Ribs 1st - Lisa's response was "oh my"

Then some ribeyes. Smoked them for 30 min, then cranked it up and finished them off. Perfect

Brisket for the super bowl party, no leftovers.

2 pork butts last weekend, also a hit.

Chicken on tap for this weekend.

Not as much smoke flavor as I like but perfect for the wife. Looking into a smoke tube for some added smoke.

Oh, traeger controller is not the best. 50 deg. temp swings but may be the Lil Tex not holding temp as well, being smaller. Hasn't affected the food at all though.

Love it but kinda of wish I had gone with the Rec-Tech for the better controller.

Check out Pelletheads.com

http://joecartoon.com/watch/w0bbbc?list=dynamic&category_id=0&synd_channel_id=0&time=last_7_days 

Stay with charcoal, , ,

pedro,

Go to home depot and get you a shed or custom build a smokehouse. It's the only way. It's also a great place to store all your cannong year round.

So long as you operate within the limitations of the cooker, Traegers work fine, but, they are overpriced and riding their name for what they are.

Pellet smokers/cookers/grills should be viewed as wood fired convection ovens. Don't think of them as smokers or grills. Yes, you can get smoke out of them, but it is very light and clean compared to what you are used to. Bark is very thin and mild - of all the smokers I own / have owned, the pellet gives the lightest of all - and this is after hours on smoke setting. Once you take the unit off of smoke and go for a temp, there is little smoke flavor to be had. Because they are forced draft, they burn really clean - hence the oven comment. With the exception of the Louisiana and the Yoder, you can completely forget searing anything. It doesn't happen.

Traegers are mid-level units. Along with Green Mountain Grills, Camp Chef and Louisiana Grills. Higher end ones would be the Pellet Pro and Rec-Tec. Top of the line is MAK and Yoder. Bottom end stuff is like Brinkmann, Char-griller.

There is little difference between the Traeger and other units in it's class, some design things like cook chamber shape and features on the controller, but that's about it. They are all "chasing" controllers, they work by overshooting the temp then dialing back the pellet flow, then when they undershoot by a bit, they feed, and overshoot, then fall back, undershoot... Hence they are chasing a temp. Usual variation is only 5-10 degrees total max, once the unit settles in, that variation drops even lower. It appears that they all buy their augers, hot rods and burn cups from the same supplier, it's their controllers that are built to their specs, and so some of them have different features - the GMG has wi-fi or bluetooth, the Camp Chef has two different smoke settings - one at 165 and one at 235 plus it's regular temp stops at 180 and 225, and a startup bypass (which is nice if you accidentally turn the unit off during a cook). They both also have larger volume chambers for cooking. The Louisiana is unique in that it has a short throw system so that the fire cup is right next to the side bulkhead and has a sliding heat diffuser, this gives it the ability to sear on the grate above the fire cup. The only other unit that has this is the Yoder. The Traeger simply has a name and a higher price tag.

Pellet Pro and Rec-Tec have PID controllers. They predict where things are going to be more stable. The Pellet Pro is one of the best deals on the market. It's a bit heavier built than the Traeger, has a vastly better controller and better shaped chamber, their owner is hard core pellet head who stands by his products and his products cost about the same as Traegers. They have larger fire cups so they can run hotter if you want, but no one really runs pellet smokers full blast for long periods of time. Pellet consumption goes through the roof when you do. Rec-Tec is a beast. No other way to describe it. It's gigantic, to the point where it has dual oversized pellet hoppers and two auger / fire cups. To me, it's a big showy party grill for sitting next to the pool and looking nice. Kind of like the lifted pickup trucks with ****** Cepeck tires, lots of chrome and lights, fancy paint jobs and auto detailing yet they've never once been taken off pavement.

Yoder, MAK - they are the top end. $3k+ each. No need to talk about them, I know you, you aren't going to spend that kind of coin.

If I were buying today, I'd get the pellet pro 969 Genu-wine-Jerry model. Besides one of the best controllers on the market, it has the heavier diffuser plate (unique to this model) so you can throw wood chunks in above the fire cup for more smoke. This is a Dennis & Jerry thing, they saw that people wanted more smoke than a pellet burner could provide, so they figured out a way. About $1200, but it comes with 250lbs of pellets - all delivered to your door.

