• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Any Time is Grillin Time

Unforgiven said:
I have a winter coat I put on mine when it gets below 35, and it works well enough that snow will accumulate on the grill when I cook. I probably go through 1/2 - 2/3 of a bag for a shoulder depending on how long it cooks. I still use only Traeger pellets, but my local hardware shop keeps them in stock, so it's convenient. I'm paying $18 for a 20# bag and they have all the flavors. My warranty is gone, so if I found a better deal that is as convenient, I'm game to give it a shot. I don't think my local Wallyworld sells pellets though. :(
Click to expand...

I had no idea that my wally world sold pellets either until my son pointed it out. Mine sells both heating and cooking pellets. The cooking pellets come in the more popular species but not as many options as the Traeger brand. They have my go to Apple as well as Hickory, Mesquite. Pecan, Oak, and others. I'm buying a twenty pound bag of Apple for twelve bucks.
I've only tried the Hickory and Apple and was pleased with both. There is a certain amount of pellet dust that is also found with the Traeger brand with the B&B brand.

Your burn rate beats my Traeger hands down. I don't know what's up with my old smoker.
It has always burned pellets like there was no tomorrow. I didn't realize it was so inefficient until my son bought his GM smoker. I guess the problem was my model smoker and not the pellets.

I might want to invest in a smoker blanket. I do the majority of my smoking across the winter months. I think my average winter temps aren't as low as you experience but I know that I am battling major heat loss in the winter. The blanket sounds like a great idea.
 
Unforgiven said:
Interesting pellet breakdown.
http://smokingmeatforums.com/index.php?threads/new-info-on-whats-in-traeger-pellets.116254/

I wonder what the breakdown is for B&B. I did some poking and my local walmart does carry B&B. :D
Click to expand...

That blows me away. I stayed with Traeger pellets long after my warranty expired only because I thought they were 100% species labeled. I well imagine B&B is no better than the Traeger brand. There is plenty of room to be better but I'd be surprised. Thanks for sharing.
 
olbriar said:
That blows me away. I stayed with Traeger pellets long after my warranty expired only because I thought they were 100% species labeled. I well imagine B&B is no better than the Traeger brand. There is plenty of room to be better but I'd be surprised. Thanks for sharing.
Click to expand...
My biggest surprise was alder / oak. I view these as a no flavor wood. Why bother selling 70/30 Alder Oak out west for Oak and vis-a-versa out east. Seems like you could just sell alder out west and oak here in the east. :confused:
 
olbriar said:
I might want to invest in a smoker blanket. I do the majority of my smoking across the winter months. I think my average winter temps aren't as low as you experience but I know that I am battling major heat loss in the winter. The blanket sounds like a great idea.
Click to expand...
I've run the smoker down to single digits with no noticeable heat loss or increased pellet consumption. I'm not sure if a treager will fit yours, or is GM sells them, but I highly recommend it. Here's a link to Traeger's
http://www.traegergrills.com/shop/a...Grill+Covers&utm_campaign=Insulation+Blankets
 
Unforgiven said:
My biggest surprise was alder / oak. I view these as a no flavor wood. Why bother selling 70/30 Alder Oak out west for Oak and vis-a-versa out east. Seems like you could just sell alder out west and oak here in the east. :thinking:
Click to expand...
I agree. They are filler woods. I guess we can be thankful that we are burning wood and not something man made. I've eaten both Oak and Alder for years in my cabinet making. It's not a flavor I want in my meat :)

I was talking to my son a while ago and I might be onto a deal for a smoker blanket. He's a piping, valve, and vessel inspector at a refinery. They have a custom shop that makes insulated blankets for all sorts of piping and there is a fair chance we might get something whip stitched up to fit our GM smokers. If so, the price will be impossible to beat. :) I'll wait for that to play out before I do any shopping. I do think I'll get a blanket one way or another.


Added... Doing a quick search I see the GM blanket for my smoker has a msrp of $90
 
Last edited:
It sounds like I'm getting a thermal blanket for my smoker.. free. :) The guy asked me to send him some measurements this afternoon. I don't know just what quality I'm looking at but the price is impossible to beat. :) It sounds like it will be a slip over and slip off sort of blanket. Not Ideal but should hold in the heat. You can see from the pic blow that the OEM blanket is held together with velcro so you can open the lid without removing the blanket.

images


I received my BT meat probes yesterday. I had zero problems marrying it to my phone. I was impressed with the build and the monitoring unit quality. I'm anxious to try it out. I'm grilling out brats tonight. I don't think I need a meat probe for that lol. I'm going to a gun show that's out of town this weekend so it will be some time before I can offer a full review.
 
I got off work a bit early tonight so I smoked/grilled some boneless skinless chicken thighs. I put them in a disposable tin and cooked them for a couple of hours. I poured off the grease and added some spice and bbq sauce. I then inserted a couple of my newly purchased probes into the larger thighs. Turning on the app on the ol Android I chose a preset for chicken which was an ideal target of 165° and came in and relaxed. When the alarm went off on my phone it was like WWIII had broke lose. :) It's not likely that alarm will ever be missed.
Looking at the app, probe #1 was at 163° and probe #2 was at 165°. Pretty cool tool and the chicken turned out great. A bonus was the alarm also showed up on my smart watch. "Target temp reached probe #2". :)
 
