Tri Tip the Thermoworks Way

I will soon be calling my butcher and ordering a Tri Tip very soon and will cook it as per this Thermoworks Blog Post.

I wont worry about the 2 zone heating I will smoke it at 215 or so until its ready to sear. I will pull it off crank up the temp then open the Flame broiler for a proper reverse sear.

They also explain how to carve the tri tip against the grain. Note the grain goes in 2 different directions you cant go wrong if you read the entire blog post.

Cooking Temps Thermoworks blog

The Thermoworks blog has great articles and cooking tips.  They have a whole set of articles dedicated to cooking tempertures and why not they are the gold standard of thermometer products

Temp chart

Hamburger temps and cooking method

How to temp a steak

Key Temps cooking Frozen Steaks

Pork Chops

Seafood

Direct from thermoworks if they dont understand cook temps who does.  Notice the statement under the 1st chart "
These temperatures are ideal peak temperatures. Meats should be removed from heat 5 to 10°F (2 to 5°C; more for larger cuts) lower and allowed to rise during resting."

https://blog.thermoworks.com/2010/10/chef-recommended-tw-approved/

BBQ Bologna

I have made BBQ Bologna 2 Ways and I have enjoyed it each time.  The first time I used the Malcom Reed method from his How To BBQ Right Web Site

The very first time I used my Pro 24 I made 3 things Pork Chops, Rib Eye Steak and BBQ Bologna.
This time I used the method from the BBQ Pit Boys Bologna Burgers.  I had my butcher cut 4 half pound chunks

Everyone Knows or Should know that Oklahoma is the BBQ Bologna Capital of the world (aks Oklhoma Prime Rib)so here is a great looking recipe from a Blog in OK

One more take on OK Bologna

Pellet Grills Size Does Matter.

BBQ Ribs On My Traeger JR Pellet Gtill

Does size really matter when it comes to pellet grills?  I have often heard it said go big or go home.

Obviously the bigger your Grill the more you can fit on it.  But is bigger really better.  The Bigger your grill the more pellets you burn. Its simple physics the more surface area you have the more fuel you will burn to heat it up.

Sure no matter how big your grill is you may find a here or there where it isnt quite big enough for all you want to do.  A simple solution is to do multiple cooks.  You can also add Grill Real estate by adding a 2nd story. 

I think the best size is the right size for you. If you mainly cook for 2 and dont like leftovers then 300 or 400 sq feet is perfect.  If you have a large family then perhaps 1000 sq feet is your best bet.

So consider what you want to cook and try and buy something that is big enough for 80% or more of your cooks.

Bbq Pellets

Just like anything some people are passionate about the pellets they use brand and or flavors.  For a while I would buy pellets based on a combination of price and convinence. 

In my garage I currently have 5 different brands of pellets.

Lumberjack - char hickory, apple, pecan
B and B - apple
Pacific - hickory
Pit boss - hickory
Traeger - alder

Its hard to beat mail order for convience and at about 50 cents per lb the price is ok.
Here is a Blog post I did about mail order pellets.  I did order the pacific brand and really like them alot.  I never did order the green moutain. I prefer 20 lb bags because of my bad back. 

You can also find pellets on amazon.

I have also purchased pellets at Walmart, Menards, Costco, The St Louis Bbq store and perhaps a few others.

I did notice yesterday that Rural King has Lumberjack pellets for 8.99 for 20 lbs.

My local Walmart has pitboss for 8.88 for 20 lbs and about 15 for 40lbs.

I do prefer lumberjack and since I pass Rural king weekly when I visit my grand kids thats where I will be buying my pellets on a regular basis.

Pulled Pork

If it worked on the Traeger it will work here.  Click here

The Great Smoke Ring Myth

Another myth debunked. Smoke ring not needed for great bar b que

Smoke Ring Science

Some of My Favorite BBQ and Grilling Links

All Things BBQ

Amazing Ribs

Every Sunday The BBQ Pit Boys have a new Video Recipe.  Most if not all of there recipes are easily adaptable for the Traeger

BBQ Pit Boys

Legendary Pit master Aaron Franklin's PBS show with many video episodes of all things BBQ

BBQ With Franklin/

One of the first recipe pages I found and still one of my go to's

Date Night Doins

Great Recipes using GrillGrates

GrillGrate Recipes

Malcom Reed of Killer Hogs BBQ Team has a great recipe page with many videos

How to BBQ Right

Over 1200 BBQ Sites

The Smoke ring

Smoking meat has some great recipes this is where I got my idea for grilled lobster.  I havent purchased his sauce or rub which he pushes in almost every recipe.

