Questions about Traeger or pellet smokers in general

[biaviian]

I need a new grill, and I am thinking of going with a Traeger, but I have some questions.

1. Do you use an inverter or AC? I believe they only need power for the first 3-5 minutes.
2. Do you get a lot of smoke when grilling? I know that is relative. I come from gas so I can get away with grilling then going out without smelling like smoke.
3. Do pellets like what Todd sells work or do you suggest only Traeger pellets?
4. Do you store it outside? If so with a cover and do you see issues?
5. Do you fill the hopper and keep it filled or do you take care only to put in what you want? My concern is the pellets pulling in moisture.
6. Which do you have and do you use it to grill, smoke, both? Do you like it or wish you went with a different model?
7. What other things should I take into consideration?

I think that is all.

 

[Scott Eisenbraun]

I had a Traeger for over 5 years. Food quality was good. Build quality wasn't too great. Paint flaking off in large chunks and rusting. You will need a/c power to it at all times. The auger and temp controller are 110v.

All pellet grills can be used as a grill or smoker. I would read a bunch of reviews online to see what features you think are important. You get heavier smoke at low temps than high. If you can, store it under a roof. If not, get a good cover. I always keep plenty of pellets in the hopper with no issues.

Check out Malcomb Reeds website - How to BBQ Right - He uses several different smokers and has dozens of recipe videos to get an idea of what can be cooked on pellet smokers, drum smokers, etc.

 

[bigfish8]

1. Do you use an inverter or AC? I believe they only need power for the first 3-5 minutes. You must keep a pellet grill connected to AC Power at all times. They require power to meter, by an turning an auger screw, pellets into a fire pot. The temperature is controlled by the speed of the auger screw.
   
2. Do you get a lot of smoke when grilling? I know that is relative. I come from gas so I can get away with grilling then going out without smelling like smoke. Pellets burn very clean. Some people claim that some pellet grills provide more smoke than others but the use of a Smoke Tube is required to really provide good smoke flavor to the food.
3. Do pellets like what Todd sells work or do you suggest only Traeger pellets? CookinPellets available on Amazon are excellent Pellets. Basically, you find a brand that provides performance/flavor that you like.
4. Do you store it outside? If so with a cover and do you see issues? I store my Pellet Grill outside on the deck under a couple of covers. It was purchased in December 2015 and looks brand new.
5. Do you fill the hopper and keep it filled or do you take care only to put in what you want? My concern is the pellets pulling in moisture. I do not empty the hopper after cooks and have had no issues.
6. Which do you have and do you use it to grill, smoke, both? Do you like it or wish you went with a different model? I purchased a U.S. Made Pellet Grill - A Blaz'n Grand Slam made in Iowa. I own several grills (a Kamado, a large gas grill, an Ugly Drum Smoker and a couple of Weber Kettles). I have learned that I am not a set it and forget it type of outdoor cooker. My pellet grill has had approximately 100 lb of pellets through it and is for sale for 1/2 of my original investment. PM me if you would have any interest and I can provide pictures, price, etc.
   
7. What other things should I take into consideration? If you want to select a temperature on the temperature controller, put your meat on the smoker and not have to worry about temperature variations then a Pellet Grill is a great choice.

 

[WaterRat]

1-5 covered above.
6. I only smoke on mine (Pit Boss). It can be used as a grill but the grilling area is only a small portion under the rack, I could maybe do 2 NY strips at a time or a couple burgers - actually I should try that! Other makes/models are likely different.
7. If the power goes your cook is in trouble!

 

[biaviian]

I think I am going with a Camp Chef Woodwind since it has a sear box. The functions are nice, the dump for ashes and for leftover pellets. I see a few here have it and love it so I am excited. I was hoping to stay $100-150 less.

 

[bigfish8]

I think I am going with a Camp Chef Woodwind since it has a sear box. The functions are nice, the dump for ashes and for leftover pellets. I see a few here have it and love it so I am excited. I was hoping to stay $100-150 less.

I would recommend you try cooked food

 

[bigfish8]

I tried to post at reply and things froze up - sorry! Good luck with you choice. If possible see if your cooker dealer does demos so you can sample the food from the pellet grill that you are leaning toward. Pellet grills are relatively expensive due to the electronic controller and pellet auger system. I thought I wanted a set and forget it grill but I have learned that I enjoy more envolvement in the cook!

Good luck with your final decision.

