Traeger vs BGE Cooking differences

[Twist]

I'm a long time BGE smoker with a very refined method of creating the most delicious pulled pork, ribs, and brisket. I'm totally new to pellet smokers and I've just put in to use my first Traeger Silverton 810 so I'm trying to do all the research I can into why I might want to cook differently on the Traeger than I would on BGE.

For example, when I'm cooking a full packer brisket I'll start it out at 255, always fat cap/presentation side up, for the first 3 - 4 hours taking my first peek at it at that point - spritzing the edges to keep them from drying out. I start increasing the temp just 10-15 degrees to help it through the stall and when I think it's just about ready to break out of the stall, wrap it tightly in butcher paper and put it back on running temps around 280 - 290. At about the 10 - 11 hour mark I'll start temp probing it to see where it is and when I get 200 or higher in the middle of the flat, I'll take it off the heat and rest it on the counter until it probes at less than 160. Once it's cooled to that point I'll unwrap it and if it's time to serve it, carve it.

That method on the BGE will get a brisket as good as any famous Central Texas BBQ joint. So assuming the same kind of trim for the brisket (1/4" fat cap and edges trimmed) how do you guys get the best result on the Traeger?

I keep seeing recipes that say cook it fat cap down? What's up with that? Seems like that would compromise the look of the presentation side of the brisket? But maybe it's because of how the temps vary inside the cook chamber?

Do you find that it takes roughly the same time on the Traeger? Less or more?

What's the pro-tip on a Traeger to get a nice dark crusty bark on my briskets like I get over coals on the BGE?

Basically, I'm asking you guys to help me get more quickly up my learning curve to quality cooks on the Traeger. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated! By the way, the whole reason I bought the Traeger was to be able to do much larger cooks than I can on my large BGE. I'd like to be able to put 2 briskets on it; or 4+ full racks of pork ribs, etc.

 

[Cabbage Head]

I’m new to pellet grills also. I’ve had a large green egg for over 15 years also you will probably need a pellet smoke tube to increase the smoke output on certain cooks They are cheap to buy. I went to a bbq class about 16 years ago and his thoughts was to Leave fat cap down because meat juices and fat moves upwards as your cooking it. That’s what I have done for along time so not sure which Is the best way. It’s a new learning curve on Traeger but I’m starting to get the hang of it.

 

[Twist]

I think for something like a pork shoulder it really doesn't matter whether the fat cap is up or down because when you pull it it al gets integrated into the meat. I personally like it up on that so I can watch the bark form and use that as a partial input to when to wrap it. Pork shoulder or brisket I try to catch it just as it's coming out of the stall so I can catch all those juices inside the wrap as the fat renders. But for brisket I think of it as the presentation side of the piece of meat so I want that to look really. That's my last brisket I cooked on the BGE in my avatar.

I'm doing my first brisket today on the Trager and it went on to a 255 grill at 6a. About 2pm it started looking like it had some bark forming - much later in the cook than I'm used. I temped the center of the flat and it was sitting on about 155-160 - so just getting in to the stall. I left it on another hour and a half and it was about 168-170 and the bark was looking even better. Still not as crusty and dark as I'm used to but it was starting to make my mouth water and I didn't want to lose the juices in the fat render so I wrapped it in pink butcher paper 9.5 hours in to the cook. I'll check it again at about 11 hours looking for over 200 degrees.

Nine and a half hours in and just before the wrap:

 

[Cabbage Head]

Yep looking good

 

[Twist]

At 11 hours it measure 207 in the middle of the flat so removed it and set it on the counter to cool. Dinner in an hour and should be just right by then to unwrap and carve it. Photo and critique coming.

 

[Twist]

Rested it about an hour on the counter until the temp was about 150. Rolled it out of the butcher paper and it carved up looking like this:



Excellent bark, tender and very juicy in both the flat and the point. I didn't get a complete fat render in the point but that seems to vary from brisket to brisket and was probably more my choice of the cut of meat than the cook.

To quote Aaron Franklin: "It's not terrible!"

Note that there's not much of what most people refer to as a smoke ring. What I've learned is that it has nothing to do with smoke and everything to do with how cold the meat is when it goes on the smoker and how the myoglobin reacts to the chemicals that come off wood burning. This brisket sat out for 30-40 minutes while I trimmed and seasoned it so you won't see a big ring on it.

 

[Cabbage Head]

Myron Mixon said same thing on YouTube. Looks great

 

[RemE]

I like the "Weekday Brisket" method by Matt Pittman of Meat Church. His YouTube video is excellent on using WiFire on the Traeger.

I've now tried fat up and down, I prefer fat up as it looks best.

Smoke ring is created by carbon monoxide from the smoke locking in the red myoglobin color of the meat as it penetrates the surface. This occurs in the first few hours. Some say too much rub can inhibit penetration. I've not experimented to get max ring.