Anyone own or uses a pellet grill?

Quik Z06

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We have a Pit Boss and I love it. As mentioned they are pretty much set and forget. With that said I only use it for slow cooking/smoking. Not a huge fan of grilling on it. They can get pretty hot (500 degrees) but it just doesn't cook the way my propane grill does. We usually do ribs, chicken and tri-tip on it and everyone likes it.
 

_Snake_

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Wasn’t sure whether to bump this thread or start a new one. Please be gentle. :)

I picked up this Traeger the other week and used it for the first time on Saturday.

I swung for the fences and mostly followed this recipe using Apple pellets: How to Make the Best Pulled Pork


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It might be the best pulled pork I’ve ever had. Srs.
 

Blown 89

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Get a Yoder pellet and be done with it. The last grill/smoker you’ll ever buy.
Starting next week my company is printing the packing tape they seal their boxes with. As a matter of fact I came back into work tonight to make their printing plates.
 

MFE

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I don't own one, but I get to enjoy meals off Traegers and others fairly regularly. I love the push it and forget it aspect. What I don't love is they just don't put a lot of smoke flavor into the food on long, low-and-slow cooks. I've been disappointed more than I've been pleasantly surprised.
 

BLOWN9646

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+yoder-smokers-ys640s-pellet-grill-acs-wifi-6.jpg
Click to Enlarge

The YS640s Pellet Grill
Starting At$1799.00 + shipping
Yoder Smokers Pellet Grills come standard with the NEW Yoder Smokers ACS Control System with two integrated food probes. New ceramic ignition system and large custom orange casters are new features in the S series of pellet grills. With expansive cooking surfaces-ranging from 800 to 1,070 square inches-combined with nearly twelve inches of headroom, there's plenty of room for anything, including beer can chickens or turkeys.
 

_Snake_

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+View attachment 1585165
Click to Enlarge
The YS640s Pellet Grill
Starting At$1799.00 + shipping
Yoder Smokers Pellet Grills come standard with the NEW Yoder Smokers ACS Control System with two integrated food probes. New ceramic ignition system and large custom orange casters are new features in the S series of pellet grills. With expansive cooking surfaces-ranging from 800 to 1,070 square inches-combined with nearly twelve inches of headroom, there's plenty of room for anything, including beer can chickens or turkeys.

Gotta pay to play.

I’m good with my $250 investment. :)
 

CompOrange04

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I had an original Traeger for about 15 years. It was so old it only had a 3 position switch...high, med and smoke. I set it on fire at least 3x by smoking greasy "fatties" on it and then grilling and not cleaning it. That grill never ever let me down. I finally retired it because I was having a hard time with it holding temp. When I bought it they just got the pellet grill patent so they were like the one and only. I had a choice a few months ago when I bought a new one with all the companies making them now but I went back to the Traeger. Honestly, I regret it. I've had a ridiculous time with the new grill holding temp (eventhough it has the digital read out etc) and I've lost fire twice on it now during long smokes. I definitely don't love it as much as my last one and I am still debating contacting Traeger and sharing my experience and hoping maybe they send a tech out to check my grill. Now with that being said, when it is working properly I wouldn't trade it for anything. I smoked some pork steaks and chicken breasts on Saturday that I would've put in a competition. I fill that hopper up and set the temp and spray them every hour and they were to die for. Like someone also said above, I do not think they put a ton of smoke to the meat. Now they do make the high end model that is supposed to have a super smoke feature but I'm not rich enough to own one of those.
 

Adower

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I almost bought a Yoder. However, Lowe’s had Kamado joes on sale for 675$ over Fourth of July week.

I think Kamado joes/big green eggs although not set it and just walk away are more versatile. You can smoke on them and get them as hot as 700 degree for grilling.
 

colin450

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I have a friend with a Rec-Tec that he really likes. Another friend just bought a new GMG but hasnt used it yet. I have 2 Big Green Eggs, a large, and the mini-max I use for tailgating, smaller cooks, and as a searing station after doing the first half of a reverse sear on the large.
 

98 Cobra Vert

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When I use my Green Mountain Grill/Smoker, which I really like. If I want extra smoke I use MOJO bricks on top of the steel plate above the fire box. They have many flavors of hardwood bricks to choose from. I don't use them all the time but when I do use them they are hreat, create a bunch of smoke.