My new thermal blanket was delivered last night. It is much like the OEM I pictured above but it has the two ends as well. The two ends stay stationary while the blanket over the barrel opening just hooks over the handle and rotates when you open. The blanket is incredible. It has both the cooker side and the outside in some hi-tech material and between the plys is some sort of thermal material. This makes the blanket around three quarters of an inch thick.
The seams are whip stitched with metal wire. The blanket weighs between ten and fifteen pounds lol. The fabricator fastened metal hooks along the seams where the ends meet the center section so it could be trussed up as a unit if desired. I'm plenty happy with the three piece affair and will not likely make a unit out of it. For zero investment, I'm very pleased with the blanket. I'm doing a pork shoulder tomorrow so I'll give it a try. It's far from cold here but will be in the low forties when I start my cook.
 
olbriar said:
My new thermal blanket was delivered last night. It is much like the OEM I pictured above but it has the two ends as well. The two ends stay stationary while the blanket over the barrel opening just hooks over the handle and rotates when you open. The blanket is incredible. It has both the cooker side and the outside in some hi-tech material and between the plys is some sort of thermal material. This makes the blanket around three quarters of an inch thick.
The seams are whip stitched with metal wire. The blanket weighs between ten and fifteen pounds lol. The fabricator fastened metal hooks along the seams where the ends meet the center section so it could be trussed up as a unit if desired. I'm plenty happy with the three piece affair and will not likely make a unit out of it. For zero investment, I'm very pleased with the blanket. I'm doing a pork shoulder tomorrow so I'll give it a try. It's far from cold here but will be in the low forties when I start my cook.
Click to expand...
Can we stop over? I'll bring the Coronas
 
I could have used a Corona after watching my Chiefs stink up the NFL. I smoked out a pork butt and pulled it for sandwiches. Home made potato salad and some baked beans to top things off. There was plenty. :)
 
As all things come and go, so have the Wally World B&B pellets. The last time I bought some I noticed my local store's stock was down but thought little of it. Now I find they are no longer available. :( The B&B brand might not have been the pellets that out perform all other pellets but they were not bad at all, decently priced, and convenient to obtain. I purchased some Green Mountain pellets yesterday. They come in 28# bags instead of 20# and if you buy five they give you another for basically a hundred dollars. I smoked with their premium blend yesterday and found that they burn slow and produce plenty of smoke. I guess I'll be using the GM pellets unless someone has another suggestion.

Speaking of smoking.... Yesterday I smoked three flat iron steaks. The wife and I shared one last night with a baked sweet potato and a fresh tossed salad. Tonight one will become beef and noodles and I've yet to decide what the third steak will be. If you haven't tried this cut of meat you might want to put one on your smoking list. They are often on sale and prove to be a great cut of meat. A four hour cook will yield a tasty and very tender steak.
 
I smoked a meatloaf during the blizzard. It's been too cold (not for the grill, for me) so I've been neglecting my smoker. I left it in the shed and closed the doors to keep the wind blown snow out. 1 lb. or ground pork, 2 lbs of ground beef, and the normal remaining meatloaf ingredients. A great meal evidenced by no leftovers. :(
 
Unforgiven said:
I smoked a meatloaf during the blizzard. It's been too cold (not for the grill, for me) so I've been neglecting my smoker. I left it in the shed and closed the doors to keep the wind blown snow out. 1 lb. or ground pork, 2 lbs of ground beef, and the normal remaining meatloaf ingredients. A great meal evidenced by no leftovers. :(
Click to expand...

I love that smoke flavor on a meat loaf... mmmm. More often than not however I make large patties with my basic meatloaf recipe and call them hamburger steaks. As long as there is some onions and celery in it, I'm good. Sometimes I use a tomato base and sometimes Heinz 57 sauce. A little this and a little that... :) makes for some great eating.
 
Unforgiven said:
I smoked a meatloaf during the blizzard. It's been too cold (not for the grill, for me) so I've been neglecting my smoker. I left it in the shed and closed the doors to keep the wind blown snow out. 1 lb. or ground pork, 2 lbs of ground beef, and the normal remaining meatloaf ingredients. A great meal evidenced by no leftovers. :(
Click to expand...
Unforgiven said:
I smoked a meatloaf during the blizzard. It's been too cold (not for the grill, for me) so I've been neglecting my smoker. I left it in the shed and closed the doors to keep the wind blown snow out. 1 lb. or ground pork, 2 lbs of ground beef, and the normal remaining meatloaf ingredients. A great meal evidenced by no leftovers. :(
Click to expand...
I love metloaf. My mom put crumbled bread in there and she crack a raw egg in the mix too. Belle peppers and onion
 
I fix mine with crackers vs using bread crumbs. It takes an egg and whatever veggies you desire. I like onion, peppers, and celery. I use tomato sauce in the mix and bake some over the top. Salt and pepper to taste.

I fix a different meatloaf on occasion. I use white cheddar cheez it crumbs for texture and beef consume instead of tomato sauce. I like diced green and red peppers and mushrooms in this loaf. It's my swiss meatloaf.

You can't go wrong with whatever you put in a meatloaf. What's handy or what sounds good at the time is what you make meatloaf out of. :)
 
I posted a picture on FB tonight that looks suspiciously like one I post on here a year ago. After a one year hiatus (and not a particularly good one) I hope to spend some more time on here.
 
Last edited:
jbenham said:
I posted a picture on FB tonight that looks suspiciously like one I post on here a year ago. After a one year hiatus (and not a particularly good one) I hope to speed some more time on here.
Click to expand...
Welcome back, @jbenham . I've recently returned too from maybe a 2yr hiatus w/ similar not so good reasons but glad to be alive and gladvto see you too!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom