Smoke setting on grill

[bisrael]

How do you all use the “smoke” setting on the grill? I don’t necessarily understand what it does. I got my Traeger a week or two ago and the user manual said to always start the grill by setting it to “smoke” for two minutes before moving it to temp. I’ve been doing that but don’t know a) what the point is or b) when else to use that setting.

 

[KraZ440]

From page 20 of the owners manual:

When operating in SMOKE mode, the auger will cycle on for 15 seconds and off for 65 seconds. There is no temperature control with the SMOKE setting. This timed cycle setting for SMOKE is a factory preset recommended by Traeger Pellet Grills to develop a “smoking” temperature of 65.5°–82.2°C (150º–180ºF).

If you select a temperature, the grill will try to maintain the set temperature. In SMOKE mode, the grill doesn't care about temperature and just tries to maintain a smokey fire by cycling the auger on and off. SMOKE mode is suggested for startup because of this timed on/off cycling, so that the firepot is not flooded with pellets before you get a good burn going.