View Single Post
  #11 (permalink)   Report Post  
Posted to alt.food.barbecue
Tinman Tinman is offline
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 12
Default Traeger flavor issue (Was: Traeger Grill Temperature Problem)

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote:
>
> "Tinman" > wrote in message
>> This has me puzzled since most everyone I know who has a Traeger loves
>> the flavor. And it's not that it is terrible to me or anything. Indeed if
>> I use a rub or other flavoring agents the "lumber" taste isn't nearly as
>> evident.

>
> I've never had anything cooked on a Traeger, but it is common with
> electric and some gas smokers to have that lumber flavor. The wood is
> just not heated enough to get the same clean smoke you get from a real
> flame. I've had some from gas smokers that were virtually
> indistinguishable from wood fired cookers, I've had it from others that
> had that lumber taste you speak of.


I'm going to buy one last batch of pellets and see how it goes.

What I find interesting is that most, if not all, Traeger's rubs contain
smoke flavoring. Indeed one friend who recommended Traeger uses the chicken
rub on most everything. It contains smoke flavoring. I don't quite
understand why a wood-fueled cooker, with a seemingly abundance of smoke,
would need the help of added smoke flavoring... unless it's to cover
something up <g>.

Guess I must be the only Traeger owner not overwhelmed by the brand. Was
never happy with the cheapo 3-position switch either, the solution to which
costs $180 (a "digital" thermostat controller that *begins* at 225 degrees).
For nearly the price of just that thermostat I can buy a WSM.

For the record chicken seems to impart that lumber taste the most. Yea I
suppose chicken ain't real Q, but I have had decent chicken cooked on a
smoker before--and it didn't taste like a 2x4.


--
Mike