Trying to love my Traeger

[TELLIOTT]

I have a Pro 575 that I purchased mid-November and I am really struggling to love it. I have had success with Baby Back Ribs, Jerky and Tri-Tip. I will use yesterday's cook as an example of what bothers me. I did a boneless Chuck Roast and followed or tried to follow instructions to prepare it like Brisket. I took it out of the fridge at 6 am and started at noon what was supposed to be a 4.5 hour cook I used the Traeger probe and inserted it so the point was in the exact middle of the roast. Set temp to 225 degrees. Recipe said to cook it 3-3.5 hours until 160-165 degrees, remove from grill, wrap and return to the grill and cook for one hour until it reaches 204-208 degrees. So all was going well until around the 3 hour mark it stalled at 155 degrees, so I removed the probe, took the roast off the grill, double wrapped it in butcher paper, put it back on the Traeger and re-inserted the probe (less than 1 minute for that process) and now the meat probe red 144 degrees. The temp stayed at 144 degrees for 15 minutes, so I bumped the temp to 240 degrees. Over the next couple of hours the temp got back to 155 degrees and then stalled again. It was now 5:30 pm and my wife and I didn't want to wait until 7 or 8 to eat, so I took it off the Traeger and put it in a cooler for 30 minutes. Now, it actually turned out pretty good, moist and flavorful. I know that many of you will tell me what difference it makes as long as it turns out, I understand that. What bothers me is few of the items I have done following the recipes exactly is they always seem to take much longer than the recipe states, usually by a significant amount. My complaint about the probe is that the meat temp fluctuates 3-4 degrees up and down consistently. I have a Fireboard set up that I use and don't get the same fluctuation. I get frustrated when timing is off by hours. I have been BBQ for 20+ years on both a Weber Kettle and gas smoker and never really had any issues like this. Ambient air temp was in the 60's.

 

[RayClem]

Perhaps the best piece of advice I can give you is "NEVER TRUST THE TRAEGER TEMPERATURE PROBES". Most owners find the probes to be inaccurate. Get yourself a good 3rd party thermometer to check the cook temperature. Get a good instant read thermometer to determine when the cook has reached the proper temperature. Since you have a Fireboard, use it. Set the Traeger controller at whatever temperature you need to achieve the desired cook temperature as measured by the Fireboard.

For example, if you set your grill to 225F and the actual temperature is 200F, you will never reach 203F. While my Ironwood is only 10 degrees low at 225F, the actual temperature when I set the Traeger to 450F is only 400F. The stall normally occurs somewhere around the 160-170F range. If your cook stalled at 155F, it looks like your meat probe is off around 10 degrees. Did you calibrate it in an ice-water bath? That might help. I used my meat probe for the first couple of cooks and have not plugged in since. I do not trust it. I drilled a hole in the lid and mounted an analog grill thermometer such as are commonly used on gas grills, charcoal grills, and offset smokers. I set the controller temperature wherever it needs to be to achieve my desired temperature as measured by the analog thermometer.

The second piece of advice I can give you is "NEVER COOK TO TIME AND TEMPERATURE". Every cook is different. The time in the recipes are only guidelines. Always use a meat probe you trust and cook until it reaches your desired temperature. For things like briskets, chuck roasts, and pork butts, the probe feel is more important than the actual temperature. If a cook seems to be taking longer than the time you have available, boost the temperature. If you plan to wrap the protein, it will pick up no more smoke after the wrap is applied, so you can boost the temperature to 325F if you want. You can even take the roast inside and finish it off in your kitchen oven.

If you follow those two pieces of advice, most of your frustrations will go away.

 

[TELLIOTT]

Perhaps the best piece of advice I can give you is "NEVER TRUST THE TRAEGER TEMPERATURE PROBES". Most owners find the probes to be inaccurate. Get yourself a good 3rd party thermometer to check the cook temperature. Get a good instant read thermometer to determine when the cook has reached the proper temperature. Since you have a Fireboard, use it. Set the Traeger controller at whatever temperature you need to achieve the desired cook temperature as measured by the Fireboard.

For example, if you set your grill to 225F and the actual temperature is 200F, you will never reach 203F. While my Ironwood is only 10 degrees low at 225F, the actual temperature when I set the Traeger to 450F is only 400F. The stall normally occurs somewhere around the 160-170F range. If your cook stalled at 155F, it looks like your meat probe is off around 10 degrees. Did you calibrate it in an ice-water bath? That might help. I used my meat probe for the first couple of cooks and have not plugged in since. I do not trust it. I drilled a hole in the lid and mounted an analog grill thermometer such as are commonly used on gas grills, charcoal grills, and offset smokers. I set the controller temperature wherever it needs to be to achieve my desired temperature as measured by the analog thermometer.

The second piece of advice I can give you is "NEVER COOK TO TIME AND TEMPERATURE". Every cook is different. The time in the recipes are only guidelines. Always use a meat probe you trust and cook until it reaches your desired temperature. For things like briskets, chuck roasts, and pork butts, the probe feel is more important than the actual temperature. If a cook seems to be taking longer than the time you have available, boost the temperature. If you plan to wrap the protein, it will pick up no more smoke after the wrap is applied, so you can boost the temperature to 325F if you want. You can even take the roast inside and finish it off in your kitchen oven.

If you follow those two pieces of advice, most of your frustrations will go away.

Thanks, I appreciate your advice.

 

[The Visitor]

I have just recently noticed that my Timberline XL is always cooler than its set temperature.50 to 60 degrees. From what I read, there is no point in raising this with Traeger customer service as there is no fix. My TXL is new and I am looking at drilling some holes into the lid and mounting some BBQ thermometers. Seems the best way. Then I can move about the set temperature to suit the lid thermometers and I don't have to open it up to take a reading.

 

[Timmy]

You will void the warranty if you drill holes in the lid. I would recommend getting a 3rd party thermometer with an ambient probe you can place inside the grill.