New Pellet Smoker Ironwood XL

[maddscot]

New pellet smoker owner and decided to dive in big time with the Ironwood XL. Been doing cooks for some time now with Green Egg, Stick Burners, and standard charcoal but was looking to do a bit more and bit easier. Did a lot of reviewing of various pellet units and decided on the Ironwood XL, no too much, not too little has what I need.

Initial installation was a breeze with one small hiccup when connecting to WiFi which seemed to resolve itself on 2nd attempt, and the update where it shut down on its own to reboot, (never thought I would say that about a smoker) and it did not come back on after about 30m I turned off and on, seems to be working. Left it on to do any updates and the seasoning process. Looking forward to this weekend to do the initial cook of some Cherry smoked pork butts for sandwiches with the family.

 

[primeone]

Congrats on the new Ironwood and welcome to the Traeger Club!

Let us know how the pork butt comes out, especially compared to your past smokers.

 

[Shedd]

New pellet smoker owner and decided to dive in big time with the Ironwood XL. Been doing cooks for some time now with Green Egg, Stick Burners, and standard charcoal but was looking to do a bit more and bit easier. Did a lot of reviewing of various pellet units and decided on the Ironwood XL, no too much, not too little has what I need.

Initial installation was a breeze with one small hiccup when connecting to WiFi which seemed to resolve itself on 2nd attempt, and the update where it shut down on its own to reboot, (never thought I would say that about a smoker) and it did not come back on after about 30m I turned off and on, seems to be working. Left it on to do any updates and the seasoning process. Looking forward to this weekend to do the initial cook of some Cherry smoked pork butts for sandwiches with the family. View attachment 23365

Welcome to the Forum!
I also came from the same. I’m in South Carolina and grew in in a BBQ family. We had pits but I had offsets then I have a XL BGE almost 30 years. I expect a good smoke flavor but when I got my 780Pro I quickly realized that it didn’t put near the smoke flavor I expected. Now mine doesn’t have the super smoke setting but my buddies does and it’s still not close. However I’ve experimented extensively and I can say that if you’re expecting a good smoke flavor then you’ll need a smoke tube or three. I use a smoke tube and two smoke boxes I modified. You can put “smoke tubes” in the search feature (magnifying glasses symbol) and get a lot of good info. You’ll like the ease of the Traeger but you need to know that you cannot rely on the grill temp probes (grill or meat) they vary a good amount. I use a aftermarket meat thermometer. I know my Traeger runs up and down on temp so I’ve found I set mine for low and slow to 235 and my meat temp at 200 ish and let it cook. I start my butts around 9-10 pm and I go to bed without my phone near, I sleep good then check when I get up usually 6 am plus or minus. On mine it takes about 13 hours but the 235 is on the lower end of my fluctuating temps, but I would rather it cook lower than higher because many people on here have high temp spikes. I cook mostly butts and ribs on mine, I don’t try to grill, I have a Webber gas grill for it as well as a Blackstone Griddle. Sorry so long, just wanted to give you a heads up what to expect. You’ll find a ton of good info here and a really great group of folks willing to help. We do like to see pictures of your cooks!

 

[Like Smoke]

I would like to ask Shedd about his rib smokes, do you wrap or bast.?

 

[Shedd]

I wrap in foil. I mostly cook St. Lews cut so I do mustard with rub. Set my 780 at 235 and I’ll go about 3 to 3/12 hours then spread butter on my foil, drizzle honey then sprinkle a little rub and lay my ribs meat side into the butter goo. I usually go 2 hours then unwrap and go about a half to an hour. If they are about falling off the bone when I bend. I’m not a competition cooker I like my ribs easily falling off the bones. I don’t probe mine for temp either. If the meat has receded from the bone's and they pull loose like I mentioned, everyone loves them like that. Sometimes I crank up the temp to 300 after I put them in foil and usually remove in 1 1/2 hours and they are close so when I put them back it doesn’t take long. I also like to put a light coat of rub right after I remove from foil. I don’t baste. The foil is my favorite way to really get them tender.
Let us know how it goes.

 

[Like Smoke]

Thanks, I copied your response and will give it a try on my next batch. Thanks for sharing.