I’ve only ever bbq’d with propane. Though the last few years I’ve been extremely interested in starting smoking, trying to use smoke boxes to add flavour in my propane grill, do low and slow techniques etc. but it never satisfied my thirst for that smokey char flavour.
Been waiting for a good deal on a Traeger but on Saturday went to Home Depot to grab some plants for the garden and I came across this floor model marked down to $185. It was just missing the kitchen timer on the front.
Picked it up and I’ve cooked on it every night, couldn’t be happier.
My only question is, it seems pretty inefficient? I fill up both charcoal baskets and they do get pretty hot for a long time. But it seems to take quite a bit of charcoal to get there.
If I’m just doing burgers or something quick, can you get away with not using as much?
by MyPhD
6 Comments
My wife gave me a Performer 16 years ago for Father’s Day, and I still use it at least once a week. I’ve cooked so many delicious meals on it! Keep it covered between cooks and it’ll last a long time.
Yeah you definitely don’t need to use that much charcoal on simple cooks like burgers. Once you play around with it you’ll start getting the hang of it.
Did you get a charcoal chimney? That’s my usual measure of charcoal. On smaller cooks like burgers I usually just use half the chimney of coals.
185!? I wish I could find that
Dude. You scored a major deal.
Hell of a deal!
Before I read that it was a floor model I was like “how did he find it at that price?” Good score. I’ve had the same Weber performer since 2009 (pre kitchen timer model) and love it. You will be happy for years. I’m single and often making small meals. Generally one basket slightly over-filled does the trick for me. I also close up all the vents immediately after cooking to stop coals from burning. Often I still have a few left over with enough burn in them to assist with the next time. sometimes I also use a chimney to start and for a small meal, I go with about 1/2 a chimney.