Bought a used Traeger because it was so cheap. I have a few questions...

[The VA Gentleman]

Hey ya'll,
I just bought an Eastwood 34 (Home Depot exclusive) from a guy for $200. It came with a cover and a shelf. Everything looks to be in order. It's about two years old and well used. It took me two days to clean it, I pulled enough grease out of it to properly lube a small locomotive. The reason the guy was selling was that he bought a newer/larger Traeger and was just trying to sell the old to buy some accessories and such. I think that I've read just about every hate and love comment on this brand from YouTube to SMF and beyond. I fired the thing up after cleaning it and everything seem to work as planned. The only thing that I noticed, and took note of, was that the smoke output comes in two-minute intervals. Two minutes of smoke and then nothing for two minutes then two minutes yadda yadda yadda. There is no P hole on this controller as it is one of the older types I guess. I plan to use it for smoking and doubt that it will ever see anything beyond 275. If I'm grilling or searing, I use my Weber. I have an MES 40 that has produced some great BBQ for me and I don't really need a second smoker, but I was curious and the price was pretty cheap. Though a smoke ring is primarily cosmetic, I thought it would be fun to produce some que that has a smoke ring. Yeah I know, I can do a few tricks in the MES to get that but I'd rather not. I was curious about the Traeger. I've looked at a few stick burners but I keep spending my "allowance" on motorcycle upgrades, truck upgrades and cigars. I have too many hobbies to list. So...here are a few of my questions...

Is there a way to change the P setting without a P Hole?
Has anyone noticed a significant improvement after upgrading the old-style red LED controller to a newer blue LED Pro version?
If you upgraded, did you go with the Traeger branded controller or aftermarket for about $50 or so less? Any problems with the aftermarket?
Is anyone using the smoke blanket? Thoughts on the smoke blanket?
What causes a flame out and is there a way to prevent it?

If it's worth it, I may someday upgrade to these things. For now, I'll just start with what I've got as is, as I continue my research. I couldn't really find a clear answer to some of these questions even though I've searched to page 42. If it isn't up to par with my MES then I'll just resell it. Thanks for your time!

 

[flatbroke]

Smoke setting triggers the detent rod to reignite the pellets on the set interval

 

[flatbroke]

You can change the speed level up pellet input as well on the older digital. I think there is 3 or 4 settings. It’s been years since I looked at mine

 

[forktender]

I'd stay away from these pellets.

 

[The VA Gentleman]

I'd stay away from these pellets.

May give your BBQ an earthy gamey flavor profile.

 

[The VA Gentleman]

Well, I've found the answers to all of my questions except for how to change the P setting. Flatbroke chimed in that it can be done but I can't figure out how. Anyone? Can the newer Pro controller P setting be changed? How?

 

[jmtyndall]

Sorry you weren't getting the help you need. The old controllers don't have an adjustable P setting. If it doesn't have the hole then you can't adjust it.

The newer controllers have adjustable P settings and a meat probe right? Those are good things, but still aren't adjustable in smaller temp increments (not really needed, but nice) and don't have extremely accurate control strategies. PID control gives more stable temps, but isn't really necessary. I'd look into some of the aftermarket options or even other brands. For example, I just put a Grilla controller into an old Traeger which gave me better control, a cooldown sequence, more precise temp control, and a meat probe.

Troubles with aftermarket controllers are going to depend on the brand, you'll have to look at reviews. That said, pellet grills aren't rocket science. The controls are pretty simple.

Forget about the blanket unless you're having issues and smoking in a really cold environment. They're smelly and bulky if you have to store them.

Flame outs are caused by the pellets in the pot going out, and new pellets not being able to light off the pellets in the pot. Mostly this is caused by very long pauses between pellet feeding, or when stepping down temperature drastically. For example if you're set to the lowest temp and it's very warm out then pellets are fed very slowly. They might go out before more pellets are fed in. If you have your grill set to 400, then turn it down to 180 that will also be an opportunity for a flame out.

 

[bill1]

As they say, the real early Traegers don't have a p-hole but for many a Traeger, it just lies hidden under a logo sticker that one would normally never think should be removed. But if you've already removed every possible sticker in your quest, then for sure it's just not there.

But I wouldn't fret. If your hope is to maintain >180F temperatures during hour-long smoke cycles by just finding a magical P setting, you'll probably be as discouraged with a p-hole as without. I find the vendors' promises of "set it for smoke for an hour or two" consistently leads to disappointment.

So if you truly don't have a p-hole, just live with the factory p-setting and instead use shorter 20-minute smoke cycles but do 3x as many of the them throughout the cook. (Note they're most beneficial in the first half of the cook, just by the way.)

Some folks in this forum think switching to the latest and greatest controller is the best thing they ever did, but my advice would be to first do a dozen cooks with the "stock" equipment before making mods. Especially if you're feeling good now about scoring a good deal. (something I totally relate to!)

 

[The VA Gentleman]

Thank you jmtyndall and bill1 for your response. Good info and pretty much what I was looking for. I smoked two butts last weekend and they both turned out great. I would say right up there with my MES40. I did try a few things to get a deep smoke ring and hopefully add more smoke flavor. I used 100% hickory pellets, ran the Traeger on smoke for 2 hours prior to turning things up to 250 and put the butts on the grill straight from the fridge. I actually tried 225 but the Traeger was all over the place and not really holding a good 225. Once I turned it up to 250, it seemed to like that much better. I used a Thermopro to gage my surface temp which agreed with the Traeger by several degrees. All in all, I was very pleased with the outcome. Nice pink ring, smoky hickory flavor, and of course juicy pork. I don't plan to upgrade the controller, it seemed to work just fine. I think it's a keeper. the only thing that I may replace on it is the grate as the previous owner pretty much let the carbon build-up like a spray-on truck bed liner. I can't seem to find a decent way to clean it short of a grinder. All else I was able to get clean enough. Thank you again!