I'VE GONE OVER TO THE DARK SIDE

[ACW3]

Don,
Be careful.  Tommy will have your pellet pooper modified beyond your wildest dreams.  I did say "your wildest dreams", not his.  You know what he is like with a new idea in his head.  I don't know how Kimmie puts up with him sometimes.

Art

[IR2dum]

Dee got me straightened out on how to get the photos out of my phone so here they are. Not many pics, but this is the first test last evening of a spatchcocked yardbird with Elgin Southside Market rub. I sarted it on smoke setting for 30 min. and then bumped it up to 375 until the IT was at 170. My smoke setting temp turned out to be 225 so I need to adjust it down for more smoke. The cabinet temp was within 5 degrees of the called for temp and only varied by about 5 degrees up and down. All in all, I was pleased with the way this knock-off worked. Excited to do a brisket, but was told to wait until they go on sale probably closer to Memorial Day. I do have 3 butts and 2 turkeys in the freezer. Might need to thaw something out. And thanks for any suggestions ya'll might have.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[IR2dum]

Don,
Be careful.  Tommy will have your pellet pooper modified beyond your wildest dreams.  I did say "your wildest dreams", not his.  You know what he is like with a new idea in his head.  I don't know how Kimmie puts up with him sometimes.

Art

Kimmie is a saint.

[muebe]

Don don't pay no attention to that hood ornament(thermometer) cause they are not that accurate. You are cooking at grate level and not at the top of the hood. Get yourself a good digital gauge like the Maverick ET-732 if you don't have one. You can monitor grate temps and meat temps wirelessly with that thing.

And until you get familiar with how it operates I would wait on making adjustments of the p-setting on the thermostat. This timing adjustment can cause a flame out if set too low.

And did you mention three frozen butts? No need to thaw them out. Just throw them in on smoke mode for a few hours then bump it up to 250F until their IT hits 200F. You can rub them with some molasses while frozen and sprinkle with your favorite rub

[squirtthecat]

^^^^^^^^^  What he said! ^^^^^^^^^

[smokeasaurus]

That is a nice looking knock off and that chicken looks real good....

[CaptJack]

I'm major jealous cuz

[Pam Gould]

Don..chicken looks real good..ya did good and it's pretty too. WTG.  Pam .☆´¯`•.¸¸. ི♥ྀ

[TwoPockets]

I hope it works out for you Don. I think it might have been a one time buy for Academy. There are only a few left out in scattered stores and none in the warehouse with no purchase order pending. I think it fell victim to what happened to a lot of other new things they tried. It just showed up in the stores and no one really understood what it was or what to do with it. Any customers that knew what it was already had a name brand pellet grill and were not looking to buy it. There were a couple of know issues like a bad batch of ignitors that caused problems. I don't think they sourced these from Traeger but most likely from the folks that build the Traegers and they used the same components and design. There is one left in the store where I work sitting there at $199. The folks that work in that department don't even know it is there or know what it is. If it drops below $100 I might be able to buy it without having to pay for a divorce lawyer, but would have to pay for an extension for my deck to put it on.

[IR2dum]

OK, I've now done a comparison of the specs between a Traeger and this Outdoor Gourmet knockoff. The grill area is 19.5 X 29.5 for about 575 square inches, which puts it between the Lil Tex (418) and the Texas (646). The barrel size is the same as the Lil Tex at 20 inches. So the knockoff is 7.5 inches wider overall. I know the Lil Tex puts out 20K BTU's and the Texas puts out 36K BTU's, but I couldn't find the output for the knockoff, but I bet that it is probably comparable to the Lil Tex. Here is my question. How do they arrive at different BTU outputs? Is the burn pot larger or do they send more forced air in or how?

[IR2dum]

I hope it works out for you Don. I think it might have been a one time buy for Academy. There are only a few left out in scattered stores and none in the warehouse with no purchase order pending. I think it fell victim to what happened to a lot of other new things they tried. It just showed up in the stores and no one really understood what it was or what to do with it. Any customers that knew what it was already had a name brand pellet grill and were not looking to buy it. There were a couple of know issues like a bad batch of ignitors that caused problems. I don't think they sourced these from Traeger but most likely from the folks that build the Traegers and they used the same components and design. There is one left in the store where I work sitting there at $199. The folks that work in that department don't even know it is there or know what it is. If it drops below $100 I might be able to buy it without having to pay for a divorce lawyer, but would have to pay for an extension for my deck to put it on.

Ken, you summed it up perfectly. I probably shouldn't say anything, but there are two sitting in Macon, GA., but that might be one by now because I haven't talked to Jaxon in a couple of days. I was told that they sold one in College Station, TX for $99 just to get rid of it. And you don't need a new deck extension, you just need the Tim Tucker method of making new grill space.

[teesquare]

Ken, you summed it up perfectly. I probably shouldn't say anything, but there are two sitting in Macon, GA., but that might be one by now because I haven't talked to Jaxon in a couple of days. I was told that they sold one in College Station, TX for $99 just to get rid of it. And you don't need a new deck extension, you just need the Tim Tucker method of making new grill space.

Alright!!! Who let the cat out of the bag about my new multi-story grill parking deck!!!

[TwoPockets]

Alright!!! Who let the cat out of the bag about my new multi-story grill parking deck!!!

Tee, I have one of these I have thought about rigging up on the deck.

http://www.amazon.com/Racor-PHL-1R-HeavyLift-4-Foot-Cable-Lifted/dp/B0009I8AO6

[Smokin Soon]

OK, I've now done a comparison of the specs between a Traeger and this Outdoor Gourmet knockoff. The grill area is 19.5 X 29.5 for about 575 square inches, which puts it between the Lil Tex (418) and the Texas (646). The barrel size is the same as the Lil Tex at 20 inches. So the knockoff is 7.5 inches wider overall. I know the Lil Tex puts out 20K BTU's and the Texas puts out 36K BTU's, but I couldn't find the output for the knockoff, but I bet that it is probably comparable to the Lil Tex. Here is my question. How do they arrive at different BTU outputs? Is the burn pot larger or do they send more forced air in or how?

The firepot in the 070 has 7 holes and the Lil Tex has 9. Some folks like the performance of the 9 hole pot in the Lil Tex. They are not expensive at all unless you go stainless.

[IR2dum]

The firepot in the 070 has 7 holes and the Lil Tex has 9. Some folks like the performance of the 9 hole pot in the Lil Tex. They are not expensive at all unless you go stainless.

If I am understanding this correctly, the extra two holes allow more air to be pushed in for a hotter burn in the pot; however, the size of the pot remains the same? Sort of like the bellows effect, right?
So if the parts are interchangeable, I could get overall higher temps if I swapped out firepots? Is that a reasonable assumption? The reason I am asking is the fact that I don't think this grill has a high enough temp to grill a steak as it sits right now.  Does the Lil Tex 075 have the ability to grill a steak? Anybody with experience with this?