Off topic: Rinker owners who grill!

Willhound

Traeger comes through again. Back ribs with coleslaw, cheater beans and broccolini dredged in olive oil, steak spice and flash fried. Can't get collard greens so a good substitute.

aero3113

@Willhound , man that looks good!!

LaRea

Bahahaha that is hilarious! 

Dream_Inn

Now I really like that!!

Handymans342

I would even get that

oscar1

I love it

halifax212

Willhound said:

Traeger comes through again. Back ribs with coleslaw, cheater beans and broccolini dredged in olive oil, steak spice and flash fried. Can't get collard greens so a good substitute.

That looks fantastic. Great choice if sides as well.  My wife says she will get me a smoker when I retire. It could mean she wants me out of the house for 8 hours. 

MarkB

Yeah, those ribs look great!

Willhound

Thanks guys. Had a full on flare up while smoking, my fault for not properly shutting down after the hopper hung up. But I've been clipping a spare temp probe inside to monitor temp and as soon as I saw the temp suddenly spike I pulled the rack out until the flames subsided. 😏 After a restart things came out perfect.

randy56

Its' only 30 gee, it was 80 today. Good save. 

Willhound

randy56 said:

Its' only 30 gee, it was 80 today. Good save. 

That thermometer is in Celsius. So 30 is about 86F. But that's just because of the flames that were shooting up just prior to the pic. Actual temp outside was about 65F, so a decent spring day. Any of you guys with pellet grills would know that if you don't follow the proper shut down procedure to burn all the pellets in the burn chamber, when you re-ignite it dumps a bunch more pellets in and goes into overdrive. And if you let pellet dust build up too much in the fire box it can cause the whole works to ignite which pushes smoke back up through the pellet hopper. Scares the crap out of you the first time it happens. Then you realize the best thing is just kill the power, close the lid and let it burn out. Clean out all the ash and start all over again. 

randy56

Celsius, We normaly shop vac out all ash after a 40 lb bag of pellets. I've only had theat happen once. It was disturbing the first time. Fire in the hole.

Willhound

Looking for suggestions. I'm not about to give up my Traeger but I've been nostalgic for that wonderful charcoal BBQ smell of my youth so I've purchased a kettle style charcoal grill I intend to break in tomorrow and looking for suggestions on what to try? More than a simple hot dog or burger. I'm hooked on reverse sear steaks and that is tougher to do with charcoal. Maybe a pork shoulder on indirect heat for pulled pork? A beef roast? 

randy56

You can do anything on that. Same as your pellet grill, I took my charcoal grill with me to FL. since it was smaller.  I did butts, steaks, ribs, Prime rib, chicken does real well. It's a slight learning curve on heat management. Love the thing. had steaks on it tonight since it was Friday. 1.5 inch ribeye  mouth watering goodness. 

PK 360

Willhound

 Now that's a unit! Hadn't heard of a PK so had to look it up. About a G note in Canada. I just picked up a cheap little porcelain coated job for the odd time I'll use it. I know I can do anything I could do in the Traeger. Just more fussing. Decision was made by the Admiral anyway who has decreed it'll be T-bones and baked potatoes.
But it's nicer than what it's replacing, although this little $20 tin pot has lasted 10 years. Was bright red when new.

Willhound

Haven't cooked a full meal on charcoal in about 30 years. Turned out well. Couple of 20 oz T-bones, baked potatoes, cremini mushrooms, Argentinian shrimp and Ceasar salad. Everything but the salad on the grill. Realize how much I've been missing that wonderful chargrilled taste. And the filet was literally pulling apart with a fork.

randy56

Those little grills have feed a lot of people. Not a thing wrong with those dome type. I see you are useing lump. So you are aready used to fire management. 
Try this sometime, SV 4 pork tenderloins for 2 hours at 130 degrees. Have your grill hot and prepared ahead of time. Use your favorite rub on a couple, and greek rub on a couple. No BBQ sause. Maybe a chunk of Hickory wood.  Set your rub's and place them on the grill rotate with tongs about every 5 mininutes, Close the dome, between flips, depends how hot your grill is until internal temp of 145, for you, and 155 for your wife. 145 is very jucie, and a little pink inside.
We had @Handymans342 over for dinner a couple months ago, I had made some, his wife said It was the best she ever had. I sent some home with them. If you have any left over you can cut them real thin about 1/4 inch thick, fill up the plate.  and heat in microwave for about 30 seconds. Then put on a ****, open a cold one and enjoy. 

randy56

LOL it edited out a word, hear is hint ritz, club, saltine, 

LaRea

Hey ****, don't bring that language here.

