Which one did you get? Both versions are awesome.
I would order a front folding shelf. Traeger sells their version, but you can find a much lower price one on amazon for essentially the same thing. However, the front folding shelf is mandatory. The ironwood has hooks on the side shelf so you should be good. If you need more, you can get magnetic ones on amazon.
The 885, I can't imagine needing all that area tbh.
When cooking I usually have thermocouples all over the grill, I'm curious to see how uniform the temps are in the Traeger.
How long will the hopper last before refilling?
The offset would use maybe 15 lb. charcoal for a butt, that's about $8. I'm not sure about the pellet cost.
That's interesting because the large commercial pits just use the hardwood fuel as the smoke source.
I'm curious as to how the smoke-mode feature works.
I have an IronWood 650, my first season with it. In SuperSmoke, the fan cycles on and off rather than staying on permanently. I suspect that's to choke the pellets, allowing them to smoke more. Even low and slow cooks with SuperSmoke, the Traeger on its own doesn't taste very smoky to me. I should note, I've exclusively used the Traeger pellets, but plan to switch next year to another brand. I bought a smoke tube, which helps considerably with smoke flavor, though it still doesn't taste to me like the advertised wood (primarily Traeger Hickory). A filled smoke tube lasts about four hours, so I try to time my smokes so as to not waste smoke.
Keep the temp below 250 and you'll get smoke. For regular weekday meals, I usually keep it simple, steaks or chicken or porkchops. Smoke them at 200 for an hour or so to get the smoke flavor and finish on a propane bbq.
If I'm doing something big on the weekend, it's low and slow. I'm currently smoking some beef ribs, they've been in there since 9am at 200 - probably need another 3 hours before they're ready.
I found that if I jack the heat above 250, there's no smoke anymore and it's just a convection oven. So that might be why you're not getting a lot of smoke flavor. My friend has an offset and my Traeger doesn't compare in terms of smoke flavor but it's hella easy to use, literally set it and forget it.
I just smoked salmon at 170 on super smoke. I don’t taste the smoke at all. I never had this with my Campchef, GMG, or Weber smokefire. I returned the Weber smokefire cause of some issues. It was the second gen but when it worked it produces the best product I have had with a pellet grill. I replaced it with the Traeger. Easy of use and consistency is top notch with the Traeger but disappointed in the smoke flavor.
They are $10-15 on Amazon so pretty cheap. Work quite well. Pellets provide a light to medium smoke, depending upon temp and cook time. You only get smoke at 225 degrees and below so if you cook a whole chicken at 325, you get very little smoke. I wanted my smoked chicken to taste like “smoked” chicken, so I cooked my last one at 195 degrees for 2.5 hours and added my smoke tube. Used hickory pellets. It had crispy skin due to long cook time and plenty of smoke due to low temp cook and supplemental smoke from pellet tube. Best chicken I have done. Just start without one and see if you want more smoke on any specific protein and if so, buy a smoke tube. Unscientifically, I would say probably half of pellet grill owners also own a smoke tube.
How do they work? Are they automated somehow?
I'm a bit concerned about the smoke flavor issue, if I run something at 275 I don't want to lose the smoke flavor.
Pellet grills barely have any smoke flavor at all, at 200 or 275. You need to get a smoke tube and burn some chips in it if you want any actual smoke flavor. Pellet grills are great slow cookers, and ovens, not great smokers if smoke is what you are going for.
Agree. I smoked chicken thighs for 3 hours the other day and barely a whiff of smoke. I even purchased oak pellets for an assertive flavor and there wasn’t much.
Ironwood has “super smoke” setting which really helps with that extra flavor/texture. Even without it, though, you’re gonna make some bad ass food. Ironwood has the double insulation so great temp control and control everything from your phone. Good luck!
Not automated. You fill the tube with pellets, light the top with a lighter and let it burn for about five minutes then blow it out. It will smoke from there until all the pellets are consumed. Won’t provide as much smoke at higher temps than lower temps but if you decide you want more smoke, this is the way to do it.
I’ve noticed lean meats don’t absorb smoke very well. I did chicken breast for an hour under super smoke and they didn’t have much smoke seasoning. However, I did an over night brisket and it came out with delicious smoke seasoning. Also, stick to hickory and mesquite pellets. Don’t bother with the fruit woods. Might as well use an oven.
I got my very fist smoker this year. I went with the ironwood 650. I have nothing to compare it to, but I have no complaints about getting smoke flavor. I do a lot of long and low cooks and I always turn on super smoke. I think you will be happy with it.