Smoking Meat

Recipes and more with Videos

The Smoking Pit/

Thermoworks the maker of Thernapen and Thermopop among many other Thermometers has a blog.  It has many topics including grilling and maintenence of your Thermometers

Thermoworks Blog

The Traeger Recipe page is amazing.  It's recipes are purpose built for use on the Traeger and they have a huge number of them and are constantly adding more

Traeger Recipes

Rib Cooking time and temps

The Science behind Ribs  with times temp and methods Click here

 

it seems like the most popular rib Recipe revolves around 3-2-1

   - 3 Hour Smoke

   - 2 Hour Wrapped

   - 1 Hour Unwrapped (often glazing with Sauce)

BBQ Ribs it not always 3-2-1 --- Some Recipe ideas Click Here  or

Cooking Chicken from Frozen

I have noticed a few post about cooking chicken from frozen.  I think its great that you dont need to worry about getting the kitchen contaminated while the chicken is defrosting. 

The smoke setting usually defrosts them easily. You can check internal temp after about 30 minutes.

After they've defrosted, you can season them how you like.

Here are a few ideas I've found on facebook.

Any times are aproximate  the key is you want to cook to an IT of 165

Set the temp to 350.  Olive oil, salt pepper and garlic powder.  15 minutes then flip for 12 minutes pull off and rest for 15 minutes.

Some prepackaged chicken have cook from frozen directions on the bag.  If you can do it in the oven you can do it on a Pellet Grill.

Smoked Lobster Tail

I have cooked lobster many times.  The first few times it was ok but then I discovered the following method and well if its not broke dont fix it ----> Click Here

I just use a simple rub of melted butter and a little garlic.  The Key to this recipe is the internal temperature of 140.  I usually cook Surf and turf using 5 to 8 oz bacon wrapped filets and they always seem to finish when the lobster does click here

If you are short on time you can pump the grill up to 375 but dont let the IT of the lobster go above 140.

Fun with the New Pellet Grill

I have had my  Cabela's pro series 24" Elliptical Pellet Grill for about 2 weeks now.  I have been cooking up a storm.  I have cooked ribeye, Smoked Bologna, Knishes, pork chops, pork tenderloin, Hot dogs, Bratwurst, Pineapple, corn on the cob and Plantains.  I think that's sums it up.

L have been enjoying this grill.  It has more grilling surface then my Traeger Jr and it stands taller.  It also has a Pid Controller and flame broiler.  It has a 30lb hopper with a see thru window which is huge and the Grill itself has a see thru window fun.  So far it seems to produce a lot of ash but I have been burning Char Hickory pellets exclusively and I never burned those  in my Traeger.

I am looking forward to some longer cooks Like Pork Butt and Ribs

Sorry Traeger But Dansons AKA Pit Boss and Louisiana Grills Wins

After 4 plus years my Traeger Jr just decided to stop being reliable.  I made a decision after much thought to purchase a Cabelas pro series 24 inch ellipitacal grill.  It has 670 sq in of grill real estate with 500 on the primary grill rack.

After a great deal of research I had narrowed my choices down to a Pit Boss or Camp Chef.  I couldn't find a Camp Chef that I could look at in my area so I went to Cabelas because I thought their grill was made by Camp Chef.  It turns out they are now made by Dansons. the same company that makes Pit boss and Louisiana Grills. It is priced at $600 ( a little cheaper then the Louisiana Grill and more expensive then Pit boss). It has 671 Sq in of grilling real estate so I am comparing to the 700 sq in versions of the other 2. It is extremely feature rich and in my opinion the best bang for the buck. Cabelas also has a pro 36 with 1,000 sq inches with the same features.

After using a Traeger Jr for 4 plus years the Pro 24 is plenty big for me. See Pellet grill Size does matter

Here are some of the main features that made me feel its the best bang for the buck.

It came pre built.  [This was my favorite feature]

A digital push button thermostat with 2 meat probes and PID controller  [A huge Plus]
It has 2 ports for meat probes but only came with 1 probe. (Not a big deal since I use my Thermoworks Smoke and Igrill 2)

A 30 lb hopper with see thru window. (More then twice as big as my Traeger and larger then most others) [a big plus]

Flame broiler which works with a simple lever( cook over open Flame).    The handle to operate the Flame Broiler is huge.  The Pit Boss does not have a handle.
[ I Love the Flame Boiler I get a real flame on my steak for the reverse sear.  I still need to try this with my grillgrates ].

