quote:

Originally posted by Green Highlander:
I noticed smoke coming up through the pellet box. Is that normal?

Sounds like you may have had a tube fire. My pellet grill is not Traeger brand, but I believe most of the grills operate the same way. When I have smoke coming out of the pellet box, I have a tube fire. See the last paragraph of my first post in this thread.

I wrap the plate below the cooking grid in foil. Just makes clean up easier. I also have the Pro 34 and replaced the cooking grid with a 2-piece that fits in the dishwasher for the same reason.

If I am doing ribs for a bunch of people I use a rib rack that allows me to cook them on edge. You can easily fit 7 racks in the Pro 34.

I love my Meater thermometer. I use it to watch the meat and my older Thermoworks DOT to measure ambient.

Went to do some ribs today but the auger won’t turn. I don’t have any wet pellets in it so I’m not sure why it might be jammed. Looks like I am spending tomorrow morning taking the auger assembly apart. Hopefully nothing is broken. I have a bunch of meat in the fridge just waiting to be smoked.

Before you go full-blown disassembly, try again while tapping the underside of the pellet feed tube on the belly of the smoker and/or the auger shaft itself with a hammer handle or other length of wood.

This will often free up a lightly jammed auger. It worked for me more than once.

Here are a few things I’ve learned that I haven’t seen mentioned yet.

You will need a shop vac, there is a small unit meant to attach to a common 5 gallon bucket that is handy, my vac was a 20 gallon thing that is awkward.

I’ve used the Traeger pre fit aluminum pans that go on the burner plate. They add some additional cost. I don’t get grease under the foil that in my opinion is the reason behind grease fires. Speaking of grease fires, they can be a damn big deal, an extinguisher or fire blanket is not a bad idea. Watch that foil liner when it gets greasy clean that stuff up. A good inspection of all the grease areas at vac time is a must. I vacuum mine roughly every 10lbs of pellets. Burgers will be the greatest source of fires, lots of heat and lots of grease. Nothing else is like it, most cooks are lower temps, and the fat renders slowly.

Finally, all said and done it’s a wood fired convection oven. I’ve baked a dozen loaves of bread on mine, just a bit of a smoky taste, more of a scent honestly. It’s not an offset stick burner and you’re not going to get the heavy smoke flavor. If that is important, just get a smoke tube of some sort it need not burn over 4hrs, somewhere around 3hrs your meat will have absorbed all the smoke it’s going to.

Lay a block of cream cheese in there on a square of foil, sprinkle a bit of your rub spice on it. Let it go till you just know it’s time, 45min maybe. Great about an hour before the entre is done.

Most of the tips I have are already covered: get a grill cover, have a fire extinguisher for peace of mind, cover the inside with aluminum foil to make it easier to clean, inexpensive shop-vac, make sure you clean it out regularly, and use it often for delicious smoked meats. I use mine every weekend for ribs (honey and brown sugar glaze, then Head Country over the top of that).

Thanks for the continued advice.

I will be covering the drip plate with foil. I do this already when I roast stuff in the oven to save my sheet pans. The fire extinguisher is kept near at hand and I hit Harbor Freight for a small shop vac.

Burgers and high temp food like that will likely be done on the gas Weber or on the charcoal grill. Yes, my wife is wondering why I need 3 grills.

I started out with a Traeger and it lasted a while until the main body rusted. I eventually upgraded to a RecTeq which has an all stainless steel main body.

Don't use oven cleaner on the paint. It will eat right through the powder coat and the rust will begin shortly after.

My favorite thing to cook on the pellet grill is pulled pork and brisket. I just threw in a brisket 3 and a half hours ago for an overnight cook. Should be done at noon tomorrow.

For Brisket and pulled pork, fill the hopper and set it to 225˚. For pulled pork, give your pork shoulder a good rub about 12 hours prior and then set it in the smoker when you go to bed and it will nearly be done when you wake up. Keep it running low and slow until you're at 203˚ internal temp and then wrap it in butcher paper or foil and throw it in an empty ice chest with towels lining the bottom. Let it rest for 2 to 3 hours and it will still be steaming hot when you pull it. I do not wrap my pulled pork during the cook. You can wrap it at 155 or so to help it accelerate through the stall, if needed. But I cook with lots of time to spare, so I don't wrap until it's done. Then I leave it wrapped until it's rested and ready to shred.

Same thing for brisket, but wrap it when it hits around 155˚ to 165˚. I also cook tri-tip like I do brisket. I rub it down with some Montreal steak seasoning and throw it in at 225˚ and wrap it in butcher paper when it hits 155˚. Then let it come up to 203˚ and pull it and let it rest in the empty chest for an hour. Cook time on a tri-tip should be 5 to 6 hours total for a 2.5 to a 3 pound cut.

Don't unwrap your meat until it's done resting.

Chicken and turkey come out great in the pellet smoker!
I cut up whole fresh chickens and rub them with buttery steakhouse seasoning and I turn the grill to 350˚. Pull each piece of chicken as it reaches 175˚ to 185˚. 175 is good, but it will be really juicy. If you or your SO don't like clear juices flowing when you cut it or bite it, cook to 185. It will still be moist, but no juice left. My wife likes dry chicken, so...

Meat Church on YouTube has some great pellet smoking videos. Check them out. There are many others, as well as Recteq, Traeger, etc...

Here's a nice tip and tricks video from RecTeq. Applies to Traeger as well...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRI_ZfN4mVI

Meat church brisket...(Traeger)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klmG0DQgEJs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFL7tTmvVBU

https://www.youtube.com/@MeatChurchBBQ/videos

Tony.

Congrats on the Traeger Pro 34! For starters, keep an eye on the pellet level and make sure you get good-quality pellets for the best results. Preheat it properly before you start cooking, and don’t be afraid to experiment with different wood flavors. Also, don’t forget to clean the grill regularly to keep it in top shape.

quote:

Originally posted by Legal Beagle:
Most of the tips I have are already covered: get a grill cover, have a fire extinguisher for peace of mind, cover the inside with aluminum foil to make it easier to clean, inexpensive shop-vac, make sure you clean it out regularly, and use it often for delicious smoked meats. I use mine every weekend for ribs (honey and brown sugar glaze, then Head Country over the top of that).

Get the heavy duty aluminum foil 25 microns thick. Link


Regular or even "heavy duty" foil will melt to the pan at high temps; I go to high temps when I'm cleaning the grill after the end of the cook.

quote:

Originally posted by Green Highlander:
Went to do some ribs today but the auger won’t turn. I don’t have any wet pellets in it so I’m not sure why it might be jammed. Looks like I am spending tomorrow morning taking the auger assembly apart. Hopefully nothing is broken. I have a bunch of meat in the fridge just waiting to be smoked.

Traeger actually has a very responsive technical help. You can call them or use the help in the app. Have you tried priming the auger to see if it turns?

The auger was jammed after the tube fire. Took everything apart and it works fine now. Did some short ribs for 6 hours for tonight’s dinner and just took a brisket off after 10 hours. Will let it rest for a couple hours wrapped in foil before sticking it in the fridge and save it for tomorrow. Unfortunately have things to do tomorrow so I has to cook it today. We’ll see how tomorrow’s reheat goes.