The official Traeger thread

[Jeff Lebowski]

LOL @ FMCoug. Posting from Costco. The dude needs an intervention.

[FMCoug]

Assembled and seasoning as we speak. Just in time to put the butt in at midnight or so. What is sweet about my setup now is I still have the Bradley to do ABT's or other stuff simultaneously at a different temp, other type of wood, etc.




Waiting for the initial pellets to show up and catch on fire:


Ignition!


Burn baby burn! Did other find an hour to be plenty of seasoning?

[Jeff Lebowski]

Burn baby burn! Did other find an hour to be plenty of seasoning?

Can't remember. Just followed the instructions.

Looks great. I am jealous of all you folks with brand new Texas-size Traegers.

[FMCoug]

Can't remember. Just followed the instructions.

Looks great. I am jealous of all you folks with brand new Texas-size Traegers.

This make me want to go grab a Papa Murhpy's pizza for dinner. Time for that between seasoning and starting the butt right

I did already load the hopper with hickory. But I imagine the pizza is good with anything?

Also, how long does a full hopper last this time of year? I know you mentioned doing pulled pork recently in the cold.

[CardiacCoug]

Carcinogenic heterocyclic amines. Delish!

[Jeff Lebowski]

This make me want to go grab a Papa Murhpy's pizza for dinner. Time for that between seasoning and starting the butt right

I did already load the hopper with hickory. But I imagine the pizza is good with anything?

Also, how long does a full hopper last this time of year? I know you mentioned doing pulled pork recently in the cold.

Depends on what you are doing. You can go forever at 180 or 225 (overnight is no problem) but it pulls them through pretty rapidly when you are cooking at 350 or 400 degrees. However, when you are cooking at high temps you normally don't cook very long so it all works out. Bottom line is to keep your hopper full when you start and you will be OK.

Yeah, pizza should work with any type of pellets. Keep the temp high (350-400) and be sure to turn it every few minutes so it cooks evenly.

[FMCoug]

Carcinogenic heterocyclic amines. Delish!

High temperatures != barbecue

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/f...k/cooked-meats

[Drunk Tank]

FM, make sure that the temp probe on the inside is not touching the side of the smoker. I was having horrible temp swings with mine and found out that the temp probe was touching the metal on the side of the chamber and not reading correctly.

Btw, congrats! I am really tempted to buy another.

[FMCoug]

Depends on what you are doing. You can go forever at 180 or 225 (overnight is no problem) but it pulls them through pretty rapidly when you are cooking at 350 or 400 degrees. However, when you are cooking at high temps you normally don't cook very long so it all works out. Bottom line is to keep your hopper full when you start and you will be OK.

Sounds like I'll be fine. My plan is to put the pork on tonight at midnight or so at 225 and see what I've got in the morning before church. Probably come home during SS to throw the ribs on. Gonna try the 3-2-1 on those.

FM, make sure that the temp probe on the inside is not touching the side of the smoker. I was having horrible temp swings with mine and found out that the temp probe was touching the metal on the side of the chamber and not reading correctly.

Btw, congrats! I am really tempted to buy another.

That's the vertical probe on the far left of the chamber right? I will make sure. Pretty impressed at this thing just running it on high for the seasoning. Temp shows 450 right now and it's probably low 30's outside.

Wonder if I'll use my Solaire anymore

[San Juan Sun]

Carcinogenic heterocyclic amines. Delish!

I will trade free colonoscopies for some of the amazing smoked goods from the CUF Traegerphiles.

[FMCoug]

My one complain about my house is that appears to have been wired by monkeys apes. Lots of strange circuits and electrical issues for a house that is only 10 years old. Anyway, while seasoning I went out and the Traeger had died. No power in the outside plugs. Breakers were fine so I went in search of a GFCI as that has been the typical culprit here. Search as I might in the dark with a flashlight I couldn't find one so I gave up and ran an extension cord inside. Later on I found a GFCI in the basement storage room (WTF!).

Put the pork butt on at about 11:30 at 225. One thing I noticed is the temp fluctuations. Seemed to run between 225 and 250 or so. Is this normal? I did check on the thermometer probe per DT's post above and it seems fine.

At 7:00 this morning it was at 175 or so and the smoker was going at 250 so I dropped it to 180. Now it's fluctuating between 180 and 200. Of course it is cold outside so that may have some impact on the unit's ability to regulate temp.

Based on past experience with the Bradley, I'm thinking it will take several hours to get from where it is to 190 when I plan to pull it? Especially since I've turned it down. 250 just seems high for butt so I wanted it a bit slower.

[TripletDaddy]

Our house has a similar issue. No power to outside plugs but breakers are fine. What is a gfci?

[FMCoug]

Our house has a similar issue. No power to outside plugs but breakers are fine. What is a gfci?

Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt. Look in your bathroom or kitchen for an example. The outlet will have a reset button between the plugs.

[TripletDaddy]

Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt. Look in your bathroom or kitchen for an example. The outlet will have a reset button between the plugs.

We have those. So pushing the button in the basement gave power to your outside outlets?

[FMCoug]

We have those. So pushing the button in the basement gave power to your outside outlets?

Exactly. What is weird about it is it's not like it's right below the back of the house. The storage room in question is on the other side of the house, towards the front. And the front outside outlets are a different circuit. Weird.