New Owner

[mpanelli]

Well after a couple of years of wanting I finally bit the bullet and purchased the Ironwood 650.
I ran the seasoning procedure last night and everything seemed to work as it was supposed to.
This is my first smoker so I am excited to try it out.
What are the "must haves" that I need to make this a success.
I read that I should buy an aftermarket temp prob. You would think that spending $1200 on a grill would give you something that is fairly accurate but...... I guess not.
I am planning on doing ribs and possibly a brisket over the weekend as a first cook.
Any suggestions to make it more successful?

Thanks

 

[CMTiger]

When I finally get around to doing a brisket I’m going this route

 

[primeone]

Well after a couple of years of wanting I finally bit the bullet and purchased the Ironwood 650.
I ran the seasoning procedure last night and everything seemed to work as it was supposed to.
This is my first smoker so I am excited to try it out.
What are the "must haves" that I need to make this a success.
I read that I should buy an aftermarket temp prob. You would think that spending $1200 on a grill would give you something that is fairly accurate but...... I guess not.
I am planning on doing ribs and possibly a brisket over the weekend as a first cook.
Any suggestions to make it more successful?

Thanks

Welcome to the forum @mpanelli and congrats on the new TRAEGER! I have the same grill and love it! I'd give Pulled Pork a try as a first smoke. Super easy and always comes out great.

 

[traeger860]

Welcome to the forum @mpanelli and congrats on the new TRAEGER! I have the same grill and love it! I'd give Pulled Pork a try as a first smoke. Super easy and always comes out great.

If this is your first time using a smoker, I'd do something like pulled pork or a whole small chicken. Something you'll still be mad to throw away if something went sideways, but much cheaper than a brisket. That way you can at least get a good feel for how everything works.

Thermapen has a great deal on their MK4 right now - only $69.

That Weekday Brisket recipe posted above is a good one. Easy to follow. Start with the smallest brisket you can find if you go that route.

 

[JamesB]

What are the "must haves" that I need to make this a success.
I read that I should buy an aftermarket temp prob. You would think that spending $1200 on a grill would give you something that is fairly accurate but...... I guess not.

Thanks

An accurate set of probes (both to check the ambient pit temp and protein temp) is almost a necessity, with any smoker/grill, if you want success.
I would be surprised if that leave in probe that Traeger supplies, is more than 5 bucks of the actual total cost of the grill, and even more surprised if Traeger paid more than a dollar apiece for them. The same probe can be purchased on Amazon for less than $10.00.

This is my first smoker so I am excited to try it out.
I am planning on doing ribs and possibly a brisket over the weekend as a first cook.
Any suggestions to make it more successful?

Thanks

I don’t recommend anyone with a new smoker trying a $70.00 brisket as a first cook, especially if this is your first attempt at smoking meat, and you don’t have a set of accurate probes, but that’s just my opinion. Learn how to use the smoker first, on some less expensive cuts.
A whole chicken would be a great option..Another great inexpensive option would be pork tenderloin.

 

[CMTiger]

Fwiw a whole chicken was my first Traeger meal. It turned out well, but it was also when I noticed I may have a probe problem and then confirmed the next cook with the meater.

 

[mpanelli]

I appreciate the responses. Maybe I am being a little too optimistic....
I do have a Javelin Pro that I have had for a while. What do you recommend for the probe? I am not sure I am ready to spend $200 - $300 on a Fireboard. Are there any others that work well?

Thanks

 

[JamesB]

I appreciate the responses. Maybe I am being a little too optimistic....
I do have a Javelin Pro that I have had for a while. What do you recommend for the probe? I am not sure I am ready to spend $200 - $300 on a Fireboard. Are there any others that work well?

Thanks

Boy is that gonna open the floodgates.
The only other one that I would recommend is Inkbird.
I don’t like Meater, because the ambient part is not accurate.
And, you couldn’t give me a ThermoPro (been there, done that)

 

[CMTiger]

I appreciate the responses. Maybe I am being a little too optimistic....
I do have a Javelin Pro that I have had for a while. What do you recommend for the probe? I am not sure I am ready to spend $200 - $300 on a Fireboard. Are there any others that work well?

Thanks

I'm leaning towards getting an Inkbird at some point because I'm not serious enough for the Fireboard investment either.

 

[Slimpicker]

 

[Murphy's Law]

I had an Ink Bird but gave it away to my son in law. You’ll do just fine with them. It doesn’t have the “bells” that a Fire Board does but it works just fine.

And it’s 100% better than using the Traeger probe(s).

 

[TheGrumpyGriller]

I'm leaning towards getting an Inkbird at some point because I'm not serious enough for the Fireboard investment either.

I have the Inkbird 4-probe wifi model. In fact I have two (2) of them. A total investment with some well-timed purchasing on Amazon and I have eight probes for about $100. So far they have been very easy to work with, including alerts, settings etc. And I while I do export the cooks to a csv file, I rarely look at them.

Enjoy.

 

[CMTiger]

I have the Inkbird 4-probe wifi model. In fact I have two (2) of them. A total investment with some well-timed purchasing on Amazon and I have eight probes for about $100. So far they have been very easy to work with, including alerts, settings etc. And I while I do export the cooks to a csv file, I rarely look at them.

Enjoy.

Can you monitor them both from the same app/phone?

 

[TheGrumpyGriller]

Can you monitor them both from the same app/phone?

Yes...I have both set up and can monitor them on a single screen or drill into one of them and look at the temp graphs. On the main InkBird Plus screen (make sure you get that app as it's the newer one), you'd see both of them (I have different aliases for them to make it easier for me) and it automatically cycles through the temp of each of the connected probes. So on the one screen I can get all eight (8) temps at a glance.

 

[John S.]

There is a thread on what Accessories you need (want), check it out. At a minimum I would get a MK4 especially as they are on sale at the moment...

BTW: welcome to the Forum, and the world of Traeger Smoking...