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Pellet Grills and Smokers


Teamdirtyleg

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I’m a lazy fuck and don’t clean the ash out after a clean until it’s time to cook again. By that time there’s 3 gallons of water in the bottom bowl and a mud slurry awaits me. I’m intrigued by the “cup o ash” cleanup I can use my fucking Dustbuster on with a pellet smoker 

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Had a Lang 84 Deluxe stick burner, decided I wanted to go the pellet route after a decade of using the 84 (and a 60 before that), bought a $3,400 Pitts & Spitts Maverick 2000 and used it 4 months before I decided pellets just aren't for me.


I sold it and am currently having another stick burner built.  
 

I’d recommend that if you’re on the fence about making the switch to pellets buy a cheap unit first and decide if pellet cooking is for you.

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Questions, questions, questions...

Using a Green Mountain Daniel Boone but probably applies to any pellet smoker...   How and when to clean the grease tray.   I've done maybe 5-6 cooks ranging from ribs, chicken and burgers directly on the grill racks to pork shoulder on a rack over a drip pan.   But the tray is definitely showing some droppings.   Should I scrape it clean or what?

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just bought a Pit Boss.  Have cooked ribs and burgers - so far so good. 

Gonna try a brisket for The Masters.  My concern is the void that develops in the pellet box.  Where as, the pellets are kinda stuck to the side and there's a empty space above the auger.  Causing no pellets to fall into auger and fire to go out.  I don't think I can cook a brisket overnight, unattended.  Any ideas?

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9 hours ago, PW119 said:

Just bought a Pit Boss.  Have cooked ribs and burgers - so far so good. 

Gonna try a brisket for The Masters.  My concern is the void that develops in the pellet box.  Where as, the pellets are kinda stuck to the side and there's a empty space above the auger.  Causing no pellets to fall into auger and fire to go out.  I don't think I can cook a brisket overnight, unattended.  Any ideas?

How many pounds fit in your hopper?

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On 10/23/2020 at 9:25 AM, Murfdogg21 said:

I’ve cooked about 3 of these tri tip roasts on the Traeger and they are fucking delicious. Marinate for 24 hours, used the Meat Church Holy Gospel rub, smoke for 75-90 mins, sear for 4-5 mins per side. So juicy, tender, and flavorable. 

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I think Tri-Tip is more of a west coast northern thing that I see a lot up here and never saw in Texas, and is really under appreciated for what it is. Marinade a lot of different ways and smoke at 225 for less than 2 hours and you are done. I usually soak a lot of onions with the marinade to also smoke and its pretty great. 

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12 hours ago, shnsajax said:

I think Tri-Tip is more of a west coast northern thing that I see a lot up here and never saw in Texas, and is really under appreciated for what it is. Marinade a lot of different ways and smoke at 225 for less than 2 hours and you are done. I usually soak a lot of onions with the marinade to also smoke and its pretty great. 

It is a Cali thing, though I've been doing them for years.  You really should sear on the grill after smoking (as the OP indicated he does).  Out there, there are cooked fast on a wood grill (or Santa Maria grill), so the searing replicates the crust you get out West.

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16 hours ago, shnsajax said:

I think Tri-Tip is more of a west coast northern thing that I see a lot up here and never saw in Texas, and is really under appreciated for what it is. Marinade a lot of different ways and smoke at 225 for less than 2 hours and you are done. I usually soak a lot of onions with the marinade to also smoke and its pretty great. 

One of my favorite cuts to serve on tortillas with fresh salsa.  And 2nd on the searing after the smoke.

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Has anyone done a whole turkey? 

The past 3-4 years, I had used my BGE knockoff with pretty good results.  Did a test run today on my Green Mountain Daniel Boone.  Injected with a creole butter mix and it came out all right but I think it cooked too high and too fast.

Had a 12 pound bird and cooked it at 275.  Wanted the internal temp to be 160 before I pulled it to cover/tent for 30 minutes or so.   Checked temps around 3.5 hours and the upper breast and legs were pushing 160 but the bottom of the bird was still upper 140s/lower 150s.  Kept it cooking until everything registered 160+, pulled it and wrapped in tinfoil for about 30 minutes. 

It tasted great but the upper part was a tad bit dry.  Should I have flipped it upside down at some point?  This was a fresh, non-frozen bird.   I have a frozen 15 pounder (that I'll defrost) for T-Day.  Any tips on a better bird?

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Brine or dry brine (my preference) it at least overnight, makes a very measurable difference in moisture. I think you just overcooked it; dark meat wants over 160 but breast is ready at 140. If you want to duplicate your exact cook, let the turkey sit on the counter an hour or two before cooking to warm up a bit, but leave an ice pack on the breasts. That'll let you start the cook with a 20-30 degree temp difference between breasts and dark meat, allowing the dark meat to cook more before the breasts hit their 'done' temp.

 

Go down the rabbit hole here if you'd like:

https://www.seriouseats.com/2014/11/buying-prepping-cooking-carving-thanksgiving-turkey-complete-guide-food-lab.html

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7 minutes ago, HRSchenker said:

When you sear the tri tip do you just leave it on the smoker and crank it up to over 500 degrees? 

