Anybody do Traeger here?

I have always thought negatively about Traeger and electric smokers… while admittedly never owning one… which did not get In the way of forming my opinion!!

Anyway… find myself in a new house scenario where long story short I have a Traeger… any thoughts from you guys?

Thanks

What is it?

https://www.traeger.com/

[Jenise]

I have never used one, John. I just hate the whole idea of the pellets--being locked into an after-market product that I must use or else. (Of course, when one compares that to having to keep full propane tanks on hand, maybe pellets are better!) That said, we have two friends who bought Traegers and they are absolutely in love with them. Both men never felt they were all that good at barbecuing and somehow the Traeger makes them feel like pros. They have legions of fans.

Online opinion seems like the usual: some people love it, some people hate it. I don't think the pellets are proprietary to Traeger as there are plenty of other pellet-grill makers out there.

The plus for pellet grills, I read, is that they are basically set it and forget it: the thermo is accurate, the food will smoke or cook as you request, so you're free to enjoy your family and guests. Pellets are cheaper than propane by a lot, and you can get flavors (e.g., mesquite, cherry) for your experiments.

The minus for Traeger is that it is a high-priced model. But, as you are inheriting one, that problems seems solved.

So, back to me and not my reading... I'd say give it a chance, you never know.

I have never used one, John. I just hate the whole idea of the pellets--being locked into an after-market product that I must use or else.

That's why I would never own an Nespresso machine!

BBQ gas is more like just filling your car, not a limiting decision...I'd be more open to products like the Traeger if they were 'dual-fuel' so you had options.

[Jenise]

Me too on the Nespresso and Keurig, Bill. Environmentally, a disaster. Plus, I have one or the other almost every time we stay in a hotel, which averages once a month, and have never had one I really liked except to find Nespresso superior to Keurig. But, either compared to fresh ground beans and French Press? Not even close.

My upstairs neighbor has a Nespresso machine which she adores. I like it only as a change of pace cup, once in a while. One year, for Hanukkristmas, I got her some fancy Nespresso cups. They are also a step up.

[Jenise]

So a friend called and invited us to dinner tomorrow. I asked about the menu for wine-pairing purposes and she told me: "Traeger chicken"! I guess it's A Thing. And no, this isn't one of people mentioned in my earlier post--I didn't even know this couple had one.

Let me know what happens!!

[Jenise]

So the Traeger chicken was pretty damned delicious, with both white and dark meat perfectly cooked to the second. My friend has the smallest version of this grill, but it was large enough for two large chickens side by side. He LOVES it. The magic of the whole thing is that the temperature setting determines the rate at which the pellets feed into the fire. Kind of a "set it and forget it" style of cooking because, as he put it, he's "not the type to keep checking and adjusting". (He's a CFO who had planned on being a doctor--scientific, and not patient.) Just give him a temperature and number of minutes--it's foolproof.

I asked about the pellets. Apparently they come in various 'flavors'. He was using hickory-cherry last night but admitted that they can't tell the difference between that and hickory-apple or any other combination involving hickory. I don't know that I tasted the hickory, to be honest. The smoke effect was very light.

The chickens had been rubbed all over with olive oil then seasoned salt. Though the meat was cooked perfectly, the skin was not crisp.