My Traeger Wood Pellet Barbecue AND Some Recipes

Most all who have camped with me should be familier with my Traeger Barbecue.

Traeger "Junior" with the new windscreen and folding front shelf.

It is unique in that it burns wood pellets with pretty much the same mechanisim as a pellet stove. 

Mesquite pellets in hopper.  Full hopper will smoke for about 8 hours or grill for 1-2 hours

Advantages:

Choice of type of wood pellets for wood smoke flavor.
Even heat
Temperature controlled with the digital heat control
Great smoking

Disantavages:

Kind of heavy.
Needs AC electricity.
Finding a way to travel with it.
When it's cold and/or windy, it has a hard time maintaining the heat. (see wind shield below)

I have the "Junior" model 55 for traveling.  I took the legs off and installed the "Tailgater Kit".  This consists of a set of wheels and an insulating pad for the bottom so it won't burn your tailgate.   It stores in the back of my '00 Ford Ranger toad.  I also have the optional fold down front shelf.

They are absolutely the best for smoking Tri-Tip, Ribs, Meat Loaf, Casseroles, Turkeys, Chicken, etc.  Great for grilling Steaks, Hot dogs, Hamburgers, Sausage, Links Chicken and Fish, as they have a grease catcher and won't flare up. The flame is separated from the food.  You can actually bake in them with the optional digital temp control.  ie. set it for 350* and bake a casserole.  I use the disposable aluminum cooking pans for this.  They can get a hot spot on the bottom of the pan so I usually double up to give an air space on the bottom of the pan.  Easy clean up if you use foil on the flame tamer under the grill.

Two Tri-Tip roasts and Sausage

Note foil covered thermometer probe.

Note foil under the grate.

Just one Tri-Tip

The Electric Problem For Dry Camping

Traeger requires about 30 amp DC through the inverter for about two minutes to light and then draws about 4 amps DC through the inverter as long as it cooks.  I have a 1,000 watt inverter but a 500 watt should work as well.  You should have solar for battery charging.  I have 300 watts.  In the late afternoon, I can ususally smoke a Tri-Tip for two hours and still be 100% charged when the sun goes down. 

Costco Traeger Road Shows

Currently, on a rotating basis, Traeger has sales people and demonstraters at various Costcos.  If you call Traeger, they can tell you when one will be in your area.  You can buy a grill there as well as pellets.  They ususally have discounts and I got my "Junior" for $100 off.  If you buy one of these grills, get the Traeger custom cover.  They are made to fit your particular model and will last a long time if you don't put it on a hot grill.  It protects the barbecue from the rain and mine lives outside most of the time and it stays dry.  YOU DO NOT WANT THE GRILL OR PELLETS TO GET WET!!.  You will be in Traeger Hell.  Believe me, I have been there.  The pellets turn to mush and then harden in to a mass as they dry out. If the pellets inside the grill auger turn to mush, the only way to clean it out and get it operating again is to take it apart and in some cases you have to dig the wet pellets out of the auger tube with a screwdriver. 

Cover

Links to Accessories Mentioned Above

Traeger Barbecues

Traeger has great customer service.  They are happy to walk you through problems and answer questions.  During Quartzsite 2012, we had planned a Tri-Tip Barbecue for the following week.  I tried to start it a few days earlier and it would not come on.  Tech at Traeger walked me through testing it and we found a bad circuit board.  They sent me a new one no charge in Quartzsite and it was ready to go for the barbecue. 

 Grill Wizard Grill Brush, China Model

This is the best grill brush I have ever used.  It has replaceable Stainless scour pads

Grill Guard Wind Shield

This is a great accessory that I found at the Quartzsite RV Show.  It pretty much eliminates the wind problems and keeps the heat in, particularly if it is cold outside.

Remote Read Meat Thermometer

If you want great, consistent results barbecuing and smoking, you have GOT to have a meat thermometer.  They come in a lot of different models and this one is similar to the one I have.   I have had several wireless ones and they just don't last.  Simple is best.  The remote read lets you check temperature without opening the lid. (and letting the heat and/or smoke out)  Most of the failures I have had have been burned probe wire.  Wrap the probe wire in aluminum foil, particularly where it passes over the edge of the cooking surface and under the lid to the outside.  


Roger's Favorite Traeger Recipes

Roger's Smoked Turkey Meat Loaf

Two, one pound trays of 93/7 ground turkey.  (93% breast, 7% thigh) I use Foster Farms from Costco.
About 3/4 cup Matzo Meal, Oatmeal, Crumbs or your favorite
Two eggs (I use 1/2 cup Kirkland egg substitute
One envelope Liptons Dry Onion Soup Mix

I mix this together in an aluminum baking pan so no bowl to wash.  BTW, I use the CLEAN bare hands method.

