# For the Traeger Haters....



## spuds (Jan 2, 2005)

*After seeing several inimical comments towards Traeger Grills on other threads, I feel compelled to post about the briskets that I smoked for the Texans game last Sunday. *

*Saturday morning my son mentioned that he was having a few friends over to his house to watch the Texans/Dolphins game. I said that I was thinking about cooking a brisket for the game and why didn't I pick up an extra one for him and cook two at once? *

*He thought this sounded like a good idea, so off to Costco we went and picked up 2 10#, grade Choice, untrimmed briskets. *

*I seasoned both briskets with a combination of spices that I keep around the house, but for the most part it was simply made up of sea salt, fresh ground pepper, and garlic powder. *

*I fired up the Traeger, filled the hopper with hickory and pecan pellets, and set the digital controller to 190°. The briskets went on at 1:30 pm Saturday afternoon. *

*I had several minor things I had been needing to do to my Whaler, so I spent the afternoon "loving" on her. :work:*

*Saturday night the wife and I went out to several bars with friends and didn't get home till 3 am. *

*When I got home I checked the pellets; still had plenty. Looked at the brisket and it looked juicy and delicious. It was all I could do to not start slicing on it right then and there!*

*We went to bed and I was awakened by the phone little before 9. It was another couple wanting to know if we wanted to out to breakfast. Told them no; we had had a late night, but if they wanted to come over to watch the game and have some brisket, they were welcome. *

*Since I was awake I went to the fridge and pulled out a pack of some uncured, thick cut bacon. Peppered and brown sugared the bacon and threw it on the smoker. Went back to bed. *

*10:30, got up, checked the brisket, and internal temp was at 192°. The Traeger temp varies a little up or down as it dumps pellets into fire box. Wrapped the JUICY briskets into aluminum foil, wrapped a towel around them and put them into a cooler. *

*Pulled the smoked bacon off and shared a few pieces with the dogs while having coffee.*

*Game Time! Not sure which kicked butt more: the Texans or the Brisket! (or the bacon)*

*Pecan/Hickory smoked at 190° - 21 hours. *

*Got some much needed work done on the Whaler.*
*Partied my *** off Saturday night. *
*Slept in with the wife. :ac550:*
*GREAT Hickory/Pecan Smoked Brisket and Bacon the next day. *

*Only with a Traeger. (Sorry no pics)*


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## poco jim (Jun 28, 2010)

Great story and I love mine. Put the brisket on, set it, go to work. It's great!

I haven't tried the pecan yet, I take it you like it.


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## Court (Jul 16, 2011)

No hater here-I love mine-I just wish I would have had mine 30 yrs. ago-Only way to go.


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## redfishking11 (Oct 15, 2008)

I thought about trying a Traeger seen a couple of used ones for great prices. Someone told me your electric bill goes way up, don't know if that's true pr not.


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## poco jim (Jun 28, 2010)

redfishking11 said:


> I thought about trying a Traeger seen a couple of used ones for great prices. Someone told me your electric bill goes way up, don't know if that's true pr not.


Nope, Incorrect


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## Court (Jul 16, 2011)

redfishking11 said:


> I thought about trying a Traeger seen a couple of used ones for great prices. Someone told me your electric bill goes way up, don't know if that's true pr not.


I think someone was pulling your leg.


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## Too Tall (May 21, 2004)

I have two and think they are great.


redfishking11 said:


> I thought about trying a Traeger seen a couple of used ones for great prices. Someone told me your electric bill goes way up, don't know if that's true pr not.


I don't see how. The only thing running is a small auger and a small fan.


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## br1006 (Mar 24, 2006)

know of a louisianna whole hog 1750 pellet cooker for sale here in SA with several bags of pellets to go with it if anyone is interested. Belongs to a friend of mine, I prefer the old fashioned wood / beer consumption methodology myself but have nothing against the pellets.


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## FARTS-N-MATCHES (Apr 20, 2011)

I finally broke down and ordered mine. ok, actually i finally got permission from the wife. I still love the old fashioned wood smoker but i have to say the traeger just makes meat taste better.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


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## RAYSOR (Apr 26, 2007)

I have three Traegers, all work great!


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## KillaHookset (Jan 6, 2005)

I have had one for a couple of years, yes it is a lazy man's grill/smoker. 
A couple of points for newbies or thinking about buying one.

The pellet hopper will stop feeding pellets when its below about 25% after feeding pellets on a long smoke, having sloped sides near the bottom would fix this.

The highest temp will only be around 400 degrees no enough to cook steaks or brats sort of like cooking in your oven

As far as smoking, even on its lowest setting the amount of smoke generated is very little, most foods come out with a very lightly smokey flavor most conventional smokers who switch to a traeger end up building or buying some sort of smoke generator to get it back.

Be prepared for the hot rod to go out, yes the grill has a warranty for 3 years
so far in 2 years I have replaced my hot rod 2 times, and digital timer once

When my digital timer went bad it failed to control on temp and kept the auger going full speed dumping pellets in my hopper, I was lucky that I was looking at the grill when this happened, it would not have been pretty if i didnt have eyes on it. I had a mound of pellets overflowing the firepot


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## Court (Jul 16, 2011)

KillaHookset said:


> I have had one for a couple of years, yes it is a lazy man's grill/smoker.
> A couple of points for newbies or thinking about buying one.
> 
> The pellet hopper will stop feeding pellets when its below about 25% after feeding pellets on a long smoke, having sloped sides near the bottom would fix this.
> ...