Ken

 

[biaviian]

I tried to post at reply and things froze up - sorry! Good luck with you choice. If possible see if your cooker dealer does demos so you can sample the food from the pellet grill that you are leaning toward. Pellet grills are relatively expensive due to the electronic controller and pellet auger system. I thought I wanted a set and forget it grill but I have learned that I enjoy more envolvement in the cook!

Good luck with your final decision.

Ken

They have a new feature called slide and grill which gives you a traditional wood-fired grill; that looks interesting. I have two charcoal grills I can use if I want more involvement. I haven't used them much because they require too much involvement.

 

[grizzly bear]

I think I am going with a Camp Chef Woodwind since it has a sear box. The functions are nice, the dump for ashes and for leftover pellets. I see a few here have it and love it so I am excited. I was hoping to stay $100-150 less.

Last Spring I purchased a Traeger Lil Tex due to its smaller size. I only cook for 2 people so it works great. Only negative is high temp. As with smaller propane grills, smaller the size, lower BTU's. Smart of Camp Chef to do the sear box. Except that the sear box requires a propane tank. I move my smoker from time to time and have a small Weber Q 220 propane grill. It gets up to 400-450 in the Winter and I use it if I need to sear. Most likely would have purchased the Woodwind if I had known about it before the Traeger.

 

[biaviian]

Last Spring I purchased a Traeger Lil Tex due to its smaller size. I only cook for 2 people so it works great. Only negative is high temp. As with smaller propane grills, smaller the size, lower BTU's. Smart of Camp Chef to do the sear box. Except that the sear box requires a propane tank. I move my smoker from time to time and have a small Weber Q 220 propane grill. It gets up to 400-450 in the Winter and I use it if I need to sear. Most likely would have purchased the Woodwind if I had known about it before the Traeger.

I have been using an electric smoker, MES, with a pellet maze for many years. Once in a while, I break out a WSM. I did a chuck roast today on the Woodwind and holy cow I was blown away with the results. The smoke was much cleaner, and the smoke ring was out of this world. I preheated it to 350, and there was a nice sizzle when I put the meat on the grates. That made me smile. The house also didn't stink from an overpowering BBQ smell after dinner. Usually, we smell it for a solid 24 hours. I'm not sure what is up with that. I am sold, and my wife is excited for me to bake biscuits in that sucker.
I think I am in love. The only bad part is the cost of the pellets.

 

[Thebutscher]

They have a new feature called slide and grill which gives you a traditional wood-fired grill; that looks interesting. I have two charcoal grills I can use if I want more involvement. I haven't used them much because they require too much involvement.

 

[Thebutscher]

Look at GrillGrates. Will get over 550 on your 425 grill.

 

[biaviian]

Look at GrillGrates. Will get over 550 on your 425 grill.

I have something like that from my old grill.

 

[grizzly bear]

I have been using an electric smoker, MES, with a pellet maze for many years. Once in a while, I break out a WSM. I did a chuck roast today on the Woodwind and holy cow I was blown away with the results. The smoke was much cleaner, and the smoke ring was out of this world. I preheated it to 350, and there was a nice sizzle when I put the meat on the grates. That made me smile. The house also didn't stink from an overpowering BBQ smell after dinner. Usually, we smell it for a solid 24 hours. I'm not sure what is up with that. I am sold, and my wife is excited for me to bake biscuits in that sucker.
I think I am in love. The only bad part is the cost of the pellets.