Sent from my SM-T580 using the svtperformance.com mobile app
 

blownfox

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I had an original Traeger for about 15 years. It was so old it only had a 3 position switch...high, med and smoke. I set it on fire at least 3x by smoking greasy "fatties" on it and then grilling and not cleaning it. That grill never ever let me down. I finally retired it because I was having a hard time with it holding temp. When I bought it they just got the pellet grill patent so they were like the one and only. I had a choice a few months ago when I bought a new one with all the companies making them now but I went back to the Traeger. Honestly, I regret it. I've had a ridiculous time with the new grill holding temp (eventhough it has the digital read out etc) and I've lost fire twice on it now during long smokes. I definitely don't love it as much as my last one and I am still debating contacting Traeger and sharing my experience and hoping maybe they send a tech out to check my grill. Now with that being said, when it is working properly I wouldn't trade it for anything. I smoked some pork steaks and chicken breasts on Saturday that I would've put in a competition. I fill that hopper up and set the temp and spray them every hour and they were to die for. Like someone also said above, I do not think they put a ton of smoke to the meat. Now they do make the high end model that is supposed to have a super smoke feature but I'm not rich enough to own one of those.

You are losing your fire because of how the auger pulls pellets from the hopper box. For some reason the auger only pulls pellets from the right side of the hopper. This will cause a cavity to form in the box and the temp will drop so the auger spins faster to ramp up the temp. Once that cavity collapses the auger is putting too many pellets in the firebox smoldering it.

On a 14-hour smoke, I will check the hopper box twice. I make sure its filled all the way to the top and more pellets are on the right side of the hopper box. If its colder I might check it 3 or 4 times. I've had my traeger for 4 years now and love it. It out performs my family's and neighbors electric smokes. If I have the money I will get a yoder next time only because of the high heat searing and its built like a tank.
 

CompOrange04

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You are losing your fire because of how the auger pulls pellets from the hopper box. For some reason the auger only pulls pellets from the right side of the hopper. This will cause a cavity to form in the box and the temp will drop so the auger spins faster to ramp up the temp. Once that cavity collapses the auger is putting too many pellets in the firebox smoldering it.

On a 14-hour smoke, I will check the hopper box twice. I make sure its filled all the way to the top and more pellets are on the right side of the hopper box. If its colder I might check it 3 or 4 times. I've had my traeger for 4 years now and love it. It out performs my family's and neighbors electric smokes. If I have the money I will get a yoder next time only because of the high heat searing and its built like a tank.
It wasn't due to the hopper feed being goofy, my original was way worse then this one so I am a habitual hopper checker. I think it might possibly be because it was windy plus I changed the temp one of the times from the "smoke" option on the dial up to 225. Also, it really seems to struggle ever getting up to the temp it's set for, especially after I've opened the lid and it never ever seems to regain the temp back up to what the dial is set on. I really need to just call and ask some questions. Maybe it's a setting within the presets of the hopper feed speed or maybe a miscalculation of the thermostat.
 

Blown 89

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FYI, Traeger's customer support is second to none. Call them on the weekend while you're having problems and they will walk you through solutions. They are there over the weekends because they know that's when people are using their smokers. Mine was having problems at the beginning and they walked me through the P-settings and ended up sending me replacement parts and walking the problems down. Now mine runs flawlessly.

I do have to keep it in the shade in the summer because I can't keep the temps down and in the winter or during hot cooks I use a thermal blanket to keep the temperatures up and use less pellets respectively. Wind causes problems sometimes too....that's an easy solution, just turn your grill a few degrees.
 

blownfox

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It wasn't due to the hopper feed being goofy, my original was way worse then this one so I am a habitual hopper checker. I think it might possibly be because it was windy plus I changed the temp one of the times from the "smoke" option on the dial up to 225. Also, it really seems to struggle ever getting up to the temp it's set for, especially after I've opened the lid and it never ever seems to regain the temp back up to what the dial is set on. I really need to just call and ask some questions. Maybe it's a setting within the presets of the hopper feed speed or maybe a miscalculation of the thermostat.

Blown 89 is correct that Traeger's customer support is second to none. My house has a walkout basement and that is where my traeger is location (protected from the wind and elements). Now my Webber is upstairs on my deck and when the wind is blowing from the south it struggles to keep temp. I could easily see wind being a factory.
 

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