How do i use a Traeger?

Swindon_Ed · Post by **Swindon_Ed** » 22 Feb 2011, 20:39

I've decided to keep the Traeger and looking to cook with it this weekend.

I've got one question for the other Traeger users. How long should i use the smoke setting on the chicken, rib's, pork, brisket or anything else you've tried cooking. If anyones cooked meatloaf on the traeger before any tips would be good as i fancy cooking that again soon.

just so you know i'll be using hickory pellets if this affects things.

Swindon_Ed · Post by **Swindon_Ed** » 22 Feb 2011, 20:41

Also if anyone has any recomended upgrades for the lil tex?

Steve · Post by **Steve** » 22 Feb 2011, 21:14

I'm still learning a bit with the Traeger but I'd say that you need about 1-2h on smoke for chicken, 5-6h for butts and briskets. 3h for a fatty or meatloaf, 4h for a beef roasting joint or leg of lamb.

I've heard that adding fire bricks around the fire pot is a good upgrade but haven't done it yet. I do use a second grill mounted on foil wrapped bricks for extra capacity.

Swindon_Ed · Post by **Swindon_Ed** » 22 Feb 2011, 21:37

Cheers Steve.

What about ribs?

Also what is the fire brick thing supposed to do?

Steve · Post by **Steve** » 22 Feb 2011, 21:44

I've not got around to doing ribs yet but I think they'll take about 2-3h on smoke then foil and cook on medium for 1-2h. I'm wary about ribs though because smoke is too low for cooking them through but medium tends to run a little high. I foil with honey and butter (for comps) and I'm concerned it will burn on medium. I need to play to learn

The fire brick mod is for stabilising temps. The fire bricks act as a heat sink so once they're nice and hot then the smoke setting should run a little hotter and very stable.

TBH I think the best mod is to get a digital temperature controller from Traeger Germany.

Swindon_Ed · Post by **Swindon_Ed** » 22 Feb 2011, 22:22

I whish i knew they were available from Traeger Germany as i've already ordered one from the US.

Oh well, at least i know now and probily more important to know since Jackie is leaving our shores.

So the fire brick thing is like the clay saucer for the Traeger world?

Chris__M · Post by **Chris__M** » 23 Feb 2011, 00:32

Swindon_Ed wrote:I whish i knew they were available from Traeger Germany as i've already ordered one from the US.

I believe that a digital controller from the US will be no good to you, due to the voltage differences. If you bought your Traeger from Jackie, like I did, it will be 240 volts, whereas the US controller will be 110 volts.

If I have this wrong, perhaps someone could correct me.

I've recently been discussing such things on Pelletheads. I was aware that they were selling a converted/rebuilt digital controller in Australia, but only recently heard they were also doing them in Germany. I dropped them a line the other day.

However, having said that, I've been happily cooking on the manual 3-way controller since I got my Traeger last year.

Swindon_Ed · Post by **Swindon_Ed** » 23 Feb 2011, 09:42

Chris__M wrote:I believe that a digital controller from the US will be no good to you, due to the voltage differences. If you bought your Traeger from Jackie, like I did, it will be 240 volts, whereas the US controller will be 110 volts.

I never even thought about that :oops:

I'll have a word with a couple of electrical engineers to see if they could have a look at it for me once it arrives to see if it'll be safe to use or if they need to do any work on it.

Banjo · Post by **Banjo** » 23 Feb 2011, 10:08

Swindon_Ed wrote:I've got one question for the other Traeger users. How long should i use the smoke setting on the chicken, rib's, pork, brisket or anything else you've tried cooking.

My experience is how much smokyness do you want to impart? I've cooked ribs, pork, chicken and brisket on L (for long periods) and on M. My preference is to cook on M for most things as this gives a nice smokey taste and a quicker result without compromising on tenderness.

crsmoke070 · Post by **crsmoke070** » 23 Feb 2011, 12:03

I have had my Lil Tex for a while and have done a couple of mods. I did start off with a 3-way controller and almost sold it because I was unable to produce the quality of food that I wanted and couldn't control the temps to get the quality I wanted.

The first thing I would do is what DrSweetSmoke said is to cover your drip pan with foil and I also line the grease bucket with foil. I will soon be changing my grease bucket to a metal paint can with a lid that can placed on top when not in use. I don't know if B&Q sells empty paint cans over there but we can buy them here in the usa. The next thing is to upgrade the digital controller. It made a big difference in the quality of what I cooked. I did add fire bricks around the fire pot and it did help stabalize the temp swings and it also helps with temp recovery after you open the lid. The next thing I have done is to purchase frogmats. I was skeptical of them but the fatties that you see in signature area would have just stuck to the grates. With the mat, they just slid off with no effert.

I still have not perfected everything but I am so glad I didn't sell my pit.

Chuck

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