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Traeger Pellet Grill

I like to smoke meats, and that takes time and patience.  Most meat smokers are fueled by charcoal or wood and must be monitored throughout the cooking process to add fuel and monitor temperatures.  Pellet grills are a whole different story.  Although they are sold as "Grills", their best use are as Smokers!


While checking out grills and smokers in 2010 I learned about these relatively new products.  Pellet grills use an electric motor that methodically feeds the pellets to a firebox at the bottom of the grill.  You load the pellets in a hopper on the side of the grill and they are fed through an auger run by the motor.  A small fan creates a fire at firebox.  The heat is diffused by a heavy-gauge steel baffle and is distributed evenly throughout the grill.  No direct heat reaches any food.  The temperature is regulated by a built-in thermostat with LED display.  The thermostatic control starts and stops the auger to maintain the desired temperature.  The Traeger Texas 075 pellet grill I bought is great and it's big enough for 7-8 pork shoulders or 14-16 slabs of ribs cooked on a vertical rib holder.

These are miracles of the modern world!  Pellets are merely compressed sawdust created from various woods like hickory, mesquite, maple, oak and apple.  So you cook with wood, but, here's the best part, you don't have to constantly monitor the wood nor check the temperature.  With a pellet grill, you truly can Set It and Forget It.  Low and Slow has never been so easy.

A ten pound pork butt or brisket takes up to16 hours to cook at 225 degrees.  With the pellet grill I put the meat on the grill late at night, around 10 or 11pm, and go to sleep.  In the morning when I wake up I'll check to make sure everything is OK, and baste.  By early afternoon an incredible barbecue meal is ready for the party!  And I still have time to cook ribs or chicken.

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