Wife surprised me with a Traeger for my birthday and I'm both excited and intimidated. I've smoked meats before on a regular grill but never committed to a real smoker. Planning to do a brisket next Saturday when my in-laws visit but I'm nervous about messing it up. Anyone here have a Traeger? What's your go-to first cook and what mistakes did you make that I should avoid?
Man, that's awesome your wife hooked you up! Start with some simple briskets or pulled pork to get the feel for temperature management. The Traeger does a lot of the work for you compared to a regular grill, so honestly you're already ahead.
Dude congrats on the Traeger! My advice: read the manual, do a few test runs with cheaper cuts first, and join some Traeger groups online. The learning curve is way less scary than it looks.
The first 5 smokes are about learning your specific smoker's quirks. Every one cooks a little different. After that you'll be dangerous. Start with pork shoulder, it's forgiving.
Get ready to become that neighbor everyone wants to hang out with. Once word gets out you're smoking meat on weekends, people will mysteriously appear in your backyard haha
Your wife is a legend for that gift. My advice: low and slow is your friend. Don't overthink it. Traeger has some solid YouTube tutorials that'll walk you through everything step by step.
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Dude, start with something simple like pulled pork or brisket. Get the basics down before you go crazy with fancy rubs and techniques. I made that mistake with mine and wasted a lot of meat learning the hard way.