Traeger Grills FAQ
Q: “What are
Traeger barbecue pellets made from?”
A: Traeger Grill Barbecue Pellets are made from 100% all
hardwood sawdust. The raw material is ground, heated and fed through a die at
enormous pressure-which forms the pellet. There is no glue or other binding
agent used in forming the pellet. They are a bio-mass, 100% renewable resource
product.
Q:
“Barbecue pellets are the same as heating pellets, right?”
A: Wrong! Fuel pellets are made from resinous soft wood,
scrap wood with glues, paints, varnish. It doesn’t matter what the heating
pellet is made from, its job is to create heat-not cook food. Substituting fuel pellets for barbecue
pellets is dangerous and unhealthy
If heating pellets are used in a Smith & Wesson Smoker, they can
coat the food with resins and creosote which produces a nasty taste in the
food! Using any other type of pellet
will void our warranty. The warning, ’not
for human consumption is printed on
every bag of heating pellets.
Q: “How
does the Traeger Grill work?”
A: Pellets from the hopper are automatically delivered to
the firepot by an auger. Air is added by
a blower fan, which makes the pellets burn like a miniature forge. The heat and
smoke produced from the fire comes up and around the baffle pan and angled drip
pan and surrounds the food like a convection oven.
Q: “How
does the smoker control work?”
A: The smoker control is a solid-state timer. On high, the
auger runs all the time, delivering the maximum amount of fuel to the firepot.
This creates a temperature between 400-425 degrees F. On medium, the auger runs
for 2 minutes and then stops for 2 minutes. A temperature of approximately 300
degrees F. is produced when cooking on medium. On smoke, the auger runs for one
minute and is off for 3 minutes. The auger comes back on for 1 minute. The
pellets have burned down so far that there isn’t enough heat to generate a
flame, but there is just enough heat to produce SMOKE. If you watch the grill
in the smoke mode, every 3 minutes you’ll see the smoke being produced.
Q: “How
long with a ten (10) pound bag of barbecue pellets last?”
A: On average, a 10 pound bag of Traeger Grill Barbecue
Pellets should last for at least 5 uses of the grill. On high, the grill uses 2
pounds of pellets per hour. On medium it is 1 pound per hour and on smoke it is
one-half pound per hour.
Q: “What
flavors of Barbecue Pellet go with which kinds of food?”
A: There’s a handy chart contained in the mini-cookbook that
comes with every new Traeger Grill. (It might be best to photocopy the chart
and put it in a page protector to use as an aide in answering this question.)
Q: “How
long has Traeger Grills Pellet Smoker been around?”
A: Since 1986, when Traeger manufactured its first Wood
Pellet BBQ Grill. Twenty years later, there are Traeger grill
owners in all parts of North America and around the world.
Q: “Why
are Traeger Grills more expensive than run-of-the-mill gas smoker?”
A: The average price of a new gas grill is $600-$800. You’re
talking about a product that is handcrafted —each grill is built by human
beings, not machines. The smoker is all American made —rather than made
overseas or out of the country. Remember-a Traeger Grill is 4 Appliances in
one! A grill, smoker, barbecue and wood pellet fired oven. If you purchased
each of these units separately, you’d be spending far more money than the
actual cost of the Smith & Wesson Smoker. Something else-the Traeger Grill is
built to last-it will serve you for many more years than the average gas grill.
Q: “Is
there a cookbook available with the Traeger Grills?”
A: Most definitely! Every Traeger Grill comes with a three
ring binder cookbook which is filled with delicious recipes, many developed by Traeger Grills
owners from across the country. There are also cookbook updates
with additional recipes available that fits right in the binder with the rest
of the recipes.
Q: “Where
do I get more barbecue pellets?”
A: You can buy them from us. To guarantee availability, Traeger Grills
has a toll free order line and on-line store where you can order
pellets directly from the factory. No matter where you live, you will be able
to have a ready supply of Traeger Grill Barbecue Pellets.
Q: “Why
isn’t there a rotisserie unit for these smokers?”
A: The patented cooking system built into every Traeger Grills
means you don’t need a rotisserie. Those devices were designed
for grills that cannot cook food evenly, so the meat had to be placed on a spit
and mechanically turned in order to have the food cook evenly. With Traeger
Grill’s revolutionary in-direct cooking system, food cooks evenly and therefore
doesn’t need a rotisserie.