Time to get serious about a new smoker.

[Clark Addison]

I am jealous. That is a sweet machine.

[Coach McGuirk]

[Moliere]

That is one heck of an outdoor oven DT!

Yes, I'm jealous so I had to get in a snide remark...

[Shaka]

I'm committing the sin of lust in my heart.

[Drunk Tank]

On the way home from work I stopped by the grocery store and found some ribeyes that needed to be sold by tomorrow and they were so deeply discounted that I couldnt pass them up! I figured it would be a great time to try out the grill grates.

I set the pit to 225° and put the steaks on the indirect side of the grate to get some smoke. After about 40-50 minutes, they were at 110° internal temp, so I pulled them off and cranked up the heat. I then seared them for about 3 min per side until done. As the steaks were resting, I grilled up some asparagus to go with them.













I used a combo of Salt Lick Original Dry Rub and some Montreal Steak seasoning on the steaks. The taste was really good, although I slightly over-cooked the steaks. I like them med-rare and they were more toward the medium side.


One thing I noticed was that when the temp was at 225°, there was constant smoke coming from the stack. When I would cook on my Trager at that temp, it seemed like the smoke was more intermittant. I am going to smoke a pork butt Saturday and will be able to tell more with alot longer cook.


I am pretty impressed with the grilling capability of the Yoder, but this unit really likes to consume pellets at higher temps. I will probably relegate most of my grilling duty to the XL BGE, we'll see....

[CJF]

I've never cooked a good steak at smoke temps. I will have to give that a try. Looks good. Grill grates are great.

[Coach McGuirk]

any of you experts have any word on these, strengths, weaknesses? I see it is built in the US and is thicker than the traegers. I have a pretty good deal worked out and would like to pull the trigger, but looking for any insight you experts can provide?

http://www.louisiana-grills.com/cs680.htm

[Joe Public]

any of you experts have any word on these, strengths, weaknesses? I see it is built in the US and is thicker than the traegers. I have a pretty good deal worked out and would like to pull the trigger, but looking for any insight you experts can provide?

http://www.louisiana-grills.com/cs680.htm

Here's one review:

http://truenorthbbq.com/?p=442

[Shaka]

I'm no expert but I'm not sure why anything has to be thicker than the Traeger. Mine is heavy enough as it is and I really don't see anything breaking. I think it would suck if it weighed more than it did.

[CJF]

From the review, my only concern would be no temp setting. That feature makes life so much easier. I love the construction of that thing. The little extra thickness and all welded will give you steadier temps for the winter cooking. But at that price I would want a built in thermostat/temp control. It makes a huge difference.

[Coach McGuirk]

Thanks fellas. I went with the traeger Texas. I thought I had worked a deal on the 680 but when I went to pull the trigger, the dealer told me that price was for the 450. So I will be cooking up some spare ribs tomorrow after I burn it in.

[TripletDaddy]

Thanks fellas. I went with the traeger Texas. I thought I had worked a deal on the 680 but when I went to pull the trigger, the dealer told me that price was for the 450. So I will be cooking up some spare ribs tomorrow after I burn it in.

Where did you buy your Texas? Was it a good deal or normal price?

[Coach McGuirk]

Where did you buy your Texas? Was it a good deal or normal price?

SLC Costco has them this weekend for the 679, 799 price points.

[UteStar]

SLC Costco has them this weekend for the 679, 799 price points.

Yep, just pulled the trigger on it. I got the Lil Texas Elite. I also got the bags of pellets for 15 a piece. He gave me a bottle of their Chicken rub for free and said it was terrific. We'll see. I have been a grilling guy (propane) and I usually grill 3+ times a week on my Vermont Castings Grill. We'll see how this works out with a smoker now.

Also, I have heard that you can grill steaks in these...any experience on how it has gone? If it works well, would it be a good idea to get grill grates or mangrates to put in there?

[Jeff Lebowski]

Yep, just pulled the trigger on it. I got the Lil Texas Elite. I also got the bags of pellets for 15 a piece. He gave me a bottle of their Chicken rub for free and said it was terrific. We'll see. I have been a grilling guy (propane) and I usually grill 3+ times a week on my Vermont Castings Grill. We'll see how this works out with a smoker now.

Chicken rub is my least favorite Traeger rub. Be careful as it has an extremely high salt content. A little bit goes a long ways. My favorite Traeger rubs are Salmon Shake and Veggie Shake. Prime Rib Rub is not bad.

Also, I have heard that you can grill steaks in these...any experience on how it has gone? If it works well, would it be a good idea to get grill grates or mangrates to put in there?

I use my charcoal grill for that. The Traeger is better-suited for slow cooking at low settings or cooking chicken or salmon at 300-350 deg. I figure I could maybe get a decent steak out of it, but I doubt it would be better than a quick grill on charcoal.

Have fun. Be sure to share your experiences.