I have the "Executive BBQ125" It is the mac daddy of the Traegers. The grilling surface has held up great, although the overall paint job leaves a bit to be desired. That said, you will never again cook with anything else after eating off of a Traeger:food: :food:

 

I use the small one, and have never been as impressed with a BBQ. Easy to use, very controllable, and the grill looks new. Pork loin roasts, baby back ribs, steak, salmon and steelhead fillets, brat sausages, even frozen pizza, all excellent. Get one ASAP.

 

I have a 5year old Traeger. I think it's the Deluxe 100. It has the smaller (371sq.in) grilling surface. For the two of us it's perfect. I don't cook much anymore. But when I do the Traeger is nice.

My Traeger is powder coated and the surface has held up okay. Some of the bright black ones show a little wear. But you could always clean and paint if you want it to look like new.

Since I got my Traeger, the whole neighborhood has become "Traegerized". 5 out of 8 homes on our road have Traegers.

Santa brought our son's family the BIG one, with the HUGE grilling surface area. For a family, that's the perfect size. They use theirs year round regardless of the weather, several times a week. My daughter-in-law loves their Traeger. Mainly because when the meal is Traegerized, it means my son is doing all the cooking. He has cooked everything from burgers to pancakes on his.

Customer service from the guys at the factory is "NUMBER ONE". They are very easy to talk with if there's a question.

I bet you'll have one for Mother's Day.
:food:

 

I , like Jobu, have the Executive 125 grill...........I think I can curl up inside it and close the lid. Nuff said. The grill is stainless and is easy to clean. I will pm you some other info......

 

I also have a Traeger and have been using it for about 4 years now. Wouldn't have it any other way. They just changed their whole lineup about a couple of months ago. Many of the models have gone to more stainless steel on them which should help with the painting problems that sometimes pop up.

I have sold so many of them from friends eating off mine that I decided to sell them myself. Just opened up a Traeger Authorized store and they are just amazing! Feel free to PM me you have any questions.

 

Thanks for all the responses everybody.

Are the pellets used special in any way or are they the same pellets for home heating stoves?

I'm really curious now. Guess I'm going to have to make a trip to town to "go look"...

 

There have been many ifish threads inquiring about them over the last few years. I have yet to hear anyone regret getting one. That kind of speaks volumes.

 

Don't want to hijack, but I have a few questions, I have a BBQ fetish, last count I was at 12 BBQs in my possession.

I have a few questions

1. Can you do a 3 min per side of steak and almost burn it? (looking for max heat)
2. Do you have an option in general cooking to to smoke or no smoke?

Thanks, I may have a feeling I can fit one more in my yard.:smash:

 

Cptdarel,

No you can not do 3 minutes per side and almost burn it. The beauty of the Treager is that it is almost impossible to burn anything. I know a lot of steak enthusiasts like a really hot grill and seem to fear the Treager won't do what they want it to. All I can say is they do steaks great. I think because there is airflow in there the juices get sealed in even though they don't sear.

Yes you can choose betweeen smoke or not. The lower the temperature the more smoke.

 

The pellets are different from regular woodstove pellets. Very different. The pellets Traeger uses are food grade where the others aren't. The glues they use to hold the pellets together are not for consumption. However, in reverse, if pellets are in short supply like last year you can use the Traeger pellets to heat with although it wouldn't be as cost effective.

As far as almost burning a steak with 3 minutes a side? I know that the grills can heat up to 450 and above. I have seen mine near 500 and at that point I can probably sear a steak like you are describing but I have never really tried it that way. The Traeger does take longer to heat up than your Propane/Natural gas grill but the wait is so much more worth it. On the Traeger you can Grill, BBQ, Smoke and bake. All are amazing.

 

Traeger pellets are different than stove pellets, they are 100% hardwood and made without glue.

 

We have the big one, though not stainless. Two years old.

Positives --- Everything you have heard about. It is an unbelievably easy way to cook and smoke, no flames, piece of cake. Everybody becomes an expert. We love it.

Negatives --- Since you asked:

Paint sucks. Rusts, flakes, etc. But I see no evidence that this is a structural issue. It just looks really ugly.

Once in a while on "smoke" setting it will stop burning the pellets. The fire just goes out. That is never a problem on medium or high settings. But if you lose fire on "smoke", and you are not on top of the problem, ugly stuff happens. The auger keeps auging, and the pellets simply build up in and around the fire box. Then you come home from the massage therapist and discover the fire is out. You reset the hot start, and BIG smoke occurs. Like BIG. Maybe flames. Not cool. Never leave when smoking stuff. If the smoke stops, re-set the lighter sooner rather than later. Traeger ought to figure this one out as it can be a pain in the butt.

Cleaning is a chore. Takes about 15 minutes and can be messy. Until you get the hang of it and then it gets quicker and less messy. I clean mine every 10 uses or so. Basically you remove the aluminum foil from the hot plate and vacuum the build-up of ash. Other users reportedly clean theirs rarely or never. Take your choice. I once let it go about 20 uses and had a major flame up of the deposited gunk. Not pretty. Ruined three great burgers.

On balance, I will NEVER go back to a conventional BBQ.

 

What bothers me is that even if you scrape the paint off inside, while you are cooking, it falls off in your food.

