Just got a smoker

[ten ocho recon scout]

1 hour ago, mrwicked said:

I would love to try making my own brisket.

There is no good brisket up here, including Steph Curry's wife's new restaurant. 

She should make it more like Lebron's wife's restaraunt.

[ten ocho recon scout]

2 hours ago, red321 said:

Austin is absolutely a food Mecca. Tough part about the bbq though is you have line up at the butt crack of dawn. I usually don’t like to get my drink and bbq going until later in the day. 

I really wanted to try one of the hot spots, but no way was i getting up at 6 to eat it.

[Amazing Larry]

3 hours ago, red321 said:

What does the pro version have that yours doesn’t? I just have the junior. Did learn on Tuesday have to keep an eye on the fuel as I ran out half way through. But damn.  Those thick cut pork chops turned out amazing. 

I have the same one you have and I love it. It's currently broken right now though. The thermostat doesn't seem to be working and the temperature fluctuates all over the place. I need to call Traeger and see what's up.

[red321]

1 hour ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

I really wanted to try one of the hot spots, but no way was i getting up at 6 to eat it.

Go to Kerlin’s next time. Rated up there with the others, just as damn good...but seems to have less of a crowd and you can show up at lunch and eat. 

[IEAngelsfan]

4 hours ago, red321 said:

What does the pro version have that yours doesn’t? I just have the junior. Did learn on Tuesday have to keep an eye on the fuel as I ran out half way through. But damn.  Those thick cut pork chops turned out amazing. 

The Pro version has the hopper clean out which makes cleaning out the hopper easier.  Also comes with the digital controller with dual meat temperature probes.  Extra side handle and locking wheels.  Also looks cooler with the sawhorse chassis that provides more stability.

Some might say it's not worth the extra $100, but I do.

Yeah, forgot to mention pork chops.  They turn out great.

[Tank]

3 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

I really wanted to try one of the hot spots, but no way was i getting up at 6 to eat it.

coughyoureweakcough

[ten ocho recon scout]

3 hours ago, Tank said:

coughyoureweakcough

Tank, 6 am is earlier than the farmers who raised those steaks got up when they killed them.

[Tank]

I can eat kale in an omelette at 6 am.

Edge: Lowell

[ten ocho recon scout]

Listen Tank, if i get up to eat brisket at noom, its 0600 somewhere.

[red321]

9 hours ago, Tank said:

I can eat kale in an omelette at 6 am.

Edge: Lowell

A kale omelette never qualifies as an edge

[red321]

Last night I got home a little late. Had some left offer boneless chicken thighs from the super duper mega ultra pack from Costco. Tossed a little Montreal seasoning on them and fired up the Traegee. 275 for 20 minutes and then another 20-25 on high. 

Holy batman that was awesome. Nice crust on the outside and so tender I did a double take to confirm it was in fact cooked...all with a nice touch of smoke flavor. 

[Tank]

11 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Listen Tank, if i get up to eat brisket at noom, its 0600 somewhere.

very true.

brisket looks very good to me and i'm willing to try it sometime.

[red321]

Graced attendees at my place yesterday with smoked tri-tip cooked to absolute perfection. Holy shit if I knew how awesome these Traeger smokers were beforehand I would have gotten it years ago. Also used a remote temperature probe...why the hell didn't I get one of those before as well?

Red's Traeger Tri-Tip

Season 3-4lb tri-tip 12 hours beforehand

1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup coarse ground pepper
1/8 cup paprika
1/8 cup garlic powder

Don't overseason...think I probably use 2 tablespoons per side. You will have a lot of this rub leftover, just store it for later use (great on chicken as well).

Pullout tri-tip 30 minutes before cooking

Set grill to 250, use a 50/50 mixture of hickory and oak

Put tri-tip on grill. Spray with water (or apple juice) every 30 minutes or so. No need to flip tri tip.

Pull tri-tip off grill when temp probe reads 130 and double wrap in foil (about an hour)

Turn grill to high, let it heat up (about 10 minutes)

Put tri-tip on grill for 3 minutes a side to sear outside

Remove from grill, let sit for 5 or so minutes

Cut against grain

 

Served it with some homemade bbq sauce

 

 

 

[IEAngelsfan]

Yesterday, I did baby back and St. Louis style ribs with only kosher salt, black pepper and garlic.  I went heavy with the garlic.  2 hours with meat side up and then flipped for 1 hour at 225.  Used both hickory and cherry.

Came out good, but the family agrees that they come out better when I use a brown sugar rub.

Also grilled chicken marinated in this pineapple and habanero sauce my wife purchased from the store.  Don't know what brand since she threw the bottle away, but man, did they come out tasty.

