Smokers
 

Just bought a Traeger wood pellet smoker and broke it in today with a couple of tri tip roasts using apple wood pellets.
Being a smoker n00b, I'd like to here what tips and tricks you use. Also, feel free to post up any favorite recipes or marinades and rubs you use. :cheers:

They look pretty nice, I'd never heard of them. :cheers:

I'm not sure I can offer any tips for that rig. All I'm using is a Chargriller with the Texas Smoker attached to the side. I use lump charcoal and assorted wood chips.

One thing I can't stress enough, is getting one of those remote thermometers with the dual probes. I was never able to trust any grill thermometer when it came to the task of smoking.

http://images.nitrosell.com/product_...rge-289777.jpg

:iagree:

It helped a lot when I made a few smoking attempts with a POS electric smoker an in-law bought me.

Yep. My worst experience was when I smoked pork ribs the first couple of time. I was a noob and trusted the thermometer that came with the grill. Well, it turned out that my ribs came out fecked up because the thermometer was 90 degrees off! I wondered why it was so difficult to hold what I thought was a "low" temp! :willy:

My moment came with 20 pounds of shoulder I was smoking for my daughter's birthday party this last year. The smoker was going along well for 4 hours...then the temp in the smoker started dropping...and dropping...and dropping...I had a few moments of "Oh, shit what am I going to do?" So into the oven the shoulders went at low heat to finish off. I'm glad I had invested in that thermometer.

The thermometer is a little on the clunky side with programming, but it works...

You don't have to buy that exact brand remote probe unit, I have a Polder dual-probe, among others, and they are fine. The trick is to never let your probes experience direct heat. 400 or below and they will last for a very long time. If they see direct heat, maybe twice.

The pros use an actual thermocouple. I haven't sprung for one of them yet but ThermoWorks is the Rolls Royce of food thermometers. I have one of their instant-read models and love it.

Remote thermometer is definitely on my list. It's a pain to keep lifting the lid to check internal temperatures.

Thanks for the advice. I was hoping you would post in this thread. Any other tips, tricks or recipes you care to share? What's your favorite cut of meat / wood choice combination?