Holy Smokes 2025

[Crabman]

Totally new to smoking and confused. I have read a lot of articles and I'm still confused. I know there are a lot of threads on smokers but it's 2025 and don't know if something new is out that I should know about. I'm leaning towards a pellet smoker unless I'm talked out of it. I don't want something I have to monitor for 12 hours and I don't want to be frustrated with chasing temperatures. Right now, I'm leaning towards a Traeger Ironwood TFB61RLG Pellet Grill with 616 square inches of grill surface. I don't need a high temp grill. This is only going to be used as a smoker. Opinions?

 

[BoatGuy]

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[Crabman]

Thanks BoatGuy. Very informative but still confused. Guess it's just get one and start smoking. I think I'm going to tone it down from the bigger Traeger.

 

[longcast]

You may want to consider staying with the bigger one. For all the preparation work, you would probably want to fill that smoker to capacity each time you use it to capture the largest yield for time spent.

 

[BoatGuy]

. I don't want something I have to monitor for 12 hours and I don't want to be frustrated with chasing temperatures.

I laughed when I read that. My family thinks nothing of saying..."Can you make a brisket?"

Depending on the size of the meat, I often must get up in the middle of the night even if I use the Minion method. I have had some meat go 16 hours (at 225). Plus I like to keep my meat moist and often spray pork shoulder with Apple juice.

Let me mention, I do not use a pellet grill. I have not experience there so I can’t speak to it. I have a Weber Bullet.

I will mention, my bullet does require some attention.

 

[Crabman]

BoatGuy. "Depending on the size of the meat, I often must get up in the middle of the night."
Good News, you probably got lucky when you got back in bed.

I moved this thread to General Discussions. I wanted others to see the deal going on at Home Depot. They are selling the Traeger Pro 575 for $560. Normal price $799. And, l got a 10% Veterans discount.