Traeger Lil' Tex question

[chaz345]

As a relatively new Lil Tex user I'm having some difficulties. Not the seemingly common problems with quality since manufacturing was moved overseas, the thing seems to run fine. Well except for the time it rained sideways, got the pellets in the hopper wet and jammed the auger, but that's not exactly a product quality issue. I'm having two issues.

First is that when trying to use it as a grill it just doesn't seem to get hot enough to produce a decent sear on burgers or steaks. I've tired different pellet brands, made sure the firepot was clear of ash, made sure the induction fan is running and still it only ever seems to get to about 375 even when it's warm outside. I've seen some mention of the idea that the burner may be a bit undersized for the size of the grill.

Second is that when using it as a smoker, it just doesn't seem to produce all that much of a smokey flavor. Pork butt, cut into thirds for more surface area and more bark,on the "smoke" setting for 4 hours and then finished on 250 just didn't taste all that smokey. Now keep in mind that with a part time catering business, the little Traeger isn't my main smoker. I've got a giant vertical box propane fired smoker that I can put like 10 whole briskets in for that. But when I want to do a butt or two, or maybe just a single rack of ribs, the "set it and forget it" of the Traeger sure would be nice if I could get more smoke flavor.

 

[SmokinSteiny]

Traeger's aren't know to get all that hot most of us use Grill Grates to get a good sear, they are pretty awesome any pretty reasonable price over at Big Poppa's Store. Now on the smoke issue, I think mine does a decent smoke, might wanna try lower temp, i usually keep mine at 225. For more smoke you can make a pellet pack with foil and stick it in the grill to boost your smoke or there are commercial accessories that you can purchase to get more smoke.

 

[chaz345]

The idea of a secondary smoke generator had been suggested to me before, I was just hoping that a $600 device that's sold as a smoker wouldn't need an add on in order to actually smoke well but it would seem that if I'm going to really smoke with it, that's what I'll need to do.

In terms of the hot end of the cooking spectrum, I've used my friend's Texas model Traeger and it seemed to run a lot hotter than mine.

 

[SmokinSteiny]

Yeah man I feel your pain I'm a Traeger owner aswell mine set me back $900 and I turned to the company that sold it to me and told them how big piece of junk it was and they paid me back my money and now I'm just waiting to save up some money to buy a better quality pellet smoker. If you really sit down and do some research you'll see Traegers are totally NOT the way to go! My Traeger struggles to hold temps period no matter how much i play with the P setting......... And to get temps over 415 is damn near impossible.......... I'd get my money back!

 

[chaz345]

Thankfully I'm not out any money as I won the thing in a contest, so I hope I'm not seen as complaining about it as much as I'm just trying to get the most I can out of it. In terms of roasting, like a whole chicken, or a pork loin,or a beef roast, I love the thing. The flavor of the chicken, combination of grilled and over roasted is truly wonderful.

It's also served me well in terms of cooking chicken at the farmer's market I'm doing this summer. But as a true smoker or as a grill, I would definitely be very unhappy if I had actually paid for the thing. Traeger basically invented the idea of a pellet grill, many who have come after them seem to be doing it a lot better.

It also seems very strange to me that everyone I've talked to locally here seems to love theirs. Maybe it's a bit of "hometown bias" though as I live about 10 miles from their corporate HQ.

Looking at your location, I have to ask, are you in the military?

 

[SmokinSteiny]

LOL they probably all got them for free too! That's why they love them! lol. I wish you the best of luck with yours, mine is a real pain but it'll soon be on craigslist in acouple months. Well I'm civilian contractor, I come home ever 6 months and BBQ my lil heart out for 30 days then I go back..... I'm getting ready to call it quits here in August though!!! YAY YAY!!!

 

[jimsbarbecue]

I do believe the fire pot is the same one used in the Jr. Grill grates will help on the sear. Pellet grills make smoke when more pellets are dropped in the burn pot and as before they light they make smoke. I don't know if it will help but maybe playing with the P settings may help. Pellet grills impart a cook on wood flavor and a smoke flavor, but because how well they burn the smoke output/flavor may not be what your going for.

