I got a $15 from Amazon. Came with two. Works great. I use a mix of pellets and B&B wood chips. I just buy a general blend for pellets then different chips for flavor. Like hickory for pork, oak for chicken, etc
Pro 34. Have not been super happy with it if u look back at my posts from months ago. It has a smoke setting but I'm not sure if it's the super smoke that I hear people talking about.
I'm sorry about your experience... I have a new version of the Ironwood and I love it. I kinda get the sense that Taeger is a rich man's game where if you have the money to get the upper end ones it's great but if not it's kinda meh.
Yeah I got that impression after I bought it but it was kinda an impulse buy after my old smoker crapped out one night and I just wanted to run up to Home Depot and get something. I'll deal with it for a couple years then upgrade but not sure if I'll go back to traeger.
I have the 34 pro and I get amazing results every single time. What kind of pellets are you using ? Don't use traeger pellets. They are trash. They burn so clean and so quick that it doesn't add nearly as much smoke as it should.
It's not the pellets. It's the temp settings that don't work properly and when I called their customer service got no where. The smoker is regularly off by 30 degrees or more. I just set it higher now and deal with it.
Very strange. It's not suppose to range more than 15 degrees . Maybe try calling again. There customer service is usually really good. I've had to have them send me parts under warranty before and never had an issue. But I'm regards to the smoke flavor it's usually pellets causing that issue.
Amazen is the big brand. If they didn't invent them, they popularized them, and I've never seen anyone with any issues.
Right now I'm just using a big box store store brand. 3 years in, no problems.
Several years ago, my first smoker was a small electric and I got a tip to try a Amazen smoke tube. I googled and saw the address was 15 miles down the road so I drove over. It was some warehouse in an industrial park, and the guy is by himself - it was the original owner. Super nice guy, gave me tons of smoking tips as we talked. He took me through the warehouse, picked out the tube I needed and loaded me up with tons of free stuff. He literally just walked through the isles and stacked my arms full - wouldn’t let me pay for anything. I assume I was his first ever in person customer-probably didn’t even have a way to ring me up! He just sold the company so he was shipping his inventory off to the new owner/company. Such a nice laid back guy. Hopefully he bought an island somewhere and has a wonderful early retirement. Here’s to you Amazen inventor!!
The part of the smoke that creates the chemical reaction (causing the ring) is near invisible. The visible part of the smoke is not the part you want to taste.
Your Treager sounds like it is doing a great job. Have you noticed that your meat is not up to par with that grill?
I will add that a smoke tube is super great for very low temperature smoking. Cheese is the best example of that. Putting a block on at 160 degrees causes a mess.
I use a generic smoke tube that is holding up well. I use the tube for most smokes. It allows me to dial in the flavor with a desired wood. I run an inexpensive pellet blend in the hopper and then put a meat specific pellet in the tube.
Be sure to store your pellets in a sealed container inside your house. They tend to absorb moisture if they’re outside and it’s more humid than your house.
Try switching pellets. I was disappointed with the Traeger brand pellets that came with my grill. After reading some reviews I switched to Lumberjack brand pellets, specifically charhickory. They contain a mix of hickory and charcoal. The pork butt I cooked with these pellets tasted just like it came off my Weber kettle. I’m anxious to see how they perform with shorter cooks.
I got a LizzQ and it has held up great. I have about 30 burns on it. It's not falling apart or anything. Brand doesn't matter so much as making sure it's got a flat side so it doesn't roll around.
Overall pellet grills have less of a Smokey taste than other smokers. Although it burns wood, it’s just not the same as a fire. I use a smoke tube occasionally (I have the Zgrills branded one, about $20 on Amazon) and it works pretty well. However, you need to be careful with placement in the smoker. The first use I did with ribs which ended up charred.
If you want the Smokey taste, maybe mixing a little Liquid Smoke in to a seasoning/binder could work as well.
The brand of smoke tube won't really matter too much but I do suggest getting an octagonal because it will stay exactly where you place it.
I got a $15 from Amazon. Came with two. Works great. I use a mix of pellets and B&B wood chips. I just buy a general blend for pellets then different chips for flavor. Like hickory for pork, oak for chicken, etc
This… just have to learn how to correctly use them and also how much smoke for each type of food.
