# Cabela's pellet smoker



## what4 (Aug 13, 2017)

Hi,

I've only been smoking meats for about a year.  I previously had a Chargriller propane grill that I connected a side smoking box to smoke mostly ribs.  I had a terrible time trying to maintain temperature.  I tried running one gas burner super low while smoking chips in the side smoker to give the meat flavor.  Other times, I would leave the gas off and just burn charcoal in the side smoker along with different types of wood chips.  It was such a pain and one day my neighbor noticed me fiddling with my grill and invited me over to check out his Traeger.  I was amazed by the set it and forget feature, but I persisted anyway with my side smoker because despite the pain in keeping temperature, the ribs came out AMAZING.  I just love the smokey flavor imparted on the meat.  I probably lean toward more smoky than most people's taste.   Anyway, I failed to clean the grease out of the bottom of my grill over the year or so of smoking and regular grilling and I created a huge grease fire in the grill.  Pretty scary but luckily nobody hurt. haha.   My grill unfortunately did not survive (well at least that's what i told my wife).    I decided to get a new smoker - one that was not cobbled together.  After a year of searching, I finally settled on a Cabela's 48" pellet smoker.  I fired it up once so far using Cabela's alder wood pellets.  Did the 3-2-1 method on baby back ribs which previously worked so well for me.  I gotta admit, the end product was very disappointing.  the texture was pretty spot on. It had a smoke ring.  crusty outer coating... BUT it just didn't have a lot of smoke flavor.   I ran it  at the high smoke setting which is 225F the entire time.  I'm running another test run today using a bag of mesquite pellets i bought from Walmart.  I notice the smoker doesn't produce much smoke and understand that the smoke comes and goes as the auger is triggered to dump more pellets into the burning area.   If this batch doesn't come out any better, what else can i do to salvage this purchase?  Different pellet source/type?  maybe throw a tube smoker on the grate too?

Thanks in advance 

bummed in DC


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## sammartin (Aug 13, 2017)

Like you im really a sucker for that wood burning smokey flavor, cant beat it. My good friend has a Yoder 480 pellet smoker and its the same taste for me, not alot of that smokey finish, but its there just not as rich. Its just one of the trade offs with getting a pellet smoker, you sacrifice some of that deep smoke finish for convince. That being said you can purchase a smoker tube off amazon for around 25 bucks that will add a little bit more smoke to the cook. You may also try buying higher quality pellets, i know my friend told me that he will get different and some will give a more pronounced smokey finish. Im sure there will be people more experienced with pellet smokers on here to give more detailed answers but dont get down too soon. thats the fun of smoking is experimenting, trail and error, you find that formula!


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## okiefisher (Aug 13, 2017)

Like SamMartin said don't give up to fast because all pellets are not created equal and the smoke tube or maze can add quite a bit of smoke to your Q. Here's a link to read about the tubes and the maze.
http://www.amazenproducts.com/category_s/12.htm


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## what4 (Aug 14, 2017)

thanks for the tips!  i won't give up.  second batch came out a little stronger in terms of the smoke flavor but my dry rub was off, so i guess i'll keep fiddling around until i nail a good formula.


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## bregent (Aug 14, 2017)

>I'm running another test run today using a bag of mesquite pellets i bought from Walmart.  

Unless those are LumberJack, they are probably only 30-40% mesquite at best. LJ is the only producer that I know of that makes a 100% mesquite pellet. I used it on a brisket a few months ago and it produced the strongest smoke flavor I've had thus far. They are one of their premium pellets, so they cost more than their other 100% flavor wood and blended pellets. If I were you, I would try to find some 100% hickory and see how that works for you. That's basically all I run now.


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## JckDanls 07 (Aug 14, 2017)

I'm kinda upset with Cabela's ..  I've bought a lot of equipment from them (through a safety rewards program at work).. the other day I tried to buy parts for my slicer (blade locking screw) from them...  they kept asking me for a receipt.. I explained to them it was purchased by my employer through the safety program...  A multi billion dollar company with 1000's of employees nationwide.. plus it's been about 5-7 years ago...  highly unlikely I would be able to get a receipt from them...  Besides..  I'm not looking for any kind of warranty.. I just want to buy some parts for my slicer... otherwise it's useless... They said... "We're sorry...  we only sell parts with proof of purchase" ... 

Got a bad taste in my mouth now ...


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