Grill filler

[Oryx]

I have a timberline 1300 that is VERY pellet hungry. I may or may not have purchased a smoker that was too large for my needs. lol.
I usually do not do large cooks, or fill the racks too often.

Question, anyone have any ideas what i can use to fill up the grill area?
I am hoping this will allow the smoke to be a bit more concentrated and keep the pellet consumption down a bit as it will not have to work as hard to maintain the temp.

Cheers

 

[MidwestSmoker]

I doubt that filling up the grill with bricks or other inert stuff will make much of a difference in your pellet consumption.

Traeger makes 2 grill sizes in each of its major lines, and I think you are assuming that the Timberline 850 may have been better for you. When I was purchasing my grill I thought the same way and got the smaller Pro 575 rather than the Pro 780, because I am primarily cooking for myself only. However, I have come to realize another benefit of the larger grills: more even temperatures across the grill.

Based on temperature measurements I and others have done, the temperature difference from one end to the other of the Pro 575 and the Pro 780 are about the same, but in the larger grill this is over a longer length. I am not sure about this but I believe the larger Pro 780 has less temperature swings as well. These conclusions are for the Pro series, but I believe they may be true for the Ironwoods and the Timberlines as well. Yes, this means more pellet consumption in the larger grills, but many would agree this is a reasonable tradeoff for more even cooking.

 

[traeger860]

You can fill it up with briskets, ribs, chickens, pork shoulders, etc.

 

[JPSBBQ]

Yeah, I would suggest selling it and getting the smaller one.

 

[RayClem]

Pellet consumption is primarily dependent upon the ambient temperature and the temperature inside the grill. Depending upon where you live in Canada, the ambient temperature can be low, especially in winter. Thus, pellet consumption will be higher there than in Texas.

With a larger outer surface area, there is more heat transfer between the inside and outside. To reduce pellet consumption you can try to improve the insulation of the grill. If you do some searching on the forum, there are folks who have added rock wool insulation between the inner and out walls of their Timberlines to minimize heat loss and improve temperature stability.

Because the Timberlines and the Ironwoods are designed without smokestacks, Traeger does not sell insulating blankets for these grills. When the weather gets cold here in Chicago, I plan to wrap my grill in a welder's blanket so I can use it through Christmas. January is the coldest month here, so I probably will take the grill out of service for a couple of months. When placing the blanket, you just have to be careful not to block the smoke vents on the back of the grill.

The circulating fan on the Timberline has been designed based on the volume of the grill cavity. Placing filler material like fire brick inside the grill make improve temperature stability, but it will just mean that the smoke will pass though the grill more quickly without imparting more smoke to your protein.