Pellets - this is where the difference down the road comes in. Traeger pellets are, for lack of a better description, complete crap and a total lie. Traeger pellets are all minimum 70% alder. The other 30% is the wood stated on the bag. Well, sort of, it's more like the bark and outer layer of the wood, so get used to creosote and everything tasting the same. The exception is Alder (100% alder) and mesquite and hickory. Both of which are 100% alder and treated with oils to have mesquite or hickory flavor. This is why all Trager pellets taste about the same, because they are all the same.

Best pellets I've found are Lumber Jack and Cookinpellets (one word). Lumber Jack uses whole trees and their pellets are what they say they are. If they are the 70/30 style, they will tell you. They have like 20 varieties of single wood, blended and 70/30's to pick from. I've talked to the owners, they are totally straightforward and will tell you anything you want to know about the product. Down side is, they aren't something you're going to pick up in a store out on this coast. BUT, if you go to their online site, www.bbqpelletsonline.com there is a section where you put your info in and they try and coordinate 1-ton group buys in your area. Get in on one of these and pellets get stupid cheap. The last time I bought, I think I paid $0.30/lb for 520 lbs (13 x 40# bags) in a group buy - delivered to the trucking freight depot about 25 minutes away. Cookinpellets are awesome, very strong flavors - I suspect they might juice the pellets a bit, but they only come in 2 varieties and they are about a $1/lb.

Feel free to give me a call if you have questions.

50 degree swings is too much unless you are using it in high wind.

Are you taking your readings from the display or are you using an air-probe thermometer?

If it actually is fluctuating that much, call traeger and get them to send you some replacement parts, your machine is borked.

I might could slide by with the 627, as I don't normally smoke much more than a 14-15 lb brisket or a couple 8 lb butts.

Been trying to learn all I can the last month and enjoying it.

Should have researched more before purchase but had $200 on a Cabellas gift card burning a hole in my pocket.

I knew I should have asked you first.

Calling Traeger tomorrow. Swings are consistent on the unit display and my remote digital probe. Temps match but fluctuate from 210 to 260 on the 225 setting. Haven't messed with the p-setting yet. Still on factory P2..

Is this considered a thread hijack, macs?

They (Traeger) will ask you "Whose pellets are you using?" make sure you answer "Yours" / "Traeger" even if you aren't. They have a really good C/S department, but they do try to make people believe that you must run their pellets to maintain a warranty. This is not true, in fact there are laws against this kind of thing. But it's easier to just play their game than argue.

Traeger's aren't bad, I want to make that clear. If it wasn't for them, the pellet grills wouldn't be what they are today. It's just I feel, and most people who research it will find similar, that Traeger is charging a premium to put their name on it. You can get better for about the same amount with other manufacturers.

My grill is about the same size as a 627 (19" x 22" primary) and two 9 lb butts, the typical Costco cryopack, is no problem. I've done four 5lb cured pork tenderloin sections (canadian bacon) at the same time, might have been able to put two more in, but I only have four temp probes, and lets face it, that's a lot of ham. Never done a whole brisket in there, I typically make pastrami and will make multiple smaller (3lb ish) chunks at once so I can vac bag and freeze, but it should fit, 14 lb packers aren't really that big.

Oh, and if you don't have one, get a shop vac or some kind of small bagger vacuum. You have to vacuum out the burn cup and the bottom of the cooker between runs. They don't generate a lot of ash, 10 lbs of pellets will pack down into about a cup or less of ash, so you could even use a dustbuster with a crevasse tool (I did this until the batteries wore out on the dust buster)

I have 2 buddies at work who have the Texas Pro and love it... but it's their first smoker, so they don't really have that much knowledge. Another has a Traeger Elite, and it's his first, too. The brisket we did on his came out slap your momma good.

Through "Promotive" I can get the Texas Pro, a cover for it, a shelf for it, and 3 bags of pellets for $1,017.75. (20% off)

Now you've got me thinking I should just stick with the WSM... or blow the extra coin on the Pellet Pro. Either way I am keeping the WSM.

TW wore out the battery on the crevice tool, but that's for another thread...

Holy crap!

That thing was huge, and she told me there is a larger size?

Macs I researched the hell out of it after talking gerbil and ended up not buying one. Yet. It has advantages and disadvantages and will be useful to me but my wsms, performer, and genesis cover my needs. I'll still end up getting on some day though lol.

Eggzilla....