Let's Talk BBQ
Outdoor Cooking Equipment => Grills & Smokers => Pellet Grills and Smokers => Topic started by: Greg Stoudenmire on July 28, 2012, 03:51:02 PM
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Was at Academy Sports today and The Qutdoor Gourmet (Traeger) pellet grill was on sale for $299.
Needless to say one of them jumped into the back of my truck.
(Pictures to come no battery's in the camera)
So before I fire this thing up for the first time is there anything I need to do any mods I need to make?
Also am I right to thing this is a Lil' Tex Elite with out the stainless door, and wheel upgrade. As it has the digital thermostat control,
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Was at Academy Sports today and The Qutdoor Gourmet (Traeger) pellet grill was on sale for $299.
Needless to say one of them jumped into the back of my truck.
(Pictures to come no battery's in the camera)
So before I fire this thing up for the first time is there anything I need to do any mods I need to make?
Also am I right to thing this is a Lil' Tex Elite with out the stainless door, and wheel upgrade. As it has the digital thermostat control,
Did they leave the Treager thermometer in the lid or did they swap it out?
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What a deal Greg!!! Congrats. Let us know how it cooks. muebe and Hub both are experienced Treager guys, and they will be able to tell you of any mods.
T
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Was at Academy Sports today and The Qutdoor Gourmet (Traeger) pellet grill was on sale for $299.
Needless to say one of them jumped into the back of my truck.
(Pictures to come no battery's in the camera)
So before I fire this thing up for the first time is there anything I need to do any mods I need to make?
Also am I right to thing this is a Lil' Tex Elite with out the stainless door, and wheel upgrade. As it has the digital thermostat control,
Did they leave the Treager thermometer in the lid or did they swap it out?
It was swapped out, and I just noticed that the Chimney Cap got lost on the way home. I though it was screwed on.
Now to the store for a battery for the camera and something to smoke or cook.
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Tell em it was missing the chimney cap and hopefully they will give you one........ ::)
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Call the customer service number in the manual and they should send out a new cap.
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Greg that is an absolute steal for $299.00
The smaller Traeger Junior(055) is smaller, no digital controller, and cost more!
I would get to know how it cooks before performing any mods to it. Once you get settled with it I can give you some advice on mods ;)
That cap is just a rain cap so as long as it is not gonna be used/left in the rain your good to go.
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Let us know how that puppy works out for ya. I Posted a thread on those here a while back. I see it for $399 at one academy and $299 at another. One had the Traeger thermometer still on it.
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Good score! I'm sure you will get a lot of use out of it. I have been pounding out great cooks on my Traeger for 3 years now. Makes a great outdoor oven in the summer months also. I have not done any mods on mine.
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Well I'm loading it back into the little truck and taking it back to swap it out.
Fired it up to burn it in and it ran for about 5 min and then made a loud hum and went dead.
So I called the store and told them I was on the way and tag the last one so I can swap it out.
So first cook will have to be tomorrow.
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Sorry to hear about that but you will at least have a chimney cap now!! ;D
Looking forward to your maiden voyage tomorrow....do they have to be seasoned?
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The hum came from the missing cap sensor . It's a safety feature. ;D ;) Back to the Olympics :)
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Loud hum?? Most Traeger problems are hot rods and muffin fans. Probably an auger problem of some sort. I hope the next one gets you pellet happy!
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Well I have the new one at home but no one to help me unload it tonight so It will be tomorrow afternoon.
Maybe a late Sunday afternoon cook.
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So when are ya going to officially add this smoker to the list you got down at the bottom of your posts ;) ;D
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So when are ya going to officially add this smoker to the list you got down at the bottom of your posts ;) ;D
Most of the time I wait till I have a cook/smoke on something before I add it.
But since ya asked.
Its done.
;D 8)
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I went to Academy store today and seen the same grill, if Kimmie was not in site that puppy would have been in the back of my truck. The hopper unit alone sells for 275.00 to 300.00 bucks!!!
Great buy!!!
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And that also has the 180F Ortech digital controller. Traeger is only selling the 225F controller right now. That controller alone is over a $75 upgrade.
Greg you will have questions about the p-settings. When you do let me know and I will answer them if I can.
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I went to Academy store today and seen the same grill, if Kimmie was not in site that puppy would have been in the back of my truck. The hopper unit alone sells for 275.00 to 300.00 bucks!!!
Great buy!!!
I know how that goes. I was married at one time, until I had to get rid of her. It was that or kill them and well I'm not a killer.
Only reason I got it was I just got a expense check in from June.
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And that also has the 180F Ortech digital controller. Traeger is only selling the 225F controller right now. That controller alone is over a $75 upgrade.
Greg you will have questions about the p-settings. When you do let me know and I will answer them if I can.
muebe, ya I was reading a little about it somewhere tonight.
It controls the timer on the auger if I understood right.
I believe a p2 setting is where I need to set it?
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And that also has the 180F Ortech digital controller. Traeger is only selling the 225F controller right now. That controller alone is over a $75 upgrade.
Greg you will have questions about the p-settings. When you do let me know and I will answer them if I can.
muebe, ya I was reading a little about it somewhere tonight.
It controls the timer on the auger if I understood right.
I believe a p2 setting is where I need to set it?
It'll all depends on how the smoker holds temps while cooking. Taking the outside temps into account also.
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Well I have the new one at home but no one to help me unload it tonight so It will be tomorrow afternoon.
Maybe a late Sunday afternoon cook.
Greg.... It is perfectly acceptable to leave it in your truck and "tail-gate" at your own house ;D........
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There's an old saying: You get what you pay for. That doesn't mean this is a bad cooker, just don't expect to "turn it on" and start producing the best food, yet.
