No smoke flavor

Gordy

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Joined
Jun 9, 2021
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Location
Washington State
Grill
Ironwood 650
I just cooked a prime rib. Seasoned great but no smoke flavor. Used Signature pellets
 
Welcome to the world of pellet grills.
They aren't the greatest for providing strong smoke profiles from cooking. At higher temperatures, they produce even less smoke
You can add a smoke tube filled with wood chips, pellets or a combination to help increase the smoke flavor. But you will never match what is produced by a stick burner smoker
 
When I first joined the world of Traeger I must admit I had expected a stronger smoke flavour and started using a smoke tube on those occasions where I wanted more smoke, this did help. Moving from the Pro 575 to the Gen 2 Ironwood with its Super Smoke function did improve things somewhat but even that isn't always enough.

If I am looking for a significant smoky flavour I now use my Bradley Smoker in cold smoke mode (which is mainly used for fish, rarely use it for hot smoking) given smoke adheres best at colder temperatures then cook in the Traeger, this way I get the best of all worlds. ;)
 
While pellet grills will never produce the smoke flavor of an offset smoker, you can achieve a better smoke ring by cooking "low and slow". I saw one recipe for prime rib that called for searing the prime rib at 500F for 15 minutes and then reducing the oven temperature to 325F for the remainder of the cooking period until the desired internal temperature is reached. Cooking in this manner will produce little or no smoke flavor.

You will get more smoke flavor if you cook on the Traeger grill at a chamber temperature of 200F. The chamber temperature should be measured with a 3rd party thermometer as this is likely to differ from the controller temperature. The cook will take longer than at higher temperatures, but you will get more smoke flavor.

Some here are big proponents of smoke tubes or even accessory smoke generators. I tried smoke tubes, but don't use them regularly. You might be interested in this video on smoke tubes that talks about the pros and cons.

 
I just cooked a prime rib. Seasoned great but no smoke flavor. Used Signature pellets

You never said 'compared to what?' Are you used to a smoke 'flavor' from what cooking method?

I cook side by side on my WeberQ gasser and the same meat on my 575... I can tell a significant difference in smoke flavor added to the meat on the Traeger. Sure, as mentioned above, the 'flavor' is different than a coal/wood smoker... but that's just logical, you are NOT burning coal and solid wood in a Traeger.
However, to say there is NO smoke flavor is almost impossible. I usually put my meat on right after pushing the "ignite" button... my rig FILLS with startup smoke for a minute or 2 while reaching temp. This is a very strong smoke and always leaves a good flavor.
 
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