Not sure what you are doing wrong(maybe you have a bad one)because I have plenty of smoke & plenty of flavor & it always puts out great steaks & burgers-Have never had a problem with the mechanics of it either.


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## poco jim (Jun 28, 2010)

If you leave it on smoke for 30 to 45 minutes prior to setting the temp, it will add alot of smoke flavor.


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## KillaHookset (Jan 6, 2005)

The smoke setting is roughly 165-170 degrees. For smoking jerky thats fine. I'm not sure what temp you cook your pork butts or briskets at, but I like to keep it around 225 on briskets and 240 on pork butts. I can't see a reason why I have to kick it back down to smoke setting dropping the temp for several hours extending my cook time just to makeup the smoke flavor. This is why I'm building my smoke generator.

Coming from using an offset smoker I cannot say that the Traeger is worth it for me at full price, I was very lucky and able to get mine brand new for basically free
There is no way I would have shelled out $1000 for it.

Don't get me wrong, the grill is great for what it can do well (food I would normally cook in the oven with the same simplicity plus a wood fired flavor), it just needs a bit of tweaking to make it much better smoker/grill for me. 

I guess I thought when I got my Traeger it would be able to replace either my charcoal grill or possibly my offset smoker. Its looking like I will just have less room under my patio and more toys to play with.


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## drfishalot (Sep 9, 2004)

well, I can one up the OP's story, I also have a set it n forget it smoker, and yes they are great, but I don't need no stinking pellets. really, you have to buy something to make the thing smoke?
check out cookshack lectric smokers.


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## spuds (Jan 2, 2005)

KillaHookset said:


> I have had one for a couple of years, yes it is a lazy man's grill/smoker.
> A couple of points for newbies or thinking about buying one.
> 
> The pellet hopper will stop feeding pellets when its below about 25% after feeding pellets on a long smoke, having sloped sides near the bottom would fix this.
> ...


*Mine has sloped sides at the bottom. No problem feeding pellets till there's only a few left.*

*Without looking to verify, I believe the highest setting on mine is 500°. I have walked out after cranking mine up to the max, only to find the the temperature gauge at the far end of the cooker to be up over 600°! That will sear any steak! *



KillaHookset said:


> The smoke setting is roughly 165-170 degrees. For smoking jerky thats fine. I'm not sure what temp you cook your pork butts or briskets at, but I like to keep it around 225 on briskets and 240 on pork butts. I can't see a reason why I have to kick it back down to smoke setting dropping the temp for several hours extending my cook time just to makeup the smoke flavor.


*Have you played with the smoke setting adjustment? The little hole that lets you adjust your "Smoke" temperature setting?*


*No matter what temperature you cook at with a Treager you will get smoke. No need to dial down to the "Smoke" setting. What "flavor" pellets have you tried? I like to use a blend of Hickory and Pecan. *

*Have you read your owners manual??? *


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## Trouthunter (Dec 18, 1998)

I've been looking for one that I can afford for quite a while...A friend of mine has one and I was very impressed and would love to pick a used one up.

The search continues. 

TH


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## 32redman (Apr 20, 2005)

Best of both worlds here. Get your smoke and hold temp for hours.


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## liftologist (Dec 8, 2007)

Those tragers, pit makers and the likes cook good. The problem I have with them is seeing them in competition. They should be in their own catagory for competition.


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## Lagniappe2008 (Jan 20, 2008)

they all have their benefits, but I like smoking meat and that means I like to be there drinking beer when I do it. I don't think you can beat an old school smoker. That said, our buddies always kick our butts in chicken with a traeger at the competitions, and it only takes them an hour to cook em.


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## devil1824 (Sep 4, 2010)

21 hrs!! Geez that's a long time! Over kill in my book. Go ahead and tell me how good it was,I know I know. It's still over kill.


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## aqua vita (Feb 21, 2011)

Today in the mail I just received the Brinkman Pellet Smoker, an Ortech digital controller upgrade and a variety of BBQ Delight pellets.


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## the_dude_abides (Jun 3, 2010)

My auger quit spinning on my traeger. Now I have to re-acquaint myself with an open flame. I've got to fix that thing before Christmas.


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## atcNick (Apr 7, 2005)

I like playing with fire, that's why I use a stick burner. I just dont think I would feel like i accomplished anything if I used electricity to make BBQ. Just my preference I guess.


-Nick


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## rangatang (May 21, 2004)

I've been wanting to get one
for awhile now, but I think now I will get the YODER ELECTRiC SMOKER....looks like it can reach the higher temps with no problem......


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## Flatfisher6187 (Jun 21, 2007)

I am like several of the other guys here. I enjoy hanging out and drinking beer while smoking and I feel like I have accomplished something great when cooking on my stick burner and having my friends and family tell me how good it was. My neighbor has a Traeger and she regrets wasting the money on it, every time I fire up my stick burner she asks if she can come put her food on it.


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## Whodathunkit (Aug 25, 2010)

This sounds like a contest to me, let me know when it's time to eat....Err judge!


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