Long story long, father-in-law finds an open box Traeger at a garage sale.
Before my UDS build I had dreamt of a Traeger. I joked I would buy it off him for 20 bucks more then he paid.
I think he was afraid to put it together, and I found a couple of pieces missing so he sold it to me.
I told him he had one week to return the money and I would return to him the Jr. That way I'd get to try it out.
Then I found this marked down packer at WallyWorld
So I test fired the Traeger, found it to be in working order, trimmed the brisky the night before and tossed the 11 pounder, by now, onto the Jr at 5am, prior to leaving for work.
A giant leap of faith, I took off to work. Left behind instructions for wife to deal with it after she got home.
Well she found it 7.5 hours later, brisket IT at 168, so she foiled it and put it back on until IT at 195.
She then coolered it until I got home.
I cleaned up, found a coworker had stuffed a Guinness in my lunch box, and sliced the flat
Sliced great, pulled with little or no give, plated up nicely
A few things I learned.
Wife loves the Traeger("That I can do")
Best brisket(out of five) I have ever done
I don't need it in my arsenal, but I do want it
I'm splurging for the digital controller if I get to keep it
