I had been looking at buying a pellet smoker for a year or three. Cost of the smoker and my wife not being fond of smoked food made me pull up short.

After a family Thanksgiving last week where various dishes came out of the smoker, I decided I'm gonna get one. I bought a used Traeger Elite 34 that had the update controller and two temperature probes. I gave $450 which included a hopper full of hickory pellets and a smoker cover.

I'm looking forward to using the smoker. Wife is very unhappy I got it. She's not listening to any of it.

Any advice on using a pellet smoker? Different woods? Pros and cons of my smoker?

I’ve never noticed a difference in flavor between pellets and if you look at the ingredient mix it’s mostly oak anyway. It really isn’t much different than cooking in an oven, set your temperature and wait. Your not going to get the same results as the guys splitting wood and making coals but your not tied to it for 13 hours straight either.

Your wife will come around as it’s a lighter smoke flavor with the pellets as well. Have fun, that’s what I do.

Yeah ditch the wife (I’m kidding).. my wife bought me pellet smoker last Friday.. did a pork shoulder on it and it turned out great. Can’t wsit to cook a brisket in it..

Okay, here is the bad part...

Traeger pellets are not what they claim. They are alder with all sorts of nasty schit additives to make it taste like different woods. Throw whatever pellets you have away. Unless they are alder...

If you cannot taste the difference in pellets cut off your head and throw it away. It obviously was not working anyway...




Simple fact is a box with shelves and a smoke source is not a difficult parameter to get over.

I suggest a batch of pastrami followed by a batch of smoked salmon...

My brother is the BBQ expert in the family, and yes he started out as a stick burner, like almost everyone else out there. He worked his way up, and for years competed on the Kansas City Barbecue Society Pro division (Holy Smokers BBQ Team). Whenever I had time, and close proximity, I would travel to a competition to help out and "sample" the product. His turn in boxes always looked amazing.....that stuff is on a whole different level!

That being said, he and my sister in law have moved more into the area of catering and event selling of BBQ. A blind man can notice that ALL the major competitors and professionals, usually use a pellet smoker of some variety. So, I went and purchased a "Pit Boss" 1000 about 3 months ago. With his instruction, I was turning out awesome, tender, moist, flavorful foods in no time. Pellet smokers are more forgiving, less intense work. The MAJORITY OF THE WORK IN BBQ IS PREPARATION! Now read that last part again, and again until it sinks in.

Buying quality meats and preparing them correctly will do more for your outcome than you ever imagined! Pitt Boss markets their own brand of pellets, and they have different varieties as well. I happen to like their "Competition Blend" pellets of Hickory Apple and Cherry I believe. You can purchase them from Walmart at $14.98 a 40# bag, and have them delivered.

I entered a local BBQ competition 3 weeks after buying the smoker, and ended up with three "Call's". Third Place Pork Rib's, Second Place Pork Butt, First Place brisket. I tell you that just to show you that even though I hadn't had much experience with a Pellet Smoker, they are extremely easy to use and produce quality results! Spending $90 on a Prime Brisket, you don't want to disappoint! There's a tremendous amount of knowledge out there online, just search for recipes you like and experiment....that's the only true way to get good at this craft!

Good Luck and enjoy!

So what pellets do you recommend?

We cook with mesquite in Texas, in a real bbq pit. What is a pellet cooker?

Lumber Jack pellets are what most use around here. Keep the smoker clean. A blanket helps stabilize temps. Here is a big one: If it goes out - DO NOT just restart it. You may end up with a big fire, peeled paint, and a fried grill. Tear it down and clean the excess pellets out of the pot. Then restart. Several times, my Traeger has gone out. The rep says that maybe it is the occasional long pellet. Regardless, the grill will then feed pellets until the pot has overflowed. If you just restart, it gets ugly fast.

As Frogman43 pointed out, at the few competitions that I have observed, the vast majority turned in food from a pellet grill. Ugly drums seem to be popular also. The big stick burners were for show and selling to the public. I used a New Braunfels Bandera for years. The switch to a pellet grill made me feel like I was cheating, but that passes quickly. Our own BYC beat it into my head to always use fresh spices. He is correct.

Lumber Jack Pellets

Use real pellets and keep them dry until ready to use. Pellets grills are easy to use. I still use ours about once a week even after 5 years. Like said above, vacuum out ash occasionally.

I use mine for everything from jerky to turkey. Searing burgers or steaks isn't the pellet grill strong suit. Probably my favorite thing is tri-tip. Season the night before and turns out great every time.

Have fun!