 I love the sear with GrillGrates real flame broiled taste

It has a see thru window on the lid (now I can be cooking and Looking) [Nice but not a deal breaker]

Pellet clean out shoot.  It's opens to easy so I  just ducted tape it shut! It's not a feature I plan on using often.  The only time I would use this is if I take apart my grill.

[I am sorry to say the Pellet cleanout shoot didn't work very well only about 1/2 the pellets came out.  Had to remove the honeycomb hopper screen to remove all the pellets. I also duct taped it shut since it was way to easy to open.]

Ash clean out. (This is amazing being 6" 4' with a bad back I hated taking apart my Traeger to vacum out the ash)  In practice I still need to take apart the grill to clean  but it is taller then my Traeger and much easier to work with.

Very large side shelf..  When the Pellet hopper is closed this acts as a 2nd side shelf.

It appears to be well made.

A lifetime warranty.  Cabelas will fix it or replace it free at three discretion.

Watch the video. https://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Pro-Series-Elliptical-Pellet-Grill/2706548.uts

A great test of a pellet grill is how well it works on long smokes. I smoked 2 pork butts for pulled pork, I started at 445 am and pulled the last butt off at 6pm. It went over 13 hours on less then 20 lbs of pellets

My Traeger Jr  Extra Shelf fits in nicely with the warming rack in place for extra grill real estate. Bringing the total cooking space to about 900 sq inches.

The customer service is great, long wait time in early PM.

Not many accessories available the two items I'd be most interested in is a front shelf and insulation blanket. The shelf appears easily made with folding brackets and some wood.  The Insulation blanket a little tricker. Some talk of welding blankets, but I need to do more research those fiberglass fibers scare me.

Don't Forget to open the Chimney.

[Even tho some of the features didn't work as well as I wanted them too, the Pid Controller, Grill size, warranty, Hopper size, Flame Broiler and sturdiness still make this a tremendous value for the price.]  

If the large hopper size, pid controller, see thru window on grill, and flame broil handle arent important to you then the Pit Boss can be had for less especially if you catch a sale.

This review is based on 3 weeks of usage or so cooking the Following Items

1. Rib Eyes
2. IA Chops
3. Pork Tenderloin
4. Smoked Bologna
5. Pineapple
6. Sweet Potattoes
7. Plantains
8. Knishes
9. Hot Dogs
10. Bratwurst
11. Polish Sausage
12. corn on the Cobb
13. Sirloin Burgers
14. Garlic Bread
15. Pulled Pork

I do have a Traeger Blog Click Here

The Purpose

When I got my first Pellet grill in 2014, this BBQ stuff was so new to me.  I thought BBQ was Dogs, Burgers and steak.  I never realized all the possibilities these grilled offered.  You can literally cook anything in a pellet grill,  If you can do it on a stove, in an oven or in a crock pot you can do it on a pellet grill.  I am not a great cook by any means.  Before pellet grills when I cooked even the dog didn't eat.

I use this page for 2 main reasons to store and archive recipes and ideas I get from the internet and hope to use at some point and to keep track of things I cooked and how I did it, so I can repeat the goodness next time,

To keep from being redundant I doo have another blog about my Traeger Journey called Traeger recipes by mike which was specific to my traeger but anything I cooked on a Traeger can be cooked on any pellet grill -----------> Click Here for Traeger Blog by Mike

Grilled Plantains

Plantains are just jumbo Bananas.  Some of my latin america coworkers introduced me to plantains when I lived in Orange County CA.  I would eat them baked, deep fried and pan fried.  I decided to research grilled plantains and found a few recipes.  They are all very similar, .Recipe

Recipe weber

Recipe 1

Recipe2

Plantain foil wrapped

Beef Short Ribs

Whenever i want to cook something I also google for the Recipe.  I will gogle Malcom Reed insert food or Thermoworks blog insert Food or traeger Insert Food.  Here are some results I found for beef short ribs.

Its been a while since I made these but I may try this method Next.  Click Here

malcom reed method complete with Video click here

Traeger recipe Beef Short Ribs Click Here

BBQ Pit Boys Beef Short ribs click here

Pork Chops Nice and Juicy

The Thermoworks blog is a great source of information on cooking things right using internal temperatures.  I love IA chops,  These are thick cut pork chops (The Tbone of the Pig) from Iowa.
I usually enjoy the way I cook them but every now and then I over cook them.  I feel if I follow these guidelines they will be perfect every time.  Read the article here Key Pork Chop temp click here

They have a whole section of pork recipes.  Click Here

Reversed Seared Tomahawk Steaks

When I was in costco the other day I saw prime cut Tomahawk steaks.  I sure wish I bought saw this recipe looks awesome --------> Click Here

I wont make that make that mistake again