New to Traeger

[Keeperovdeflame]

I have been cooking on kamados for years and years and before that on gassers and Weber kettles. Finally decided to give pellet grills a try. Actually have three gills on my deck, a Weber Summit, a Large BGE, and my new Traeger Timberline 850. My wife says, NO MAS. I Absolutely love to cook outside and find that each grill brings it's own magic to a cook. I just did my first cooks on my new Traeger, a spatchcocked chicken over a pan of potatoes, onions, carrots, celery and a handful of garlic cloves, and a brisket. Both cooks came out amazing. Pretty hard to turn out a so so cook with this thing, I am thinking. I am looking forward to learning from you folks, I know how to cook over fire, but there is probably a lot about cooking on a Traeger that I need to learn. Grace and Peace

 

[dunawayfamily]

I have been cooking on kamados for years and years and before that on gassers and Weber kettles. Finally decided to give pellet grills a try. Actually have three gills on my deck, a Weber Summit, a Large BGE, and my new Traeger Timberline 850. My wife says, NO MAS. I Absolutely love to cook outside and find that each grill brings it's own magic to a cook. I just did my first cooks on my new Traeger, a spatchcocked chicken over a pan of potatoes, onions, carrots, celery and a handful of garlic cloves, and a brisket. Both cooks came out amazing. Pretty hard to turn out a so so cook with this thing, I am thinking. I am looking forward to learning from you folks, I know how to cook over fire, but there is probably a lot about cooking on a Traeger that I need to learn. Grace and Peace

Welcome! Our first attempt at spatchcocked chicken ended up with rubbery skin - how do you avoid that?

 

[Keeperovdeflame]

In my experience, the best way to insure crisp skin is to place the chicken in your fridge uncovered for at least two hours before your cook. The air in your fridge will dry out the skin and make it more likely to crisp. Another thing I do is during my prep for the cook, after spatchcocking my chicken, I lift the skin by sticking my fingers under it and gently lifting up. I do this all over the breast, thighs, and legs. I then make a paste of good olive oil, Simon and Garfunkel spices with some orange zest. I rub, the paste on the flesh under the chicken skin. I rub the outer surface of the skin with olive oil and then sprinkle with a liberal amount of Coarse kosher salt. Then I put it in the fridge to dry for 2 hours before my cook. The oilandslat when dry take-on a varnish quality. Putting you herbs under the skin intensifies flavor and also keeps them from burning during your cook.