Pellet Pooper Smoke Daddy “Heavy D” Review

[ChefJRD]

I own a Traeger 575 grill that I bought earlier this year. The grill works great but like so many others I found the smoke flavor a little too light. I was going to sell the grill but I found this product from Smoke Daddy. It’s called the Heavy D and it truly is heavy. It replaces your stock heat diffuser and it’s got 2 slots to add wood in either stick or chunk form. I want to try this guy out and see if it adds the Smoke flavor I’m looking for. Last night I smoked a bunch of ABTs, some spam, and a few chicken thighs to get a feel for the smoke imparted. I was very impressed with my first test. It added a nice smoke flavor but wasn’t the type of smoke where you’re burping smoke for hours after eating (I typically get this with my WSM even with TBS rolling). Other reviews online mentioned it could and did cause heat to be less controllable. I found the temps in my Traeger stayed steady with one spike up about 10 degrees that settled after a few minutes. Here’s some pics.

Today I’m doing a test. I’m smoking a rack of spare ribs on the WSM and a rack on the Traeger with the Heavy D installed. I’m also smoking some Wagyu beef tallow and a turkey breast on the Traeger.

I’ve got two sticks of pecan in the Heavy D and a couple chunks of pecan in the WSM. I’ll update how it turns out.

I bought my pecan sticks from a seller on eBay. I asked him if he’d be ok with me sharing his info as he custom cut the sticks for me and he said that I could send anyone his way. If you wind up buying a Heavy D and want some sticks, I’d be happy to share his info.


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[ronbrad62]

I love experiments like this. If you need another member of the focus group, let me know! Awaiting the results. opcorn:

 

[rwalters]

Love it! Keep the info rolling in… we dig this kind of stuff

 

[Jmgunn]

Been curious about this myself!

 

[jzadski]

Thanks for sharing. Now I am going to have to look into this

 

[ChefJRD]

Update: We were all too hungry to take pictures of the end results but ribs from both cookers came out delicious! The WSM had that classic cooked over charcoal flavor. The Traeger had a nice profile to it that was different. It was closer to stick burner than charcoal but not a very heavy smoke. Of the 3 of us, one preferred the WSM, one preferred the Traeger and the jury’s still out for me. I think they both have their place. I’m gonna give some to my wife tomorrow and get her opinion as she was out of town for our little test. Next week I’m smoking Beef Short Ribs on the Traeger for the one who preferred the Traeger ribs.


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[ChefJRD]

I served my wife ribs from both the Traeger with the Smoke Daddy Heavy D and the WSM today and she tried them blind. She knew the experiment but she didn’t know which rib was which. I had her guess and she actually got them mixed up. She’s had a good amount of Q from the WSM, so she’s familiar with the taste. She said they were both very good but somewhat different from each other. If a restaurant served them she would want the sampler platter to get both. She gave a very slight edge to the Traeger.

After the test I think I would recommend the Smoke Daddy Heavy D to anyone who wants more flavor from their pellet cooker. I had no issues with heat management as others have said they did. Thanks for looking in on my experiment!


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[AClarke44]

Thanks for posting the experiment/review of the Heavy D. Curious what brand of pellets you typically run?

 

[ChefJRD]

Thanks for posting the experiment/review of the Heavy D. Curious what brand of pellets you typically run?

I’ve been using lumberjack and just recently switched to Smokehouse pellets from Sam club. I didn’t notice a difference between the two.


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[Hinds15]

Been wanting to try the heavy D for a while but the shape and none traditional auger feed of my smokefire I don't think it will fit.