Sounds delicious! Have not tried a chuck roast yet. I had the same problem with smoke smelling up the house. When I would open the patio door, the smoke rushes in unseen, but you can smell it. Then we covered out deck with an aluminum roof, which then trapped the smoke from the stack. Went to Home Depot and purchased flexible 4" dryer tube in 8ft length + two 4" solid dryer tube ends. Put the solid ends on both ends of flexi tube, wrapped to seal with metal tape. On my Traeger, I removed the "hat" in order to have round stack. Then placed dryer tube over stack and left 3" room where it bends to go into barrel. Wrapped bottom around tube and stack twice with thick alum foil. Then used 2 mini bungees, one at very bottom of foil and other at top where wraps around tube. Then pressed foil solid around dryer tube to seal and around bottom area. Other end of 8ft tube goes straight across to our deck rail area. I mounted small 1x1 stick to rail mount and extended it out a few inches. Mounted coated cup hook on square end of stick. Then used mini bungee around solid alum end of dryer tube and hung bungee on cup cook. That end of the tube extends out a few inches past the stick and deck roof line. Now all of the smoke travels out the smoker stack, and out the other end of the 8ft dryer tube. Smoke stream flows straight up and out or left/right depending on the wind. No more smoky deck and house! Problem solved for $20 in parts. I leave my Traeger in center of patio where I can keep my eye on it while cooking and the smoke is no longer a problem. I usually do 5hrs of smoke mode on my Traeger with good quality pellets. Once the meat is 120 degrees, I swap out the pellets for one of the cheaper brands and crank up the heat. Most sporting good stores sell inexpensive brands for about $9.00 20lb bag. Since the meat is already slow smoked, it does not matter what pellets I use to bring cooking temp up. Our local market sells Lil Devil pellets for $4.99 20lb bag. They are Alder, Cherry, Maple, Hickory, Mesquite and amazingly have little ash and high heat. I am a miser when it comes to pellets and like you mentioned, the cost when cooking on high heat. Try the good brand, smoke setting below 200 degrees for 4-5 hours and you will use less pellets. Then use the cheaper ones for the high temp 300 and above. They will last longer per bag and is more cost effective. I also purchased 2 gallon white painter pails at Home Depot for $6 per (incl lid). I like to mix my pellets and find dumping from the bags to much work. I label each pail with a sticky note of the brand and types of wood. Store them in stacks of 3 in our basement, nice and dry. Day before smoking day, I grab one pail of the cheap brand and one of the good brand (for the low smoke mode). Traeger does not have a hatch to empty pellets from hopper. When I switch from smoke mode to high temp, I grab the bucket of the pellets in hopper and use 2cup plastic measuring cup to scoop remaining into bucket. Then grab cheapo bucket, dump into hopper and crank the heat. Little system which makes changing pellets simple and easier than dragging 20lb bags. I also have an Oklahoma Joe Highland Offset which the dryer tube will not work. It restricts air flow and I cannot adjust the cap. Ran into a problem with that one after our deck cover was completed. Smoke was a big problem with that one. Went to Walmart and grabbed $19 adjustable height fan. When using the OJ, I put the fan on a wood TV tray 2ft from the firebox. Stack is on opposite end and the fan on low will blow the smoke coming out of the stack out from under the deck roof. Lucked out on that idea. Hope this info helps with the smoky house situation. If you are using the Electric, which does not have a stack, try the fan trick.

 

[grizzly bear]

Look at GrillGrates. Will get over 550 on your 425 grill.

Just looked at them, great idea! Thanks much

 

[biaviian]

Sounds delicious! Have not tried a chuck roast yet. I had the same problem with smoke smelling up the house. When I would open the patio door, the smoke rushes in unseen, but you can smell it.

I have my smokers about 200 feet from the house. My issue was the odor caused by the smoked meats. That would stick around for a while even after everything was removed. We would come downstairs the next morning and you could still smell it. I don't know why; we will see what happens this weekend.

 

[grizzly bear]

I have my smokers about 200 feet from the house. My issue was the odor caused by the smoked meats. That would stick around for a while even after everything was removed. We would come downstairs the next morning and you could still smell it. I don't know why; we will see what happens this weekend.

Hum? That really sparks my curiosity as well?? So its the smoked meat smell, not the smoke?? Do you wrap your meat and let it rest? I know on my end, when I smoke ribs, beef, etc. I had that smell thing going on but not bad. So I tried wrapping the meat in foil after removing from cooker, then into small cooler to rest for an hour. The cooler would trap the smoke smell. Then when removing the meat when ready to eat, there was delicious meat juices in foil and the meat did not have strong smoke smell. It was absorbed into the meat and tasted great. Then I pour the juices over the meat when serving. If you are having smell problems from the actual meat after bringing into house, do the double alum foil wrap. Then wrap with an old towel and into an old cooler of any size. After 2 hours in cooler with wraps, the meat is still at a perfect warm serving temp. I just started smoking meat last Spring and love the challenges and successes.

 

[biaviian]

Hum? That really sparks my curiosity as well?? So its the smoked meat smell, not the smoke?? Do you wrap your meat and let it rest?

It depends on the cut and what I have going on. If I can get it started very early in the morning then I will let it rest in a cooler for several hours. If I get a late start then I foil the last few hours and let it rest for 15-20 minutes. Usually, chucks and butts are the biggest offenders.

 

[grizzly bear]

Will have to tryout smoking a chuck, sounds delish

 

[WaterRat]

Will have to tryout smoking a chuck, sounds delish

Go for it, delicious pulled beef sammies. I did one last week.