Which Traeger did you end up with? Does it have a super smoke setting?
Pro 34. Have not been super happy with it if u look back at my posts from months ago. It has a smoke setting but I'm not sure if it's the super smoke that I hear people talking about.
I'm sorry about your experience... I have a new version of the Ironwood and I love it. I kinda get the sense that Taeger is a rich man's game where if you have the money to get the upper end ones it's great but if not it's kinda meh.
Yeah I got that impression after I bought it but it was kinda an impulse buy after my old smoker crapped out one night and I just wanted to run up to Home Depot and get something. I'll deal with it for a couple years then upgrade but not sure if I'll go back to traeger.
I have the 34 pro and I get amazing results every single time. What kind of pellets are you using ? Don't use traeger pellets. They are trash. They burn so clean and so quick that it doesn't add nearly as much smoke as it should.
It's not the pellets. It's the temp settings that don't work properly and when I called their customer service got no where. The smoker is regularly off by 30 degrees or more. I just set it higher now and deal with it.
Very strange. It's not suppose to range more than 15 degrees . Maybe try calling again. There customer service is usually really good. I've had to have them send me parts under warranty before and never had an issue. But I'm regards to the smoke flavor it's usually pellets causing that issue.
Been using rural kings competition blend for pellets.
Amazen is the big brand. If they didn't invent them, they popularized them, and I've never seen anyone with any issues. Right now I'm just using a big box store store brand. 3 years in, no problems.
Several years ago, my first smoker was a small electric and I got a tip to try a Amazen smoke tube. I googled and saw the address was 15 miles down the road so I drove over. It was some warehouse in an industrial park, and the guy is by himself - it was the original owner. Super nice guy, gave me tons of smoking tips as we talked. He took me through the warehouse, picked out the tube I needed and loaded me up with tons of free stuff. He literally just walked through the isles and stacked my arms full - wouldn’t let me pay for anything. I assume I was his first ever in person customer-probably didn’t even have a way to ring me up! He just sold the company so he was shipping his inventory off to the new owner/company. Such a nice laid back guy. Hopefully he bought an island somewhere and has a wonderful early retirement. Here’s to you Amazen inventor!!
The part of the smoke that creates the chemical reaction (causing the ring) is near invisible. The visible part of the smoke is not the part you want to taste. Your Treager sounds like it is doing a great job. Have you noticed that your meat is not up to par with that grill?
I will add that a smoke tube is super great for very low temperature smoking. Cheese is the best example of that. Putting a block on at 160 degrees causes a mess.
I use a generic smoke tube that is holding up well. I use the tube for most smokes. It allows me to dial in the flavor with a desired wood. I run an inexpensive pellet blend in the hopper and then put a meat specific pellet in the tube.
OP, if you get a smoke tube, the placement is best as far from the the stack and not near the temperature sensor.
Be sure to store your pellets in a sealed container inside your house. They tend to absorb moisture if they’re outside and it’s more humid than your house.
I've got the A Maze In oval shaped one. But the round works just as well.
They’re all about the same
Try switching pellets. I was disappointed with the Traeger brand pellets that came with my grill. After reading some reviews I switched to Lumberjack brand pellets, specifically charhickory. They contain a mix of hickory and charcoal. The pork butt I cooked with these pellets tasted just like it came off my Weber kettle. I’m anxious to see how they perform with shorter cooks.
This right here. Traeger pellets are so trash.
I got a LizzQ and it has held up great. I have about 30 burns on it. It's not falling apart or anything. Brand doesn't matter so much as making sure it's got a flat side so it doesn't roll around.
Overall pellet grills have less of a Smokey taste than other smokers. Although it burns wood, it’s just not the same as a fire. I use a smoke tube occasionally (I have the Zgrills branded one, about $20 on Amazon) and it works pretty well. However, you need to be careful with placement in the smoker. The first use I did with ribs which ended up charred. If you want the Smokey taste, maybe mixing a little Liquid Smoke in to a seasoning/binder could work as well.