Whats on the Grill or Smoker?

[srb08]

I did the initial burn on the Traeger today.
With an outside temp of 50*, the grill maintained 450*, for 45 minutes, with no problem, although it did burn about 10lbs of pellets doing it. Good thing I don't need it for high temp grilling. I was surprised at the lack of smoke but considering that it was running like a blast furnace, I guess I shouldn't be.
Do any of you guys with pellet grills buy pellets in bulk?
I was thinking about buying 500-1,000 lbs. The price is much better if you buy a large quantity.
Are there any brands of pellets that you find to be problematic?
I'd hate to buy 500lbs of pellets and find that they don't work well.

 

[RocketRoss57]

Christmas prime rib. Smoke at 190 for 5 hrs and finish on the grill at 300.

 

[srb08]

Christmas prime rib. Smoke at 190 for 5 hrs and finish on the grill at 300.

View attachment 156433

Damn that looks good.

 

[RocketRoss57]

Turned out pretty darn tasty. I'll use some more salt for my rub. I love me some salt.

 

[stihl_head1982]

Christmas prime rib. Smoke at 190 for 5 hrs and finish on the grill at 300.

View attachment 156433

Yer killing me man! My mouth is watering!

 

[stihl_head1982]

Thank you sir. Here’s half of it before I bag it and send it to the freezer. Planning I’m eating next Monday but had to cook today because of work. View attachment 156417

It would be hard for me to resist putting some of that brisket in my gut.
Perhaps you did sample some, ehh?

 

[USMC615]

I did the initial burn on the Traeger today.
With an outside temp of 50*, the grill maintained 450*, for 45 minutes, with no problem, although it did burn about 10lbs of pellets doing it. Good thing I don't need it for high temp grilling. I was surprised at the lack of smoke but considering that it was running like a blast furnace, I guess I shouldn't be.
Do any of you guys with pellet grills buy pellets in bulk?
I was thinking about buying 500-1,000 lbs. The price is much better if you buy a large quantity.
Are there any brands of pellets that you find to be problematic?
I'd hate to buy 500lbs of pellets and find that they don't work well.

Steve, I 've had good luck with Cookingpellets.com pellets, Rec-Tec pellets, Louisiana Grills pellets, I've tried only a small amount of Traeger pellets. I'll have to get back with you later today after work or this evening and give you the specifics as to the blend(s) of hardwoods/fruit woods per each mfg'r. I think out of what I've mentioned previous, I'd bank on cookingpellets.com if going for the bulk buy with their Perfect Mix blend pellets, Hickory pellets, Pecan pellets, etc. Take a look at their site and see what all they have.

The other pellet mfg'rs I've mentioned are good as well. Keep in mind, some pellets will throw off more 'dust' as the smoking process goes along, you'll see this effect after a few smoking sessions, and remove the drip pan/heat shield/baffle, there'll be quite the amount of 'dust' to be sucked out with a little vacuum or blown out with an airhose. Some pellets have a little more dust per bag than others...and they all might need a little sifting the closer you get to the bottom of a 40lb bag.

 

[USMC615]

I did the initial burn on the Traeger today.
With an outside temp of 50*, the grill maintained 450*, for 45 minutes, with no problem, although it did burn about 10lbs of pellets doing it. Good thing I don't need it for high temp grilling. I was surprised at the lack of smoke but considering that it was running like a blast furnace, I guess I shouldn't be.
Do any of you guys with pellet grills buy pellets in bulk?
I was thinking about buying 500-1,000 lbs. The price is much better if you buy a large quantity.
Are there any brands of pellets that you find to be problematic?
I'd hate to buy 500lbs of pellets and find that they don't work well.

And not unusual at all to not see hardly any smoke during the initial burn-in or when doing high-temp grilling...the high setting temp-wise sees to it the pellets are augered in pretty qick and burned quick, and not doing the smoldering/smoking thing as a lower-temp, slower auger rotation, to keep up with the selected temp. My Pro 34 does the same thing.

 

[srb08]

Steve, I 've had good luck with Cookingpellets.com pellets, Rec-Tec pellets, Louisiana Grills pellets, I've tried only a small amount of Traeger pellets. I'll have to get back with you later today after work or this evening and give you the specifics as to the blend(s) of hardwoods/fruit woods per each mfg'r. I think out of what I've mentioned previous, I'd bank on cookingpellets.com if going for the bulk buy with their Perfect Mix blend pellets, Hickory pellets, Pecan pellets, etc. Take a look at their site and see what all they have.

The other pellet mfg'rs I've mentioned are good as well. Keep in mind, some pellets will throw off more 'dust' as the smoking process goes along, you'll see this effect after a few smoking sessions, and remove the drip pan/heat shield/baffle, there'll be quite the amount of 'dust' to be sucked out with a little vacuum or blown out with an airhose. Some pellets have a little more dust per bag than others...and they all might need a little sifting the closer you get to the bottom of a 40lb bag.

Thanks Jason. When I did the initial burn, I used the bag of Traeger Cherry pellets that were included in the package deal. There was a lot of dust in the bag and I ended up sifting them. I have pellets from several companies that I use in the smoke tubes but that's a different application.
Cookinpellets looks promising. I also looked at BBQpelletsonline.com. They have good bulk prices as well.
My local retailers want $20 for a 20# bag and act like the damn things are made of gold. One local guy offered to give me a break, $18 for a 20# bag, if I bought 500#.

 

[USMC615]

Thanks Jason. When I did the initial burn, I used the bag of Traeger Cherry pellets that were included in the package deal. There was a lot of dust in the bag and I ended up sifting them. I have pellets from several companies that I use in the smoke tubes but that's a different application.
Cookinpellets looks promising. I also looked at BBQpelletsonline.com. They have good bulk prices as well.
My local retailers want $20 for a 20# bag and act like the damn things are made of gold. One local guy offered to give me a break, $18 for a 20# bag, if I bought 500#.

