Trager Grills - School Me

[NoRagrets 1125]

Didn’t find any mention of these things. I have a weber kettle and my propane grill is rusted out. Would like to replace it and was thinking about a Weber genesis but now this trager thing is looking pretty intriguing.

anyone own one? Any advice welcome, brahs.

[dcbc 14484]

I don't own one and have not used one.  But I ate some boneless chicken breasteses that a friend of ours made one one.  I thought it was pretty dry and flavorless.  May have been that my friend is so bad with the thing and a competent human could turn out some good food on it.  I felt it better not to ask at the time.

I've got a Weber Kettle and apart from having to dump charcoal and wood chunks in it, light it, etc., I've been impressed versus other grills I've had (don't even own a gas grill anymore). 

Would buy again.

[Anastasis 23469]

[AustinMT 952]

1 hour ago, dcbc said:

I don't own one and have not used one.  But I ate some boneless chicken breasteses that a friend of ours made one one.  I thought it was pretty dry and flavorless.  May have been that my friend is so bad with the thing and a competent human could turn out some good food on it.  I felt it better not to ask at the time.

I've got a Weber Kettle and apart from having to dump charcoal and wood chunks in it, light it, etc., I've been impressed versus other grills I've had (don't even own a gas grill anymore). 

Would buy again.

Had one for about 5 years.  Never had anything dry out. FYI — it’s not really made for cooking boneless chicken breasts — use a grill.  It’s a smoker, not a grill.

Incredibly easy to use, put on the meat, put in a remote thermometer and walk away.

[dcbc 14484]

6 hours ago, AustinMT said:

Had one for about 5 years.  Never had anything dry out. FYI — it’s not really made for cooking boneless chicken breasts — use a grill.  It’s a smoker, not a grill.

Incredibly easy to use, put on the meat, put in a remote thermometer and walk away.

Kind of what I figured.  But the OP was replacing a grill. 

[PittsburghTiger 6186]

I bought a Louisiana Grills brand pellet smoker/grill. The one I got was made in North America and that is a big reason I got it, instead of another brand.

We really like it. I've gradually increased the difficulty, so to speak, of the meats I have done on it. A month ago I did a 6-pound pork loin and it was amazing. I used a dry rub and fixed it up nice. Smoked it for about three and a half hours at 250 degrees and it was extremely juicy when we finally cut into it.

Christmas Eve I am doing another large pork loin, 8 pounds this time, as well as a prime rib.

I have not yet done chicken. That is coming up in the near future. I did do a turkey breast on Thanksgiving and it too was awesome.

A really nice thing about this one I have is that it is also capable of getting to 550 degrees for grilling steaks. I have enjoyed this one so much that I got rid of both of my gas grills.

https://louisiana-grills.com

 

[NoRagrets 1125]

7 hours ago, PittsburghTiger said:

I bought a Louisiana Grills brand pellet smoker/grill. The one I got was made in North America and that is a big reason I got it, instead of another brand.

We really like it. I've gradually increased the difficulty, so to speak, of the meats I have done on it. A month ago I did a 6-pound pork loin and it was amazing. I used a dry rub and fixed it up nice. Smoked it for about three and a half hours at 250 degrees and it was extremely juicy when we finally cut into it.

Christmas Eve I am doing another large pork loin, 8 pounds this time, as well as a prime rib.

I have not yet done chicken. That is coming up in the near future. I did do a turkey breast on Thanksgiving and it too was awesome.

A really nice thing about this one I have is that it is also capable of getting to 550 degrees for grilling steaks. I have enjoyed this one so much that I got rid of both of my gas grills.

https://louisiana-grills.com

 

So it could be considered a gas grill replacement? If you crank it up to 500, does it get less Smokey?

i don’t want to Ragret this decision.

[AustinMT 952]

1 hour ago, NoRagrets said:

So it could be considered a gas grill replacement? If you crank it up to 500, does it get less Smokey?

i don’t want to Ragret this decision.

You can also use these to add more searing heat:

https://www.grillgrate.com/pellet-grills/

 

 

[PittsburghTiger 6186]

2 hours ago, NoRagrets said:

So it could be considered a gas grill replacement? If you crank it up to 500, does it get less Smokey?

i don’t want to Ragret this decision.

I use it for both. Today I will do some burgers on it, as a grill. It's still smokey at high temps, but it's basically just burning pellets at a faster rate. The flame guard has a sliding aspect that you can open up for a more direct flame for grilling faster.

Obviously it will use a lot more pellets when you crank it up really high. When I did the 250 degrees for 3 and a half hours I did not even use one full hopper of pellets. I really do like it. Check out that Louisiana Grills website. They have some videos. I think it could explain it better than I on a message board. I did get rid of my two gas grills.

