# Pellet grill ideas



## ridgetop (Sep 13, 2007)

Now that I have a new pellet grill and I did the start up and seasoned it today. I'm ready to start grilling.


What are some of your best results and ways to cook on them?
I see that traeger has a "wild game" pellet but it cost about 50% more than the other flavors.
Anyone try it and is it worth the extra cost?


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## RandomElk16 (Sep 17, 2013)

I may be in the minority with pellets, but I recommend you don't worry about brand of pellet. Camp chef is usually a few bucks cheaper than traeger and they all work the same, so yeah.

That said, Traeger does offer the blends. I do have that wild game blend, but haven't tried it yet (I didn't pay anything for it). I love the fruit (apple and *cherry*) flavors, and there are charcoal pellets that are great for a lot of recipes. I was thinking of doing some elk roast with it and will let you know how that goes. It says right on it what it's a mix of, so you could realistically buy the 3 flavors and make your own blend while saving money, and then you would have left overs of each of those flavors. Could also substitute a flavor. I store pellets in labeled 5 gallon buckets with the heavy twist lids on them. Never store your pellet bags on concrete (condensation).

The traeger app has a billion recipes on it, and I use that for inspiration (things like smoked grilled cheese and mac and cheese come to mind). Also, reverse sear everything!


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## goosefreak (Aug 20, 2009)

I find myself using camp chef competition blend more often than others, or Cherry or Hickory. The last Tri Tip I did, I did a rub down with Spade L (red bottle) and Hickory pellets, low and slow, identical to a brisket and it was the BOMB! 

If I’m doing baby back pork rib, I do a rub down with brown sugar and then I use the applewood rub from Smiths and I fallow the 3-2-1 method using competition blend or cherry wood pellets and it is FIRE! 

The Kokes I was smoking over the summer I was using Alder or Cherry 

I started out rubbing everything I smoked with mustard as a bonder but, have since gotten away from that and prefer it without mustard,

Get a good meat probe!! A must have item!


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## Buckfinder (May 23, 2009)

I like pork tenderloin (the small tenderloin not huge loin) from Costco, they sell it in a 4 pack which is 2 vacuum sealed on each side. I like competition blend pellets, put a rub on it or one of the marinades from the treager app. Put it on at 225 until the internal temp reaches 145. Slice thin, most of the time it doesn’t even get to the dinner table the kids snatch it up as I cut it.


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## 3arabians (Dec 9, 2014)

I think you mentioned having a surplus of elk burger earlier. My favorite thing to cook on my traeger is jerky out of my elk burger. I thaw 4lbs for one batch and then flatten it to about an eighth of an inch by placing a softball size at a time between 2 pieces of wax paper and a rolling pin to flatten it down. A little over and an eighth or even a quarter inch is fine so don’t obsess over that. 

I use high mountain seasoning for mine and let it sit in the fridge over night but you could do anything you want for the flavor. Let me know if you have questions or want more info about it. It’s awesome!! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Vanilla (Dec 11, 2009)

I would not worry about the flavor of pellets. I have the Camp Chef pellet grill, and when I spoke to a rep about different things before I purchased the smoker, I specifically asked what flavor of pellets he preferred for different meats. He told me to quit overthinking it and just go with their Competition Blend. 90% of the time that’s what I do, but I’ve done cherry as well. I can’t say I noticed a difference. This is where your smoker above that don’t believe in pellet grills will chime in and say it does matter when you’re cooking with real wood on a “real” smoker. Who knows? They might be right. 

I bought a bag of Camp Chef “charwood” pellets that are supposed to give more of a charcoal flavor, but I haven’t tried them yet. 

Traeger insists you need to use their own pellets in their grills. I have no clue if that’s the case or not. If so, I wouldn’t worry too much about the flavor. Maybe try a few and see if you notice a difference. Otherwise, it probably doesn’t matter. 

I did a reverse seat tonight on t bone steaks on the pellet grill and then in the skillet. They were juicy and fantastic! 

My family’s favorite is tri-tip. It is very good. I love pork butt and baby back ribs. I did brisket one time and didn’t do it to my liking. Brisket can be tough to figure out, and it’s expensive to experiment with. 

Pork butt, pork loin, ribs, tri-tip, chicken drumsticks, jerky....it’s all good!


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

I have a Traeger. Did a whole brisket today that took 13 hrs. wow..

Ribs are probably my favorite on it. Usually use hickory or cherry pellets. I haven't tried the game blend, but I'm sure I will at some point.



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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

I think brand or flavor of pellet are both greatly overrated. Boston butt/pork shoulder has to be the most forgiving and easy one to cook with great results. Turkey whole or breast is also very easy, but more prep in brining it for no less than 12 hours. I havent found anything I didnt like yet.


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## 2full (Apr 8, 2010)

We smoke on our pellet grill quite a bit. Have pretty much gone to the competitIon blend. 
Salmon is our favorite. Have done ribs, tri-tip, rib roast, steaks, elk roast, sirloin pork roast, burgers, chicken, pork butt, and ham. The ham was marvelous. Use mostly the pork and poultry and rib roast rubs from Traeger, and love the Spade L rub, 
As long as u use the temp probe, everything will turn out great. 8)
The wife was mad when I bought a smoker, now she loves it.......she has to cook less.


