Newbie from Los Angeles

[tomsmccann]

Hello everyone. Tom from Los Angeles here. I've been browsing the forums for a few weeks now while searching for my next smoker, and decided to join.

I first started using a smoker over summer, and my first purchase was a very basic brinkman electric smoker. I usually use it about every 2-3 weeks, and decided to purchase a Traeger Texas today. I've had my eye on a lot of different pellet smokers, and got a good deal on one locally. Traeger had a booth set up at the mall and I picked up the Texas unit they had on display at 40% off retail (never used). I am picking it up tomorrow since they are closing down their holiday booth tomorrow, and needed it to show potential customers.

I look toward to learning new tips and tricks from everyone. :yahoo::grilling_smilie:

 

[bluewhisper]

Welcome to the board! That's s shrewd move because you know they chose a unit with good fit & finish for display.

I got a deal on my stick burner because it was a display, too. Whoever assembled it did a good job.

 

[gary s]

  Good morning and welcome to the forum, from a cloudy and cold day here in East Texas. Lots of great people with tons of information on just about  everything.  

Gary

 

[themule69]

Glad you joined the group. The search bar at the top of any page is your best friend.
About anything you wanna know about smoking/grilling/curing/brining/cutting or slicing
and the list goes on has probably been posted. Remember to post a QVIEW of your smokes.
We are all smoke junkies here and we have to get our fix. If you have questions
Post it and you will probably get 10 replies with 11 different answers. That is
because their are so many different ways to make great Q...
Happy smoken.
David

 

[gary s]

Be sure and post some pictures of your new toy

Gary

 

[tomsmccann]

Thanks for the warm welcoming!

I picked up the Texas yesterday, and I ended up getting a brand new one in the box for $600 because they accidentally sold the floor model they were going to give me. Not too shabby, and I'm happy with it. They even offered to give me the Select model for the same price, but I like the look of the Texas more, and decided it was what I really want. I thought about buying it as well and selling it online, but figured it would potentially be more of a headache than it's worth. They were closing down their booth in the mall basically right after I bought it, and I got a few goodies as well.

Building the Texas was pretty easy, and I did my first smoke on it today with a few buddies. We smoked chicken breasts, chicken wings (weren't very good and were a bit rubbery), brats, and corn. A friend brought over some Lloyd's ribs, and we put them on there as well to warm them up and give some flavor. Everything turned out pretty well, overall.

I put all mesquite pellets in the hopper, and didn't really care for the flavor much. I also thought there just wasn't quite enough smoke flavor. I was using a brinkman electric smoker before this, and got wayyyy more smoke since I was adding wood all of the time to it. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[wolfman1955]

Thanks for the warm welcoming!


I picked up the Texas yesterday, and I ended up getting a brand new one in the box for $600 because they accidentally sold the floor model they were going to give me. Not too shabby, and I'm happy with it. They even offered to give me the Select model for the same price, but I like the look of the Texas more, and decided it was what I really want. I thought about buying it as well and selling it online, but figured it would potentially be more of a headache than it's worth. They were closing down their booth in the mall basically right after I bought it, and I got a few goodies as well.


Building the Texas was pretty easy, and I did my first smoke on it today with a few buddies. We smoked chicken breasts, chicken wings (weren't very good and were a bit rubbery), brats, and corn. A friend brought over some Lloyd's ribs, and we put them on there as well to warm them up and give some flavor. Everything turned out pretty well, overall.


I put all mesquite pellets in the hopper, and didn't really care for the flavor much. I also thought there just wasn't quite enough smoke flavor. I was using a brinkman electric smoker before this, and got wayyyy more smoke since I was adding wood all of the time to it. Anyone have any suggestions?

Mesquite is one of those flavors that either you love or are not very fond of, I am in the last group. IMHO you can't beat the taste of Pecan and or Hickory! As far as the amount of smoke flavor, pellet poopers are famous for slight smoke flavor. Many on here with pellet poopers use a product from one of the forum sponsors called A_MAZE_N to suplement the smoke that is generated from their pit.
Just look under sponsors at the top of the page. The Pellet pooper works best with the tube style smoker that they sell, that is what I use in my Yoder YS640 pellet pooper.
Todd that ownes the place is a great guy and there customer service is second to none.
Keep Smokin

 

[tomsmccann]

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I'll drop him a line.