The "T"raeger files

[billz]

Just got my first Traeger (A 780) and, of course like a lot of other people here, had lots of troubles setting up the wifi. I got wifi extenders, installed/uninstalled the ap several times, did a hard re-set of my I phone, made double-triple-quadruple checks that it was set to 2.4 ghz, and on and on. I told my wife that quite frankly if I couldn't get Traeger tech support to fix it, the 780 was going back, and I was going back to a Weber. My last step before calling Traeger was uninstalling the ap, do a hard reset on the phone, then reinstall the ap several days later, and try one last time.
And it worked... Don't ask. I don't know why.
So now, just a couple questions, comments and observations...

• First two recipes, a whole chicken and Flank Steak turned out awesome, even tho they were short cooking time. It looks like I've gotta plan a day or so in advance if I want to do any of the fun recipes.
• I thought the Grill was made in China, and for that reason alone looked at other grills. The box however says Made in Vietnam.
• Looking at a lot of Recipe's they constantly mention using the Smoke setting. The 575/780 don't have that option. Is that a problem?
• I work out of my house with just my wife and me, and many of my lunches are a quick hot dog or Costco burger. It really doesn't look like that is reasonable on the Traeger, and I may have to get a small Weber for that purpose, unless any of you have ideas.

I am good at a lot of things, brew my own beer, involved in building my house and additions, Video production, computer editing etc, but never really got into gourmet BBQ'ing. To the point where my wife won't let me around sharp knives or her spice cabinet. So I will be on here a lot for help and advice.

Thanks everyone...

 

[dunawayfamily]

The "smoke" setting for the PRO 575/780 is generally considered 165-185 for a period of time before turning up the temp to finish the cooking ... for some, this is not enough, so they've invested in some smoke tubes as well ...

We do a LOT of Costco Chicken Breasts on the Traeger ... essentially treat the Traeger as a Convection Oven, Grill, and Smoker, depending on what the protein is we're preparing (Ribs, Pork Shoulder, Steak, Whole Chicken, Chicken Breasts, Pork Sirloin, skewers with proteins&veggies, etc.) ... we always dry rub the proteins with various spices ... only use sauces for dipping afterwards if desired ... there are times we still use our gas burners or oven for other proteins (ground beef, ground bison, chicken tenderloins, etc.) ...

I would recommend looking into the Cast Iron Grates for the PRO 780 - we got 3 of the 10" version from Traeger and deployed it with those from the onset ...

30+ Years in IT (Enterprise Infrastructure & Security) ... WiFIRE has its quirks - most of which are due to the setup process requirements around the App Device ...

 

[splinervision]

Welcome to the world of BBQ billz! Nothing like spending a day watching the smoke roll and drinking a cold beer along with family and friends. Do yourself a favor and make some ribs, it's very hard to find ribs in a restaurant that will be anywhere near as good as you can make in your own back yard. Learning to smoke meats has forever ruined restaurant BBQ for me. That's a good thing!

 

[billz]

Thanks for the comments.

I am looking at cooking the 3-2-1 Ribs tomorrow. Good "beginners" recipe?

 

[dunawayfamily]

Thanks for the comments.

I am looking at cooking the 3-2-1 Ribs tomorrow. Good "beginners" recipe?

We followed the recipe for 321 from Traeger, and while the ribs were good, they were too soft in some regards, and since we prefer not to sauce the ribs while cooking (dry rub only with Salt | Pepper | Onion Powder | Garlic Powder), we've gone to using the Rib Rack (rotating every 90m) and cooking for 5+ hours to the appropriate IT ... then dip in sauce (if desired) when served ... we use various Sugar Free sauces ...

 

[splinervision]

Depends on the Ribs. 3-2-1 works every time, but depending on the size of the rack of ribs it might need adjustment. For Baby Back ribs which are smaller, I generally do 3-1.5-.5 so 3 hours of smoke, 1.5 hours wrapped in foil with a little beer or apple juice (about 1/4 cup at the most per rib rack) with them, then unwrap, carefully put them back on the grill and cook them for up to 30 minutes adding sauce. All of that at 225F. You won't get much smoke with the Traeger at 225, so you can do that first 3 hours at 180 to add smoke. It won't hurt the recipe. If I'm doing spare ribs or St. Louis style spare ribs, I will do a full 3-2-1, 3 hours of smoke, 2 hours wrapped with some sort of liquid added, and up to an hour to tighten them back up with sauce.

That last hour is all subjective to your taste. If the ribs are a little extra tender, more time at the end will tighten them back up a bit and it may mean you put too much liquid in the foil. You want them tender, but you want them to stay on the bone until you eat them.

When you're done put them upside down (meat side down) on a cutting board so you can cut them into individual ribs to serve easily.

Don't forget to remove the membrane before cooking!

Oh and my favorite liquid to use in the foil is a splash of Shiner Bock Beer. Save some of the liquid when you pull the ribs out and add it to your BBQ sauce, it'll add a wonderful savory-ness to the sauce that you won't soon forget! I keep a six pack of it around just to make sauce with.