I've had a Green Mtn Daniel Boone for a couple years. It works great. Smoking adds a lot of flavor to the T-day turkey. I just got an insulated blanket for it that I tried for the 1st time a couple days ago. It saves lot of pellets and heats up much faster for winter cooking.
If you have a Winco Foods near you, their pellets are about 1/2 the price of any others I've seen. Maybe I don't have good taste buds but I can't tell a difference in flavor between different types of wood.

She probably does not like smoked foods because of too strong smoke flavors.

Shouldn't have too much of that with your pellet set up.

We don't use hickory.

I used to purchase Pit Boss pellets from Menards for about $.50/lbs.

Hardware stores and places like Fleet Farm are about $1.00/lbs.

Now I purchase mine at the local Feed Store (Lumber Jack brand) for $12.00/40 pound sack.

I used a lot of Hickory, thought I would try something different, Pecan, won't do that again.

I like my pit boss!

My Traeger has gone out twice while on the "smoke" setting for 3 hours on an over night pork shoulder cook. And two more times when I have reduced the temp on the dial. I've never had a problem when increasing temp. It happens when the temp gets too low.

As 280 said, if it happens do not try to restart without cleaning it out first. Also, and this is obvious but do not vacuum out the fire pot until the pellets are cool. I've heard of people doing that and next thing you know their garage is on fire from a burning shop vac. Scoop them out or wait until they are cool.

Traegar pellets are only like 20% of the wood they say they are on the bag. So like 20% cherry and 80% oak or some other hardwood. I think that is why most (including me) can't tell the difference in taste. You can buy 100% cherry, apple, hickory etc. pellets if you do some research. **Edit** the Lumber Jack pellets that 280 posted fit that bill.

Another tip: Don't waste your money on the Traeger brand insulated blanket. A $20 welding blanket from Menards works very well because you can layer it to the width of your smoker and bungee strap the bottom using the rings in the blanket.

Tell me more about all that hickory up there?

hahaha

Its in bags next to the Hawaiian Punch you dummy!

Pellet smokers are "P.T. Barnum Specials"- - - -there's a sucker born every minute! A regular 4-burner gas grill, a $10.00 stainless steel smoke tube from Ebay and a bag of hickory pellets from Walmart does exactly the same thing. I smoke two Boston butts at a time in my gas grill, 12 hours at 250 degrees until the meat reaches an internal temp of 190-200 degrees, and they come out perfect. That's usually with two of the four burners on, turned down as low as possible and the meat suspended off the bottom of the drip catch pan with a wire grate.

I started tending the commercial smoker pit at my grandmother's restaurant in Nashville in 1962, so this ain't my first pig roast!
Jerry

LOL

Bags? Hrrmmmph!!


Ain't she a beauty Clark??

How many bags ya think are in her? 🌳🌳🌿🐿

You could smoke yourself retarded with this one shagbark. 😄

Jim you ain't usin' then pelletized buffler patties from the Rez are you?

Compressed wheat straw?

We all know there ain't much wood up that way.

Geno

PS Hawai'ian Punch, Tang, Kool Aide, all the same stuff just a different color and packaging, right?

I will echo the above posts on restarting without cleaning out the burn pot. I have a Pit Boss and, if I ever when I buy another, it will have a burn pot that can be cleaned/dumped without tearing the grill apart! Also I would get one that the hopper can be dumped. Mine will go out occasionally when using the lowest settings and I made the mistake once of restarting without cleaning. Flame on!! I've also had the pellets burn back up the auger into the hopper which can cause some excitement too! So far the one I've found with those two features is the Camp Chef brand. Good look at those features here:

shopko might only have that knockoff brand, I sense his passive aggression and jealousy

frog, happy for your success.

But therein lies the rub......................due to the popularity and ease of use, them dang 'every man should own one" pellet smokers have every Billy Bob and their uncles smokin' briskets and such and drove the price up on what used to be an economy cut. Now a regular Joe can't hardly afford one.

Used to be nice when real men used a shell from an old fridge, a charcoal bowl from an old burnt out Smokey Joe, and some chunks of real wood to smoke cheap cuts and fish.

Along with the TV cooking shows increasing the popularity of flank steak, I can't get the cheaper cuts I used to. Same with tongue.

As long as liver remains unpopular I'll at least have something I like to eat that I can afford on a fixed income.

Geno

Interesting. I like those two features on the Camp Chef, a lot.

That's a dang nice hickory tree there.

When I moved back west from PA I made sure to bring me a few chunks of hickory. That was at the turn of this century (I'm not as old as some on here) so it's long gone now.

My preferred is alder.

Geno

The wood taste of a Traeger grill is mild at best. Nothing like a old fashioned smoker where you have to keep it stoked with hardwoods.

