Pellet Smokers; Dumping the Traeger

I have had a Traeger For about 14 year. I am on my 3rd one from upgrading a few times. The only issue I have ever had with any of them was replacing the hot rod in my first one after 6-7 years of use. My current one had an issue when my son left the hopper lid up and the pellets turned to mush, but after vacuuming them out and replacing with fresh pellets, I have never had another issue.

We use it at least once a week if not twice. When it dies, I will look hard at a Camp Chef or Yoder too. The Yoders are pretty awesome, and like Nate said, a lifetime purchase.

Trying to make dinner on the Traeger tonight and another Hot Rod burned up, no heat or smoke, so i had to cook dinner in the oven. I'm done with my Traeger... I need to get serious about replacing it.

I'll have to fix it and get some money out of it though. 🙄

Greg said:

Trying to make dinner on the Traeger tonight and another Hot Rod burned up, no heat or smoke, so i had to cook dinner in the oven. I'm done with my Traeger... I need to get serious about replacing it.

I'll have to fix it and get some money out of it though. 🙄

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I ran out of propane a couple weeks ago and had to cook steak on the cooktop. It was also lame.

Traeger gave me the giant ironwood xl smoker. We used it like 3 times and now it just sits. Anyone want to buy it?

Seems too big for me to take home and use myself...

I love my Ironwood. From what the guys at BBQ Pit Stop were telling me, not all Traegers are created equal - which I see the same thing in the tire world. The ones built for Costco for example are the ones they constantly have issues with and are always in their shop getting fixed. ALL Traegers are still made in China, but the new owner is focusing on quality once again (the 2nd owner - same owner of Skullcandy IIRC? was all about quantity over quality and thus there was a bad rap with Traegar that I asked them about when I was looking at buying). They did tell me the genuine Traegers are still the best options, as the other models are made to that stores spec, and thus they can cut corners on build quality or materials. I had gone in there to buy a Camp Chef, but after talking with them and discussing my concerns, we decided to go with Traeger and have been very happy with it.

Greg said:

Trying to make dinner on the Traeger tonight and another Hot Rod burned up, no heat or smoke, so i had to cook dinner in the oven. I'm done with my Traeger... I need to get serious about replacing it.

I'll have to fix it and get some money out of it though. 🙄

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Yoder has instructions to light it even if the igniter isn’t working…basically put some pellets in the fire pot and manually light them on fire. Once lit it works normal….supposedly. I have not done this. But it makes sense. Also seems the Traeger would do the same? I wouldn’t think the igniter does not stay “hot” the entire time during your cook.

RockChucker said:

Yoder has instructions to light it even if the igniter isn’t working…basically put some pellets in the fire pot and manually light them on fire. Once lit it works normal….supposedly. I have not done this. But it makes sense. Also seems the Traeger would do the same? I wouldn’t think the igniter does not stay “hot” the entire time during your cook.

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Interesting, I've tried shutting it down and unplugging it, then restarting it with no luck. When my Hot Rod went out the first time I did plenty of reading and it seems common and once they're done, they're dead.

I do think the Hot Rod cycles back and forth as well, but that's just a guess.

With the Yoder, it sounds like once the fire is going, it is self sustaining and the auger modulates pellet rate to change heat output but it does not ignite the pellets with the built in igniter after the initial start up phase. I found this in an older Traeger manual. This is essentially how to do the Yoder too. Make sure it is powered off, put pellets in fire box, start a fire in the fire box, once burning, turn on and set to smoke. Once it is sustaining then set your temp.

I'll try it, thanks Dave!

The replacement for the Traeger has arrived and it's incredible! I decided on a high quality recteq Deck Boss 590, the build is impressive. Compared to the Traeger, it's on a totally different level of quality... love all the stainless steel, 700* max temp (perfect for pizzas!), dual thermometers, the app is amazing (can control the grill away from home), the massive stainless steel drip tray, drip bucket located *under* the grill (so it doesn't fill with other junk), the controller is simple and adjusts in 5* increments, features a massive hopper holding 30#'s of pellets for hours of cook time, etc. Recteq uses very high quality electrical components, unlike the Traeger IMO.

They are having a Memorial Day sale, normally $900... currently $764! Add a front shelf and a cover and still was out the door under $1000. Hoping to cook something on Monday, once I'm back in town from wheelin. Maybe a Turkey?

Those lid handles could not be worse ha ha

Cody said:

Those lid handles could not be worse ha ha

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They're made in Texas, the horns don't bother me at all. Their logo is a Bull, so it fits... and I'll be cooking up plenty of Beef.

That looks like a pretty sweet setup! I had no idea they were that cheap

Thats sexy!

Moved all the great discussion of smoking meat into it's own thread: Smoked Meat is Awesome!

Cleaned out the recteq over the weekend, getting ready for a long Thanksgiving Turkey cook.

It had 26 cooks and 31 hrs of cook time on it and its been flawless. I've got to say, cleaning it with all the stainless steel made it a quick and easy process. Tossed some new foil on the drip tray and emptied out the drip bucket and it was only grease inside, no water, leaves or other junk like the old Traeger used to catch.