New to the Group

[mikeytee]

A little about me, retired Boeing living in Kansas. Still work part time. Have been smoking with an electric Charbroil. Took a leap and bought Traeger 575. Tied it out with Traeger Hickory pellets. Pretty unimpressive with some Chicken thighs. I didn't care for the Traeger pellets. Checked Amazon and bought some 100% hickory pellets from CookinPellets.com. These gave out much more hickory flavor. Chicken thighs and a chuck roast came out great. Problem I had was the hopper ran out of pellets and lost temperature. It wasn't a big deal because the meat was at 160 degrees. I always just wrap it in foil and stick it in the oven at 220 to finish anyway, less problems. I'm planning on a brisket for Christmas which will be an all night cook. Is there a hopper extension for the pellets available as an after market thing that would increase the capacity of pellets? I could probably fab one out of sheet metal. Anything I should be aware of? I really don't want to go out in the cold on Christmas eve to load up pellets.

 

[Slimpicker]

WELCOME, the HOPPER is your gas tank... keep it full. that means during smokes. It's no big deal just open the lid and pour more in.
I check my hopper before, during, during, during, and after every smoke.

I really don't want to go out in the cold on Christmas eve to load up pellets.

Guys here do OVERNIGHT smokes and I don't believe they have to fill the hopper in the middle of the night... just fill before you go to bed and get up 6-7 hours later and check.

 

[Slimpicker]

Cut a 3" hole in the bottom of a 5 gal Home Depot bucket... fill your hopper to the top, place the bucket on your hopper, pour pellets in the bucket no more than 1/2 full at all... it will now self feed about 80% of whats in the bucket... go to bed.

(don't let the bucket touch your grill and don't do this on a windy day)

Side affects can be headache, sleepless nights, constant looking out your window. Some people have experienced wife nagging and poking you at night... in rare occasions high blood pressure and tension have occurred.

 

[GrillMeister]

Guys here do OVERNIGHT smokes and I don't believe they have to fill the hopper in the middle of the night... just fill before you go to bed and get up 6-7 hours later and check.

I do overnight cooks for Brisket & Pulled Pork all the time. Like Slimpicker says, just top it off before going to bed and you should be good in the morning to add a bit more to finish the cook. Cooking temp will vary how much you use overnight. I start off at 180 for few hours before ramping up to 220 overnight and have had no issues with pellets running out.

 

[Timmy]

Welcome to the forum!

Last overnight night cook i did, filled hopper went to bed around 11pm, checked hopper at 6am ish it was just over 2/3rd down,added more pellets. Outside temp was 27f. My grill is a Pro 780.

 

[GoatLocker]

New to the Traeger world, but not to smoking. Have been smoking for upwards of 35 years with my green egg (actually two, since I had to replace the first one). Sure it will take me a little bit of time to get used to it. I'm used to having a lot of smoke on everything I cook, and did read the 170-180 back an forth. Will see how that works for me. Retired Master Chief from the Navy. 27 years active and the last 22 supporting the government as a contractor. Intent will probably be to used the Traeger 2 to 3 times each week. Doing a 3 lb prime rib for my wife and I for our Christmas Dinner. Did do some reading and think I have it figured out. Only thing I've cooked on the Traeger so far was a spatchcocked turkey for Thanksgiving. Came out okay but would have preferred more smoke in it, but believe I now understand how to get there. Have a great Christmas Day all.