I also grilled asparagus and zucchini coated with olive oil and salt.  Fantastic! 

[Jay]

The Traegers are nice. I used one a few times at a house we rented on vacation. Cooks chicken nicely, with a hint of a smoke flavor.

I wouldn't really call it a smoker though. Traeger doesn't even call it a smoker, they call it a pellet grill which is a more accurate description IMO.

For me you don't get enough smoke to call it a smoker and it doesn't get hot enough to call it a grill, it's somewhere in-between.

 

[Adam]

On 2/5/2018 at 8:45 AM, red321 said:

Graced attendees at my place yesterday with smoked tri-tip cooked to absolute perfection. Holy shit if I knew how awesome these Traeger smokers were beforehand I would have gotten it years ago. Also used a remote temperature probe...why the hell didn't I get one of those before as well?

Red's Traeger Tri-Tip

Season 3-4lb tri-tip 12 hours beforehand

1/4 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup coarse ground pepper
1/8 cup paprika
1/8 cup garlic powder

Don't overseason...think I probably use 2 tablespoons per side. You will have a lot of this rub leftover, just store it for later use (great on chicken as well).

Pullout tri-tip 30 minutes before cooking

Set grill to 250, use a 50/50 mixture of hickory and oak

Put tri-tip on grill. Spray with water (or apple juice) every 30 minutes or so. No need to flip tri tip.

Pull tri-tip off grill when temp probe reads 130 and double wrap in foil (about an hour)

Turn grill to high, let it heat up (about 10 minutes)

Put tri-tip on grill for 3 minutes a side to sear outside

Remove from grill, let sit for 5 or so minutes

Cut against grain

 

Served it with some homemade bbq sauce

 

 

 

My God, I'm hungry

[Jay]

Also on the Traegers: finding the wood pellets can sometimes be a challenge, at least where we were vacationing. We looked all over town for wood pellets. They didn't have them at Home Depot or Lowe's, and finally we found them at Walmart of all places. And Walmart had several flavors as well. You'll probably get a better price at Walmart than you will at OSH or some of the more expensive retailers.

 

[red321]

14 minutes ago, Jay said:

Also on the Traegers: finding the wood pellets can sometimes be a challenge, at least where we were vacationing. We looked all over town for wood pellets. They didn't have them at Home Depot or Lowe's, and finally we found them at Walmart of all places. And Walmart had several flavors as well. You'll probably get a better price at Walmart than you will at OSH or some of the more expensive retailers.

 

The local ACE hardware is all in on Traeger, they usually have 6+ types as well as most of the Traeger accessories. I went and picked up a few buckets with lids and a scoop so it's easy to mix and match. They also had some handy drip cup liners so that's going to make cleanup even easier.

[Blarg]

Albertsons had a sale on baby back ribs last week at $1.97 lb. I bought four racks and they were so meaty they almost didn't fit on the Ribolator trays. That was part of our Superbowl feast. I timed the rest period and glazing perfectly and they were ready for halftime. 

[IEAngelsfan]

10 hours ago, Jay said:

The Traegers are nice. I used one a few times at a house we rented on vacation. Cooks chicken nicely, with a hint of a smoke flavor.

I wouldn't really call it a smoker though. Traeger doesn't even call it a smoker, they call it a pellet grill which is a more accurate description IMO.

For me you don't get enough smoke to call it a smoker and it doesn't get hot enough to call it a grill, it's somewhere in-between.

 

It all depends on the meat you're smoking.  Pork butt, shoulder and ribs are low and slow, so you're smoking the meat for quite a few hours.  You're going to get a good smoke ring and smoke flavor.  The type of pellet you use will also make a difference in the smoke flavor.

As for grilling, my Traeger can go up as high as 450-460.  I would prefer that it would go as high as 500 (their Timberline line does), but I can grill just fine as is.

Chicken is not a long cook, so you won't get an overwhelming smoke flavor, but as you said, the chicken does come out moist and delicious.

The nice thing about Traegers and similar units is that they are very convenient, easy to use and low maintenance.

[Stradling]

I am thinking I am going to buy my brother and I a smoker for Fathers Day.  What do you all recommend?  

[Blarg]

Strad, you've got to define what you're planning to do with it. 

True Smokers suck for making double doubles. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

4 hours ago, Blarg said:

Strad, you've got to define what you're planning to do with it. 

True Smokers suck for making double doubles. 

Yeah, but with those fries, it still tastes like fancy steakhouse.

[red321]

12 hours ago, Stradling said:

I am thinking I am going to buy my brother and I a smoker for Fathers Day.  What do you all recommend?  

Go look at a Traeger

[Keener]

Picked up a nice 14 lb angus brisket the other day.  Doing it up for the 4th. 

Cant get here fast enough...