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## SX3 (Jun 3, 2014)

I use cherrywood on everything because I have a source and I like the flavor. For most meats I don't think it matters a lot but there are some woods that definitely have a "harsher" smoke flavor. I don't really like mesquite for long smokes on pork. Second the comments on temp probes. Absolutely required to keep from going over or under. One of the most important things to understand with smoking meat that the you need to rest it after the cook. Pork or brisket I like to rest for a minimum of 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Dedicate a cooler for this. Put the wrapped meat in the cooler, cover with several towels shut the lid and leave it for a couple hours. The meat will relax and be much more tender. Enjoy the experience and the complements from people that you serve the food to.


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## Stickboy2 (Sep 6, 2019)

Traegar pellets from Costco! 

When we purchased our smoker we picked up the cookbook put out by Traegar. I haven't had anything bad yet from their recipes. By far the ribs, cooking with the 3-2-1 method have been the best. The Costco ribs is what I start out with. 

I have yet to take on a brisket yet. The Traegar chicken is also a favorite! be sure to cook two chickens so ya got one for leftovers!!!:EAT::EAT:


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## caddis8 (Sep 10, 2007)

I have a lot of different flavors. There are different woods for different meats and you can tell a difference. I'm not sure you can see that much difference with a pellet grill vs conventional smoker because I don't know how much of the pellet is the actual wood vs wood with oil or flavoring added to reduce cost. It's basically sawdust. 

Competition blend is very good. I haven't tried the charcoal kind yet, looks intriguing. 

I've done a lot from Irish Bacon from Wyogoob (oh that stuff is amazing), goose pastrami (best way for goose so far), whole turkey, chickens, chicken legs, lots of salmon (sprinkle with tenderquick for a couple of hours, wash off, sprinkle with brown sugar and smoke low), lots of pork butts (family favorite), pork loins, made whole elk leg pastrami, that was pretty great too, have done a couple of prime ribs that were not terrible at all. 

We also stopped using our gas grill. We cook pizza, bread, dutch oven potatoes, roasted veggies, and all sorts of other stuff in the pellet grill because it is basically a convection oven. We cook a lot in the summer so it doesn't heat up our house. 

As mentioned, get a good meat probe and preferably one with bluetooth so you can set your phone and it gives you reminders of where the meat temps are and you can adjust as necessary. The ambient temps outside with wind can have a big effect on the internal temps of the grill. You can adjut as needed.

Overall, you'll love it. There's a lot of great stuff out there. I'm happy to lend any help you want or need. Feel free to message or call if you'd like. 

Don't trust a skinny cook.


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## blacksage (Sep 11, 2019)

ridgetop said:


> Now that I have a new pellet grill and I did the start up and seasoned it today. I'm ready to start grilling.
> 
> What are some of your best results and ways to cook on them?
> I see that traeger has a "wild game" pellet but it cost about 50% more than the other flavors.
> Anyone try it and is it worth the extra cost?


I am new to pellet grills, I purchased a Camp Chef and love it so far.

Google the 3, 2, 1 method for ribs. It is fool proof and amazing. My issue so far is remembering to not keep opening/peeking at the meat while it cooks as it will lower the temp each time. I have heard the saying, "if you are lookin', it aint cookin'"


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## olibooger (Feb 13, 2019)

I figured if there is anyone to ask this question it would be you gentlemen. 
Does anyone know anything about the Weber Smoky Mountains? If they are any good? I have a large growing family and to be honest, I would have a hard time coughing up the money for the more expensive, larger grills. 
I also wanted to ask if using pellets, does that generally mean the smoker has to be plugged in? 

Honestly I havent researched the topic as much as I want to but saw this thread and thought I should ask.


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## 2full (Apr 8, 2010)

I've heard pretty good things about the Weber smokers, but I don't sell them. 
Both Camp Chef and Traeger make a larger 36" smoker grill. They come with dual temp probes. 
You can cook A LOT of food at once one of the 36" smokers. I just have a 24" Camp Chef, have never had any problem with it being enough room cook larger amounts of food. 
And yes, the pellet grills have to be plugged to run the auger. But, even a small generator would run one if you are camping and want to use the smoker.


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## brisket (Mar 3, 2015)

olibooger said:


> I figured if there is anyone to ask this question it would be you gentlemen.
> Does anyone know anything about the Weber Smoky Mountains? If they are any good? I have a large growing family and to be honest, I would have a hard time coughing up the money for the more expensive, larger grills.
> I also wanted to ask if using pellets, does that generally mean the smoker has to be plugged in?
> 
> Honestly I havent researched the topic as much as I want to but saw this thread and thought I should ask.


I love my Weber Smokey Mountain. I'm happy to answer any questions you have.


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

Stickboy2 said:


> Traegar pellets from Costco!


My experience is that these are the worst pellets on teh market. Last bag I bought had the pellets all cut about 1.5" LONG, too long to fit through the auger, so they just jam and by the time it is noticed you've lost an hour or more and a pain to get them all out and refeed more...


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## Raptorman (Aug 18, 2009)

I've hard pretty good luck with the Lumber Jack Pellets. Our local True Value has them and they seem to work great and cheaper than even the Camp Chef Pellets. 

I will echo what others have said, the Traeger website is great for recipes. We like doing just check breasts or pork loin chops. A little olive oil and your favorite rub, on high for 25 min and perfect every time. Quick and easy. I also like cooking my bacon on it, easy clean up, good flavor, and good texture. Just put it right on the grate.


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