Traeger quality gone down hill?

[SergeantSmoke]

I would like to start off by saying that I am not creating this post to bash traeger or the people who own them. I am honestly wondering what has happened or is going on with this companies products.

About 3 years ago I started kicking around the idea of getting a dedicated smoker instead dealing with my kettle. After some research (mostly amazon reviews) and talking to some friends and family I narrowed it down to either a PBC or a Treager JR. The PBC won out because I like the taste charcoal gives and I wanted portability, the $120 difference was also a factor. Quality or lack thereof put the nail in the coffin though.

Additionally while I was eyeballing the Treager they showed up at my local Costco which gave me a chance to physically look at them. Dealing with the salesman wasn't fun as I just wanted to look and not be pressured. Walking out I noticed a guy returning a JR and I asked him what was wrong with it and how long did it last. His reply was that it no longer held steady temps and lasted barely a year. The very next weekend I stopped to talk to another person returning a JR with the same problem except his lasted 6 months. At this point I was getting turned off.

I then talked to my wife's uncle who had a JR for roughly 3 years at this point and he told me his was having the exact same issue and was seriously on the fence about getting anothet. That was it for me and PBC got the call after my wife made me buy it to shut me up. Noah being fellow vet also helped.

Fast forward to just the other day and a family member buys a Treager Select Elite and proceeds to make a brisket. Not only was this 15lb piece of meat destroyed but I sat outside drinking a beer and socializing while watching this $1300 piece of equipment swing + or - 25° from its setpoint and sometimes higher! I could not believe what the temp readout was showing. The target temp was 250 and on multiple occasions I watched the readout swing up and down like a sign wave. It would ramp up to 275ish then cool all the way down to 225 then sit there to again ramp back up well past 250. Twice I watched it hit almost 300! The swings we very fast on the way up as well. I never once saw it hold anywhere near the set point and was always passing over it never really stopping.

Now I am not saying the the swinging alone destroyed the meat as the person manning this beast has minimal experience but good God. Is this in any way acceptable? My pbc never swings like that and this thing cost 4 times as much.

So seriously what happened to this company?

 

[sudsandswine]

Ive cooked some seriously good food on a smoker that has 30 to 50 degrees temp swings depending on my level of inattentiveness, so if the food wasnt good I doubt it had much to do with temp swings.

 

[SergeantSmoke]

Ive cooked some seriously good food on a smoker that has 30 to 50 degrees temp swings depending on my level of inattentiveness, so if the food wasnt good I doubt it had much to do with temp swings.

I understand that but consider the rest of what I said. Do you honestly think a $1300 pellet smoker should swing like that, I don't think that is acceptable. Also consider the failures I listed. To me this Elite is already showing the early signs of failure.

When my wife's uncles JR failed it would swing nearly 100 degrees and would sit at both ends hot and cold never staying at the set point. He couldn't rely on it to turn anything out that was decent.

 

[sudsandswine]

I wasnt commenting on the cooker, only the food. Should a pellet grill swing like that? Probably not. Are the temp swings the reason the meat was "destroyed"? Probably not.

 

[Cabin Fever]

I can't speak to their Elite model, but I had the chance to check out a Traeger Jr. at Home Depot a few days ago and there's no way in hell I'd pay $350 for that thing. To say the lid was light and paper thin would be an understatement. I picked up a Pit Boss Tailgater for $150 at Wal-Mart back in November and I don't have any complaints other than the tiny 5 pound hopper. Temp swings range + or - 25, but that's expected out of an entry level pellet pooper.

The lid (and overall unit itself) has a lot of weight to it and it's built much better than you would think it would be for the price. I know a lot of people look down their noses at the Pit Boss line, but honestly I'd go with them over Traeger any day of the week if I was looking for an entry level pooper. That's just my 2 cents. BTW, my dream pellet cooker is a Mak 1-Star. Those things are built like a damn juggernaut. :hail:

 

[SergeantSmoke]

I can't speak to their Elite model, but I had the chance to check out a Traeger Jr. at Home Depot a few days ago and there's no way in hell I'd pay $350 for that thing. To say the lid was light and paper thin would be an understatement. I picked up a Pit Boss Tailgater for $150 at Wal-Mart back in November and I don't have any complaints other than the tiny 5 pound hopper. Temp swings range + or - 25, but that's expected out of an entry level pellet pooper.

The lid (and overall unit itself) has a lot of weight to it and it's built much better than you would think it would be for the price. I know a lot of people look down their noses at the Pit Boss line, but honestly I'd go with them over Traeger any day of the week if I was looking for an entry level pooper. That's just my 2 cents. BTW, my dream pellet cooker is a Mak 1-Star. Those things are built like a damn juggernaut. :hail:

Never heard them called pellet poopers before :laugh:

I agree that a swing like that would be acceptable on an entry level unit like the one you have but on a $1300 unit it's BS.

 

[rwalters]

As a simple backyard dude that’s been cooking with pellet poopers for awhile now, I will just say that a small swing in temps, and I consider small to be =>25° is acceptable. Over a long cook your ‘average’ temp will be close to the set temp. With pellet smokers it’s the swings that create the smoke. It’s just how they work. Bigger swings equal more smoke. At the end of a long cook that brisket has no idea nor does it care if the swings were 5° or 25°... lol.

 

[jermoQ]

I am waaaaay far off from being a technical expert but I think that because of the way that a lot of grills are set up to feed pellets and control the temps, they cant avoid the swings. I would say that IMnotalwaysHO, the only part of cooking that is affected by the temp swings is the time you expect it to cook. Not quality.

 

[SergeantSmoke]

As a simple backyard dude that’s been cooking with pellet poopers for awhile now, I will just say that a small swing in temps, and I consider small to be =>25° is acceptable. Over a long cook your ‘average’ temp will be close to the set temp. With pellet smokers it’s the swings that create the smoke. It’s just how they work. Bigger swings equal more smoke. At the end of a long cook that brisket has no idea nor does it care if the swings were 5° or 25°... lol.

I respectfully disagree, you can lol all you want. If you saw how fast the temps shot up past the setpoint and how long the unit stayed below temp there is absolutely NO way the average temp was anywhere near the setpoint. I also think you should go back and read the part where I stated the unit almost hit 300°. That's a swing of nearly 50° and I don't see how anyone can claim that is acceptable especially from a $1300 unit.

 

[SergeantSmoke]

I am waaaaay far off from being a technical expert but I think that because of the way that a lot of grills are set up to feed pellets and control the temps, they cant avoid the swings. I would say that IMnotalwaysHO, the only part of cooking that is affected by the temp swings is the time you expect it to cook. Not quality.

While I understand that temp swings have an affect on cook time I think when you factor in that the temp across the cooking area of a pit are almost never perfectly even I think it can have and affect on quality.

Think about it we've all seen videos or witnessed by our own temployees probes differences in pit temp from one place on a grate to another. The lower areas are going to be even lower when the temp drops and higher spots will be higher when it spikes. Unless you really know your pit I argue that the swings I saw would have some affect on quality.

 

[Joshw]

If you have a non pid controller, you should expect a temp swing. If they aren't too big, and don't last long, they aren't a problem. Sounds like Traeger has a programming issue. You should contact tech support. Maybe, they can upgrade the software. The question is, why you would pay $1300 for a Traeger? At that price, you are in range, of some really good cookers.

 

[SergeantSmoke]

If you have a non pid controller, you should expect a temp swing. If they aren't too big, and don't last long, they aren't a problem. Sounds like Traeger has a programming issue. You should contact tech support. Maybe, they can upgrade the software. The question is, why you would pay $1300 for a Traeger? At that price, you are in range, of some really good cookers.

That's what I was trying to convey the swings were constant and severe. I especially didn't like how long it sat below the setpoint and then would way over shoot. I agree something isn't right.

Why someone would spend $1300 on a Traeger I have no idea and agree one could make a far better choice in a smoker. Even if I had that kind of money to spend I would rather have multiple lower cost units like a pbc or wsm or a quality stick burner.

 

[ssv3]

I wasnt commenting on the cooker, only the food. Should a pellet grill swing like that? Probably not. Are the temp swings the reason the meat was "destroyed"? Probably not.

Ive cooked some seriously good food on a smoker that has 30 to 50 degrees temp swings depending on my level of inattentiveness, so if the food wasnt good I doubt it had much to do with temp swings.

As a simple backyard dude that’s been cooking with pellet poopers for awhile now, I will just say that a small swing in temps, and I consider small to be =>25° is acceptable. Over a long cook your ‘average’ temp will be close to the set temp. With pellet smokers it’s the swings that create the smoke. It’s just how they work. Bigger swings equal more smoke. At the end of a long cook that brisket has no idea nor does it care if the swings were 5° or 25°... lol.

If you have a non pid controller, you should expect a temp swing. If they aren't too big, and don't last long, they aren't a problem. Sounds like Traeger has a programming issue. You should contact tech support. Maybe, they can upgrade the software. The question is, why you would pay $1300 for a Traeger? At that price, you are in range, of some really good cookers.

I wholeheartedly agree with these guys. My new to me Yoder YS 640 will have some wild temp swings randomly here and there but over the course of the cook it's a non issue. Never and I mean never have I had nothing short of excellence from my pellet pooper. :becky:

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[Titch]

Out of interest, where was the pits temperature swings measured from?
my ex Green Mountain Grill showed wild temp changes, but using a Maverick?I think, slowed it all down.
Just asking

 

[16Adams]

Thermapen Super Fast Black

Only temperature gauge needed.

Measure Meat Not Air

 

[Rusty Kettle]

Call Traeger customer service. I am assuming you have not called them. They will help you get it straightened out. I know the jr elite had a p-setting you can adjust. Probably that $1300 unit has a way to make adjustments as well. They can walk you through it.
Traeger makes a great product. I only sold mine to get my 270. I plan to get another one in the near future.
There is a learning curve with a Traeger. Not a big one but still a small learning curve. When I had one I was on the phone with customer service day one. I got zero smoke flavor and was mad. They walked me through it and helped me get the results I wanted. Easily on par with all my other smokers once I understood how to use it. It literally took customer service about 5 minutes to explain it and help me get up and running.
So make a call to customer service and maybe they can help before you knock them. Now if you still have a problem with them then go ahead and knock them. Give them a chance to help. You might be surprised how good they are. Imo they are on par with Weber.

 

[Rusty Kettle]

https://youtu.be/WvjTnGRrrkQ

Here you go they have a video now about adjusting the p-setting and why. This should help

 

[Rusty Kettle]

Apparently the newer controller doesnt have the p setting button that I can see. It may be in a differsnt spot So call customer service. It should be at plus or minus 15 degrees. With the pro controller. They will fix them up.

 

[BKING!]

For $1300 I’d expect tighter temps. With that said the swings didn’t ruin the cook. The outside of the meat cooks with radiant heat (heat radiating off the deflectors and walls), convective (hot air circulation from the fans), and conductive heat (heat from the grates).

The inside of the meat however cooks exclusively with conductive heat. The hot surface of the meat literally transmits heat to the inside of the meat. This is a very gradual process and rate of heating is based on an AVERAGE pit temperature.

If temp swings ruined cooks no one would use an offset at bbq competitions

 

[gtsum]

If temp swings ruined cooks no one would use an offset at bbq competitions

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Memphis Elite





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