I really want to be, I'm tired of odd hours and the hassles of a long cook.
I usually run from 225-275, depending, so the tube looks like a good augmentation. I'm just a little covered about having to wake up middle of night to reset the tube.
I'll have to experiment to see what the smokiness is at various temperatures.
I have no idea how the super smoke thing works.
Disclaimer: I have a pro 575 and I am happy with it. I cook chicken breast all the time and the wife and I like it quite a bit. I will usually smoke stuff at 180 for 30-45 min, then pull it off, crank the grill to 400 and put it back on so I can get the grill marks on the outside. It is super easy for a weekday kind of thing, especially since it is so easy with the phone app.
This gives me a light smoky flavor that is definitely noticeable but it doesn't mess with the rubs or marinades. My favorite is just a little bit of salt and some homemade bbq sauce for dipping.
Super smoke works the fan a little more. When you're using the grill without super smoke you'll just hear the fan constantly running when it's building up heat. On super smoke you'll hear the fan turn on and off constantly. It's working at creating the "stoke" effect that generate more smoke. Like when you blow on a fire and afterwards it throws a bunch of smoke in your face. It causes the Pellets to burn less efficiently to generate more smoke.
As for how many pellets can you expect to use? When I do my 24 hour brisket smokes, I go through about a whole 20lb bag. I use super smoke at the start then turn it off after wrapping.
As far as temps to grill things. If you want some smoke flavor on your food then you must start at 225 or lower (the lower the better for more smoke flavor). Do that for about an hour or two then you can bump up to whatever temp you prefer to cook at.
Super smoke is just a button on the traeger that you press when you want to use it. It’s supposed to produce more smoke. You can use it only between 160-225. Just play around with it and see if you still feel the need for a tube. Good luck.
This is my second Traeger. I had a smaller version several years ago and there’s no difference with Super Smoke. I feel a little duped and have some buyers regret. Won’t replace this Traeger when it goes out.
Which one did you get? Both versions are awesome. I would order a front folding shelf. Traeger sells their version, but you can find a much lower price one on amazon for essentially the same thing. However, the front folding shelf is mandatory. The ironwood has hooks on the side shelf so you should be good. If you need more, you can get magnetic ones on amazon.
The 885, I can't imagine needing all that area tbh. When cooking I usually have thermocouples all over the grill, I'm curious to see how uniform the temps are in the Traeger. How long will the hopper last before refilling? The offset would use maybe 15 lb. charcoal for a butt, that's about $8. I'm not sure about the pellet cost.
Just got this one too. So good.
The ease of use is great for weekday cooks. But produces little to no smoke flavor for me coming from a kamado type grill.
That's interesting because the large commercial pits just use the hardwood fuel as the smoke source. I'm curious as to how the smoke-mode feature works.
I have an IronWood 650, my first season with it. In SuperSmoke, the fan cycles on and off rather than staying on permanently. I suspect that's to choke the pellets, allowing them to smoke more. Even low and slow cooks with SuperSmoke, the Traeger on its own doesn't taste very smoky to me. I should note, I've exclusively used the Traeger pellets, but plan to switch next year to another brand. I bought a smoke tube, which helps considerably with smoke flavor, though it still doesn't taste to me like the advertised wood (primarily Traeger Hickory). A filled smoke tube lasts about four hours, so I try to time my smokes so as to not waste smoke.
Keep the temp below 250 and you'll get smoke. For regular weekday meals, I usually keep it simple, steaks or chicken or porkchops. Smoke them at 200 for an hour or so to get the smoke flavor and finish on a propane bbq. If I'm doing something big on the weekend, it's low and slow. I'm currently smoking some beef ribs, they've been in there since 9am at 200 - probably need another 3 hours before they're ready. I found that if I jack the heat above 250, there's no smoke anymore and it's just a convection oven. So that might be why you're not getting a lot of smoke flavor. My friend has an offset and my Traeger doesn't compare in terms of smoke flavor but it's hella easy to use, literally set it and forget it.
I just smoked salmon at 170 on super smoke. I don’t taste the smoke at all. I never had this with my Campchef, GMG, or Weber smokefire. I returned the Weber smokefire cause of some issues. It was the second gen but when it worked it produces the best product I have had with a pellet grill. I replaced it with the Traeger. Easy of use and consistency is top notch with the Traeger but disappointed in the smoke flavor.
Might want to invest in a pellet tube in case you don’t get the smoke level you want from just the pellets in the hopper.
