Blackjacks Traeger Chronicles

tworley said:
Ive had my traeger (the small Bronson version) for maybe 4-5 years now. So far the only thing Ive repaired/replaced was the auger motor--otherwise it has been a pretty stout unit for being kept outdoors year-round with nothing but a cover. My BIL's motor went about a year after mine did too. Great thread(y)
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Thanks. My brother had one for years and I use to rib him about its not real Q but on the flip side I knew that the convivence is awfully hard to beat. And so far playing around with it the little I have that for sure with the right technique and a few gadgets you can produce some very good results. My only real problem is that I am limited locally on what pellet choices I have so I will have to see what I can do about that.
 
New auger motor in. Not real tough you just pull the hopper, unplug the wire from the controller, pull the drive screw and slip the motor off. I thought about a motor stabilizer bracket from Smoke Daddy as for some reason most pellet grills let the motor flop around. Instead I just used some thick felt furniture glides I had to take up the gap. New motor also had a ground wire the old one did not so just routed to the main ground by the blower.

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I left the Sear Daddy in to confirm results and it did not take long. The new motor is silent (maybe felt pads have something to do with this I dunno) and it quickly hit 191 while I set it at 185 which it was not doing before. Turned it all the way up and in short time hit 450 on the old dial and 415 on the controller and still climbing (I think the chimney might be pulling enough draft to keep some heat away from the other side). Only put enough pellets for a short run so I shut it down but I think it was the right call. Seeing flames dance above the rocks definitely makes me think steaks are on the menu this weekend.

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Finally last night I used the Sear Daddy for what I bought it for. All in all it worked pretty good. Only thing is that the hot spot is a bit small (obviously) so you have to move things a bit but no different than dealing with charcoal.

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Today was some quick maintenance. Some lid gasket and a proper lid stop. I know there are a lot opinions about the lid gasket but I am hoping to cut some of the wind pulling heat out.

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Been awhile for an update. Traeger has been working fine. Santa brought a generic cover for it to help keep winter out. Santa also found a scratch and dent insulation blanket on the bay but the seller shipped the wrong one so waiting on a resolution on that.

Did up some wings tonight. One tip I can give you is to put you sauce in a squeeze bottle so you can just drizzle a little on and then brush it.

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Freezer was low on pork so time to do another batch. Should have done it yesterday as it was -10f when I fired the Traeger up. She whimpered for a minute or two but surprisingly came to life quicker than I expected. Insulation blanket would have been nice but still dealing with the Bay on that one. Switched up the pellets as we now have Bear Mountain as an option now. Took pretty much the whole bag as I do not crutch in order to maximize bark creation. Total cooking time was about ten hours.

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Blackjack said:
Freezer was low on pork so time to do another batch. Should have done it yesterday as it was -10f when I fired the Traeger up. She whimpered for a minute or two but surprisingly came to life quicker than I expected. Insulation blanket would have been nice but still dealing with the Bay on that one. Switched up the pellets as we now have Bear Mountain as an option now. Took pretty much the whole bag as I do not crutch in order to maximize bark creation. Total cooking time was about ten hours.

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I’m coming to live with you, Black.
 
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