Willhound

Just to be clear @randy56 that little pink thing is my old charcoal grill that I last used for some burgers awhile back. The new one used today is the full size black one at the top. Started with briquettes to get it going and season the new.porcelain and then added lump to cook. Yes, much prefer the lump. 

raybo3

@randy56 was I supposed to fix that? lol

RiverRat232

I am a bush league griller at best but looking to up my game. I've been looking into the Traegers but can't figure out which model would be best for my needs. The price is a huge con but do the pros outweigh it? How are they better than my current gas grill? 

Willhound

Traeger invented it but there are other pellet grills out there. The biggest advantage is you can pretty much set it and forget it. Hard to compare to a gas grill because they both have their uses. Most pellet grills have a "smoke" setting that holds a consistent temperature all day long if needed. Just fill up the hopper and check it from time to time. And at higher temps you still get some lovely smoke flavor from the wood pellets. Bigger units can heat up enough to sear a steak but the smaller ones like I have struggles, so I still use gas for the finish. Look up "reverse sear" and you'll never fast grill a steak again. Or @randy56 's Sous Vide method that is also incredible. Another benefit of pellet grills is that they are based on a pellet stove design. Traeger manufactured pellet stoves before pellet grills. So they use a fan to supply oxygen to the burn pot to keep the pellets burning but this also distributes the heat, so food cooks more evenly and faster too if you want, like a convection oven. This is also a disadvantage though because you need electrical power to run it. You sometimes see people travel or tailgate with smaller pellet grills but they also lug along a generator.
Edit: You mentioned the price. Yes, the top end models with built in wifi are nice. Can be monitored and controlled remotely. But the more traditional models are better priced and you can get a decent wireless thermometer for about $40 to $50. Besides, isn't the point to be involved from time to time? Even if it is only to throw some more pellets in the hopper.😎

LaRea

@Willhound thanks for that nice summary.  Might have to go shopping after my wallet recovers from the bruises of recommissioning the boat

Handymans342

Is there a ketchup shortage now?

Willhound

Handymans342 said:

Is there a ketchup shortage now?

According to the media. Apparently caused by all the fast food takeout since inside dining still not happening in many areas. I can understand. Every couple of weeks the wife and I get breakfast at McDonald's and eventhougni always ask for just a "couple" of packs of ketchup, they always throw a huge handful in. It all goes in the trash. Maybe I better start keeping it!

LaRea

"Ketchup.  For the good times."

randy56

@RiverRat232 How many do you feed? When kid's / grandkids come over. Or another guest couple? A 600 Sq inch +- one will do 3 slabs of baby back ribs at a time. I would not get one any smaller. Just my 2 cents. It is manatory that guest bring wine, or beer or both to your BBQ.

randy56

BBQ RULES:
We are about to enter the BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity . When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:
(1) The woman buys the food.
(2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert.
(3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill - beer in hand.
(4) The woman remains outside the compulsory three meter exclusion zone where the exuberance of testosterone and other manly bonding activities can take place without the interference of the woman.
Here comes the important part:
(5) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.
(6) The woman goes inside to organise the plates and cutlery.
(7) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is looking great. He thanks her and asks if she will bring another beer while he flips the meat
Important again:
(8) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.
(9) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces, and brings them to the table.
(10) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes
And most important of all:
(11) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.
(12) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed ' her night off ', and, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women

Couple of caveats. First, I don't know what this BBQ "season" is that it mentions at the beginning. Obviously I stole this from someone who doesn't really BBQ. Or Grill. Or Smoke.
Second, Who the heck let's someone else prepare their meat for them?
Third, thought it was funny anyway, love to laugh at the weekend BBQers.

Aqua_Aura

@RiverRat232
There is Pit Boss grills I think are supposed to be good and you seem to get a little more bang for the buck. Many brands out there and they each have there benefits. 

We have a Traeger and we love the fact you can just turn it on and start grilling and we also use it to smoke most of our food. We will start on the smoke setting with whatever food and then after 15-45 min we will turn it up and cook the food. Smoked baked potatoes would be one thing we do that I never thought of. We just did asparagus and zucchini diced up and we let them smoke for awhile before turning it up. 

It has the ease of use like a gas grill but the flavor is no comparison.