Troubleshooting long cook times

[disrael]

Hoping to get some ideas from the vets here on troubleshooting why my cook times are so long. I cook for temp, not time, so it's not like I'm ruining the food, but I'm wondering if there's something I can check/adjust to bring cooking times closer to the approximations we get from recipes.

A couple examples using my Ironwood 885.

1. Last weekend I smoked a chuck roast pastrami. The recipe estimates ~3.5 hours at 250 to hit the 205-210 mark. At 6 hours, it was around 180 according to my thermapen. I increased the temp to 275. At 8 hours, it was around 195. I wondered if the temp display was off, so I stuck the end of my thermapen through the hole where the meat probe goes through, and within 10-15 seconds, it turned off when the temp hit 250, so it appears the grill has a temp that's at least somewhat accurate.

2. Last night I put on some beef ribs at midnnight, hoping to have some early afternoon (now-ish ... about 1pm). The recipe indicates about 8-10 hours at 225 (supersmoke). We're now closing in on 13 hours and it's around 185.

I live on the west coast. The weather has been mild, low 50s to low 70s, no rain, little bit of wind.

Any suggestions/ideas to troubleshoot this?

 

[Shedd]

Ive had my 780 Pro over a couple years and it always takes much longer than my BGE. I can cook a butt in each (I tried it to see) same temperature by grill thermometer, same weight within a few ounces but my Traeger took 4 hours longer. The issue is the temperature fluctuates greatly inside the Traeger and stays exactly steady in my BGE. Constant consistent heat coverage versus a small fire pot with a fan inconsistently blowing heat around. However my Traeger temperature is never what my third party says, always lower. I’ve found I can decrease cook time by setting it to 250 instead of 225. However I’ve quit cooking butts and any larger pieces of protein on my Traeger, my BGE is more reliable, consistent and flavorful. I still cook ribs, burgers and spatchcock chicken on it so it still has its place in my outdoor kitchen area.

 

[Scootlaroo]

Here here! I think Traeger needs to own up to this! I've experienced many cooks that take 4-8 hour longer! I've called the Help line, and voiced these concerns. The Traeger temp probe sits over the cook pot. (Ridiculous!) My independent probes tell a much different story on what's happening inside the Traeger, where the product i'm smoking actually sits. I've voiced this before and I typically get the "you just have to get to know YOUR Traeger". I feel all the recipes on Traeger website should reflect what it actually takes. I've almost ruined 2 dinner parties by expecting the timeline to be accurate. Luckily I fired up the Weber bought some other type meat and grilled it so the guests had something on their plate. Fool me twice that way and I'm very leery to expect that Traeger recipe timeline will ever work. $4000 dollar Timberline purchased 2024.

 

[RayClem]

The two primary factors in cook time are temperature and the size of the protein. However, sometimes two identical pieces of meat will take different times due to moisture content and other differences. The main thing is to know the temperature of your grill. If you are relying on the temperature shown on the controller, you might be off by a significant amount. For example, if your controller is showing 225F, the actual temperature might be as low as 200F. If you are trying to achieve a final temp of 203F on a brisket or pork butt, you will never get there.

 

[Shedd]

One very important thing I’ve learned over the past couple years, I do not smoke big hunks of meat like butts the night/ day ahead of a gathering on my Traeger or my BGE. Actually I’ve been smoking them days, weeks or months ahead when I catch them on sale at a great price. I found out about Sous Vide cooking and bought me a circulator as well as invested in a vacuum seal machine. Besides cooking many things sous vide I figured out I could cook most any meats ahead, vacuum seal and freeze. When I have a desire to have something or even a gathering, I simply put the desired amount of vacuum bags into a container of water with my sous vide circulator holding the water at desired temperature and I’m telling you that you will not be able to tell the meats were cooked, days, weeks or months. It tastes just like if came off the smoker. Now I also figured out I don’t actually have to use my sous vide circulator, I can also put the frozen vacuum bags into a pot of water, bring it to a boil then turn it down to low and it will do the same thing. You just have to be careful not to let it stay too hot too long because the seal on the vacuum bag will come loose. I suggest bringing water to boil then turn burner off and let it sit. You can feel the bag and tell if it soft all the way through. I have friends in the food service industry and they use this method regularly for most foods. It’s a complete game changer once you figure it out. I’ve had gatherings of 100 plus people and they raved about my pulled pork and speculated I was up all night cooking it. It works and saves time and worries.

 

[jayjordan]

One very important thing I’ve learned over the past couple years, I do not smoke big hunks of meat like butts the night/ day ahead of a gathering on my Traeger or my BGE. Actually I’ve been smoking them days, weeks or months ahead when I catch them on sale at a great price. I found out about Sous Vide cooking and bought me a circulator as well as invested in a vacuum seal machine. Besides cooking many things sous vide I figured out I could cook most any meats ahead, vacuum seal and freeze. When I have a desire to have something or even a gathering, I simply put the desired amount of vacuum bags into a container of water with my sous vide circulator holding the water at desired temperature and I’m telling you that you will not be able to tell the meats were cooked, days, weeks or months. It tastes just like if came off the smoker. Now I also figured out I don’t actually have to use my sous vide circulator, I can also put the frozen vacuum bags into a pot of water, bring it to a boil then turn it down to low and it will do the same thing. You just have to be careful not to let it stay too hot too long because the seal on the vacuum bag will come loose. I suggest bringing water to boil then turn burner off and let it sit. You can feel the bag and tell if it soft all the way through. I have friends in the food service industry and they use this method regularly for most foods. It’s a complete game changer once you figure it out. I’ve had gatherings of 100 plus people and they raved about my pulled pork and speculated I was up all night cooking it. It works and saves time and worries.