First, I recommend burning it in to remove any leftover factory residue -- an hour on high temp will do that.
Second, don't be tempted to use heating pellets. Cheap because they usually contain "miscellaneous" stuff instead of all hardwoods.
Third, season it by either spraying all over the inside with PAM or wiping it with corn oil and running at medium temp for an hour.
Fourth, take plenty of time to get to know the machine. Every cooker of every type has it quirks and the more you experiment and learn it the better the output will be.
Fifth, most pellet cookers produce what I call "adequate" smoke for most tastes. This is valuable to cooks who either compete (where oversmoking is a deal-killer) or to cooks who like to get complex, combined flavors from smoke, rub, sauce, etc.. If you want heavy smoke you'll need to look up adjunct devices like Amazen tubes, SmokeDaddies, etc.. The main factors on smoke production are good pellets and proper cooker usage -- pellet cookers are very efficient and don't produce much smoke at high temps. At low temps they smoke the same as a well-tuned stick burner.
Sixth, take time to adapt your recipes to the capabilities and features of the cooker. Most people who buy a new cooker, use it a few times, and then walk away in disgust NEVER take the time to learn it. There are lots of good cookers of many types out there but a few folks who should never give up charcoal ::)
Have fun! PM me if I can help you with anything.
Hub
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And Greg doing a biscuit test will really help learn your pit.
Buy the pre-made biscuits and place them all around the grill and bake according to the directions. The ones that cook faster or even burn are your hotspots. You can avoid these areas when cooking slow or use them to your advantage during high temp cooks ;)
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Will do a biscuit test tomorrow when I get home from work to find the hot spots.
O.K., She has been burned off, cooled down rubbed / oiled down like a swim suite model.
Heated up and cooked on now.
First the grill.
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee474/Greg_Stoudenmire/Treagar%20Pellet%20Grill/GEDC0127.jpg)
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee474/Greg_Stoudenmire/Treagar%20Pellet%20Grill/GEDC0126.jpg)
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee474/Greg_Stoudenmire/Treagar%20Pellet%20Grill/GEDC0128.jpg)
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee474/Greg_Stoudenmire/Treagar%20Pellet%20Grill/GEDC0134.jpg)
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee474/Greg_Stoudenmire/Treagar%20Pellet%20Grill/GEDC0131.jpg)
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee474/Greg_Stoudenmire/Treagar%20Pellet%20Grill/GEDC0132.jpg)
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee474/Greg_Stoudenmire/Treagar%20Pellet%20Grill/GEDC0133.jpg)
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee474/Greg_Stoudenmire/Treagar%20Pellet%20Grill/GEDC0129.jpg)
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee474/Greg_Stoudenmire/Treagar%20Pellet%20Grill/GEDC0137.jpg)
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee474/Greg_Stoudenmire/Treagar%20Pellet%20Grill/GEDC0136.jpg)
First cook was cheesy potato slices with bacon mixed in with bread crumbs over the top and small sirloin with mixed green salad.
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee474/Greg_Stoudenmire/Treagar%20Pellet%20Grill/GEDC0138.jpg)
Forgot to take pictures of the steaks on the grill but here it is on the plate.
It was med-rare.
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee474/Greg_Stoudenmire/Treagar%20Pellet%20Grill/GEDC0139.jpg)
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Greg fine looking meal for your first cook ;)
Interesting that the drip tray and burn pot heat diffuser appear to be stainless. That is a nice upgrade!
You know I used to spend the time foiling the tray but find it is just easier to crank up the temp for 10 minutes when done cooking to burn stuff off and then scrape the tray when it cools. I have found that grease ends up getting under the foil or can pocket and puddle.
And I highly recommend you vacuum out the firepot after EVERY cook. You don't want a flameout.
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Ya, I'm going to have to get a small shop vac just for that.
While doing the burn in it got up to 400ยบ F , that was with the meat probe in a potato and bbq probe hanging of my ET-372 so it should be able to cook most things.
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Nice pics Greg!
Lowe's sells a wet/dry vac that fits on a 5 gal. bucket - for $20. Work great - and - again - it's $20! ;)
T
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I have a 1 gallon shop vac that can hang on the wall just for vacuuming my burn pot out.
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Good looking meal! What brand and type of pellets did you use?
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T, thanks. I'll be going by lowes to check on that vac.
Mike, the pellets were the ones sold at Academy Sports. B&B. Better Burn apple was all they had at the time.
Greg
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I just bought some B & B pellets and will test them soon
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Hi,
I hope it's ok to revive this thread. I just wanted to say I bought the same type Gourmet Pellet Grill at Academy here in SATX and back in December 2012 it was on sale for $199. I almost bought the Traeger Tex model at Costco for $699. I am glad I saved the $500. I cooked on it about 6 times before I moved firebrick into the bottom of the grill. So far I am happy with the results after we figured out how it worked.
At first I had a problem with the unit tripping the CB. I did not realize that you had to turn the knob to smoke and the lid up for 15 min or until smoke started to generate. I was cranking the unit up all the way and the CB would trip. I almost returned that dang thing... glad I RTFlippinM... Anyway, I am thinking about drilling a coupl of holes for the Temp probe to go into and adding a DIY cold smoker or smoke daddy to the grill. Also I have seen where some Traeger owners were doing lid mods to theirs to seal it better, thinking about doing the same. The thing I like about the Gourmet Outdoor is that the wheels look sturdy. Now I know that doesn't make the food cook any better, but my father-in-law who is a metal worker checked out both Traeger and Gourmet and his opinion was that the Gourmet looked sturdier and well built compared to the Traeger for the price mind you.
Anyone doing the same type of mods to theirs?