Ish!

 

Did you see, Jack, that they came out with a stainless grill top cover, now?

Prolly due to the paint problem.

 

I own a Traeger (horizontal barrel smoker), Kenmore 4 Burner Gas Grill, Weber Genesis 1000 and a Weber Performer Kettle Grill. I have grilled for years. The Traeger is the best for beginners or infrequent BBQers. However, once you have learned how to properly cook with hardwood and/or charcoal, nothing beats the Weber Performer kettle grill. The kettle grill is more of an art but once you get good at it and begin to understand the meats, heat zones, rubs, marinades, etc., you will make better food on the kettle. Also, its flat out more fun to cook on a kettle grill (in my opinion). I now only use my Traeger to smoke fish and game.

 

i think traeger grills are HIGHLY overrated as a bbq, they do however smoke fish very nicely. i think most people really didnt understant the art of barbecuing until they bought a traeger and actually learned how. if they applied those same principals to other bbq's i think theyd realize there are better bbq's out there.

 

This might be true but I have better things to do than baby sit a bbq so I bought a traeger. Makes bbq'ing as easy as operating an oven. I guess we can't all be experts in fire management. :grin:

 

We got ours this last Christmas and have used it more in that short time than the gas grill we had for just over 2 years and just sold! :grin: I love it because it's BBQ'ing for dummies (namely ME! ) and I can't screw anything up on it. I haven't noticed the paint problem inside so I guess I'm fortunate there. The guys we got ours from gave us the tip to wax it with a good paste car wax and we still don't have any rust on it even with it sitting on the porch. Once you get one and try it, you'll never want to go back to an ordianry grill again! :twocents:

 

i have a few friends who cook the take and bake pizza on them, its not bad! i think i still prefer charcoal however.

 

Thanks everyone. Keep the info coming.

Anyone else had trouble with the smoke setting going out...? That's one of the things I would love to use it for but can't really just sit and babysit while smoking. Am I better off just using my Luhr-Jensen smoker?

Anyone else have any comments? Appreciate all the info I have recieved.

:food: :food: :food: :cheers: :cheers: :cheers:

 

It's not worth getting without the digital thermostat control as that 3 position switch just doesn't cut it. As long as you get that you wont have any problems. :grin:

 

Our Traeger has made life a bit nicer and a bit easier.....we use it year round........

 

For you guys that have the problem with the fire going out while smoking, I also had the same problem. Traeger told me there's a small control board that controls the speed of the auger, and that may need to be sped up to keep the fire going while smoking. I think the settings are 0 through 9, you'll want to ask them where to set it if you're having this problem.

 

For you guys that have the problem with the fire going out while smoking, I also had the same problem. Traeger told me there's a small control board that controls the speed of the auger, and that may need to be sped up to keep the fire going while smoking. I think the settings are 0 through 9, you'll want to ask them where to set it if you're having this problem.

So is the trouble actually the wind blowing the fire out. Or is it that the auger turns too slow not delivering enough fuel.?

 

I had trouble once with the burn going out on Smoke.

I was smoking some salmon. I had the cover open for awhile as I turned the salmon chunks. It was open long enough to cause the fire pot to go out.

Now when I'm smoking and I open the cover for awhile, I turn up the thermostat. It makes the burn pit heat up and keeps it from going out. Then when I close the cover I turn it back down to smoke.

Haven't had a problem since.

A handy thing to have is the remote thermometer. Pick one up from Fred's, Bi-Mart or a kitchen store. You'll save a few bucks that way.

Geemo

 

Getting closer to making a decision on which model to go with.

How many of you use the Three position thermostat included on the lower end models.

How many of you feel the digital control was a worthwhile upgrade.

My initial inclination was to get the entry level Lil Tex. But as I look at adding options such as the digital thermostat, stainless top and a front storage shelf.. etc. I may be better going with the 124 professional model right out of the gate.

Thanks again for everyones input.

 

Getting closer to making a decision on which model to go with.

How many of you use the Three position thermostat included on the lower end models.

How many of you feel the digital control was a worthwhile upgrade.

My initial inclination was to get the entry level Lil Tex. But as I look at adding options such as the digital thermostat, stainless top and a front storage shelf.. etc. I may be better going with the 124 professional model right out of the gate.

Thanks again for everyones input.

I have a Traeger that is about 10 years old. I wouldn't trade it for anything other than a new Traeger. Easy Easy Easy. I would recommend upgrading to the digital control. The only issues I have had with my Traeger; my pan above the fire box rusted out (the pan doesn't exist on the new Traegers), and the sensor on the digital control after awhile wouldn't allow the Traeger to do anything but smoke. A call to Traeger, an explanation, and a new sensor was on its way (free of charge). PM also sent.

 

Man I wish I had brought my camera home last night. I had my traeger 125 (big model) chock full of springer and kokanee and I do mean full. Both top and bottom racks were stuffed to the edges. This morning I woke up to find a full batch of smoked salmon in my grill. I opened the hatch and checked the fish over.......nicely done. I had to give a peice of kokanee to Chester the Cat and Buck the dog for their job in guarding the grill on the night shift. They seemed to think it was the best I had ever done and wanted more.........greedy employees!