The latter gives a better flavor in my opinion, but the former is much easier to use, as long as it works correctly.

Hmmmm. Pellets you say...

Does the Traeger come with those cool jeans?

weber is coming out with their first pellet grill, if buying again I think I would get the weber pellet smoker, so far the traeger is idiot proof.

Geno

Yes, I will be keeping my eye on the new Weber pellet ovens and curious what kind of reviews they will receive

Most BBQ around here is smoked with either hickory or oak. Personally, I don't care for a lot of smoke on the meat that I cook myself on the Bradley Smoker.

I've got a Bradley and a Vision Kamado charcoal. I like the Bradley for set-it-and-forget-it, but find it's a PITA to clean afterwards.

The Kamado takes a lot of time so I trot it out when I've got a slow day. Had an offset but found the charcoal side was too small and I was reloading every hour.

So, I am thinking of getting rid of the Bradley for a pellet grill. Seems like cleanup would be a lot simpler.

Yeah, I hate the cleanup afterwards. I'm looking at a Pit Boss Series 5. Don't need anything fancy. If I lived closer to Slumlord, I'd just let him do my BBQ'ing.

I've heard no complaints from the Pit Boss owners that I know.

I really like the features on the Weber too, but the price tag is pretty hefty. $1,000-1200

[video:youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=3&v=NwGN72jFjL4&feature=emb_logo[/video]

Yeah I hear ya on the Weber. Remember Weber makes stuff higher quality than others and the new traegers are running about that

It's like a wiener tucking contest, but gayer...

Some of the Traegers are running more than $1500.

Have you considered a real bbq pit? Built this for son in law about ten years ago

Dave,

you have a way with words somedays.

Kelbro said it with a picture.


Geno

Thanks for the heads-up on the Pit Boss....been hesitant to start smoking but might have to try one of those out.

Thanks Geno, but truth is, I owe my success to my brother. He's the one that has put long years in learning the tricks of the trade. Now, I'm no slouch when it comes to cooking, but make no mistake, with BBQ he's the expert in our family.

I agree, the cost of brisket has risen dramatically these days, and that's when you can find it! For competitions, "Prime" is preferred, buy I have used "Choice" as well. I usually buy mine in Sam's Club meat department, but they often don't have it available. I have a "Choice" Brisket in the freezer now....waiting for future use if I should need it!

I originally looked at the "Woodwind" smoker with the attached sear box. They were running $1,000.00 at the time, just couldn't swing it. There's another brand that's a player in the field...."Grilla" Grills out of Holland MI. My brother lives nearby and drove over on my request and said they were heavy duty smokers! Only problem was, they were so busy, they didn't have time to return my call.....so went and purchased my PIT Boss at Tractor Supply, and they even reduced the price by $100. So at $399, I ended up with the better deal I believe.

My PIT Boss 1000 has a slotted area over the firepot, and when you slide the heavy steel cover back out of the way, you can use it to sear steaks! Works very well!

As others have stated, keep your firepot clean, and don't leave pellets in your pellet hopper if there's a chance they can get wet! They will disintegrate in there!

I've been looking at the Camp Chef Smoke Pro DLX w/sear box. Anybody have personal experience with that one? Looks like it's easier to clean and maintain than most of them.

no pellets here.

Rog, you need a slab of good homemade bread to soak up them juices!

Geno

Ive had my fair share of grills and smokers. I love pellet grills for what they are. To me that means, being able to quickly smoke or grill with added flavor on weeknights with little to no prep time.

If I have time, I prefer to use charcoal, but it sure is nice for those overnight cooks or when we are in and out of the house to just tell the grill what temp to hold and not think about it again.

Recently picked up a used Memphis Pro and that thing is a whole nother level. Smokes well, typical light smoke profile of pellet grills, but you can grill directly on the flames at a very high heat. If, god forbid, I could only have one grill, this would without a doubt be it.

So I tried my pellet grill yesterday. I soaked two chickens in brine overnight, seasoned them, put them on the Traeger, smoked them for about an hour, then cooked them for about an hour. I was working outside all day yesterday, and just checked the chicken temperatures ever now and then.

Wife loved it.

After she took the meat of the carcass, kept the carcasses to make chicken noodle soup today.

Thanks for the tips guys.

Pellet grills are awesome... I have 2 Green Mountains now and use them every chance I get... the thermal blankets are well worth the money...

Check out the Smokin’ It cookers. I have a stick burner off set, Traeger and most recently added the Smokin It #2. It is my favorite of the bunch. It’s a high quality unit with a very active web forum that is very helpful.