I had a personal goal to learn to srick burn a bit before going the pellet grill route. Anyway…
I cooked ribs for the first time on my Traeger two days ago and was excited about it but, my ribs weren’t getting to temp despite following a few videos from those with much more knowledge. Not getting them to temp on the easier method of pellets made me frustrated as hell. But I started thinking the other thoughts of, “you can’t temp ribs and have to follow time and feel instead” and that gave me peace of mind. However, today I wanted to cook something different and wanted to do some cornbread but noticed my temp on the traeger was dropping and dropping fast… I decided to put my probe inside and wow it’s a big difference of 50°+.
Is this normal for a Traeger? I thought this was to be more like an oven and I wouldn’t have to babysit like an offset. Anybody think it’s defective? I’m just looking for some advice.
Pellets I’m using are the Kirkland (Costco) brand. I have video but can’t post it but it drops temp reeeeal fast despite nothing being on the grill and me not opening it.
by noeezy89
21 Comments
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Mine is significantly lower than the set temp as well. If I’m set at 225 I’m usually reading much lower on my wireless probe. Maybe 20-30 degrees lower. So far I’ve only done Tri Tip and I’m getting to the temps I want in a few hours, but I think it’s a little disappointing that the built in thermometer is so far off.
Went through the same thing with my Pro 34. Ambient temp and food probe were both reading 40 degrees over actual temp with no way to calibrate. Cost me a brisket on the first cook. I swapped the controller out with a Savannah stoker and it took care of that and the random pellet dumping issues
I just bought the same one and found out the induction fan is a lemon the night of July 3rd. After I had bought meat and invited a dozen people over for the 4th. Wouldn’t get above 80 degrees and I had to pull out my Coleman camp stove and make that work. Traeger customer service woke up on the 5th to a fairly strongly worded email and they’re sending me a new induction fan assembly apparently. I’m beginning to think there’s a reason this model was on sale lol
If you went from offset to pellet you will never be happy.
Probes on a treager are one the far left. You always need probes to find your zones. This is any smoker.
No smoker is set it and forget it.
I always say an offset is easier than a pellet. It is not hard to throw a split on a coal bed. It is hard to maintain a pellet.
My traegers probe has also always been junk unfortunately.
Just be glad it’s not running hotter. My Traeger was set at 220 before bed for a 13 pound pork shoulder woke up and it was smoking at 275 all night while asleep according to my ThermoWorks signals
I have the same model, a 780. It is not a good grill. I regret the purchase.
I have a 575, same temp issues. I’m looking to get something different. Would not recommend Traeger to anyone.
I have the same grill and no issues, sorry to hear bro.
Mine is off maybe 10-15 at times never like this though
You still need to do a bit of babysitting but not near as much as a traditional fire.
Traeger allows a 50⁰ difference 25⁰ above or below the set temp.
Also, 1 thing. You can feed your probe through that small black rubber but hole on the side, so it’s not going under the lid. Just be careful when pulling out as they can pop out, but are easy to put back in if that happens.
Get a blanket and insulate it. This will help retain heat and provide more temperature uniformity inside. The built-in probe is on the left side wall. Where is that extra probe sitting?
I’ve used the Costco pellets quite a bit. To be honest, they just suck.
They create far more ash than other brands and I have struggled with temps much more than with pit boss or Traeger pellets.
My older XL was always below stated temperature and I looked for ways to regulate it. The two best things I did were: 1) install an insulated grill gasket 2) add fire bricks around the pellet pot to retain heat (fit 6 bricks). These changes gave me a consistent temperature, faster warm up and a more reliable cooking experience.
Maybe run the wires thermostat threw the gromit opening in the side. 🤷
I have a timberline 1300 and zero issues.
No two probes will show the exact same temperature no matter what you do, the only thing you can do is to get close as you can and make sure that they are clean. If they are that far off then you should get another one & read what that one says, whatever one is the closest to the one that you have installed is the truest temperature you’re going to get.
Mine is consistently 50ish degrees off as well, planning on getting a stoker
Everything I’ve read says use Traeger pellets, NOT Kirkland. Doubt it makes that much a difference tbh but I’ve only used Traeger pellets and had no issues…maybe I just got lucky with my specific unit? It’s a woodridge pro and the probe is always right in line with what my Thermoworks instant read says as well.
But as some comments have stated, it’s never a true “set it and forget it” I’ll have my temp/pellet level notifications on loud if I’m asleep while it’s cooking.
If internal the thermometer is dirty it won’t read accurately. Learned this the hard way