I really do like mine, and NO, I am not employed by Louisiana Grills.

[Nueces River Rat 5538]

9 hours ago, PittsburghTiger said:

I bought a Louisiana Grills brand pellet smoker/grill. The one I got was made in North America and that is a big reason I got it, instead of another brand.

We really like it. I've gradually increased the difficulty, so to speak, of the meats I have done on it. A month ago I did a 6-pound pork loin and it was amazing. I used a dry rub and fixed it up nice. Smoked it for about three and a half hours at 250 degrees and it was extremely juicy when we finally cut into it.

Christmas Eve I am doing another large pork loin, 8 pounds this time, as well as a prime rib.

I have not yet done chicken. That is coming up in the near future. I did do a turkey breast on Thanksgiving and it too was awesome.

A really nice thing about this one I have is that it is also capable of getting to 550 degrees for grilling steaks. I have enjoyed this one so much that I got rid of both of my gas grills.

https://louisiana-grills.com

 

Which one did you get?   I'm gradually getting interested in these grills.   

[Big_kat 334]

I had a trager for about a year. Never got hot enough to grill on and I felt it did a slightly average job smoking meat. Never could get a good bark on the meat and it was a bitch to clean out. Traded it and a Webber gaser to guy for a Kamado Joe big Joe. Best decision food wise I have ever made. Kamados are the tits for cooking an incredibly wide selection for food from grilling to smoking to baking. 

[PittsburghTiger 6186]

1 hour ago, Nueces River Rat said:

Which one did you get?   I'm gradually getting interested in these grills.   

Without looking at it out back I believe I have this one.

https://louisiana-grills.com/shop/grills/lg-900

 

Like I said, I like it. It may not be for everyone, but so far I enjoy it, and the food I have made.

[NoRagrets 1125]

Update: bought a demo Green Mountain Grill: Jim Bowie. Probably bigger than what I need but it was $200 off bc demo.

So far so great. Unlike traeger it gets up to 500+. Made pizzas last night and they had a great wood fired flavor.

also comes with a meat probe and WiFi. I’ll post more as I learn more; will be honest in my assessments as well.

[PittsburghTiger 6186]

On 12/30/2018 at 9:21 AM, NoRagrets said:

Update: bought a demo Green Mountain Grill: Jim Bowie. Probably bigger than what I need but it was $200 off bc demo.

So far so great. Unlike traeger it gets up to 500+. Made pizzas last night and they had a great wood fired flavor.

also comes with a meat probe and WiFi. I’ll post more as I learn more; will be honest in my assessments as well.

looks good. i just went and looked at the website. 

[pops 6985]

I've used a buddies traeger a few times for big cooks when I didn't have the space for everything and it was fine, but man they seem to be built cheap. At least his was and this was 4 or 5 years ago so maybe they've gotten better. 

I think some of the other brands are building them with a higher grade steel. 

I still wouldn't trade one for my Komodo style cooker. Most versatile cooking tool I've ever had. 

[plimon 190]

I just picked up an old Traeger Jr on Craiglist for $75. Going to fix the rusty spots and make some minor mods. I'll report back in a few weeks. I've got other projects ahead of it.

[PittsburghTiger 6186]

This week I did an eye of round and it was fantastic. Smokey flavor and did not dry out a bit. Took it to internal temp of 130 degrees, took about two and a half hours, low & slow.

[shnsajax 3591]

On 12/30/2018 at 7:21 AM, NoRagrets said:

Update: bought a demo Green Mountain Grill: Jim Bowie. Probably bigger than what I need but it was $200 off bc demo.

So far so great. Unlike traeger it gets up to 500+. Made pizzas last night and they had a great wood fired flavor.

also comes with a meat probe and WiFi. I’ll post more as I learn more; will be honest in my assessments as well.

I like the Green Mountain Grill's. Much thicker gauge of metal vs Trager and gets a lot hotter as you mentioned.

[Planet Houston 4930]

Anyone have experience with Memphis? They claim it gets up to 700 degrees. I’m pretty damned intrigued...and they look pretty great too.

https://memphisgrills.com/grill-smoke-bake/

 

 

[PittsburghTiger 6186]

30 minutes ago, Planet Houston said:

Anyone have experience with Memphis? They claim it gets up to 700 degrees. I’m pretty damned intrigued...and they look pretty great too.

https://memphisgrills.com/grill-smoke-bake/

 

 

They look pretty damn awesome, with a price to match. I'm digging my Louisiana Grills model.