Help! Sear on steak, brown skin on poultry

[Charlie D]

This is my first pellet grill, Traeger Pro 780. I have been grilling and smoking with charcoal for many years. Decided to try a Traeger out of curiosity because I had heard so many people praise them. First thing I did was a brisket, took much longer than expected, but turned out very good. Next I did some nice 2" thick ribeyes. Not so good, did the reverse sear, but really could not get a good sear even when I cranked it up to 500. Next did a comparison smoke with some small, 5lb, chickens. Set this one at 250, took forever to get 160 at the breast and the skin was still pale and soft, On the weber kettle and also the water smoker, nice brown, slightly crispy skin and done quicker. All same marinade, buttermilk and salt, and size chickens. What gives? How do I get to sear steaks when grilling and browned crisp poulty skin when smoking? Thanks!

 

[Shedd]

I’ve had my pro 780 a couple years and never really tried to sear anything and I’ve never cooked over 350 on it either. I’ve read that some catch fire from high temps but I do smoke a lot of spatchcock chickens. I cook at 235 which fluctuates from 200 to 250 so not a bad variation. But I move them at around 140 to the oven after brushing them with melted butter until they hit temp. I get some smoke, moist chicken with crispy skin. However most of the time I’m making pulled chicken so I just continue on the Traeger, sling pulls off good, lol. I use an extendable smoke tube and two modified smoke boxes and get a decent smoke.

 

[primeone]

Welcome @Charlie D

Some members have had better results using grill grates to get good sear marks on steaks:

I'm not sure if this is the correct model, but something to possible do more research on:

Traeger Grills BAC772 ModiFIRE Sear Grate Grill Accessory​

I smoke chicken thighs and turkey pretty often, even more than brisket, and they always turn out great. The newer Ironwoods seem to produce more smoke, so I cook at a higher temperature but still get good results.

Here’s a smoked turkey breast I did on Friday: I cooked it at 275°F, wrapped it after 2 hours, and let it go for another hour.

 

[DennisC]

In my opinion, this is not what the traeger is for. If you were doing a reverse sear on a steak, it would be in the oven and then you'd put it on a pan to sear it. At no different here. Use the traeger for what the oven would be for and then sear it on a grill or better yet on a cast iron pan.

This is my first pellet grill, Traeger Pro 780. I have been grilling and smoking with charcoal for many years. Decided to try a Traeger out of curiosity because I had heard so many people praise them. First thing I did was a brisket, took much longer than expected, but turned out very good. Next I did some nice 2" thick ribeyes. Not so good, did the reverse sear, but really could not get a good sear even when I cranked it up to 500. Next did a comparison smoke with some small, 5lb, chickens. Set this one at 250, took forever to get 160 at the breast and the skin was still pale and soft, On the weber kettle and also the water smoker, nice brown, slightly crispy skin and done quicker. All same marinade, buttermilk and salt smoking? Thanks!

 

[Manannan]

I haven't done a reverse sear steak on my Gen 2 Ironwood as yet but did a good few (typically rib eye and tomahawk) on my previous Pro 575 using the recipe below and they turned out very nice indeed. Admittedly you don't get the sear marks but to me the taste is what matters.

https://www.traeger.com/learn/rever...g_d4sIkZaw_ZA26EGADEdLMZrppbPbNdkLPSJ1Nolb2lO

I currently have two chicken and a pork loin in the Ironwood, I will pull the pork out slightly short of the finish temp and put it in a very hot oven at about 500F for 15 mins or so to get a nice bit of crackling on it ... no big deal.

 

[Rusty94582]

This is my first pellet grill, Traeger Pro 780. I have been grilling and smoking with charcoal for many years. Decided to try a Traeger out of curiosity because I had heard so many people praise them. First thing I did was a brisket, took much longer than expected, but turned out very good. Next I did some nice 2" thick ribeyes. Not so good, did the reverse sear, but really could not get a good sear even when I cranked it up to 500. Next did a comparison smoke with some small, 5lb, chickens. Set this one at 250, took forever to get 160 at the breast and the skin was still pale and soft, On the weber kettle and also the water smoker, nice brown, slightly crispy skin and done quicker. All same marinade, buttermilk and salt, and size chickens. What gives? How do I get to sear steaks when grilling and browned crisp poulty skin when smoking? Thanks!

This is my first pellet grill, Traeger Pro 780. I have been grilling and smoking with charcoal for many years. Decided to try a Traeger out of curiosity because I had heard so many people praise them. First thing I did was a brisket, took much longer than expected, but turned out very good. Next I did some nice 2" thick ribeyes. Not so good, did the reverse sear, but really could not get a good sear even when I cranked it up to 500. Next did a comparison smoke with some small, 5lb, chickens. Set this one at 250, took forever to get 160 at the breast and the skin was still pale and soft, On the weber kettle and also the water smoker, nice brown, slightly crispy skin and done quicker. All same marinade, buttermilk and salt, and size chickens. What gives? How do I get to sear steaks when grilling and browned crisp poulty skin when smoking? Thanks!

Hey Charlie. A couple of things. First, I am not a fan of cooking a chicken on the Traeger. I still use my regular grill for a whole chicken (I will do wings on the Traeger). But for steaks I have grill grates (https://www.grillgrate.com/). These are awesome and make it much easier. I also get them heated up nice and hot before adding the meat (and sometimes turn down the heat before adding the meat as the grates stay hot). You can also use the grill grates for fish, veggies etc...