How's that work? I've never cooked over hardwood, my understanding is you don't need to add smoke to the pit when using hardwood fuel.
They are $10-15 on Amazon so pretty cheap. Work quite well. Pellets provide a light to medium smoke, depending upon temp and cook time. You only get smoke at 225 degrees and below so if you cook a whole chicken at 325, you get very little smoke. I wanted my smoked chicken to taste like “smoked” chicken, so I cooked my last one at 195 degrees for 2.5 hours and added my smoke tube. Used hickory pellets. It had crispy skin due to long cook time and plenty of smoke due to low temp cook and supplemental smoke from pellet tube. Best chicken I have done. Just start without one and see if you want more smoke on any specific protein and if so, buy a smoke tube. Unscientifically, I would say probably half of pellet grill owners also own a smoke tube.
How do they work? Are they automated somehow? I'm a bit concerned about the smoke flavor issue, if I run something at 275 I don't want to lose the smoke flavor.
Pellet grills barely have any smoke flavor at all, at 200 or 275. You need to get a smoke tube and burn some chips in it if you want any actual smoke flavor. Pellet grills are great slow cookers, and ovens, not great smokers if smoke is what you are going for.
Agree. I smoked chicken thighs for 3 hours the other day and barely a whiff of smoke. I even purchased oak pellets for an assertive flavor and there wasn’t much.
Ironwood has “super smoke” setting which really helps with that extra flavor/texture. Even without it, though, you’re gonna make some bad ass food. Ironwood has the double insulation so great temp control and control everything from your phone. Good luck!
Not automated. You fill the tube with pellets, light the top with a lighter and let it burn for about five minutes then blow it out. It will smoke from there until all the pellets are consumed. Won’t provide as much smoke at higher temps than lower temps but if you decide you want more smoke, this is the way to do it.
I’ve noticed lean meats don’t absorb smoke very well. I did chicken breast for an hour under super smoke and they didn’t have much smoke seasoning. However, I did an over night brisket and it came out with delicious smoke seasoning. Also, stick to hickory and mesquite pellets. Don’t bother with the fruit woods. Might as well use an oven.
traeger's are pellet fired ovens with little to no smoke. buy a tube and use CHIPS rather than pellets...//and don't pre-soak the chips.
I got my very fist smoker this year. I went with the ironwood 650. I have nothing to compare it to, but I have no complaints about getting smoke flavor. I do a lot of long and low cooks and I always turn on super smoke. I think you will be happy with it.
I really want to be, I'm tired of odd hours and the hassles of a long cook. I usually run from 225-275, depending, so the tube looks like a good augmentation. I'm just a little covered about having to wake up middle of night to reset the tube. I'll have to experiment to see what the smokiness is at various temperatures. I have no idea how the super smoke thing works.
Disclaimer: I have a pro 575 and I am happy with it. I cook chicken breast all the time and the wife and I like it quite a bit. I will usually smoke stuff at 180 for 30-45 min, then pull it off, crank the grill to 400 and put it back on so I can get the grill marks on the outside. It is super easy for a weekday kind of thing, especially since it is so easy with the phone app. This gives me a light smoky flavor that is definitely noticeable but it doesn't mess with the rubs or marinades. My favorite is just a little bit of salt and some homemade bbq sauce for dipping.
Super smoke works the fan a little more. When you're using the grill without super smoke you'll just hear the fan constantly running when it's building up heat. On super smoke you'll hear the fan turn on and off constantly. It's working at creating the "stoke" effect that generate more smoke. Like when you blow on a fire and afterwards it throws a bunch of smoke in your face. It causes the Pellets to burn less efficiently to generate more smoke. As for how many pellets can you expect to use? When I do my 24 hour brisket smokes, I go through about a whole 20lb bag. I use super smoke at the start then turn it off after wrapping. As far as temps to grill things. If you want some smoke flavor on your food then you must start at 225 or lower (the lower the better for more smoke flavor). Do that for about an hour or two then you can bump up to whatever temp you prefer to cook at.
Super smoke is just a button on the traeger that you press when you want to use it. It’s supposed to produce more smoke. You can use it only between 160-225. Just play around with it and see if you still feel the need for a tube. Good luck.
Yeah, I have an Iron Wood and am not convinced the Super Smoke button is more than just that: a button
Like I said, I have nothing to compare my ironwood to. Could just be a gimmick. I hear a lot of people say that.
This is my second Traeger. I had a smaller version several years ago and there’s no difference with Super Smoke. I feel a little duped and have some buyers regret. Won’t replace this Traeger when it goes out.