My Best Traeger Purchases

My Best Traeger Purchases

Traeger 

When I first purchased my Traeger I joined some facebook user groups on Traeger, I surfed the user groups and went to the web sites of the Guru's.  I purchased some things to enhance my cooking experience based on the Limited research.  Needless to say some of the things I purchased will make there way into a goodwill bag.  Here is a brief Detail on what I would and wouldn't do if I had to do it all over again.  I have my top 3 in no particular order and some honorable mention Items again in no particular order.  I will also list some of the things I purchased that didn't work as well for me as the items on this list.  These are just my opinions and I realize that alot of this is subjective.  So if you have something that works for you then I think thats fantastic, its all about the good food we produce.

Top 3

GrillGrates

GrillGrates

I have already written an extensive blog Post on the GrillGrates.  These were the 3rd or 4th thing I purchased to help sear meats better.  I purchased a cast iron griddle which while it did work it didn't seem to give me the advantages of GrillGrates.  I also purchased a few other metal grill baskets that have since been given to goodwill.  One Great feature of the Grill Grates is I can use 1 Pannel, 2 Pannels or all 3 pannels on my Traeger Jr. Because of the design of the GrillGrates you can add wood chips, or pellets in the valleys to enhance the flavor.  The juices from the meat tend smoke in the valleys adding flavor,  I have used the Grates to cook the food from begining to end and becasue of the holes you get the smoke surrounding the meat not just on top.

 Click Here for GrillGrate Blog Post

Junior Rack

Junior Rack

The Junior Rack is such a great time and Pellet saver.  It lets you cook twice as much food at one time without using twice as many pellets.  I love to cook on my Traeger but I always love playing with my grand kids or watching a movie with my wife.   If I can cook a meal and be done in 45 minutes instead of 1 hr and 30 minutes why wouldn't I.  At one time I consider the option of making my own 2nd rack using nuts and bolts and washers and of course some kind of grill rack but decided to give the Junior rack a try. I am happy I did.  Its well made works well and I highly reccomend it!  The food below the rack is hard to turn.  I remove the rack with heat resistent gloves, turn the food and replace the rack,

You can get your rack here

Ortech controller

                              Ortech controller

My Jr came with a Low, Medium, High Controller.  After I had it a few months I replaced it with the ortech controller.  It is my understanding at one time they produced a similar controller for Traeger. Some people use more expensive PID controllers but this seems to work for me.  A few advantages it had over a similar Traeger controller that I considered was an easier method to adjust P-Settings and when you turn it off it goes through a shut down cycle.

Honorable Mention

Insulation Blanket

Fire bricks

Insulation Blanket and Fire Bricks

The Insulation blanket and fire bricks are used to maintain better temperature control,  The Fire Bricks line the bottom of the grill and absorb and hold heat so when you open the grill you don't have a huge temperature drop,  The Insulation blanket along with the fire bricks help keep the cold air out so you maintain your temperature and burn less pellets in the winter.  Some people talk about saving money and using  welding blanket instead of the Traeger made to fit insulation blanket.  I deciding against using a welding blanket when I found out it had fiberglass fibers,

These Items were also covered in the following blog post
http://traegerrecipesbymike.blogspot.com/2016/08/fire-bricks-helpful-traeger.html

Thermopop, Thermapen and Igrill 2

Thermopop, Thermapen and Igrill 2 in middle

Thermoworks makes both the Thermopop and Thermapen Instant read thermomaters. The brand new Thermopop cost $29 and reads an accurate temperature within 3 to 4 seconds.  The Thermapen is accurate and faster but costs considerable more,  Most people should be able to work with the Thermopop just fine.  The Thermapen might be overkill.  I have both along with a whole slew of other thermomers I dont need.

The Igrill 2 is a leave in thermometer which allows you to monitor your grill remotely.  I also purchased a maverick which while many people love I had a hard time with the on/off switch perhaps because of my arthitis. I also had a few cheaper remote thermoneters with only 1 probe and shorter range and various other shortcommings,  You get what you pay for.  Mamy people enjoy the Tappecue, It works off WiFi and is more expensive then the Igrill 2,  Tappecue reveiw from amazing ribs.

This remote probe shows some promise

Tools for a Successful cook

My BBQ Tool Kit

Here are a few tools I need for a stress free cooking experience on my Traeger.  I know people cook amazing food with just tongs but I need a bit more.

Leave In Thermometer

I Griil 2 by Weber

A leave in Thermometer because as they say if you are looking you are not cooking.  I currently useI Grill II  by Weber.  It works well for me and tells me the temperature of my grill as well as what I am cooking.  I do have all 4 probes.  I have used 3 probes for food and one for the Traeger. The Igrill sends the results directly to my android smartphone via Bluetooth.  They also have an App that works with the Iphone.  I was extremely impressed with Weber's customer service, they sent me a replacement probe at no cost when mine broke.


Another great feature of the Igrill is that it creates Graphs so you can see your Temperature swings

I also have a Maverick ET-732 remote BBQ Thermometer which I was not impresed with.

Some people seem to like the Tapeccue Wifi Thermometer.  There are a few other wi fi thermometers including 1 by thermoworks.

Instant read Thermometer 

Thermapen and Thermopop by thermoworks

When it comes to an Instant read Thermometers  nothing beats thermaworks.  I have a Thernapen and Thermopop they both work well the Thermapen is more accurate and faster, The thermopop is slower and a lttle less accurate.  Buy the best one you can afford between these 2.  Last time I looked there were multiple versions of the Thermapen the classic and the MK4. are the same when it comes to accuracy and speed the MK4 has more features.  Buy the best one you can afford between these 3.  

It looks like the newer Thermopops are even faster.  If you already have a Thermometer and just want an upgrade if you sign up for the Thermoworks newsletter they have sales often.  Sometimes they sell open box stuff at a discount but you get the same warranty ason a brand new one.

Thermoworks has great customer service.  For most things on the Traeger I agree its a matter of personnel test, but when it comes to an instant read thermometer I say get a thermoworks you will be happy you did.

                             

Tongs

Tongs, I have multiple sets of Tongs but my go to set is my 18 inch OXO.  Sometimes you need to use 1 set for raw chicken and another for cooked food.

Oxo Tongs

My Toolbox 

My Toolbox, Yes I actually have a toolbox which holds most of my grilling tools and supplies.  It is a Stanley flat max waterproof toolbox.  I have My Tongs, Spatulas, Grilling Gloves, Thermometers, Hand sanitizer, bleach wipes and even spices in my Fat Max.  It makes it easy to have everything all in one place.

I no longer store my spices in my toolbox they cake up.

Toolbox

Toolbox

Grill Tools

Some of My Spices and Rubs

Wet Dry Shop Vac

A wet Dry Shop vac is a must have tool to clean out your Firebox of excess ash.  I usually clean the Firebox when I replace the Foil on the Drip pan every 4 to 6 cooks.  Unless I do long cooks like Pork Shoulder then sometimes before and after the cook.  The brand doesn't seem to matter as long as it has enough HP to do the Job.

wet dry shop vac



Here are more posts about Tools I use
http://traegerrecipesbymike.blogspot.com/search/label/Grilling%20Tools?m=0