I purchased my Traeger Junior in Dec 2014 at a Costco Road show. It was an Impulse buy. I never enjoyed cooking on gas and my wife didn't like the mess of Charcoal. Wood pellets seemed a great compromise.
I never intended to cook anything but burgers, chicken legs, pork steaks or an occasional Ribeye. I have cooked so much more.
Search Traeger Recipe if you are only interested in Recipes
Monday, July 30, 2018
Tuesday, July 24, 2018
When to Cook Low and Slow
It is so confusing. When do I cook hot and fast, low and slow or perhsps both?
Perhaps this article will help Click here
Sunday, July 8, 2018
Sorry Traeger
I am sorry to say the Pellet cleanout shoot didn't work very well only about 1/2 the pellets came out. Had to remover the honeycomb hopper screen to remove all the pellets.
I also duct taped it shut since it was way to easy to open.
A great feature on paper but in practice not so much. I find I still need to take apart the grill to clean it out.
Even tho some of the features didn't work as well as I wanted them too the Pid Controller, Grill size and sturdiness still make this a tremendous value for the price.
The honey comb grate on top of the hopper makes it hard to smooth out the pellets and add my hopper extension. (This looks removable not sure I will need too the hopper is huge.)
A few more observations
It has 2 ports for meat probes but only came with 1 probe. (Not a big deal since I use my Thermoworks Smoke and Igrill 2)
The ash cleanout system isnt very robust and you still need to take it apart and vacuum out the ash. It does get blown all over by the fan.
The customer service is great, long wait time in early PM.
Not many accessories available the two items I'd be most interested in is a front shelf and insulation blanket.
Don't Forget to open the Chimney.
Thursday, May 3, 2018
Thermoworks Smoke Review
The Thermoworks smoke is an leave in Thermometer by thermoworks.
First impressions on unboxing. It is extermely well made and heavier then the others. They are suppose to come pre paired the Reciever and transmitter. In my case they werent but a fast search of there website and I synced them is less then 5 minutes.
The Thermoworks smoke is the best leave in thermometer I own. I do have an Igrill 2 , I grill mini and a Maverick.
The I grill2 works well with some quirks, the app needs to be reset a lot. The bluetooth needs to be repaired often. The maverick seemed to work well when it was turned on but I had a hard time turning it on.
Now back to the thermoworks. The biggest thing i like about my thermomworks smoke is that it works in my basement office. The other thermomters loose connection in my office. I like doing long cooks while Im home working so the office connectivity is huge.
The thermoworks smoke is modular. I can add a wi fi unit at any time and monitor my pit while I am away from home. I havent had that need yet but Im sure there is a wi fi unit in my future.
The thermoworks products including the smoke are made for professional cooks and competiton BBQ teams and are not for there accuracy.
The cons are that it only has 2 probes so if I am cooking 2 pork butts (which I often do) i cant monitor my pit and the food at the same time. I do have the igrill so I can use 2 thermometers to monitor my cook.
Click the below link to purchase the smoke and view the features video.
Click here for smoke
Here is info on Wi Fi gateway click here
One last tip if you sign up for email updates you oftem hear about sales on all of the Thermoworks products. I purchased my thermapen, thermapen mk4, thermopop and my smoke on sale from those emails.
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
Time Saving Goodness Sliiced Pork Shoulder
I am not sure what I like more the Thermoworks Blog or there products.
Here is there post about slicing a pork shoulder vs Pulling it. You pull it from smoker at 175 degrees about 30 degrees sooner Read the Article here for the details
https://blog.thermoworks.com/2018/04/smoking-a-pork-shoulder-for-sliced-bbq/?utm_source=Nl-2018Apr28&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Feature&utm_content=inbox&utm_campaign=April2018-Smoked-Pork-cs
Saturday, April 28, 2018
Pulled Pork 1/2 the time
Thermoworks has an awesome blog. Its not always about BBQ but frequently it is.
Here is thier take on pulled pork in 1/2 the time. Ive never done it this way but who knows someday I Might
https://blog.thermoworks.com/2015/10/pulled-pork-time-temperature-matters/
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Reheating That BBQ
Baby Back Ribs
Spare Ribs
Beef Ribs
Lamb Ribs
Burnt Ends
Pulled Chicken
Pulled Pork
BBQ SAUSAGE
BBQ Wings
Sliced Beef Brisket
Hickory Pit Beans
Click Here for chart You may need to scroll to Page 2