grsthegreat
Super Star Member
Tonights dinner......yummy. Using hickory pellets.
Wood pellet BBQ smokers such as Traeger ?
- Thread starter buickanddeere
- Start date
om21braz
Veteran Member
Looks like a tasty supper. I have a rack awaiting in the fridge - maybe Saturday night supper.
HawkinsHollow
Veteran Member
Gotta bump this back up to the top. Came home the other day to a huge box strapped to a pallet in my driveway. I was intrigued to say the least. Long story short the wife bought me a pellet grill for Xmas and it came early so she let me open it. It is the US Stove Company's mid sized pellet grill, needless to say I am very excited. Promptly put it together and threw a 2.5 pound venison roast and a pan of rosemary garlic potatoes on the grill. Injected the venison with bacon fat and beef broth and cooked over a pan of water to keep it moist. IT WORKED!! Very pleased for my first effort. I am excited to do more on it. Ribs, smoked Mac and cheese, pizza, meatloaf, steak...... Plan on making a whole chicken tomorrow for dinner. My one complaint is there was not as much smoke flavor as I hoped for. I used the Traeger Signature Blend, which is a mix of hickory, maple and cherry. How do you get a better smoke on your grill. Full disclosure: I went straight from my 500 degree seasoning right into cooking. So maybe it was the initial high temps that did not allow the meat to soak up the smoke like it would have if I started at 230.
om21braz
Veteran Member
I believe you'll find it will not equal an offset smoker, but for the simplicity the pellet smoker/grill does very well. Some folks add the Amazing smoke tube and various accessories, but it still won't get there flavor-wise in my opinion. Yes, smoking at low temps all the way will help. Unless you're looking for the ultimate smoker - I expect you'll really enjoy it!
grsthegreat
Super Star Member
traeger used to have flavor injected pellets...not as good as 100% hardwood pellets, not sure if traeger is still doing that.
i ALWAYS smoke first at 180F with meat as high up and as far away as possible from heat source with a diffuser plate installed to get smoke flavor. for instance with Filet steak, i place meat at 180 until internal meat temp reaches 110F (i have wireless meat thermometer). than i remove diffuser plate and crank heat to 475F. then i install sear plates and i sear steaks for 2 min, then rotate 90 degrees for 2 min, flip over and do the same. my 2" thick filets always come out perfect and smoke flavor is over the top.
ive been using oak pellets lately. but sometimes switch to mesquite.
i ALWAYS smoke first at 180F with meat as high up and as far away as possible from heat source with a diffuser plate installed to get smoke flavor. for instance with Filet steak, i place meat at 180 until internal meat temp reaches 110F (i have wireless meat thermometer). than i remove diffuser plate and crank heat to 475F. then i install sear plates and i sear steaks for 2 min, then rotate 90 degrees for 2 min, flip over and do the same. my 2" thick filets always come out perfect and smoke flavor is over the top.
ive been using oak pellets lately. but sometimes switch to mesquite.
droptop
Gold Member
I currently have an electric smoker and use a smoke tube with pellets to get an extra smoke flavor. But I'm looking at a Recteq RT-340 all stainless pellet grill that's less $ than a Trager and has wi-fi control. Does anyone have one of these small grills?
Macinnis
Gold Member
I have an offset and a pellet smoker, and I agree, the offset has a better smoke quality.
I have learned with the pellet smoker to keep it on the smoke setting for at least the first hour, then increase temp to whatever you normally would cook at. This has produced a much better smoke flavor for me on my pellet.
om21braz
Veteran Member
I usually start off on 200-225. Depending upon what's on, I may turn it up near the end. The pellet does have the advantage of simplicity for sure - I would probably ruin a lot of meat learning how to operate an offset. Fortunately I have some friends that can operate the real smokers well.