traeger smokers


 
Corey Elks

Corey Elks

TVWBB All-Star
was at costco today and their was a rep from traeger grills with 3 models they were selling at about 300 dollars below retail. He said they were cheaper because it was advertising for them. told me they sold 90 of them this weekend. These are the pelet cookers with a built in thermostat and auger to feed wood pellets in. Looked kinda like a set it and forget it. Construction seemed well built. Any one have experience with these. He had one there for 299. which seemed real reasonable to me. Might be good for my arsenal. Wife would probably shoot me and one of my boys would say "dad........not another grill!!".
 
My brother-in-law had one, they work great. The pellets are expensive, that's the only drawback. 300 sounds a litte too inexpensive; I've wondering if that includes the automatic temperature controller. It may be they've found out they make more money on the pellets, so the more smokers they have out there the better.
 
Ken, Corey was saying 300 below retail so if it was a 1300.00 model, they were selling it for 1,000.00. Traegers USED to be good, but from what I was reading when I was doing research for a new smoker, they are now built in China and are now built with a lot thinner gauge metal and don't work nearly as well as they used to. If I were to buy a pellet, I'd go with a MAK. Still American made. AND yes the pellets are expensive these days since there are so many pellet stoves out there for heating!
 
yes these all had temp controllers. The basic one was 299. 649. for a real nice one. So the 299 one usually goes for around 500 and the 649. goes for around 925.
 
Corey, A traeger smoker was what got me hooked on smoking meat! An OLD Traeger I should say! LAst year for the 4th, we went to a friends house for a cookout. He had a Traeger, and cooked (at the time) some of the beast bbq I had ever tasted. He explained to me how it was basicaly a set-it- forget-it cooker. I instantly fell in love with it and "had to have one". Well the love affair began to stall when I saw the prices they are asking for them. But I was willing to bite the bullet for a top notch smoker. Well, I began to resaerch Traeger and that prettymuch ended my Traeger dreams. They uased to be made in Oregon, and the quality was top notch. Then, the moved the production over seas and well they still ask a top notch price for a non-top rate product. I have read the paint used now is not nearly as good, and saw several complaints about the auger (pellet feed system) giving problems as well. After reading several reports saying the same things,(paint, poor C/S, auger) I decided a Traeger was not in my future.
Thats when I stumbled across a thread about the WSM! And the rest as they say, is history! I cand honestly say, I have never regreted going with the WSM! It is also a set-it forget-it smoker, but I don't have to plug mine into the wall!
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Tim
 
I have had a Traeger "Texas" Model 075 (probably the one they had for $629) for about 2 months and have, I think, 4 cooks on it, including one cook of 8 Boston Butts for BBQ for a company picnic.

Another was a cook of two butts, a packer brisket and two slabs of ribs for a BBQ sampler platter for some of my friends.

Each cook turned out great. The temps were nice and steady, the smoke flavor from the pellets was light and sweet and I'm very happy with the smoker and the results.

I have heard the complaints that the quality of the smokers declined when production was shipped overseas, and perhaps that is true. I do not have a baseline for comparison. I've read on the Pelletheads forum about people who have reported problems related to construction. However, so far, so good here. I clean out the pellet ash after every cook with a shop vac, and I clean the outside of the cooker with Greased Lightning after each cook as well. I also remove any unused pellets so they don't pick up moisture. I also cover the grill after each cook.

As with any cooker, time will tell, but 4 cooks in, I'm a fan. I will say this - I got an even better deal on my cooker than what you saw them being sold for. I would be happy with the cooker even if I had paid full price, but I'm happier since I paid half price!

Check out the Pelletheads forum - you'll see a lot of comments - pro and con - about the Traeger. As with all other amateur reviewers - I discount both the good and bad then make my own decisions.

Pat
 
I would love a Traeger. My uncle has one and it is simply AWESOME. I just can't justify dropping that kind of scratch on one. Last summer I took a couple racks of baby backs over there and tossed them on the Traeger. 5 hours later I went back and grabbed them. They were great.

My uncle had an issue with the fan/blower that keeps the pellets hot. Customer service sent him out another fan/blower 2-day shipping. No questions asked. The rep even told him of a quick and cheap fix for the broken fan/blower and told my uncle to keep it. My uncle pulled it out. put some tape on it and has been using it for over a year. He has not even put the new fan/blower on. So they may have some build issues but customer service seems really good which is a very big factor for me.

