"Former" Traeger Owner

quote:

Traeger Lil' Tex.

I thought a Traeger Lil' Tex was a grill more then a smoker? the SM009 is a great smoker

Hey Jon4BBQ,
The Traeger tries to be everything-in-one: grill, smoker, convection oven. It's a pi$$ poor grill, a mediocre smoker, and a decent convection oven (if not expensive to operate). It would probably be a good smoker if the pellets were not about 80% alder. No matter what flavor pellets I used, the smoke flavor was always mild and bland. I mean, this thing puts out tons of smoke, and the neighbors would catch a wiff and come running for dinner. The food cooks up superb, but it's just not authentic smoked BBQ flavor. Plus, after cooking a Brisket for 14 to 18 hours, it's time to refinance the house to pay for the pellets. I bought the Traeger a year and a half ago and pellets were $10 for a 20# bag. Now they are $15. I live in the northwest where hydro-electric is cheap. I could run the 009 for days and it would only cost pennies.

Don't get me wrong. I don't mean to bash the Traeger. It's a quality piece of equipment, and I cooked up some outstanding ribs and brisket on it. They are super popular up here in my neck of the woods (about 15 miles from the factory). It just didn't turn out the flavor I was looking for. The 009 nailed it on the head first time out.
CJ

I just spent a long weekend at a church camp outside of Silverton.. Canyonview Christian Camp.. They have a pair of Traegers there and like them aa grills.. Bet they got a good deal on them being next door neighbors in Mt Angel. They appear to get a lot of use but I hear from our host that they have to stay on top of the grease / drippings tray.

We had a wonderful time there with a woodcarvers rendezvous. Wanted to go to see the glockenspeel operate.. they had a tour to it and to the woodworking shop across the street. Maybe next year.

With the Traeger do you have to feed pellets the whole time or just for the first hour or so? According to the guru's here.. meats quit taking on smoke after they reach a certain temp.

Maybe if you keep the temp lower for the first few hours it might take on more smoke.. Also, I know there are differen kind of pellets available.. not just alder which is likely pretty common up there.

Hey Bodega Bill,
One can grill on a Traeger and I've done it several times. I even cooked take and bake pizza on mine. However it takes an inordinate amount of expensive pellet fuel to accomplish grilling temperatures. Additionally, it doesn't have, in my mind, good radiant heat, because the heat source (a 4 inch round pellet burner) is behind two baffles on my model. For grilling I like to put "heat to the meat", so I use my gas grill.

There are several models of Traegers up to the uber commercial cookers. My modest Lil' Tex doesn't have any sort of grease buildup problem. The grease runs down the top baffle that is set at a fairly steep angle, and drains out a spout into a hanging bucket. Very nifty. I have heard that some models don't drain quite as well.

I've tried several flavors of pellets: hickory, oak, pecan, mesquite, cherry, apple, and maple. The smoke smells somewhat different between the flavors, but the taste is pretty much the same. As far as getting more smoke flavor into the meat, I've used the "Smoke" setting (lowest and smokiest setting, 170-190 depending on the weather), but mostly settled on 225 after about 6 months of experimenting, searching forums, looking for alternate pellet sources, and numerous calls to customer support. The problem is, all the pellets are alder, with about 20% flavor wood added in.

The Traeger does a great job cooking meat, it is pretty much a set-it-and-forget-it cooker, and the result is definitely BBQ. It just doesn't get that southern style smoke on the meat taste and aroma I like. Probably by design. With the Smokette I believe it would be possible to get too much smoke flavor and ruin a nice piece of meat. With the Traeger that will never happen, so users won't be discouraged while learning to Q.

Most folks love their Traeger. There is kind of a Treager mania around here. People are glad to use a local product, and it makes BBQ pretty much hands off once the meat is ready to cook. Much like the Cookshack. Maybe one could say it is defining a new, "Northwest" style of BBQ. Superbly cooked, with a mild smoke flavor.

I tell you what: when I was seasoning my Smokette with Hickory, I knew right away from the real wood aroma, that I had found the cooker I'd been looking for.

Thanks for your post Bill,
CJ

Not really wanting to get into a Traeger support discussion,but they have been in the house heating pellet business for a long time,and make a lot of support products for other manufacturers.

My understanding is that they use the"plentiful/abundant wood" of the region as the heat source.

They will then add in the 20% +/- of shipped in flavor woods.

Thus, alder is the plentiful wood in the NW.

Their pellets made east of the Miss. River will use oak as the heat wood.

Yes,although alder might be the traditional wood in the NW and it is thought of as the flavor for fish,many other cooks,with other regional tastes, might not prefer it.

There are companies that make 100% flavor pellets,which allow you to alter the pellet mix to a flavor that suits you.

The smaller Traegers are not known for insulation,or leak resistance,and can be very fuel inefficient.

Their feed systems,under patent,may be purchased by other cooker manufacturers,in other regions,or countries.

All this bringing us back to Cookshack,which is tight and well insulated,very fuel efficient,and selecting various flavor woods is simple.

Just a couple of thoughts.

Hey Tom,

You are right. The Traeger leaks smoke like a sieve, and it's single wall construction makes it sensitive to temperature changes. Plus I plan to move to Hawaii in a couple of years. Even my next-to-the-smallest Traeger model takes up a sizeable amount of real estate and would be difficult to move long distance. I can just about stick the Smokette in my carry on! Not to mention the questionable availability and price of pellets in Hawaii.

I restate that I don't want anybody to get the idea I'm bashing Traegers. Their just a different way of doing things, and they can turn out mouth watering Q. I just love my new 009 soooo much more.

CJ

Yessir.

Wow, good info here. I wondered why all the different pellets taste the same. Now I know! Thanks.
I too have a Cookshack 009 and a Traeger Lil Tex. I like them both and use them both all the time. I also have a charcoal Weber Performer grill which I use all the time. It just depends on what I am cooking and my mood at the time.

Hey Craig,
Along with my Lil' Tex and Smokette, I've got a Fiesta gas grill. I'd like to have Weber to complement the troops, but I'm starting to run low on real estate!
CJ