Smoke for about 4 hours or internal temp comes to 180* Let stand for about 10 minutes and slice.

As  near as I can calculate from the ingredients, a 4 oz slice is 195 calories.  Eight, 4 oz slices in a 2 lb meat loaf. 

This is a basic recipe.  You can add any of your favorite ingredients.  In the past, I have pressed olives in to the loaf.  I have added green chili's, corn, barbecue sauce, ketchup, etc.  As I write this I am getting ready to fix one and I am going to add one pound of hot Italian Sausage that was given to me by a fellow LazyDazer and I haven't figured out what to do with it until now.  I will report on the results.

Rogers Smoked Tri-Tip

Buy nice sized, Tri-Tip Roasts.  Don't skimp on quality or size.  Don't use the steaks.  I hate to sound like a Costco commercial but they have the best.  Usually in a 2 or 3 pack.  They freeze well.  I either rub them with garlic salt or use your favorite rub. Put in a ziplock and let marinate for a couple of hours or overnight.  Bring it out about 30 minutes before smoking to let come towards room temperature.  Don't marinate in barbecue sauce.  I just start the grill on smoke, let it come to temperature, put the meat on with the temperature probe in and close the lid.  You don't need to turn them.  Usually about 1 1/2 to 2 hours to get internal temperature to 137 (medium rare)  Take them off, cover with foil and let set for about 5 minutes.  Slice thin across the grain and serve.  BTW, use a disposable cooking pan to serve and no serving platter to wash.

Roger's Smoked Pork Loin

I use Swifts Premium loins with Smoky Mesquite marinade in the package.  These came two loins in a pack and are about a foot long each.  I get mine at Costco but they are available at most any supermarket.  They also come without marinade if you want to use your own. 

You can smoke these for a while if you want, but they are done at 145* internal temperature.  I smoke mine for about 30 minutes and then turn the heat up to medium or 350*  If you start with 350*, they will be done in about 30 minutes.  Cook uncoverd in a disposable aluminum pan.  Slice in to medallions and serve.  These are solid meat and serve up very nice.  4 oz serving 120 calories.

Roger's Smoked Baby Back Ribs

If you are going to smoke more than 1-2 racks of ribs, you are going to need a rib rack.  You can see one on the traeger website. This stacks them like books on a shelf and you should be able to smoke 4 racks at a time depending on the size. Put the large ends down.   I have never skinned them.  I just rub, trim off the "clod" on one end and put them on the smoker.  What I call the "clod" is just the end where the bone and meat are kind of mixed up.  I take these parts and put them in a slow cooker with some barbecue sauce and give them about 6-8 hours on low heat. The racks of ribs need to smoke for at least 4 hours.  They can go up to another 2 if they are not fall-off-the-bone tender at 4 hours.  You can put a shallow pan of apple juice in the smoker to keep them from getting too dry or spray them once in a while with apple juice.  If you want to cook on barbecue sauce, brush it on at the last 1/2 hour and turn the heat up to high or 400*.  If you leave the sauce on too long with heat, it will just burn.  I was told by a manager at a Black Angus that they cook their ribs the day before, refrigerate and just heat them up on the grill for serving the next day.  I have tried this and they actually seem to turn out smokier and more tender.

Two Racks of Ribs in the Rib Rack

Elizabeth's Barbecued Potatoes

This is a great side dish that you can bake right along with your hot dogs, hamburgers, steaks etc. On Medium or High heat.   They won't cook on smoke setting as it doesn't get hot enough to adequately cook the potatoes.  Just put them in the oven at 350* for the same time. 

Slice up about 5-6 medium russet potatos.  (redskins are too firm for my taste)  Halve potato the long way and them slice them about 1/8" thick.
Dice up a medium onion
Elizabeth uses about a half cube of butter, but I use about 1/4 cup olive oil.
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine above ingredients in a disposable aluminum pan.  Cover with foil and cook at 350* or
 medium heat for 1to 1 1/2 hour or potatoes are soft done. Elizabeth likes to make smaller batches in foil pouches, but I prefer the pans.

Variations on this basic recipe are almost endless.  I have added a handful of baby carrots and/or sliced  mushrooms.  You can mix in cut up hot dogs, or diced spam or ham according to your taste.  Peas or corn are also interesting.

One of my favorites is to blend in a can of cream of mushroom soup and about 1 1/2 cup of diced Velveeta.  Comes pretty close to Au Gratin.