeytee]

THAT is a lot of smoke.

 

[Shedd]

THAT is a lot of smoke.

A lot of dirty smoke.

 

[Shedd]

A lot of dirty smoke.

However DJDDay did say that was from initial lighting.

 

[DJDDay]

Do NOT mount it next to the smoke stack. The smoke from the generator will enter the grill chamber and immediately be drawn up the chimney. The generator needs to be on the opposite end of the chamber from the smoke stack. so there is good smoke contact.

This is 100% untrue, but I understand why you may think that. I was concerned with that very thing, which is why - if you'd read my installation review on page 1 - I originally added an extension pipe that had the smoke exiting roughly in the middle near the fire pot. Turns out that's not necessary and a waste of time (and money). Mounting it on the chimney side without any sort of extension still allows the smoke to permeate the entire barrel before exiting through the chimney. The PIG fills the entire barrel with smoke - it's that good. The thing with the 780 (and 575) fan is that the positive pressure is very gentle, but it's enough to create airflow that moves smoke all around the barrel. So, no worries.

 

[DJDDay]

I am thinking to do this DIY on my Pro 575.

Trying to decide if I should mount it to the rear side next to the chimney (refer to the area marked blue in attached photo).

Where you have marked in blue or red would likely work - and frankly - those are the only two spots you CAN mount it. The PIG has to be mounted to a vertically flat surface so the barrel remains plum and level. The front and back is curved, so that's a no go. So your choices are the chimney side or the basket side, and there's not enough room on the basket side.

The only advice I can give you is to place the large PIG washer on the inside and drill a small pilot hole from inside the barrel going out towards the side you plan to mount it, just to make sure you'll clear the grease channel and the bottom of your barrel when the inside washer is on (see below). Personally I feel the front is the better option (the side you have marked in red) because you will have to fiddle with the PIG on occasion (you'll need to feed it wood chips/chunks and stoke the embers on occasion). But if you don't mind accessing it from behind the grill, then I'd wager you'd be fine on either side.

 

[DJDDay]

Just curious, can the smoke stack on the Traeger be modified to close part of it off to help keep the smoke inside the grill a little longer? Has anyone tried?

There's no need to modify the Traeger chimney. You can spin the top and adjust it down as low/closed as you want, allowing smoke to stay inside longer. But the PIG generates so much smoke, that's neither necessary nor recommended.

 

[DJDDay]

A lot of dirty smoke

Fake news. As mentioned on Page 1, that was immediately after I had lit the wood. After 10-15 minutes, the smoke cleans up nicely (if "clean" smoke is such a thing)... I've been using it for almost a year and haven't had 1 acrid smoke.

 

[DJDDay]

Awesome DIY.

How do you compare this to using smoke tubes?

Any difference to do this DIY on a smaller Traeger 575?

I wonder if the convection fan moves air in a consistent direction inside the barrel? If yes, pointing the PIG smoke pipe to specific direction may help minimize how hard PIG air fan has to work?

Thanks man! I've used smoke tubes (and mazes, etc) before, and they don't hold a candle to the PIG one bit. The PIG is truly a small stick burner chamber, and you can place actual wood chunks/chips in it. The smoke you get is far "richer" than burning pellets (which are really just compressed sawdust) in a tube or maze. Simply put, a tube/maze is trash by comparison. I mean, if that's all you got, it's certainly better than nothing, but it's nothing like the PIG.

The smaller Pro 575 would work the same, just get the Magnum. Anything smaller just doesn't seem worth the effort (as mentioned already, the smaller versions of the Smoke Daddy just don't afford the burn time when running a hot cook). The PIG pump will work the same no matter what - it's extremely high "torque". It's an aquarium fan, and is made to push air through water which would arguably have far more push back. The Traeger convection fan on the fire pot is very low - it's not like a hurricane in there. The circulation is very gentle, and affected mostly by the barrel shape of the cook chamber.

Don't worry about long extensions or where you end up mounting it - it will easily fill your 575 with smoke - the entire barrel - with little effort (as long as the PIG air pump is running at 55% or higher when you're running your Traeger hot).

 

[DJDDay]

THAT is a lot of smoke.

Just a note - in the video you linked to, the Traeger was off (meaning no airflow from the fan), and it was right after I lit the PIG - so yeah - the entire cook chamber was filled with thick white smoke. After about 10-15 minutes, the smoke was the more preferable "blue" that most prefer, and once the Traeger is on and the fan is running, the barrel stayed filled with smoke but it was much thinner.

 

[Julius Chen]

Installed on my Pro 575. I mounted a bit higher than the grease channel (vs what DJDDAY recommended is below the grease channel) - I want to make sure the smoke outlet is higher than the pellet heating pan.

Cant wait to start puffing smoke!