Smokers (Traeger)

My buddy picked up a Camp Chef DLX electric wood pellet job a couple of weeks ago. He absolutely loves his and I love the simplicity of it because it plugs in and it's controllable thermostat. The timing of this thread is impeccable as I stared at Traegers, GMG, Camp Chef and Z Grills online after dinner last night.

Side note, even though I have a bitching farm down the street where I can buy fresh chicken, steak, etc from - I received a big care package from Snake River Farms last week. Already done Waygu filets, waygu burgers, waygu hot dogs and am waiting on figuring out how to cook the huge ribs this week. I approve of that place for sure even though I've been skeptical of meats shipped across country.

 

<since Sheikh is no longer with us> American wagyu.

I personally don't get pellet grills (and yes, I've cooked on them). They don't grill well (not hot enough) and overcook the smoke on anything you are looking for a lighter touch on. While I have had some reliability troubles with my Bradley, I've always been able to sort it out.
I want to be able to cold smoke, hot smoke, offset BBQ and grill. Between the two setups (Bradley and Oklahoma offset) Im pretty well set. Except for pizza -- I'm in early design state for a brick outdoor pizza oven/rotisserie. Not sure where that will go...

 

What? I can cold smoke (~175), grill up to 500, or have the attached sear station for up to 900, and have yet to have anything I would say was overpowered by smoke flavor. In fact, most I have seen on the forum use a smoke tube because one of the common complaints is not being able to get enough smoke flavor off the pellet grills.

 

175 is not cold smoking; cold smoking is <100F. WRT to smoke character, I was referring to the nature of the smoke flavor (from pyrolosis/smoldering vs flaming) not the magnitude or intensity. My word choice there wasn't very good.

I'm glad it works out well for you. Me not "getting it" may be all on me. As I said, I have some experience with them, but not a lot. Twice I tried to grill steaks (sans searing apparatus) and that was woefully disappointing.

 

I’ll be honest, I’ve never even tried cold smoking anything, so I’m out on that part. I usually do smoking around 225. I just know some of the guys smoke cheese well enough. I’ve seen a few smoke water, then make ice cubes from it. That always seemed over the top to me. Some dudes on the smoking forum go full tard on some of this stuff. Turkey breast, ribs, and spatchcock chicken are my go-to for smoking. But little in life can beat out a reverse seared steak.

 

The pizza attachment for the pellet grills is awesome. Can't be a komodo-style for versatility & flavor IMO, just requires more attention.

 

I love my Bradley. Just put a new element in mine and it works like new. As for reliability, all I have done is one element in 5 years of owning it.

 

I had the microcontroller for the biscuit advancer go out; got a free new one and replaced it. Had the fuse go out; bought a replacement which has a different rating so requires the temp sensor to be replaced. A lot of folks overclock the heat circuit to 1000W, but I never use mine at over 230F and it gets there fine (but does take a while).
The offset box for cold-smoking rocks.

Like motorcycles, motorcycle boots and brands of canned tomatoes*, folks tend to like what they use.




*FTW

 

Had my Traeger for 5 or so years now, only issue is the cover has a tear in it now. I have put ~300 pounds of pellets thru it using it 3x week minimum. Its our oven in the summer, keeps the house a lot cooler.

 

52*5*3x=300.
x=300/780=0.38 pounds per use. Interesting.

 

I use my trusty Weber to smoke. A little more of a hassle but it works good for me.

 

Been wanting to get in the smoking game for a while. A family member had a very lightly used Texas Elite 34 pellet smoker and sold it to me for a very good price. He's very mechanically inclined and meticulous with everything so I wasn't too worried about picking up someone else's junk. He just didn't have time to use it.

I'll go thru everything and make sure it's functioning properly, looking forward to trying it out. I'll probably start with something simple first.

I have really only used a Weber for grilling in the past, and I will hold on to that. Tried smoking with it but I found it VERY hard to control the temp on a Weber for any kind of long-term cooking.

Can't wait to get smoking. Any tips for a beginner?

 

Patience is your friend. Open the cover while you have a briscuit in there, you add to your time another 30 minutes.

I am excited to get my “Meater” monitoring kit. They sound very cool.

Most of the key to it all is prep before you grill obviously. We’ve trimmed up a briscuit and covered it in Montreal steak seasoning, then wrapped it in Saran Wrap for a day or two in the fridge before we put it on the Traeger at 225 degrees until it hits 180 degrees (IF I recall correctly) and it’s absolutely delicious briscuit sammiches for a gathering or for is for most of a week.

Bacon. Cannot beat it for bacon. I made a pound of thick cut bacon today for lunch so Brick and I could enjoy BLTs aka “Dead Piggy Sammiches” today.
He was a very happy pup.

 

Anybody ever try a fire disc cooker or a rec tec matador ?

Those look like a big ass outdoor wok and I'm sure you could make some good food on them while having a blast at the same time.

 

depending on what you cook, the internal temp determines how good the food will be for low and slow smoking. longest brisket cook for me was 17 hours total(including rest) for a 12 pounder. On a pellet pooper.

 

I have the Ironwood 650. Love it!

 

Just did a 14 hour cook on a brisket on the treager. Set at 225, seasoned brisket straight on the grill. Reached 165 internal temp in 12 hours. Wrapped it in foil put back on at 250. Another 2 hours or so reached internal temp of 205. Pulled it off and put it in an empty ice chest wrapped in a towel. Couple hours later still piping hot, carved it up and everybody raved about it!
My rub was 3 packages of lipton onion soup mix. Don't laugh. Try it!

 

Cooked with a charcoal kettle for 20+ years, last 10 on a $100 propane grill, just got this for Christmas from the kids. Sounds like I've got a lot to learn.

 

^^^You’ll love it! Check out the Treager app for recipes. They make it very easy, and delicious! I originally planned to get some books, but the app is so well designed, easy to use, and has so many recipes I won’t need to expand options for quite some time. So many different meats and cuts to try, different rubs and techniques, endless possibilities. Everything I’ve tried so far has been really amazing from a 22hr brisket to a 1.5hr chicken on the Treager chicken throne (think beer can…). Did our Thanksgiving Turkey and it was outstanding. I had used Turkey bags in the oven before, and was surprised how moist and tender it turned out on the Treager.

Get some Signature, Hickory, and Mesquite pellets to start. A 5 gal bucket makes emptying the hopper easier when you want to switch.

 

Get a Bluetooth meat thermometer. I think the Meater Plus is still the one to get?

You just leave it in the roast/steak and return when your phone beeps at you.