Costco has an awesome return policy. You can return items bought there (minus computers,cameras,and tv's) anytime. Even if its a couple years old. I don't like people that abuse this policy, but its there for any reason you don't think the Traeger is doing it for you. (DYODD, this may not apply to Traeger but I think it does).

Its a shame being an Oregonian that they no longer build them here.
 
I'm actually not very fond of Pellet smokers. Now don't get me wrong, I love the idea of turning to a temp setting and leaving and not really worrying about anything. This issue that I have is that the flavor that I have gotten from them is almost a metal/smoke flavor...can't really explain, but I just don't like it. It reminds me of my first smoker....which was an electric chest smoker. I was never really happy with that smoker.

I always heard that the flavor comes from the wood not the heat source...I can't disagree more. Once I switched to charcoal (either lump or briquette) I will never go back. Just my .02.
 
HAve also heard that the Traeger pellets add a milder flavor to the cook. I think thats' what discouraged me from getting one. I like to control the intensity of the smoke
 
We have a dealer of Traegers by my house. I thought that they were a luxury item that was over priced to begin with! My opinion is that it is not the cooker it is the cook! Stick with american made weber and use charcoal because it tastes the best! To me a Traeger is something a wealthy ceo would have at his log mansion and use 2 times a year..
 
I was fortunate to find an older Traeger in good condition earlier this year and got a really good deal on it. I've cooked on it 3-4 times and it really is nice to be able to just start it up, put the food on and let it go from there. However, the smoke flavor is not nearly as good as what the WSM produces and I like the food from the WSM a bit better. It is nice to have the choice about which smoker to use though!
 
I bought a 07E in Feb. I have cooked on it maybe 40 times. It can turn out excellent q. The cooking dynamics are slightly different than that of the WSM. If you stick a match to the pellets they will not ignite. A blower fan is used to cause the pellets to ignite. Due to this I often run foods on the smoke setting for an hour or 2 before so that they take on some of the smoke (at higher temps like 300 deg the smoke becomes nearly non-existent).

As far as pellets go a typical q session uses maybe 3/4 lb of pellets per hour. I don't use Traeger pellets as the ones supplied west of the Mississippi use Alder as the base wood whereas other pellet suppliers use oak and one in Wisconsin makes a 100% hickory pellet. Lastly, I have found that the average price for a lb of pellets is $1 (you can reduce that if you are willing to order a 1 ton pallet).

If you have any additional questions PM me and I'll provide any information that I can.

-Don
 
I felt I needed to reply to my own post up there. I am sure the Traeger cooks some great bbq. I just got ****ed off that they make them in china now. I lost my job due to production moving to china so this hits home for me. Sorry for the slam up there!
 
Corey,

For three years I have had a Traeger grill called a Lil Tex. I have mixed feelings on this unit which I will explain. I bought it online for around $700 including shipping, and it has a digital controller upgrade making it nice. I feel I don't get much depth of smoke flavor, and some have said to use other pellets than Traeger pellets. So far, I have only used Traeger pellets. I use my Traeger for only two meats since it doesnt give much smoke flavor. I love salmon and chicken cooked on it, especially thighs or quarters. Meats like pork butts and heavier denser meats do better on my WSM.
Additionally, I have had two fan issues which warranty claims took care of. Regardless, it took the unit out of commission while I repaired it and waited for parts.

Pros:
Set it and forget it.
Clean operation.
Easy to operate.
Easy set up and maintenance.
Attractive design.

Cons:
Mechanical failures (quality).
Lack of smoke depth
Digital temp controller allows temp to wander +/- 50 or more degrees.
Imparts little smoke depth.
Must have power available to plug in.
Not very tall internally. Beer can chickens BARELY stand upright. Use low profile stands with smallers chickens.

If I had to do it all over again, and know what I know now about the unit, I doubt I would buy it. Of course its easy to plug in and do other projects while the chicken cooks unattended. WSM is by far my choice, but more to deal with set up and cleaning wise.
 
Glad you apologized regarding your post.. but either way, just a note... Webers are made in china now days too... unfortunately seems to just be the way of life
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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by dean:
We have a dealer of Traegers by my house. I thought that they were a luxury item that was over priced to begin with! My opinion is that it is not the cooker it is the cook! Stick with american made weber and use charcoal because it tastes the best! To me a Traeger is something a wealthy ceo would have at his log mansion and use 2 times a year.. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
 
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Michael Wise:
Glad you apologized regarding your post.. but either way, just a note... Webers are made in china now days too... unfortunately seems to just be the way of life
icon_frown.gif
</div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The Gassers may be, but NOT the WSMs. Just checked the box - still 'Made in USA'.
 
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