Ugh, I Did It Again, Restoring Another Smoker

Hansm

Bet ya that restored smoker works better than the 7 month old Traeger I sold. What a POS ..... I used the $$ towards my LG BGE

WeberWho

Hansm said:

Bet ya that restored smoker works better than the 7 month old Traeger I sold. What a POS ..... I used the $$ towards my LG BGE

I haven't heard too many positive things about newer Traegers. The higher end ones might be a different story. I'm not sure if all Traegers are made in China now or just the lower end models. The overall quality has gone down hill it appears. 

The BGE will be a nice upgrade. If you stick around long enough the forum will become more valuable than the BGE itself. The people and knowledge here are priceless. I've made some awesome friends a long the way and my cooking has improved. Hard to beat that. 

stv8r

Delicious looking grub!  I've enjoyed this thread from the get go.  Nice job

WeberWho

@lkapigian What kind of brush are using on your expanded grates. Anything you recommend? 

lkapigian

WeberWho said:

@lkapigian What kind of brush are using on your expanded grates. Anything you recommend? 

Just a regular wire brush, immediately after pulling protein while hot….I also make sure all unused shelves are above used shelves to avoid unneeded cleaning 

BigGreenKev

I can't decide if I should be mad when you swoop good deals in MN and I don't find them before you, or save me from finding them and having to explain to the wife what I just bought 🤣🤣🤣

lkapigian

@WeberWho, you definitely want to keep the bottom clean, I do before each cook scrape out the grease with a large place putty knife off the bottom and deflector plate, these things are prone to grease fires when using a fan assist , especially if you, during a cook, bump the temp up a decent amount, it’s a blow torch right @ that bottom level….that part I clean when cold, only takes a minute 

other pro tip for those with stick burners or anything dripping grease into a bucket during the cook, kitty litter in the bucket is your friend 

WeberWho

BigGreenKev said:

I can't decide if I should be mad when you swoop good deals in MN and I don't find them before you, or save me from finding them and having to explain to the wife what I just bought 🤣🤣🤣

Let your wife know I've saved you from a bunch of headaches and time! Now she owes you. I think that how it works......

WeberWho

lkapigian said:

@WeberWho, you definitely want to keep the bottom clean, I do before each cook scrape out the grease with a large place putty knife off the bottom and deflector plate, these things are prone to grease fires when using a fan assist , especially if you, during a cook, bump the temp up a decent amount, it’s a blow torch right @ that bottom level….that part I clean when cold, only takes a minute 

other pro tip for those with stick burners or anything dripping grease into a bucket during the cook, kitty litter in the bucket is your friend 

I'll snap some pics when I get home of how it's setup. The smoker has a rack that's fitted for a cake pan that sits below the bottom rack. The pan is essentially a heat deflector, water pan, and drip catcher. The smokers floor is angled with an additional drip pan below the smoker. I'm not sure how normal or completely random this setup might be. She's perfectly happy with the cake pan in place. More so than not.  

lkapigian

Probably a lot like stumps, the bottom is pitched toward a drain, a hotel pan sits externally below, there is an angled heat deflector @ the outlet of the gravity feed.. one day with 10 butts on, it became an inferno inferno...I did a ultra low and slow and ramped the temp up @ the end, went inside the house and " whats that smell" went back out and "oh sh!t" , soon as I opened the door it lit it up LoL, fortunately I had the butts wrapped  ...shut it down and did not open till I was sure it would not reignite 

northGAcock

Beautiful work and score. 

WeberWho

Here's a few pics @lkapigian



What I think I enjoy the most is the simplicity of their "accessories". Basic pans. No custom BS that's made for their smoker. Sometimes simple just works.