Just bought a Traeger Pellet Smoker

I purchased a Traeger pro series 575 pellet grill/smoker. I have been wanting to get one for years. So I finally pulled the trigger. This model has the D2 drive and the wifire control system.

Looking forward to a new kind of cooking from my gas grill.

Reach out if you have any tips, recipes or just some good stories to share.

BTW HD sale price was $650.I also received an additional 10% off as a Veteran.

 

Congrats on finding another black hole for your wallet! Best thing I can say is document everything you do for your cooks and you'll be able to easily dial things in.

 

I got a Traeger about 3 years ago. All my coworkers said I made a mistake as there are so many “better” options out there.

Traeger has been one of my favorite purchases, and it has performed flawless.

 

Do you use Traeger pellets exclusively or other pellet brands

 

I have a Pit Boss and these were the first 2 meals....

 

I make some good stuff, but I don’t go fancy on the pellets. I use the Costco 30lb gourmet blend.

I’m just a hobby smoker/ bbq’er though.

I really like the 3,2,1 Ribs. I use Jackdaniel Rub with Kinder Mild bbq and Traeger Q sauce.

 

So many great recipes on the Traeger site. I would start there and then expand on what you like and work with the different rubs and the different pellets. It started out as a smoker, and is pretty much go to for weekends now. Pulled pork, brisket, tri-tip and so on. Enjoy and when you get a great recipe, share.

 

I will be smoking some of the Bluefin, yellowfin, dorado and Yellowtail when I get back to offshore fishing.

 

https://youtube.com/@howtobbqright?si=f9yiEpwv0JuKd3vW

 

3-2-1 Ribs

FTW!

 

I always wanted a traeger but could never afford one. I was walking through Lowe’s and they had a pit boss that was “broken”. The manager offered it to me for $75 - said the pellet auger was broken. I bought it after I looked on Amazon for a replacement auger. I decided to call pit boss on my way home and told them I bought a smoker from Lowe’s but it had a broken auger - thinking I could buy one directly from them. She took my information and overnighted me a new auger free of charge. I was smoking meat by that afternoon. I pretty much use it every Sunday for the nfl football games. My favorite thing I have made this year is smoked queso with spicy chorizo.

 

I use a pit boss and it smokes things way better than my egg ever did. I use pit boss pellets but only because the store across the street from the house carries them.

The one thing I had to get used to was the temps will swing from where I set it by +/- 20*. Just let it run and do it’s thing. I bought an insulating blanket for winter smoking and it makes a big difference in pellet usage and temps.

Makes a solid brisket.

 

Damn you.....now I'm hungry.....

 

Look up smoked cream cheese recipes, you’ll thank me later

 

Set the pit boss on smoke instead of 225* and smoked these to 90-95* internal and then threw them on the egg at 550* for about a minute and a half a side to finish at 120* internal. I love smoked steaks.

 

Nice!

 

Treager signature pellets are our go-to, we use ours so much more than the old charcoal grill. Don't forget the pizza stone

 

The Meat Church guys have some great seasonings and recipes. My wife and I really like their pork shoulder recipe.

 

Woohoo!! I used a stainless steel smoker box on our gas grill for a couple years til my wife decided we should get a real smoker. We ended up with a Camp Chef and love it. We use it at least once a week for something whether grilling or smoking - sometimes I even let her out vegetables on it. Gasp.

Some of our favorites are tri tip, pork picnic roast/butt/shoulder, burgers, and spatchcocked turkey.

Tri trip is quick, easy, and almost fool proof. Cut the fat cap off and trim the roast. Leave the small marbling if it has it. Salt generously with large kosher flakes (seriously, don’t use table salt of fine granules), black pepper to your liking, and garlic powder. Smoke at 215 for an hour or so until internal temp reads 127-129. Pull it, sear it in a medium hot pan with butter for about a minute each side, then wrap it foil and chuck it in a cooler with towels to keep it warm for an hour. 30 mins to 4 hours is acceptable, but I like an hour at least. Unwrap and cut across the grain into thin thin slices, which means you need to cut the tri tip in half where the muscle groups merge and slice the two halves in different directions.




Picnic roast is cheap, easy to learn on, and hard to screw up. I usually cut the fat cap off as well because I like a good bark on the outside. Trim it up but don’t take ALL the fat off. Season with salt (again, course flake kosher is best for a nice bark), pepper, garlic, red pepper, paprika, chili powder, and brown sugar. Smoke at 225 for 10-14 hours until the internal temperature reaches 187. Pull it, wrap it in foil, and chuck in the cooler for an hour. Depending on your altitude and desired texture, you can go up to 201, but I find that anything past 190 dries it out too much when you shred it. At 187, the texture is easy to shred, but hasn’t disintegrated too much so that you can still gently cut slices off the roast.



I use Camp Chef or Traeger pellets because they easy to get locally and usually price competitive. 90% of my pellet use is hickory. Pecan is great. Maple is good/great when combined with hickory and sometimes on its own. White oak is fantastic but most oak blends don’t specify white vs red so I usually combine it with hickory. Fruity woods are ok when used sparingly and mixed (for ribs and such) but I still prefer hickory for most of my foods. Alder is gross, IMO. I’ve ripped lots of alder on the table saw and it’s acrid smell sticks in my nose. Alder-smoked food tastes that way to me.

 

We buy spices in bulk and make our own, we use a lot of SPG on the regular. Next time you do ribs, throw some celery seed on them…….

 

+1 for mainly hickory

 

I dislike celery seed usually. But that actually sounds like a half way decent idea…

 

Smoked onion dip is my favorite fast recipe. Make the onion dip in an oven safe pan or dish and smoke it low for 45-60 minutes. Subtle but tasty spin and still keeps for a few days so you can make it ahead.

 

I’ll try the celery seed idea.

 

The gospel on venison is amazing.

 

I have a Pit Boss also and love it. Heygrillhey.com is a great resource for recipes and tips. For the upcoming holiday, I highly recommend spatchcock smoked turkey. Cooks quicker and so juicy.

 

I really enjoy a lot of her content.

 

Made her smoked meatloaf and a few other things this weekend.

 

Spatchcocking is a game changer for birds. Brine them and it’s a whole new game. I’m doing a brined and spatchcocked turkey for thanksgiving this year. Can’t wait.

 

That is why we live in America and have choices. We felt that the Traeger was too much convection, so we sold it and got an egg. We are happy we went this route. Not knocking anyone’s choices. Just glad we can all grill meat as to the way we like it.

Edit: I think I quoted the wrong post. Sorry.