I'm upgrading to a Trager Junior Elite smoker. This will replace a very, very sad little electric smoker I've had for 10 years. I call it the "R2D2" unit. It kind of looks like this....http://www.lowes.com/pd_416522-4260...smoker&pl=1¤tURL=?Ntt=smoker&facetInfo= but doesn't have any temperature gauge or temp control and has a lot of gaps around the lid where it lost a ton of heat.
Anyway, I'm wondering if it's worth keeping around and using it with an A-MAZE-N 5x8 tray as a cold smoker. Is there any reason I couldn't use it, unplugged, to smoke things like cheese with one of those trays sitting in the bottom of the unit?
I'm right in understanding the Traeger Junior Elite isn't set-up to do cold smoking like I'd want to do for cheese, right? So, additional question...if the answer to the above is "yes, you could do that"...is there any reason to use the A-MAZE-N tray in the unplugged R2D2 unit instead of just using it in the Traeger without turning on the Traeger?
In other words, do I need anything special to cold-smoke or can I just use any closed and turned off grill with one of those trays? Is the basic idea just exposing the food to a container of smoke for X hours?
Anyway, I'm wondering if it's worth keeping around and using it with an A-MAZE-N 5x8 tray as a cold smoker. Is there any reason I couldn't use it, unplugged, to smoke things like cheese with one of those trays sitting in the bottom of the unit?
I'm right in understanding the Traeger Junior Elite isn't set-up to do cold smoking like I'd want to do for cheese, right? So, additional question...if the answer to the above is "yes, you could do that"...is there any reason to use the A-MAZE-N tray in the unplugged R2D2 unit instead of just using it in the Traeger without turning on the Traeger?
In other words, do I need anything special to cold-smoke or can I just use any closed and turned off grill with one of those trays? Is the basic idea just exposing the food to a container of smoke for X hours?
I have the 12" tube and the maze. Love 'em both.