Thanks

A little update. Its fall and stuff is on sale.

Have a couple grills waiting for me at Lowes.

Both are charbroil performance grills which are pretty similar to what I have had for the last 8 years or so.

Here's a 6 burner that I got for $175.

https://m.lowes.com/pd/Char-Broil-P...-Gas-Grill-with-1-Side-Burner/1000169857

Here's a 4 burner I got for $100.


https://m.lowes.com/pd/Char-Broil-P...-Gas-Grill-with-1-Side-Burner/1000248459

2 more burners worth $75?

Weber genesis ii e310 are on sale at some Lowes for $350. If I find one of those I'll get that. My last charbroil is over 8 years old. Buying one of these will be cheaper than buying parts to repair the current grill so it's a no brainer.

Any thoughts on 4 burner vs 6? Worth the extra $?

Those are some great deals. Have been thinking of buying a smaller grill next. We have a 10 year old Sears Kenmore that is way bigger than we ever use.

I have a 3 burner Weber gas grill which has served me well. My grilling tends to be very basic (dogs, brats, burgers, steaks, chops, chicken ) and I have never wanted for more grill capacity. Those who cook for larger crowds, or cook a mix of different dishes at the same time (such as fish and beef) might benefit from more burners. My concern with a larger grill would be uneven heating if I was only using part of the grill.

Good points dock. I don't cook for large crowds and usually only do 2 things at once. Veggies on the cool side, wife's meat on the hot side and everyone else's in the middle. The 4 burner makes the most snellense and is where I am leaning at this point u less someone can convince me otherwise. Should be cheaper to hear as there won't be as much volume to contend with and I can use the same cover on a new 4 burner that I use on my current grill.

Ruminating on it a bit longer hoping a weber will end up 50% off somewhere.

Weber's rarely go on sale. Last year they revamped their line, so they had good discounts on the old models, but that is not a common occurrence.

Not sure if you have assembled one before, but it takes a while, and the box is huge, so you need a van or truck to bring it home. Also, when you are done assembling, you are left with a ton of packaging to recycle. Some stores offer free assembly and delivery, which is a huge time saver. I purchased my current grill from www.Abt.com for this reason (plus it was on sale).

I know they don't normally, but they did this year.

https://slickdeals.net/share/android_app/t/11995439

I've put our last two together so I'm not overly worried. Plus 8 have a shell on my truck so getting a built one home is a pita.

Someday I'll buy a nicer grill. For now, I'm looking to buy a few more years.

If you do much cold weather cooking on a Treager you might think about one of these welding blankets from Harbor Freight. I picked up a 4x6 size for about $20 with the discount coupons. The 4x6 size drapes nicely over the big size Treager, keeps the heat in so it reduces the amount of pellets you use and also seems to keep the heat inside the grill more even from end to end.

You should break that out

FWIW--I've used my smoker all of twice, but this I've learned:
I smoked some babyback ribs at 215, too warm. At 6 hours the ribs were 215, and, because I forgot the WATER PAN, they weren't particularly moist...
as to the smoke- an electric burner heats the wood chip box, and it works great. The smoke pouring out of the thing would've got me arrested on a red-air day! I used 2 trays of chips, and the smoke flavor- apple chips- was very intense, to the point of too much even...

My second smoking was a small pork roast. This time I remembered the water, but didn't remember to keep the tray full. Results were much better, but I've come to the conclusion that water is VERY necessary when smoking meat! I used Mesquite chips and a little less temp, but again I refilled the chip tray once, and the smoke flavor was extreme. And even with the lower temp, it got done too quick. I think maybe smoker's temp gauge is calibrated low...

Other than the water & chips this smoker is full-auto; set the temp, set the meat temp you want, and it shuts down when it gets there. I just got another pork roast to try again, hoping for tomorrow. I just need to remember to fill the water, and try two 1/3 tray of chips instead of 2 full trays worth!

Try only using one tray of Chips FR

My electric says to only use 4 Oz of chips and let the seasoning of the smoker infuse the rest.
Second that rule of using a water bath between the heat source and the meat. It keeps the radiant heat of the heating element from doing the cooking and instead has the heat of the smoke do the work.
With the electric I get really good smoke flavor, but not a lot of Bark. Maybe pull the water bath towards the end and let the outside of the meat "sear" a bit, while the inside slowly finishes?

WIth the Pellet, I'm getting a really good bark, but not quite as much smoke as I'd like. Lower temps are supposed to provide more smoke flavor so I'm slowly bringing the temp down with each cooking on the Yoder to find that sweet spot.
I've got to do a party in two weeks where I need to do 6 briskets. The Yoder will only fit 4 so I'll be using both smokers to get the job done. That will allow me to try different techniques and see what works best between the two smokers.
My local BBQ store was trying to talk me into a third smoker that uses lump charcoal in a heater box with a grill over it. The large smoker area would allow for up to 12 briskets, while the grill section would be great for steaks, but I'm just not willing to buy (and store) another smoker just for one big party

Temp gauges on the smokers are usually not accurate, so you may want to check yours.. 215 is generally regarded as being too lowfor temp, 225 to 235 is more widely used. Also the ribs only absorb smoke for the first 2 hours or so, after 2 hours you can wrap the ribs in either foil or butchers paper, I prefer butchers paper

For baby backs you can do the 2-2-1 method, 2 hours in smoke, 2 hours wrapped then 1 hour unwrapped.

There are a lot of electric smokers out there. The least expensive is a simple barrel with a lid. My son has one of these, and things turn out great--except in the cold of winter in New England. Then, he must wait a lot longer--this smoker does not have adjustable heat, no thermometer, no automatic shutdown. But it works well, especially pulled port butt.

My wife gave me a stainless steel "computer" controlled box the size of a small refrigerator. I never got a lot of satisfaction from it or the results. One day, I took it all apart, just to make sure there were no bad solder joints or wire sockets and plugs. It seemed to work after that, but it had a wide range of max to min temperature. Hardly used, I sold it at a big discount on Craigslist.

I’ve never been happy with ribs when I’ve wrapped them that long. Then again, I’m unhappy with my ribs more than I’m happy with them. But wrapping for two hours seems to make them, I don’t know, mushy?

I like using butcher paper over foil because the paper keeps them moist without soaking in the juices. Have you checked the accuracy of the temp gauge? Sounds like the ribs are getting overcooked. With smoking all time are just reference, temp of he meat is the true sign it is ready. I go to about 190F.

I use this for a thermometer -https://www.fireboard.com You said it earlier- temp gauges on grills/ cookers/ smokers are notoriously inaccurate.

I'm not sure 'mushy' is the right word to describe it. But the outside texture wasn't to my liking when I have wrapped that long. I'm thinking about trying some this weekend. Maybe I'll try wrapping again.

I love falling off the bone ribs. No smoker here, but I do my propane grill on indirect heat. I wrap them in foil with a little sprite and vinegar added along with the seasoning (Lawry's and brown Sugar for the most part). Low heat for 3-4 hours, maybe more. Pull them out of the foil and finish them with sauce on high heat. Makes me want to go buy some ribs...

I would try butchers paper. It helps retain moisture without the food swimming in it's own fat. I bought pink butchers paper from Amazon.