Traeger Grill and Smoker Cookbook : Finger-Licking BBQ Recipes to Barbecue, Grill, Roast and Smoke for Everyone

IS A TRAEGER PELLET SMOKER RIGHT FOR YOU? EVALUATING PELLET SMOKERS Pellet smokers, originally only manufactured by Traeger, have taken off in America. There are now over 20 companies producing them and thousands of meat lovers are using them. SIMPLICITY AND CONVENIENCE Compared with charcoal and other wood-fired grills, pellet smokers are simpler and cleaner and easier, giving more control than traditional smokers. Wood pellets are dense, burn hot and smooth, and can be easily fed into the flame with an automatic auger, allowing for consistent temperature with minimal effort. Many modern smokers let you practically set it and forget it, thanks to their digital controllers. Pellet grills are also efficiently cheap, often using as little as 1lb of pellets an hour. INDIRECT HEAT Despite often being called "pellet grills," they still cook via indirect heat, as opposed to flame, and are better seen as a smoker. They're excellent for smoking briskets, chicken and turkey, salmon and other fish, but maybe not for steaks, as you won't be able to get the same crispy, browned sear they call for, and that you can get with an open-flame grill. NATURAL FLAVOR But even with their indirect heat, wood pellets do something gas can't; they give your meat that natural, smoky flavor you expect from wood. They don't create as much smoke as wood or charcoal, so the flavor is not as intense, you swap that intensity for convenient cooking. The smoke they do create is clean and easy to control. And the hotter you burn pellets, the cleaner they burn, letting you crank up the heat when you don't need smoke.