Barelycuda Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 One thing that I am not sure of is the price if you buy one at a authorized dealer but online the Texas grill that I bought is $999.00. We bought it at Costco for $770 if I remember correctly. The lil tex was about $650 but we spent some time talking with the traeger rep for quite a while and for the extra $125 the extra cooking area was well worth it especially if you entertain. Beth, I don't know if you have found it yet but go to the traeger website http://www.traegergrills.com/ There are a ton of recipes on there and will give you a lot of ideas. We did the maple and brown sugar bacon and it was to die for. We also cooked the SWEET 'N SMOKY BARBECUED RIBS and they were awesome also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancecobb1 Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I have had my Traeger for about 6 years! I wouldnt trade it for anything...I use it for everything here is a coulple pics to get your mouth watering! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 If you have never done a beercan, beerbutt chicken. Do one. They are wonderful and only take about an hour or less. By far one of the best things I cook on a regular basis. $650 for the little tex at costco is a smoking deal. It comes with the digital thermostat. I paid about the same 4 or 5 years ago without it and the thermostats go for around 100 bucks or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I picked up 2 lil Tex grills a few years ago off craigslist. I will never go back to a gas grill. I am another person that has no clue why people don't cook steaks or burgers on them. I and a bunch of my friends use them for all kinds of meat and have never had stuff taste as good on any other kind of grill. Everyone loves the taste of my steaks and burgers which thats what I usually cook on my Traeger. The ones that I bought are the older USA made ones which I am not sure if that really makes a big difference or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadams7 Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Aaah man now I have to get one of these...I need to stop reading things on this site, it costs me too much money haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrazyInside Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I got my jr from my grandfathers friend who is a sales rep at cost for 280 brand new Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Aaah man now I have to get one of these...I need to stop reading things on this site' date=' it costs me too much money haha.[/quote'] We are on the same boat! I need to get one. It took me 4 years to master a charcoal grill and now seems that I can do better with less effort. I have baby back ribs on the weber right now I'm not italian anymore... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Funny, I went out today to grill up some hot dogs for lunch and my pellets would not ignite. Got into it and found out my Hot rod had finally gone out. Looked on the traeger website for the closest dealer and found a place 5 miles from my house. 35 bucks. Showed up and its a older guy that has a BBQ business out of his garage. Had all the parts there. Super nice guy, looked retired and said he had been selling treager stuff for 15 years or something. Got home, swapped it out in about 10 minutes and blammo, worked like a charm. I suggest making sure you clean out the inside at least once a month. My hot rod(the heating element) was pretty toast. Was happy it was a cheap fix. First issue I have had with mine in 5 years. Every gas grill I owned before I had to replace or replace most the parts after at least 2 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Interesting on finding your parts. Have you found anywhere locally to get the pellets? We picked up a couple bags at costco when we bought the grill but they only had the hickory and mesquite. They said that they were only selling the 2 kinds out of respect to the dealers. The internet shows the ace up in salmon creek having them but that was a joke. I wanted to try some of the other flavors but don't really want to order them online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancecobb1 Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 I have been using the bear mountain pellets alot more they have most of the flavors too. I think they burn better, less saw dust and are way cheaper! I found them at my local feed store for like $10 a bag... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 The bbq place on 117th(503) right before the good will always has a large variety of pellets. About 17 bucks a bag I think. I have tried most the different flavors and I mostly like the hickory, mesquite and alder. All the pellets are mixed with alder any ways. The guy I found is out by 5 corners. "phills grills" is his business. Nice old guy. He had some bags of pellets sitting with all his stuff so Im sure he sells them as well. I tried bear mountain, and a couple other brands and didnt care for them. In the winter I could not get them to get anywhere near as hot as the traeger brand pellets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted July 11, 2012 Share Posted July 11, 2012 Thanks for the info. I'm right over by the mall so I'll go check out the bbq place by goodwill. I know exactly which one you are talking about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kris Posted July 12, 2012 Share Posted July 12, 2012 I have a local store about 5 minutes from me that sells the Traeger pellets fro 11.00 per bag. And there is another store in Canby that sells them for 10.00. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racefan Posted July 15, 2012 Author Share Posted July 15, 2012 Well I finally joined the Traeger club yesterday. I found a guy on craigslist that either was or still is a dealer & got a Jr brand new still in the box with a cover & 2 bags of pellets for $290.00. I can't wait to burn it in grill some ribs. A co worker said the guy he bought his from said season it by cooking a pound of bacon, it's like heating & oiling a Dutch oven. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frlejo Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 i got my digital control going yesterday. i am guessing it does not work like a conventional thermostat, in that the thermostat does not control the temperature. the thermostat tells you what the temp is inside. the heat is controlled by the knob on the front, which controls the amount of time the auger runs. once you install it, you need to calibrate it, by press a microswitch until the thermostat reads the temp you have it set for. like i said, it is a guess on my part. unless the knob controls the speed of the auger, according to the temp, if the temp is cooler, the auger speeds up, if it is cooler, the auger slows down. any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanktop74 Posted July 15, 2012 Share Posted July 15, 2012 i got my digital control going yesterday. i am guessing it does not work like a conventional thermostat' date=' in that the thermostat does not control the temperature. the thermostat tells you what the temp is inside. the heat is controlled by the knob on the front, which controls the amount of time the auger runs. once you install it, you need to calibrate it, by press a microswitch until the thermostat reads the temp you have it set for. like i said, it is a guess on my part. unless the knob controls the speed of the auger, according to the temp, if the temp is cooler, the auger speeds up, if it is cooler, the auger slows down. any thoughts?[/quote'] That's interesting, I have a digital controller on the one I just got. Seems to me the temp is controlled by what you have it at and the inside temp. Once mine reaches temp I desire it only fluctuates by a few degrees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frlejo Posted July 16, 2012 Share Posted July 16, 2012 That's interesting' date=' I have a digital controller on the one I just got. Seems to me the temp is controlled by what you have it at and the inside temp. Once mine reaches temp I desire it only fluctuates by a few degrees.[/quote'] I called Traeger just for my own info, the thermostat controls all the number settings. It does not control the smoke function, which set by the micro switch. It does not control the Hi function, since the auger runs all the time. there is a 20 deg difference (higher & lower, 10 degrees each way)between what i have it set at & what it goes to. they said that is the norm. oh well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Algae Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 I must be getting hungry! Doing some major salivation over the pics! (drooler)(drooler)(drooler)(drooler)(drooler)(drooler)(drooler)(drooler) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadams7 Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Alright guys, I am on the market for a Traeger and the lil tex looks to be about the right size. Anyone have any opinion as to if the price from the lil tex to the lil tex elite is worth it? I am seeing a color change and wheels being different. Am I missing something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanktop74 Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Alright guys' date=' I am on the market for a Traeger and the lil tex looks to be about the right size. Anyone have any opinion as to if the price from the lil tex to the lil tex elite is worth it? I am seeing a color change and wheels being different. Am I missing something?[/quote'] I have the elite and it also comes with the digital thermostat.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Alright guys' date=' I am on the market for a Traeger and the lil tex looks to be about the right size. Anyone have any opinion as to if the price from the lil tex to the lil tex elite is worth it? I am seeing a color change and wheels being different. Am I missing something?[/quote'] The elite has wheels on all four legs not two which may or may not be a big deal to you but the elite has the digital controller which is well worth the money in my opinion. Traegers will be back at costco in vancouver starting this friday and if I remember correctly the lil tex elite was about $640-650. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barelycuda Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 I called Traeger just for my own info' date=' the thermostat controls all the number settings. It does not control the smoke function, which set by the micro switch. It does not control the Hi function, since the auger runs all the time. there is a 20 deg difference (higher & lower, 10 degrees each way)between what i have it set at & what it goes to. they said that is the norm. oh well[/quote'] The digital thermostat most definately DOES control the smoke function. There is an adjustable setting in the controller that sets the time on and off for the auger when it is smoking. My smoke setting was running over 220 degrees and after talking to customer service we adjusted the controller and now it runs 160-170 range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jadams7 Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Sweet, thanks guys. Anyone know of someone who regularly has good deals on elites? I am open to a demo model or ding/dent if it can save a bit of $$$$. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frlejo Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 The digital thermostat most definately DOES control the smoke function. There is an adjustable setting in the controller that sets the time on and off for the auger when it is smoking. not on mine, the micro switch runs the smoke. Each setting shuts the auger off 10 seconds different than the other. The thermostat has nothing to with smoke, quoting traeger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emerald525 Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Sweet' date=' thanks guys. Anyone know of someone who regularly has good deals on elites? I am open to a demo model or ding/dent if it can save a bit of $$$$.[/quote'] You should check out craig's list. That's where we got ours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.