Pro 780 No smoke

[miguelb]

I use the A-MAZE-N AMNTS 12" smoke tubes. The ratio is probably 95% wood chips and 5% pellets. I just use the pellets to fill in gaps between wood chips. You really need to pack them in the tube with a rod or some hard packing tool. If they are packed down good, you'll get 3 to 4 hours of blue smoke that is not harsh at all.
After you load the tube, stand it upright (I put mine in a can so it won't fall over) and light it with a torch. Let it burn for 5 minutes or so to make sure the wood is burning well. Then blow out the flame, put it in the smoker and let it smolder for hours under the meat you're smoking. If you don't have an upper rack, it will still work by letting the smoke roll over the meat on the same level. Upper rack is better, as it will create the BBQ bark that is so nice.

These are some ribs I made on the Traeger using this process. I'm selling my Weber smoker because these actually taste better.

I've read that meat will only take smoke for about 3.5 hours. So this is plenty of time to smoke the meat.

Good luck with your smokin'. : )

Those ribs look awesome and I appreciate your suggestions. Personally, for first time users @Mimi , I would suggest not to place the smoke tube under big large of meat that will be release a lot of grease which can create a problem. Once you get a hang of the tube, can you modify as needed.

 

[Mimi]

Those ribs look awesome and I appreciate your suggestions. Personally, for first time users @Mimi , I would suggest not to place the smoke tube under big large of meat that will be release a lot of grease which can create a problem. Once you get a hang of the tube, can you modify as needed.

Well my Traeger does not have an upper rack. Only one rack for cooking. So I would have to lay it on the side I suppose. There is a little small rack over the main one for warming. Thanks for the advice.

 

[Timmy]

Well my Traeger does not have an upper rack. Only one rack for cooking. So I would have to lay it on the side I suppose. There is a little small rack over the main one for warming. Thanks for the advice.

I cook on the top rack all the time on my 780. I’d like to get a bigger top rack for more square inches of cooking surface.

 

[Mimi]

I cook on the top rack all the time on my 780. I’d like to get a bigger top rack for more square inches of cooking surface.

Well mine isn’t big enough to sit a pork butt on

 

[iD10T]

I'm doing my first ever smoke now with a chicken recipe from "Mad Scientist" on YouTube. I don't see a lot of smoke now, but I did in the initial phase. I do see a hint of smoke with the blue tint, however, I can smell the smoke flavor from the pellets immensely inside the cooker. I'm in NY state and I know its a windy humid day today. After figuring out the set up of my smoker, I feel like it's doing its job. I would love to see the huge smoke coming out of the stack, but I'm not disappointed in my grill. I did order a different brand of Pellets and I was told by my dealer not to use Trager pellets as they are not 100% wood. A lot of people have told me this as well. I'm limited in my area, so I did pick up some Jim Beam pellets, because I was told they are 100% just have a bourbon flavor. So we'll see. If this cook sucks, I'll try different pellets and different temps next time, but I think the grill is doing just fine.

 

[RayClem]

I'm doing my first ever smoke now with a chicken recipe from "Mad Scientist" on YouTube. I don't see a lot of smoke now, but I did in the initial phase. I do see a hint of smoke with the blue tint, however, I can smell the smoke flavor from the pellets immensely inside the cooker. I'm in NY state and I know its a windy humid day today. After figuring out the set up of my smoker, I feel like it's doing its job. I would love to see the huge smoke coming out of the stack, but I'm not disappointed in my grill. I did order a different brand of Pellets and I was told by my dealer not to use Trager pellets as they are not 100% wood. A lot of people have told me this as well. I'm limited in my area, so I did pick up some Jim Beam pellets, because I was told they are 100% just have a bourbon flavor. So we'll see. If this cook sucks, I'll try different pellets and different temps next time, but I think the grill is doing just fine.

I tried using a combination of charcoal pellets and mesquite blend pellets (both Pit Boss) in my Ironwood. I also used the same combination in a couple of smoke tubes. I got a thick, white smoke. It nearly ruined the taste of the chuck roast. I was most disappointed. I won't ever use that combination again.

You are likely to get much better flavor from a thin, blue smoke, especially when smoking a mild meat like chicken. The hotter the grill, the cleaner the smoke will be. If you want more smoke, try reducing the temp to 225 F or even lower. It will take longer to cook your meat, but it will have more smoke flavor.

Your grill is brand new. As you continue to use your grill, you will develop a layer of deposits inside the grill that will contribute to the flavor of the foods you smoke. When cleaning the grill, you want to remove excess deposits to avoid a flare up, but you do not want to clean everything back to bare metal. Even without a fire burning, you grill should smell like a smokehouse.

 

[Rileyk]

I have the same grill and cooked a porn loin, pork spare ribs, and a beef rib roast, had the temp at 190 and no smoke ring on the meat, no smoke whatsoever ever. I live in Georgia so temp and humidity is not an issue.. I am very disappointed with my purchase. Someone told me that I needed to adjust the P value and would get more smoke. If I can’t get at least a smoke ring and flavor this grill is going to be a waste of money

 

[JPSBBQ]

I have the same grill and cooked a porn loin, pork spare ribs, and a beef rib roast, had the temp at 190 and no smoke ring on the meat, no smoke whatsoever ever. I live in Georgia so temp and humidity is not an issue.. I am very disappointed with my purchase. Someone told me that I needed to adjust the P value and would get more smoke. If I can’t get at least a smoke ring and flavor this grill is going to be a waste of money

Hard one to swallow there. Even when people complain about lack of smoke flavor there is a smoke ring. Not sure why the cook temp is so low but hey, you do you.
The grills produce thin blue smoke and will produce a smoke ring. Heck you can smell the smoke. Just hard for me to get my head around based upon years and years of personal experiences. Not sure the P setting is a thing on the newer models. Used to be on the older analog controllers. I’m mystified.

 

[Rileyk]

I was told to cook at low temp - many on this thread said the same. Granted with my Green egg I cook at a temp of 190 - granted I know this is a different beast.

 

[JPSBBQ]

I was told to cook at low temp - many on this thread said the same. Granted with my Green egg I cook at a temp of 190 - granted I know this is a different beast.

225 is low IMO.

 

[Rileyk]

You tube videos said 190, doesn’t matter to me- I will raise the temp. I am going to try the hickory pellets - not Tragers but one that was mentioned

 

[Murphy's Law]

Hard one to swallow there. Even when people complain about lack of smoke flavor there is a smoke ring. Not sure why the cook temp is so low but hey, you do you.
The grills produce thin blue smoke and will produce a smoke ring. Heck you can smell the smoke. Just hard for me to get my head around based upon years and years of personal experiences. Not sure the P setting is a thing on the newer models. Used to be on the older analog controllers. I’m mystified.

You’re correct. The new D2 controller doesn’t have a P setting. I believe that is only in the old “dial” models.

And or course the Ironwood and above have Super Smome, which is essentially the P setting.

 

[JPSBBQ]

You’re correct. The new D2 controller doesn’t have a P setting. I believe that is only in the old “dial” models.

And or course the Ironwood and above have Super Smome, which is essentially the P setting.

Kinda. All the P setting did was speed up or slow down the auger. The super smoke induces a variable burn that is less efficient than a normal burn. The old stuff actually burned fairly inefficient to begin with. They probably get better smoke flavor but less predictable temperatures.

 

[DJDDay]

Sorry but - no amount of low temp cooking/time or changing pellet brand is going to fix the Traeger's lack of smoke ring or deep smoke flavor that comes natural with a stick burner. If you want to fix that, you have to add something like a Smoke Daddy and actually burn real stick wood chunks alongside your cook. See this thread:

Traeger Pro 780 + Smoke Daddy Magnum PIG cold smoke generator = HEAVEN

Full disclosure: This will be a pretty comprehensive review that will be updated over the coming year as I gain more experience using it. I bought the Smoke Daddy Magnum PIG to modify my Traeger Pro 780, which is a fantastic pellet grill and highly recommended - that offers little to no smoke...

www.traegerforum.com

 

[JPSBBQ]

Sorry but - no amount of low temp cooking/time or changing pellet brand is going to fix the Traeger's lack of smoke ring or deep smoke flavor that comes natural with a stick burner. If you want to fix that, you have to add something like a Smoke Daddy and actually burn real stick wood chunks alongside your cook. See this thread:

Traeger Pro 780 + Smoke Daddy Magnum PIG cold smoke generator = HEAVEN

Full disclosure: This will be a pretty comprehensive review that will be updated over the coming year as I gain more experience using it. I bought the Smoke Daddy Magnum PIG to modify my Traeger Pro 780, which is a fantastic pellet grill and highly recommended - that offers little to no smoke...

www.traegerforum.com

Most guys cooking on stick burners don’t know how to properly mange the fire for 12+ hours and they get quite dirty smoke periodically throughout the cooks that they become accustomed to tasting. You can get tremendous smoke rings in all types of pellet cookers but the real smoky flavor requires a bit more effort like you are suggesting. I’m not one for the overly smoky stuff anyway, so no big deal for me.