Most traeger recipes I see on the WWW do not have cook times. It really is about watching the temp of the food as it gets close to done. Instant read thermometer is a good idea, but it's not good to keep opening the lid to take the temperature. They make remote thermometers that stay in the food on the grill the whole time and report the temperature via a device outside the grill. Like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Ivation-Range...065&sr=8-2&keywords=wireless oven thermometer That said, the recipes for pork shoulder/butt and especially brisket say to start cooking the night before and overnight and most of the day you want to eat it. I'm not sure how you cook those while cooking something that takes way less time...
Thats the argument for two little tex's vs one big regular tex. Thats what my buddy did and if I could go back I would probably do that also. Smoke a brisket for tomorrow, cook hamburgers tonight. I find that problem happens more than I thought it would. Brisket and pork butt both cook about the same so you can cook them both at the same time at 225. Other than that 350 is where I cook chicken wings for an hour, bread for 35 mins, veggies for 10mins. A little timing and it all works out done at the same time. Things on high dont take that long, steaks about 20mins, burgers 15, so its easy to plan around. I have that wireless thermometer also, its like Excalibur, dont do a roast without one of those.
I have a cheap ($99) gas grill that I use to cook things that don't work on the Traeger due to different temperature requirements or to cook on when I don't have a lot of need to cook on the Traeger (e.g. burgers).
Well I finally pulled the trigger on a traeger! I got one at Costco after work today. $699.99 for the one I got. It has plenty of room for grilling. My only question is, did I get Lil Tex? I can't find the model anywhere on the box or anything. The guy working there really couldn't help me much. The # on the box says BBQ07C.01 It came with a cover too, which surprised me.
The lil tex is about 2' wide. Big tex is 4'. I cooked 6 chickens on the big tex a couple weeks ago. They all fit. 3 across, left to right, front and back. Lil tex might fit two.
lol tex is seriously all you need. You can still fit 2 whole chickens in it or a full rack of baby backs. Also remember, the bigger your grill, the more pellets you burn in the same amount of time. It cost more to use the bigger grill
I guess mine is the lil Tex elite from what a guy I was talking to on the traeger facebook page said. Chicken Challenge is probably what I'll do first. Is it imperative that I use the Traeger brand rub for the Challenge? Its funny to me how I keep reading that the Traeger company is adamant that we use their brand pellets.
The traeger chicken rub is very tasty. I bought two jars of it and haven't run out in over a year. But no, you don't absolutely need it. Poultry seasoning you can get at any grocery store will substitute ok. The traeger rub is not poultry seasoning though. You can brine the chicken or not. If you brine it, it won't brown as much but it's very juicy and tastes great. It's great if you don't brine, too. It's a matter of preference. Be sure to wrap the inside of the grill in foil, and the bucket as well. It'll be a mess to clean up otherwise. The chicken challenge is going to make a lot of grease.
This will give you an idea of how big the big tex is: That's pairs with balsamic vinegar on the left, sirloin roast and stuffed mushrooms in the center, red potatoes on the right. If yours is smaller, you got the lil tex.
Swap out the foil every time you clean it along with vacuuming the ashes, which is every few uses or so. You know when its time to change it. I saw the costco version you are talking about. The changed the design but its a lil tex elite.
I'm thinking about getting one of these: http://www.amazon.com/A-Maze-n-Traeger-Hickory-Barbeque-Pellets/dp/B00IGEKVGA
I got one, I really like it. It helps add a little more smoke flavor to long cook outs, or is a a good presmoker but other than that I dont use it much.
oh yea, not sure if you know this or not, but dont use your wire BBQ brush on your traeger grill. The grill is porcelain and will scratch it up. Just wipe it down instead.
Really? Seems unnecessary to me. On smoke setting, the Traeger makes plenty of smoke. For a gas grill, it'd make sense.
Its not necessary, but it has its uses. Smoke setting still heats up to 150ish, so using the amaze you can cold smoke your meat without precooking it, works great on a thick piece of steak. You can also cold smoke cheeses and such with it. Its also a nice supplemental smoker for long roasts.
I guess it's cheaper than one of these: http://www.traegergrills.com/shop/detail/BAC253#.VI2218ZFMrc If you want to cold smoke stuff.
yea good point, plus all the pellets you would burn with that add on just for cold smoking. Id just get a real smoker if I wanted to cold smoke a lot. I like it more for supplemental smoking though, one of my biggest beef's with treager is that its more of a cooker than a smoker and I want more smoke flavor. This helps with meet my tastes better, but you could accomplish the same thing with a tuna can full of pellets or tin foil tent. For about $20 its not a bad toy. (he linked an more expensive one that included pellets)