Genius! I need to try this since I already have vacuum sealer and sous vide circulator with insulated container.

 

[disrael]

One very important thing I’ve learned over the past couple years, I do not smoke big hunks of meat like butts the night/ day ahead of a gathering on my Traeger or my BGE. Actually I’ve been smoking them days, weeks or months ahead when I catch them on sale at a great price. I found out about Sous Vide cooking and bought me a circulator as well as invested in a vacuum seal machine. Besides cooking many things sous vide I figured out I could cook most any meats ahead, vacuum seal and freeze. When I have a desire to have something or even a gathering, I simply put the desired amount of vacuum bags into a container of water with my sous vide circulator holding the water at desired temperature and I’m telling you that you will not be able to tell the meats were cooked, days, weeks or months. It tastes just like if came off the smoker. Now I also figured out I don’t actually have to use my sous vide circulator, I can also put the frozen vacuum bags into a pot of water, bring it to a boil then turn it down to low and it will do the same thing. You just have to be careful not to let it stay too hot too long because the seal on the vacuum bag will come loose. I suggest bringing water to boil then turn burner off and let it sit. You can feel the bag and tell if it soft all the way through. I have friends in the food service industry and they use this method regularly for most foods. It’s a complete game changer once you figure it out. I’ve had gatherings of 100 plus people and they raved about my pulled pork and speculated I was up all night cooking it. It works and saves time and worries.

Very interesting tip, thanks!

 

[RayClem]

Purchasing a Sous Vide circulator was one of the best purchase I have ever made. I purchased the Inkbird ISV200W unit. It has given me great service for the past three years, It is still going strong. I use it three times per week.

 

[Manannan]

You just have to be careful not to let it stay too hot too long because the seal on the vacuum bag will come loose

Excellent post, the only thing I would add is that not all vacuum seal bags or vacuum sealers are created equal and both can vary as to how suitable they are for sous vide. For example I have found a chamber vacuum sealer seal to be much more robust but conversely they are more expensive and I always buy bags that specifically say they are suitable for sous vide.

With regards to Traeger recipe cooking times I have fallen foul of this, they often seem to bear no semblance to reality. However one thing that can make a significant difference is taking meat straight out of the fridge and putting it in the Traeger (or oven) as opposed to giving it a chance to warm to approaching room temperature first. The bigger the piece of meat the more significant this is although obviously food safety has to be taken in to account.

 

[RayClem]

GUGA of YT cooking fame did an experiment to debunk the myth of needing to let meat (steaks in particular) being left out of the refrigerator for an hour before cooking. During the hour, the internal temp of the steak climbed only a few degrees, certainly not enough to affect cooking significantly. In fact, if you like sear on meat, starting the cook with the meat cold might just allow you to sear the outside without overcooking the center. Just make sure to dry the surface of the meat so you won't be evaporating excess moisture from condensation.

 

[Manannan]

GUGA of YT cooking fame did an experiment to debunk the myth of needing to let meat (steaks in particular) being left out of the refrigerator for an hour before cooking.

I would certainly agree re smaller bits of meat but for large pieces like brisket, rib roast or pork butt anecdotally leaving it out for a couple of hours works for me although I haven't done any tests to back up this assertion as other have.

Others debunk searing, prefer revere searing or whatever and there are many myths and variations of what work best and swapping information and experience all helps decide what is best for you.

Bottom line is that I do find that the Traeger recipes almost always take longer than advertised!

 

[RayClem]

I would certainly agree re smaller bits of meat but for large pieces like brisket, rib roast or pork butt anecdotally leaving it out for a couple of hours works for me although I haven't done any tests to back up this assertion as other have.

Others debunk searing, prefer revere searing or whatever and there are many myths and variations of what work best and swapping information and experience all helps decide what is best for you.

Bottom line is that I do find that the Traeger recipes almost always take longer than advertised!

Remember that with a brisket, you will be cooking it for many hours, Whether the meat starts at 40F or 50F is not going to make much of a difference over the cooking period..

 

[Manannan]

As an aside and again only anecdotal I feel that allowing the surface of the meat to come at least part way towards room temperature assists the Meater block come up with a better "estimated" cooking time given how close the sensor is to the surface of the meat..

The Meater ambient temp bears no resemblance to the actual ambient temp as they are the first to admit, their measurement is just used in the algorithm to estimate time. This is quite useful for some things but conversely with the likes of brisket which has a variable stall time it performs poorly... all just my opinion!

 

[RayClem]

As an aside and again only anecdotal I feel that allowing the surface of the meat to come at least part way towards room temperature assists the Meater block come up with a better "estimated" cooking time given how close the sensor is to the surface of the meat..

The Meater ambient temp bears no resemblance to the actual ambient temp as they are the first to admit, their measurement is just used in the algorithm to estimate time. This is quite useful for some things but conversely with the likes of brisket which has a variable stall time it performs poorly... all just my opinion!

The ambient temp of the Meater probe will be influenced by the proximity to the cooler meat. However, I still suspect that it is more accurate than the temp shown on the Traeger controller.

I have a Temp Spike and it compares failry closely with an analog thermometer nearby.

 

[Manannan]

This is from the horses mouth so to speak:

https://support.meater.com/hc/en-us/articles/37182246162331-Ambient-Temperature-Sensor

You can have Meater probes in 4 different pieces of meat and they will all give significantly varying temperatures (even 2 chickens similar size side by side) which bear no resemblance to either the Traeger set ambient temperature or other ambient temperature thermometers such as Inkbird or Thermapen / Thermoworks RFX. I tend not to bother with the Meater ambient temp readings at all.

It is all too easy to get tangled up with such information, quite a minefield out there on what to do and not do with many myths that have now been debunked. (thanks Rayclem )