It smells so good, and that is without any meat. I went with Mesquite as my first flavor. I can't wait to get some chicken on there! I went with the Jr.
I still use charcoal (and love the flavor over smelly gas). Does this gril really use pellets? If so, how much are the pellets?
I have one just like it. It uses pellets. They are less expensive than charcoal, easier to use, and much much less messy. The small amount of ash produced inside the unit is easliy disposed of by vaccuming it up with a shop-vac. The grill works in the same way a pellet stove does. There is a pellet storage area, and the pellets are fed via an auger into a small chamber that has a fan and an ignition rod. When you turn it on the rod heats up, the pellets are forced onto the rod and a fan blows air onto them. You need electric power to operate this grill. Internally the firebox has a piece of metal that goes over the top of it that is slanted towards the end of the bbq that the grease bucket hangs from. Over the top of that is the grill. Every thing you cook on the grill gets a smokey flavor from the pellets being burned, and since there is no direct flame under the grill everything is cooked with indirect heat. Drippings from the meat hit the metal underneath and drain into the grease bucket. You can also use this as a smoker. Far and away the best bbq I have ever had.
I use a Weber gas - charcoal combo. The automatic-lighting gas lights the charcoal with the push of a button and then you turn the gas off. No lighter fluid, and pure charcoal taste. Easy and delicious.
Congrats on your new Traeger! I love mine and use it all the time. One of these days I'm gonna have to pick up the digital regulator & it will be even easier to grill/smoke the best BBQ ever. I use it for everything. I once cooked a pizza on it and it turned out great. Here's a great tip: Smoke some bacon in there if you want to make some bacon cheeseburgers. OH YEAH! It's making my mouth water just thinking about that smoked bacon!!!
I looked at Traegers a few times. The one thing that kind of bugged me (from what I've heard) is that if you want to come home and just fire up a steak on the grill right away it's not possible because it takes several hours to smoke. Is that true? I could see it as an excellent secondary special-bbq grill. You should read some history on the "inventors"/owners of the Traeger, very interesting. Made by people right here in the NW!
NO. COMPLETELY UNTRUE. Propane IS quicker though. But, Traeger is faster than charcoal. Basically, I turn the unit on to low/smoke for about five minutes, then crank it up to high, another five to ten minutes and I am ready to grill. In less than a half hour from the time I turn it on I can be eating steak.
Okay I have grilled the last three dinners for my family, save the night we spent at the Resort at the mountain on the 4th. Thursday was chicken, steak skewer from New Seasons. Both turned out very nice, the meat was juicy and had a great taste. Friday. We had a technical breakdown, the rod that heats the pellets no longer works. I called Traeger and they told my how to start it manually. It sounds like I am going to get a brand new hopper and burner next week. Now for the food. I cooked lamb skewers from New Seasons, chicken, and corn. The lamb was nice, the chicken was marinated in a balsamic and Greek seasoning mix. Both meats turned out great. Now the big winner that night was hands down the corn. I did not read any directions, I just decided to throw in on the grill in the husk. I cooked it for about 20 minutes on high, and let me tell you it was awesome. It was organic yellow from New Seasons, and it was sweet and juicy. I got lucky I think, but 20 minutes in the husk and it was some of the best corn I have ever made. Saturday the 4th of July! We were at the Resort at the mountain for the 4th. We ate at a nice place called The Rendezvous Grill & Tap Room (http://www.rendezvousgrill.net/). It was actually a very nice place to eat, especially with kids. It is not cheap, although you can order from the Tap Room if you sit on the white table cloth side. I had a lovely filet of beef and mash. Anyway I did not cook that evening. Sunday night I just cooked up one of those Morton's of Omaha Tri Tip classic. It was really good, I cooked it on high for about 50 minutes, it was medium on the outside edges and nice and medium rare in the middle. I will update you guys on the Traeger customer service as I make the call on Monday.
Thanks. Never had to use them, but it will be good to know how helpful or not they are. BTW, where did you buy your grill?