Way too much going local if they're wanting $18-20 per 20lbs. Back when I bought about 300 lbs or so, I was buying them on Amazon, different flavors and mfg's to get an idea like you, which I'd like to use, and was paying anywhere from $25-35 for the 40lb bags, free Prime ship. I remember one time I ran across the Louisiana Grills 'New England Apple' which is actually a 40/60 mix of apple and maple, and damn good taste, for $14 per 40lb bag, free Prime ship. I ordered 120 lbs if I recall, and went back to Amazon to load up on it a little later and get much more...I guess they figured out the advertising blunder several days later and had changed up to about $26-28 a 40lb bag. I think currently on Amazon its running around $36 per 40lb bag.

Also check out Lumber Jack pellets and Smokehouse Products pellets. Just looked on Amazon...damn...seems everybody's got the 'made out of gold' prices currently.

 

[srb08]

I cooked a slab of ribs on the Traeger today, just to get a feel for it.
I used Cherry and a temp of 225*, no rub. Three hours to start then a half hour at 275*. I always cook the first piece of meat on a new smoker without seasoning to judge the amount of smoke flavor and color I get.
The smoker maintained a consistent temp, +/- 15*, thorough out the cook.
The ribs were perfectly cooked but there was almost no smoke flavor and the meat came out looking pink. I would have posted a pic but I would have been embarrassed. This was the most unappetizing looking slab of ribs I've ever cooked. My wife saw them and wouldn't even taste them.
I'm going to mess with this thing a bit more and use a smoke tube to supplement the smoke but doing that kinda defeats the purpose.
So far, I'm completely underwhelmed.

 

[stihl_head1982]

I cooked a slab of ribs on the Traeger today, just to get a feel for it.
I used Cherry and a temp of 225*, no rub. Three hours to start then a half hour at 275*. I always cook the first piece of meat on a new smoker without seasoning to judge the amount of smoke flavor and color I get.
The smoker maintained a consistent temp, +/- 15*, thorough out the cook.
The ribs were perfectly cooked but there was almost no smoke flavor and the meat came out looking pink. I would have posted a pic but I would have been embarrassed. This was the most unappetizing looking slab of ribs I've ever cooked. My wife saw them and wouldn't even taste them.
I'm going to mess with this thing a bit more and use a smoke tube to supplement the smoke but doing that kinda defeats the purpose.
So far, I'm completely underwhelmed.

reading and learning. Hoping for better results (I don't own a Traeger and I'm not being sarcastic at all). I wish you all the best in your learning curve.
To me, there is nothing better than smoked meat. Especially ribs. When you reach your desired result, please post a pic.

 

[Capp]

Grilled elk loin (from our Sept 2018 elk hunt) , lobster, and curried egg noodles.

 

[USMC615]

I cooked a slab of ribs on the Traeger today, just to get a feel for it.
I used Cherry and a temp of 225*, no rub. Three hours to start then a half hour at 275*. I always cook the first piece of meat on a new smoker without seasoning to judge the amount of smoke flavor and color I get.
The smoker maintained a consistent temp, +/- 15*, thorough out the cook.
The ribs were perfectly cooked but there was almost no smoke flavor and the meat came out looking pink. I would have posted a pic but I would have been embarrassed. This was the most unappetizing looking slab of ribs I've ever cooked. My wife saw them and wouldn't even taste them.
I'm going to mess with this thing a bit more and use a smoke tube to supplement the smoke but doing that kinda defeats the purpose.
So far, I'm completely underwhelmed.

+/- 15 degs Steve seems like a big span. My controller may be different than yours as well, some models have different ones...but mine has never deviated more than 5 degs either way from a dialed, set-point temp. Generally it's dead on the money once it gets to the dialed temp.

 

[srb08]

+/- 15 degs Steve seems like a big span. My controller may be different than yours as well, some models have different ones...but mine has never deviated more than 5 degs either way from a dialed, set-point temp. Generally it's dead on the money once it gets to the dialed temp.

My mistake. I should have said +/- 6 degrees. The temp varied from 222*-233*.
Mine has the same controller but only one probe.
I was hoping to do a rib roast on it this Sat but am going to use the grill instead.
I'll wait until I have the Traeger sorted out.

 

[Jetwrench]

It would be hard for me to resist putting some of that brisket in my gut.
Perhaps you did sample some, ehh?

I tried a little bit. It wasn’t bad at all. I had to put it in the freezer because it isn’t going to be used till Monday. I usually don’t like freezing meat once cooked but my work schedule didn’t give me any choice.

 

[USMC615]

Little Italian dressing marinated yard bird loitering in the background last night while we slung darts in the shop all night...damn good eats!

 

[stihl_head1982]

Little Italian dressing marinated yard bird loitering in the background last night while we slung darts in the shop all night...damn good eats!
View attachment 157134
View attachment 157135

Somebody is eating good!

 

[srb08]

Well........I did the rib roast, 9lb, on the grill yesterday.
Had eight adults and seven kids, all family.
My wife took a pole and everyone except me, my son and one DIL, wanted their meat cooked med/well or well done.
So.........that's how I cooked the damn thing.
Seeing the probe temp pass 135*, with the roast still on the grill, almost made me cry.

 

[Deets066]

Well........I did the rib roast, 9lb, on the grill yesterday.
Had eight adults and seven kids, all family.
My wife took a pole and everyone except me, my son and one DIL, wanted their meat cooked med/well or well done.
So.........that's how I cooked the damn thing.
Seeing the probe temp pass 135*, with the roast still on the grill, almost made me cry.

Should’ve cut part off for you guys and left theirs on the grill