I've gone over to the dark side.

[Steve]

I've been wanting to play with a pellet pooper for a while and this week I got the opportunity to pick up a bargain ex-demo Traeger Lil Tex. Thanks Jackie

Anyway I've got it so that I can learn about cooking with pellets and see whether I get along with them. But I've never used one in anger before so any beginners tips from the Pellet experts on here will be greatly received.

[joker smoker]

when cooking on the Traeger buy extra beer as you'll have more time to sit back and relax whilst the Traeger does the work

[Steve]

Good tip, I didn't figure that into the running costs

[Banjo]

... I've never used one in anger before so any beginners tips from the Pellet experts on here will be greatly received.

Anything you want to know, just ask......I've been using mine for getting on for four weeks now.

To be honest, to say I'm pleased with it is an understatement.

[Chris__M]

But I've never used one in anger before so any beginners tips from the Pellet experts on here will be greatly received.

Surely that should be "never used one in auger before"?

Having said that I was going to persist with smoking on my Weber kettle, I've persuaded myself to take a trip down to Jackie's myself, towards the end of the month. I've been getting fair results with the kettle, but have got bored with the constant balancing act.

[Steve]

Cooking indirect on a Weber kettle is great, but I know what you mean about keeping it stable especially on longer cooks. I'm looking to do a pit upgrade for next season for similar reasons. Excels are great but they can require a lot of attention to hold stable some times.

The Traeger is an experiment for me. I know I'll be able to get consistently good food from it but I want to see how it measures up against cooking on charcoal so I can decide what to invest in for next season.

[Chris__M]

I like my Weber, and I am not sure if I will get rid of it, although at least a couple of friends have already said they will take it off my hands

However, most of my regular use of the grill is providing lunches for social events (music sessions or board gaming) at my house. Using the Weber for burgers and bangers is fine, as we all take a break and gather round; but anything more ambitious, and I am spending more time watching the food than participating in the actual activity we have gathered for, which kind of defeats the object.

So, from what I hear, the pellet grill is just what I need.

[Steve]

Yep in theory pellet grills are a good choice if you want to set it and ofrget it. In theory they need almost no attention although I'm sure they will occaisionally misbehave, it is BBQ after all

I'm doing my first cook on the Traeger at the weekend, got a small family event to cater, it's just chicken and bangers but should be a good test run of the machine.

[Steve]

Al, I don't know if I'll use mine for competition or not. The ideal scenario for me would be a Spicewine for competition, I think you and I agree on that one it's just a race to see who gets the first one

However I am looking at doing some small scale catering, not looking to make a living out of it more to subsidise the competition team so that as the circuit grows I can compete in more competitions. I think pellets are the way to go for this. Having said that I won't rule it out for competition until I'm familiar with exactly what I can turn out from it.

It's going to be my winter toy

[Chris__M]

Ironically there is nothing to learn about smoking/BBQ on a pellet pooper. They were invented to take the work and skill out of fire control.

I understand exactly what you are saying, and with respect to competition, you probably have a point; but surely there is more to BBQ than fire control.

As someone who - prior to any dabbling with BBQ - has spent a lot of time in a conventional kitchen, my main interest is what I am actually cooking - i.e. spices, sauces, etc. I am more interested in producing good food for my guests than proving myself a BBQ Prometheus.