Traeger wood pellet grill.Do i need a Traeger or is there a better choice, money wise

[Fatman LOU]

I want one, i need one , i just hate the high cost of one. Is there a good comparable out there? Would i be happy with a cheaper Traeger they sell at most stores or should i just quit being so cheap? Do you like the wood pellets? I never smoked with the wood pellets.

 

[Burque]

I want one, i need one , i just hate the high cost of one. Is there a good comparable out there? Would i be happy with a cheaper Traeger they sell at most stores or should i just quit being so cheap? Do you like the wood pellets? I never smoked with the wood pellets.

I have one and I love it.

A lot of people say get a rec tec instead. Traeger did stop building in the states.

Personally if I was buying today I'd look at the rec tec or green mountain grill.

Pellet smoking is easy and awesome.

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[Fatman LOU]

I have one and I love it.

A lot of people say get a rec tec instead. Traeger did stop building in the states.

Personally if I was buying today I'd look at the rec tec or green mountain grill.

Pellet smoking is easy and awesome.

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Thanks Burque, im going to check out the rec tec line and green mountain. I need a rotisserie to smoke the 25 cornish cross chickens that my wife will be butchering in 8 weeks. lol

 

[Ares]

I want one, i need one , i just hate the high cost of one. Is there a good comparable out there? Would i be happy with a cheaper Traeger they sell at most stores or should i just quit being so cheap? Do you like the wood pellets? I never smoked with the wood pellets.

Coincidentally I was discussing meat smoking with a colleague this morning.

He said he had a Traeger because his wife works for Ace Hardware and they had the Traeger for 55% off, so that was his father's day gift.

 

[Fatman LOU]

I talked to rep at both the rec tec line and green mountain. Damm now they have wifi capability. Anyways i like the Daniel Boone from Green Mountain for price and quality.
I was told by one of the reps that the Traeger grill dont get hot enough to sear a steak if you wanted to cook fast.

 

[number51]

I talked to rep at both the rec tec line and green mountain. Damm now they have wifi capability. Anyways i like the Daniel Boone from Green Mountain for price and quality.
I was told by one of the reps that the Traeger grill dont get hot enough to sear a steak if you wanted to cook fast.

My friend has a Traeger and he kept his gas grill for steaks and burgers etc, the Traeger only gets to 450 degrees.

 

[dweebs19]

don't want to start a new thread on this but do any of you guys Sous vide? if you do, how does it compare to using a grill?

[video=youtube;lHoxE1dxs3U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHoxE1dxs3U[/video]

 

[Hawkeye OG]

don't want to start a new thread on this but do any of you guys Sous vide? if you do, how does it compare to using a grill?

[video=youtube;lHoxE1dxs3U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHoxE1dxs3U[/video]

@burque

 

[Burque]

I talked to rep at both the rec tec line and green mountain. Damm now they have wifi capability. Anyways i like the Daniel Boone from Green Mountain for price and quality.
I was told by one of the reps that the Traeger grill dont get hot enough to sear a steak if you wanted to cook fast.

I do steaks on propane. Why mess with something that's already awesome?

I had an awesome porterhouse last night. People get too excited about the reverse sear.

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[Burque]

don't want to start a new thread on this but do any of you guys Sous vide? if you do, how does it compare to using a grill?

[video=youtube;lHoxE1dxs3U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHoxE1dxs3U[/video]

Just got an anova sous vide for my birthday actually! Haven't broken it in yet, but I will let you know. Everything I've heard read seen about them is they are the tits

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[Burque]

Also a lot of what people do with sous vide is get it to temp then sear or smoke at the end.

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[modo]

I used to do a lot of grilling and smoking. I still do some smoking but I have found the joys of cooking steak on an iron skillet. Best filet mignon I have had come from an iron skillet....

also see burger below. I have been mixing my own hamburger meat and now cook them on a skillet and finish in an oven. I also baste the burger with Irish butter and put it in the skillet with a few cloves of garlic


[video=youtube;z5hwo3XxN0c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=69&v=z5hwo3XxN0c[/video]

 

[Fatman LOU]

I used to do a lot of grilling and smoking. I still do some smoking but I have found the joys of cooking steak on an iron skillet. Best filet mignon I have had come from an iron skillet....

also see burger below. I have been mixing my own hamburger meat and now cook them on a skillet and finish in an oven. I also baste the burger with Irish butter and put it in the skillet with a few cloves of garlic


[video=youtube;z5hwo3XxN0c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=69&v=z5hwo3XxN0c[/video]

Yeah i like cooking steak in a iron skillet . That irish butter sounds good. I'm getting hungry now .

 

[Gustavus Adolphus]

My buddy has a Traeger and loves it. Was at his place for a bbq a week or so ago, and the thing is fucking huge. You can really do a lot with it.

 

[jooo83]

I want one, i need one , i just hate the high cost of one. Is there a good comparable out there? Would i be happy with a cheaper Traeger they sell at most stores or should i just quit being so cheap? Do you like the wood pellets? I never smoked with the wood pellets.

Have you considered a big green egg?

 

[Fatman LOU]

Have you considered a big green egg?

Ive seen them, i dont know much about them .

 

[jooo83]

Ive seen them, i dont know much about them .

I love the green egg. You can get much higher temps. So the traeger is fine for low and slow cooks but limited overall. with the green egg you can do the low and slow cooks but also sear steaks and other meat at 700+ temps. I don't own a Traeger but I'm heard from others that they take less effort to use.

 

[Burque]

I love the green egg. You can get much higher temps. So the traeger is fine for low and slow cooks but limited overall. with the green egg you can do the low and slow cooks but also sear steaks and other meat at 700+ temps. I don't own a Traeger but I'm heard from others that they take less effort to use.

That is the benefit of a pellet smoker, turn it on, wait for it to smoke up, set it to desired temp, put on the meat and start drinking beer.

Occasionally you swirl the pellets a bit and add some more if they are getting low, but a full box will take you entirely through most cooks.

Like I said before I use my propane grill for burgs and snakes. No reason to mess with a good thing.

If you are space starved I would understand wanting something that fit your personal grilling space, but if I remember correctly you are in a fairly open spot with a big lot so I assume that having two machines is not an issue for you.

 

[number51]

I mentioned I have a friend with a Traeger pellet, I also have a friend that was a competitive BBQ'er with lots of wins. The 'pro's' look down on pellet smokers, and the competition guy is always giving good natured grief to the Traeger guy. The pro admits stick burners are a ***** to control the temp on, you have to learn your smoker, trial and error, and then when you know your rig you still have to watch it constantly, adjusting the fire and the vents.

The product off a stick burner is better, but is it worth the effort and cleanup? If you want to start a smoke and walk away for a few hours, you can only do that with a pellet smoker.

 

[PaytonHighstep]

I also own a Traeger and would buy it again. I'm sure there are other options cheaper as outlined above. The one thing I'd consider is realize what comes with the Traeger, which is phenomenal customer support. I belong to a FB group where I see this on a daily basis. Something goes wrong with the grill and Traeger customer service goes above and beyond to fix the issue. They replace everything, from auger to the entire barrel, even when it was damaged in a storm. They replace electrical parts at zero cost to the owner.

It's a huge investment, but any of these pellet smokers can break. Just keep in mind with the other brands you might not have the customer support you have with Traeger.

Cooking wise, I do everything on my Traeger. Yeah, it takes longer for the regular burger and chicken type stuff, but it's worth it to me. I get some added flavor and it takes maybe another 20 minutes to cook those items. After reading some responses here, I think I'll try my hand at cooking burgers in an iron skillet, for those nights I get home from work late.