OK so since we moved back to SA 4 years ago, I have been smokeless (without a smoker) and have been using the built in gas grill for everything. It works like a champ, but requires a lot of TLC to keep the wood chips going. Not to mention the clean up is tedious. About a year ago, i friend of mine from Toronto was in town and we were talking about bbq. He talked about his Traeger Smoker with a lot of enthusiasm. I was interested, but alos thought, "What does this Canuck know about smoking brisket?" So fast forward to last week. I am talking to a vendor who lives in Central Texas and participates in 3-4 competition bbq events each year. He wins about half of them. We were talking about plans for father's day weekend and he mentioned that his wife was cooking pork butts on the Traeger Smoker on the back porch. I was a bit surprised, but he told me for the convenience and ease of the smoker, it is well worth the investment. He still uses his big rig for the events, but at the house the Traeger is all they use. So I was wondering, who on here owns a Traeger and what are your thoughts on them?
Just FYI that guy is full of crap. No sanctioning body for cookoffs in Texas allow Traegers. Glorified ovens, just get a stick burner.
Bevo, you didn't read all the way through...He said the guy had a regular pit for comps, just used the Traeger at home. For the record, I've got a trailer pit and after eating numerous times from my friend's Traeger, I am considering one for home use myself.
I have 2 friends who have Traegers and they both love them. I am not a fan. The problem I see is that the Traeger uses the wood pellets for both the smoke and the heat source, so you use a lot for a brisket, which is about all I use my smoker for anymore. I just have an electric Masterbuilt cheapy. It's more trouble than the Traeger as I have to manually feed it wood chips the first 4 hours, but after that, just go to bed and let it cook till in the morning. One of my friends with the Traeger says his needs to be overhauled (new fans, new auger) and it's only about 5 years old. My smoker doesn't have any moving parts to wear out.
Got the small one at Costco for $350 a few months ago. Big enough for 15 lb brisket Or 3 racks ribs or plenty of chicken. I love it. Holds about 8 to 10 hours of wood pellets. Plug it in and set temp and go do whatever you want. Cooked one brisket at 185 for 20 hours and one at 225 for 10 hours. Both turned out very good. Ribs tender. Pork loin good. Also cooked salmon on it. Can turn temp as high as 450.