 

[tbone]

Hey chaz

I'm in Portland too, have a Traeger, and absolutely love this forum. You'll learn plenty just reading what these pros are doing. Here's a few things I've picked up:

Traegers are the gateway drug to Macs (another locally built smoker)
Grill grates are required for reverse searing
Big Poppas recipes are all killer (check out the spatchcock chicken)

Mine seems to smoke just fine and heats up to almost 500 degrees. Plenty hot for reverse searing. I keep the firebox pretty clean as, according to the pros, they're much more efficient when there's less ash buildup.

Good luck and let me know which farmers market. I'd love to come eat some of your food.

tbone

 

[sparky]

you live in portland. i use to live in aloha for 4 years back in the 80's. use to spend alot of time in beaverton. cool zoo just south of portland. hate black ice.

 

[chaz345]

tbone, I'm at the Sunnyside Farmer's market which in the parking lot of my church at S.E. 132nd and Sunnyside Road. The market is open from 9:00 to 3:00 but I start serving around 11:00. If you decide to come out, give me a shout here on the forum beforehand as I'm not there every week. The business is called Two Chicks and A Rooster. It's a catering/BBQ thing I do with my wife and a friend of her's.

In terms of the Traeger, like I said before, the other one I've used, a Texas model, seemed to get a lot hotter so maybe it's a model specific problem because i know the Texas has a bigger model. And mine does smoke, it's just not as intense a flavor as I like. And I've tried the strongest flavored pellets I can find.

 

[regency]

I was hoping someone would get an answer to this. I have a Texas and clean or not, 100 degrees or 0, I can only get the grill up to about 350 to 370. I believe the P setting only has to do with the smoke setting. I havent tried putting bricks in the grill yet but plan on picking some up this week. A lot of people on here say smoke at 200 or smoke at 220. Well on mine the "smoke" setting is around 160. Not sure if setting the temp at 180, 200 or 225 changes the way it smokes or not. One thing I really am having trouble with is getting a bark on things. My briskets are turning out really good but my last one I let smoke for over 4 hours and it never really set up a bark (no black at all, rub was still kinda gooey). I might be putting too much rub on, not sure. I have some BBQ delight pellets coming so will see if they burn better.

 

[muebe]

Regency the Traeger digital controller can be a little deceiving. The location of the RTD is on the left side and will display temps that are lower than the actual grill temps. Have you monitored what temps you are getting at the grill level?

The P setting controls how many seconds the controller will wait before dumping pellets in smoke mode. You can use this setting to adjust the temp in smoke mode. The lower the number the less time it will wait before dumping more pellets and increase the temperature. The longer the P time, the more smoke will be created, but the lower the temperature in the cooker.

When not set on smoke mode the p setting still has a slight effect on temps but not as much as in smoke mode. When the digital controller reaches the set temperature or higher it reverts back to smoke mode to keep the cooker from flaming out. During this time is when the p settings will have an effect. For example if you have a high p setting number and you open the door on the cooker for several minutes then get a huge overshoot of temp it will recover faster then if you have a lower number.

During colder weather you want to run a low number like 1 or 0. During hot weather you can run 3 or 4.

You will not get bark in 4 hours on smoke mode when you are averaging 160F. Try lowering your p-setting number to get into the 200F-225F range. Remember when you change the p-setting you will need to wait at least 30 minutes for the temps to level out.

 

[TentHunter]

To get more smoke get one of these: a-maze-n-tube-smoker. It's cheap, can be used in your Traeger while your smoking to add more smoke and it won't void your warranty.

 

[smokinlobo]

I use my Traeger all year and we live in the Northeast.
I have a bit of high heat probs, especially in the winter.
It's not good for beer butt chicken or duck. I use my old barrel smoker for that.
Everything else (stuffed pork loin and chops, brisket whole and just flats, jerk chicken and baby backs)
go in the Traeger for a nice low and slow barbeque.
The smoke isn't outrageous but it's just right for us. I use mainly Traeger Hickory pellets.

 

[Scallywag]

I had similar issues with my Traeger.. could never get it much over 400. Easy solution for me was to upgrade to a Mak.

 

[dconder1]

I did pizza on my Tex last night on high. Control showed around 440 till I open up the door and it drops quick. I need to check at the grill with my Maverick though.

 

[sparky]

my lil tex got to 450 all the time. it was a great smoker.