Traeger Smoker Review.


 
B

B. Foster

TVWBB Fan
Yep, I haven't been here in a couple years after I got in trouble for not digging the Paul Kirk class.

Well, now I'm here reviewing something different and I guess I won't be popular again....I'll just tell you what I know and have tried.

I bought a 2008 Traeger Lil' Tex 070 because I liked the features I'd read that were advertised....and I couldn't be more disappointed.

Before you write me off as some moron that just scans forums and writes, believe me when I say that this is the most knowledgeable, consistent forum I frequent...and I think it's the best out of all of them.

So, tonite I'm smoking a couple of butts on the Weber when I was excited about having a party with the Traeger last week.

The Traeger has decent size, I'd guess i could smoke 3 to 4 full sized butts on it with room in -between. The problem is temperature. The 'smoke' setting is nothing more than a low switch to keep food warm for a bit....it's notoriously bad at keeping a temp, at all! The fire will go out.

To fix this, you have to buy a '180-LV Multi-Temp Digital Controller ' Here's a link to one of the many pages I found... http://traegeroutlet.com/inc/sdetail/9180 .

The other problem I've had is that the smoker is not at all versatile. I don't mind the pellets, it's that if I smoked something with Apple one night and the hopper was full....and I want to smoke some brisket the next with say, hickory...I need to dig the whole thing out...and replace, not fun.

In the end, I'll buy two more Webers before I try another pellet smoker. In fact... 'ol trusty has 3 butts on it right now..and I know I'll wake up in the morning and they'll be just about ready to go.


-Brian
 
Brian
One of the problems with pellet feeders is they don't put much smoke on meat so here is what you do. Start the cook in the smoke setting and don't stay there more than a couple hours. Then you move the stting up to med (not sure how yours is setup). On med setting you will find that you will be in the range for a slow cook.

No matter what cooker you are talking about you have to make adjustments to cooking style to achieve desired results.

Jim
 
Jim,

Yessir....true, I have 7 smokers on my deck and another nine grills, it's been my hobby for almost 30 years. The medium setting on this Traeger is around 250 to 275 depending on when I check the thermometer I installed, and that's to high to smoke. I guess the thing that bugs me is the 'smoke' setting isn't stable at all. The way that the hot bar is set up..and the recepticle is made, it just makes it a random chance that the pellet will either light on fire, smolder...or just get kicked to the side.

I grew up with barrels, loved 'em...bought WSM's..loved 'em more.

I just don't think there is a way to automate any of this good food. :)

-Brian
 
Brian, I hate to say this but there's a lot of information on the Internet regarding the Traeger smokers not being able to put "a lot of smoke" on your meat. I was looking at a unit that someone on "thesmokering.com" had for sale and as I researched the units I found a post by the seller who claimed he couldn't get the level of desired smoke he wanted on his Traeger cooks. The seller also had several other complaints about the system.

I found this information quite easily on the internet and have wondered outside of convenience why anyone would purchase one of these units.
 
how can you get in trouble for not liking paul kirk's class? i didn't see anything in the forum rules stating that you had to like paul kirk or his class.
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by LarryR:
Brian, I hate to say this but there's a lot of information on the Internet regarding the Traeger smokers not being able to put "a lot of smoke" on your meat. I was looking at a unit that someone on "thesmokering.com" had for sale and as I researched the units I found a post by the seller who claimed he couldn't get the level of desired smoke he wanted on his Traeger cooks. The seller also had several other complaints about the system.

I found this information quite easily on the internet and have wondered outside of convenience why anyone would purchase one of these units. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Oh...it's not the amount of smoke that gets into the meat. My problem is that on 'Smoke' setting the thing goes out and the fire dies. I don't mind tending a fire or smoke. What I can't fathom is putting some meat on, coming back an hour later and the temperature is at 75 degrees and the fire is out.

I agree Larry, I wasn't to intrigued and had read reviews before, the only reason I bought the Traeger is the fact is was about $150 less than MSRP at the small hardware store in my town. It's perfectly fine for grilling on the other settings.



-Brian
 
Ah, I'm sorry, I misunderstood your comment. Yes, $150 under MSRP is awfully tempting.
 
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