New member with the Traeger blues

[muelleraz]

Hi all,

Well I finally did it. After 3 miserable months of dealing with my Traeger Elite, I had enough and

negotiated with Home Depot to take it back for full credit. As much as I wanted this grille to work,

I may just as well have built my own from scratch. After installing my 3rd replacement electronic

controller this morning, it still doesn't work. Traeger's answer is to keep throwing new parts at it.

I finally told them it's not my job to rebuild their equipment. So much for Q'ing this weekend or the

last two for that matter.

With all that said, I'm in the hunt for a replacement. Nothing extravagant or too expensive. I paid

around $500 for the TE which is plenty for me. What other brands do you recommend that have

proven to be reliable consistent, and towards the set it and forget type of grilling?

Any suggestions are appreciated.

PS: I'm sitting on 4 bags of Traegger pellets too. Is it really true you have to use the manufacturers

"brand" of pellets or is that just marketing as I suspect?

Thanks,

Rick - Arizona

 

[donegotfat]

Welcome to SMF

I am using a Camp Chef Pellet smoker. I had some temperature swings that have settled down, but I have been able to get 3 great smokes so far.

1x brisket

1x pork butt

1x spareribs


I make sure to vacuum out the pellet dust before each new cook to avoid a possible flash fire for the dust attracting grease during the cook.

I have made a few mods so far.

I added my own dual probe that is wireless so that I can monitor the BBQ and meat temps from inside the house.

I also added a seal around the door. Nomex High-Temp Grill Replacement Gasket Sm Mini Med Large XL Big Green Egg (R) 7/8"

I took the seal materiel and went around the opening of the grill so that when my lid was closed it made for a tighter fit. This I had seen advised by several who owned them so i did it before I used it so that it would stick well anough and not have to worry about it peeling off after the first use. I did take a rag and wet it down with rubbing alcohol and wiped the opening just to ensure a good stick, but it has worked great.

My Camp Chef does run hot on my about 20-30 degrees higher than what the dial is set too.

For me that part was easy enough to fix and I just dialed it down too 200 so that i could get my target temp of 225.

I had been adjusting the flue a bit more each use, today i had it turned down to the point that there was only about a 1/2 inch gap between the top of the pipe and the inside of the dome cap.

This seemed to help lower the amount of oxygen that could come in and hit the burning chamber, thus spiking it more.

I still get swings in temps, but this is unfortunately how it goes with the cycle of a pellet pooper.

As it cools from the pellets in the chamber cooking off, the auger feeds in more, then as they start to burn naturally there is a spike in the temp, then the cool starts again.. Makes for a weird cycle at times, but on mine after a few adjustments I was able to get the low's to only bet at 180 and the highs to only be at 240. While that is not as ideal as I would like, in the end it seems to have equaled out to still produce a great cook in the end.

I do not use the manufacturer brand of pellets, but I do try to ensure I get quility ones. I have been using CookinPellets 40PM Perfect Mix Smoking Pellets they have been working great.

 

[SmokinAl]

Why not go with charcoal.

A WSM is about as set & forget as you can get right out of the box.

Add a BBQ Guru & & it is set & forget!

jAl

 

[smokin jay]

What Al said. I have a 18.5 wsm and it's a great smoker!

 

[beardedgriller]

If I had it to do over again I would go Green mountain over my traeger, I also really like my charcoal barrel house cooker.