I am a Smoking-It #2 owner for a couple years now. Done a lot of good Q on it. I pair it with an Auber PID and AMAZN smoker. I can pretty much do it all (with the notable exception of yard bird). And do it in my sleep. Literally. I do butts and briskets overnight.
Anyway, I have been toying with getting a pellet grill of late. Just kind of feeling my smoking oats I guess. No reason I shouldn't have more than one smoker. Right?
Happened to be in an Ace Hardware and they had a Traeger that they were wanting to move. Last years model and a scratch and dent as well. They knocked a bunch off and threw in a cover and 80 lbs of pellets and I walked out with a Lil Tex Pro. Wasn't actually wanting a Traeger, but sometimes a deal is too good to pass up. I did the research and knew what I was getting in to.
Well, did the burn out last night with several hours of testing. The probe reads accurately and matches my Weber Style (which is calibrated and accurate at 212 boiling water). Get about a 12* difference from one side to the other. The temp swings when she settles are +/- 20* on the lower settings but get much better in the 250*+ setting. I am not anal about temp swings. I do my sausage in my #2 with the PID for steady temps.
Did a couple racks of SLCs and a bird today. Came out great. The bird is totally awesome. I yearned for good smoked chicken and could never get it good with the electric. Believe me, I got good with the #2 (search some of my posts with Qview) but chicken never come out good. In fact, my theory is that the longer the cook the better it is in my #2. I have done some of the best briskets I ever tasted. Ditto for butts.
I overcooked one of the racks of ribs as I was experimenting and multitasking while smoking on an unfamiliar grill. For giggles I did one rack with foiling. I've seen a lot of competition guys wrap their ribs for part of the cooking. I did 2.5 without then 1.5 with then 20 minutes without to tighten them up. My son liked the wrapped ones. They were less smokey and more tender. Did the others without and accidentally left them on for about 30 minutes longer than intended.
I used the 180* setting for 45 then went tot he 225* setting for most of it and bumped it up to the 300* for the last 30-45. She heats up quick and that kinda got me on the one rack. Also, put a homemade Korean style BBQ sauce on half of the overcooked rack. Killer.
Anyway, I didn't do extensive Qview but here is what I got:
Anyway, I have been toying with getting a pellet grill of late. Just kind of feeling my smoking oats I guess. No reason I shouldn't have more than one smoker. Right?
Happened to be in an Ace Hardware and they had a Traeger that they were wanting to move. Last years model and a scratch and dent as well. They knocked a bunch off and threw in a cover and 80 lbs of pellets and I walked out with a Lil Tex Pro. Wasn't actually wanting a Traeger, but sometimes a deal is too good to pass up. I did the research and knew what I was getting in to.
Well, did the burn out last night with several hours of testing. The probe reads accurately and matches my Weber Style (which is calibrated and accurate at 212 boiling water). Get about a 12* difference from one side to the other. The temp swings when she settles are +/- 20* on the lower settings but get much better in the 250*+ setting. I am not anal about temp swings. I do my sausage in my #2 with the PID for steady temps.
Did a couple racks of SLCs and a bird today. Came out great. The bird is totally awesome. I yearned for good smoked chicken and could never get it good with the electric. Believe me, I got good with the #2 (search some of my posts with Qview) but chicken never come out good. In fact, my theory is that the longer the cook the better it is in my #2. I have done some of the best briskets I ever tasted. Ditto for butts.
I overcooked one of the racks of ribs as I was experimenting and multitasking while smoking on an unfamiliar grill. For giggles I did one rack with foiling. I've seen a lot of competition guys wrap their ribs for part of the cooking. I did 2.5 without then 1.5 with then 20 minutes without to tighten them up. My son liked the wrapped ones. They were less smokey and more tender. Did the others without and accidentally left them on for about 30 minutes longer than intended.
I used the 180* setting for 45 then went tot he 225* setting for most of it and bumped it up to the 300* for the last 30-45. She heats up quick and that kinda got me on the one rack. Also, put a homemade Korean style BBQ sauce on half of the overcooked rack. Killer.
Anyway, I didn't do extensive Qview but here is what I got:
