Re: What's in your smoker?
 

AMEN Peter, Thanks! I cannot begin to describe the aroma...:dr:dr

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

:tpd:

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Finished results

http://oldchurchbbq.com/sharedpictur...sket%20002.jpg

http://oldchurchbbq.com/sharedpictur...sket%20003.jpg

http://oldchurchbbq.com/sharedpictur...%20Chicken.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

:dr:dr

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

:tpd:

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I'm fixing to smoke my first turkey on the Traeger. I've done a number of them on my BGE, any recommendations?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I did a prime rib on the pit barrel this past Saturday.
It was about 17° outside, and that added an extra hour or so to the cook time, but it came out spectacular.
I think the lower temp helped the roast cook more evenly.
It was a perfect medium rare from top to bottom and side to side.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

:dr:dr

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I can attest to the magnificence of the prime rib....almost "sous vide like" in edge-to-edge perfection!..'twas mighty tasty!!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Did you hang it or grate it? Pics?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I cooked it on the grate.
Sorry, no pics.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Both the flat/point of a corned beef brisket that'll be used for sliders tomorrow. Using some whiskey oak pucks for my Bradley.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Carne Asada and Pollo Asado tacos. Add in some homemade Pico and a few cervezas and I’m all smiles on my 5th of May.


http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...smjlfiam9.jpeg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

My son just bought a house and didn’t have a grill, so I gave him my little Traeger and picked up a Yoder YS640.
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...scvvs46hk.jpeg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

:banger:banger

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

This might be of interest...

Reynolds Wrap Will Pay You $10,000 to Travel the U.S. and Eat Barbecue...

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Four racks of spares for a private thing at a friend's brewery yesterday evening. As pork ribs go, these racks were big, 13 or 14 bone and over 5 lbs each (that's a full size chafer tray in the second photo - the ends were only about 2 inches from the coals during the cook) That and a half-chafer of hog apple beans w/ extra bacon on the side and there were a lot of happy people... (although that could have been the free beer)

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

^^^Looks tasty!

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Have a pork butt in brine for the last 5 hours, will pull it around 9:00 AM and throw it on the Yoder. Assume around 5:00 PM, going to have some pulled pork sandwiches. My better half is making coleslaw.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Have you noticed any difference in cooking or relative performance with the short throw auger pits vs the long throw? Yeah, comparing a Traeger to a Yoder is like going from a Mustang to a Braubus, but I'm asking more about he technique and style than the cooked itself.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Adam, can you enlighten me on the cooking benefits of a short throw?
My understanding is that the short throw is to alleviate jams inside the auger tube.
My new Memphis Elite has a short throw, and vastly outperforms my old Traeger, but I just assumed that was based on build quality and the far superior ITC temperature control.
Curious to learn more.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I’m not even sure what that means (short throw vs long throw) ? I’m a novice at best with this stuff.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

E.J. - it's just the length of the tube. The Traeger has the firepot in the center and the Yoder has it on the left side. The term is very literal. One has a long auger one has a short auger for feeding pellets.

I probably should have asked the question differently and that is if there is any difference that you noticed in having the firepot on the side rather than centered.

Dom, you're probably right, it's just better build and better controllers. Where I live it's dry and I've never had a jam, but if that's all that short throw gets you, then it's a non issue to me. I have had a burn back or two partially through the auger on mine, but I think that is a problem with shutdown programming or components.

The reason I'm asking about the short throws is that I'm debating about picking up a Louisiana Grills LG-700 that is 50% off on clearance at a local store. I just replaced the fan, auger motor and ignitor on my camp chef, but the controller is acting odd at times. I suppose I could get a new controller, but for $150 more, I can just get a second grill.

Like I need another smoker... :bh

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Yes, yes you do! :D

The rephrasing of the question is definitely clearer.
My Memphis has the firepot in the center, so I can't comment on any difference in the locations.
However, my guess is that the location of the pot shouldn't matter based on the fans for convection cooking that all pellet grills (that I know of) use.
I would guess that any uneven cooking on a pellet grill is from heat escaping, not where it is being generated.
Of course, I have no evidence or science to back this up. But what good is talking BBQ if you cant bull$hit a little? ;)
The lid on the Memphis is gasketed, so it cooks like a true convection oven.
With the firebox in the center, the short throw is made possible by dropping pellets onto a ramp and having them slide down into the firepot.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Actually, fire pot on my Traeger was on far left as well.

Biggest different is temp control. Can cook lower, far hotter and holds temps like a rock. It’s just a far better unit, but honestly, it should be for the cost difference.

The single thing that is worse(if you can call it that), I have to vacuum out the fire box ever other cook and every cook if I go long, like Saturday. If I don’t, there is too much ash buildup and the pellets won’t start.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I'm curious, what brand of pellets are you using?
I usually had to vacuum out the traeger after about 5 cooks. The Memphis is even less, since it holds temp better I'm burning less pellets.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

With the Traeger I always used Traeger pellets. Usually Traeger Gourmet blend from Costco or Pecan.

With the Yoder, I have only used BBQ Delight, which was recommended by the place I bought my grill(they also sell Traeger).

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

What pellets are you using, Dom?

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I've used BBQr's delight for about the last three years.
This season I've been burning Memphis and Traeger pellets.
I was curios if your pellets were causing the ash issue, but I never experienced that issue with the BBQr's delight pellets, so that must not be it.
The fan from my Traeger used to blow some the ash out of the pot as it cooked.
If you opened the lid in the right light you could see all the ash particles swirling around the cook chamber.
Maybe the fan in the Yoder is designed to keep more ash in the pot and less in the cook chamber?
Just brainstorming here.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I've been 'round and 'round and 'round again on the pellet brands and manufacture.

What I've found is that Traeger is meh. They use 70% alder and 30% of what the bag says it is. Unless it's mesquite or hickory. Then it's 100% and 0% but they use flavor oils. Alder has one of the lowest BTU/weight rating (how much heat it can produce per given weight), so in order for alder to get to and maintain temperature "X", you will need to burn more alder than other woods.

More wood burned = more ash.

A few companies use less, but most other companies use more or even 100% of what it says on the label. With most woods having a higher potential stored energy than alder,
anything all hardwood will produce less ash.

Take BBQ'er Delight or LumberJack. A hickory pellet is a hickory pellet. Hickory is about 24 million BTU/cord. Alder, ehh, around 14 million. That's like 45% more for hickory. Oak is 22M, Beech is 23M, apple is 21.5M, even cherry is 19M. Alder is 14M, even pine has more stored energy than that, in fact, when I look at the chart, nothing around alder is anything I would want to eat off of.

So, better, more honest fuel, = less needed = less ash.

Of course there is a combustion quality factor and what part of the tree the pellet was made from. Is it sawdust and bark? This means lower BTU. Or is it a whole tree shoved into a chipper? In which case it's about what you see on the chart.

Sample chart
https://chimneysweeponline.com/howood.htm


Firepot efficiency and airflow make a difference too. I strongly suspect that, based on the near identical sizes and hole patterns, my Camp Chef, Dom's old Traeger, Green Mountain Grills, Pit Boss, Char Griller, even Rec-Tec and a few others are all buying fire pots from the same factory in China.

Back to pellets.... I use LumberJack. They cut me a break on pricing when I buy a ton and split it up. I've talked to the owners, they are very open. The pellets are hardwood, what it says on the tag. Whole trees. I've gotten friends hooked on their pellets and the first comment is always "The flavor was so much better" followed by "I was burning Traeger pellets, there is so much less ash now" OR "My grill gets to over 500F now. It never could before..."

I've used BBQ'rs Delight, Cookin' Pellets, Vintners Pellets (don't think these are made anymore - they were 100% old wine grape vines - amazing flavor) and one or two other 100% hardwood pellets. Aside from the unique offering of Vintners, they were all about the same quality. Pick a brand that offers you the flavor you want. I might be buying someone else if anyone could beat Seth's pricing on 2000# (50 bag) orders.

Traeger, Camp Chef, Luv, Char-Griller, all the blended less-than-truthful box store pellets... meh. Yeah, they work, but less flavor.

Never tried or researched Memphis - so no comment.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Care to share the pricing on the ton of pellets?
Maybe we can split a pallet?
Just bring my half when you drop off the Lang.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Sure. Last time I split a 1-ton order with another person in August of 2016, each of us took 1000lbs of pellets, the costs came out at:
$9.90 per 40lb bag of standard pellets
$6.80 per 20lb bag of specialty pellets
$10/person group buy coordination fee

I believe they ship from Wisconsin. Shipping and delivery in our case worked out to $120/person to have it brought to a commercial location in Northern CA that had a forklift. Obviously transport distance plays a factor here. If you want to set it up to have everyone on the GB meet at the shipping depot, then you can cut the transport costs a bit more. If you want a residential address and/or having lift-gate service would increase the cost by some amount.

So yeah, I walked out of there with 1000 lbs (21 x 40#, 8 x 20#) delivered to a friend's brewery (he has a forklift) less than 2 miles from my house for $392. Which puts my averaged cost at a mere $15.68 per 40-lb bag.

If you want to collect the money, then everyone saves the $10 coordination fee.

They do partial pallets also, starting at quarter ton, although the cost per bag goes up. IIRC, when I looked into this on my first order in 2015, I think it 2/3 of a ton was the same cost as a full ton due to higher bag cost and lower transport at the time.

https://bbqpelletsonline.com/
Look under "Get Quotes" and they'll run the numbers for you.

If you don't have anyone to split with at the time and you want the bulk pricing of a larger order, just tell them and they will try and find people in your area to jump in on the order.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

So, I'm thinking about going over to the dark side. I know several on here have and use Treagers, but it is unexplored territory for me as I am a stick-burner guy from way back. I need to replace the old gas grill, and was thinking about a pellet burner for the deck to give me some flexibility. How do these guys work for "grilling" steaks, burgers, chicken, etc.? I know they are pretty good at smoking/BBQing, but how long does it take them to get up to temp to sear a steak and how much fuel do they eat doing it? I guess I am looking for the pros and cons of picking one up.

Also, this would be on my wood deck. My gas grill I don't really worry about, but with a pellet burner, should I?

Thanks in advance.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Speaking about low-mid end units (which the Traeger falls under) only:

They suck at it. Good smoke ovens, **** grills.

If you get one that has a sliding diffuser over the firepot that allows direct fire to the grate, then it might be ok as long as you like cooking your food with a blowtorch.

Don't get me wrong, I have one. Burned probably a ton and half or more of pellets in it since I bought it 2 or 3 years ago. So much so that the controller is worn out, all the detents on the temp dial are shot. Does great for what it is, which is a smoke oven. Can't sear for ****all though.

I've been debating what I might buy to replace this unit when it dies, another pellet grill is not at the top of the list. Don't get me wrong, I love the convenience, but, I'm mixed overall on it's value.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Thanks Adam, that's kind of what I was thinking after seeing a couple of videos about them.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Beer-marinated, smoked tri-tip.

After getting some smoke:
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1912/...2fde2ea6_z.jpg

Reverse sear:
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1961/...38e1c705_z.jpg

Ready to eat:
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1903/...b0d963cb_z.jpg

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Big Green Egg (ceramic cooker) or another gas grill if it's truly for quick grilling. About the only thin a BGE can't do is a quick start. Don't get me wrong I can cook on it faster than other charcoal grills for a couple reasons but not as fast as a gas grill.

But temp range? fugghedaboutit. 200 to over 1000 not a problem. Just watch them eyebrows when peeking at a pizze rolling at 900 degress. ;)

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

I love my Kamado Joe ceramic cooker — similar to the BGE. Like Jason said, not as fast on the start up as gas, but is excellent otherwise and no fussing with tanks :)

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Did a couple Boston butts in the last few months on the smoker. Will try to get some pictures posted

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

New grill grates for the Yoder Kick Tail!!! So pleased with the results of them and the 2 piece diffuser.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Did a suckling pig on my old offset smoker yesterday. Was 18lbs. Seasoned the cavity and injected with apple juice missed with some more rub. Used a mix of maple and cherry. Ran the smoker around avg temp of 250° for 7.5 hours. Got the front shoulder to 186°, just shy of the 190 I wanted. But had to pull it, cause the other food we were cooking was done. Still pulled good. Was tender, juicy, delicious. :dr

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

That skin looks incredible, Bob. Like, fvcking perfect....

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Was to be brisket go on today. Sadly somehow didn't get the fridge closed last night when I put it back after prep.

Woke up this morning to an internal temp of 52 deg. Spent all night above 40 then some.

Into the trash went a 10 lb prime brisket. Sad sad day.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

That seriously blows Jason.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Bummer, Jason. Hope Plan B is a good one.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Serious bummer, Jason.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

FWIW... was at Home Depot earlier and noticed they had Traeger Eastwood 22's model # TFB42DVB on clearance for $399. Originally $699. Knowing how Taeger is with their pricing, I wouldn't be surprised if this is under cost. Appears to be your average "Lil' Tex" sized grill (570 cu in range)

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Here's the SKU - 34868 92065

Check your local store or call around if you're interested, that in-store clearance price is at least through NorCal right now, possibly nationwide. It is last generation's model (has a dial) so it's getting pushed out the door.

Re: What's in your smoker?
 

Wife got me a kick Ash basket and can from Ceramic Grill Store for Christmas. Top to bottom of the egg is now aftermarket from CGS. Love their products, it's how the egg should come from factory.

http://www.cigarasylum.com/vb/pictur...pictureid=9353