I sear mine on a gas grill that sits right beside my Traeger.  If you are going to do it on the pellet grill, I'd take it off before you heat it up, otherwise you are going to be continuing to cook it, at a very high temp, while it heats up.

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On 11/16/2020 at 2:02 PM, HRSchenker said:

When you sear the tri tip do you just leave it on the smoker and crank it up to over 500 degrees? 

I take it off, crank the Traeger to max (450F?), then sear it for a few minutes on each side. Or if you have a source of fire like the other posters’ gas grill or hot cast iron skillet, that will work too. 

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On 12/2/2020 at 8:13 AM, NoName said:

first smoke on Camp Chef was pork tenderloin and it was pretty fantastic...I am going to enjoy this!

 

I bought some pork loin at Costco last weekend with the intention of doing one this week.  Put some salt and lemon pepper on them yesterday (come in a package of 2).  Put it on at 3 PM at 250 degrees on my Traeger, expecting it to come off around 5:30 or so.  Went to put the thermometer in at 4:30 and the damn thing was already 155 degrees.  Fuck me.  I overcooked it but it was still very good.  Will probably smoke at 180 for an hour, then crank the heat up to 250 next time.

Edited by pearlandhorn
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FYI. The Lowe's near me is clearing out their Kingsford Maple 20 pound pellets for 5.99.  They were down to about 15-20 bags yesterday.  Assume this is nationwide.  I have not used Kingsford yet but for 40-50% less than the B&B ones usually use (from HEB) what the heck.

 

And speaking of B&B/HEB, what's going on with supply.  The two HEBs out here near me haven't had any at all on the shelves for a bit.

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Not a pellet guy myself, but I see that Lone Star Grillz in Willis opened up a waitlist for their forthcoming pellet cooker.  Managed to get #36 on the list for the 20"x42".  Got a brother-in-law in Conroe that just got the shit kicked out of him in a divorce.  He uses a mini-Traeger that look like a Fisher-Price toy compared to him.  Thought maybe I could do something nice for him. 

God knows what the lead-time will be on those, however.  But I know that it will be a quality product.  

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FYI. The Lowe's near me is clearing out their Kingsford Maple 20 pound pellets for 5.99.  They were down to about 15-20 bags yesterday.  Assume this is nationwide.  I have not used Kingsford yet but for 40-50% less than the B&B ones usually use (from HEB) what the heck.
 
And speaking of B&B/HEB, what's going on with supply.  The two HEBs out here near me haven't had any at all on the shelves for a bit.
None here either at HEB, and Academy has a decimated supply.

I found a honey hole, though. The shitty wal mart has an outdoor section that winds around to a covered outdoor area that is stuffed with Christmas stuff. Way back behind it is the BBQ stuff, including a surplus of all kinds of pellets, and they're priced shockingly low.
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My FIL has a group of hunters that have hunted his place for years. They come the weekend after Thanksgiving and hunt all week. It's mostly guys he came up through the USDA with that all retired around the same time. This year, the group bought him a Traeger 780 Pro, so I'm thinking about getting him some accessories or something for Christmas. Looking on line, it looks like it's got the wifi temp control, but doesn't have the meat temp probes like Recteq, so I'm leaning towards a nice Bluetooth thermometer. Anything else I'm not thinking of? It's got a cover and it's going to go in his outdoor kitchen, so doesn't need a shelf. 

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1 hour ago, Pescado_Rojo said:

My FIL has a group of hunters that have hunted his place for years. They come the weekend after Thanksgiving and hunt all week. It's mostly guys he came up through the USDA with that all retired around the same time. This year, the group bought him a Traeger 780 Pro, so I'm thinking about getting him some accessories or something for Christmas. Looking on line, it looks like it's got the wifi temp control, but doesn't have the meat temp probes like Recteq, so I'm leaning towards a nice Bluetooth thermometer. Anything else I'm not thinking of? It's got a cover and it's going to go in his outdoor kitchen, so doesn't need a shelf. 

Get him grill accessory kit, some traeger seasoning kit, or thermopro digital wireless probes

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Doing a prime rib for Christmas.    Feeding 8 people but a couple of them arent big red meat eaters.  Bought a 15 lb one today at HEB.  Would there be any harm in cutting it into halves? 

Planning (weather permitting) on 40 minutes a pound at 225.  If I leave it whole, that would take about 10 hours.  But if I cut it.....   How long would it take?  I dont think I have my cooking time but I dont know.

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1 hour ago, Macanudo said:

Doing a prime rib for Christmas.    Feeding 8 people but a couple of them arent big red meat eaters.  Bought a 15 lb one today at HEB.  Would there be any harm in cutting it into halves? 

Planning (weather permitting) on 40 minutes a pound at 225.  If I leave it whole, that would take about 10 hours.  But if I cut it.....   How long would it take?  I dont think I have my cooking time but I dont know.

I don't think it matters much whether you cut it in half or not.  Aim for 120 degrees for medium rare and 125 for medium for prime rib.  Get a temp probe in both ends and make sure you go in to the center of the ends.

 

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