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When it comes to outdoor grilling, we’re a casual barbecuing family. If we have the time in the summer–and often, we make the time because the flavour payoff is so good–we take to our barbecue to fire up a pack of chicken breasts or hot dogs.
So, with that experience in mind, we jumped at the chance to take the Traeger Ranger Pellet Grill & Smoker for a test run for The Curator. Here’s our review on this portable backyard grill and smoker.
Getting started
As I looked at this large suitcase-sized grill sitting on my deck, no doubt about it, my husband and I were both intimidated and intrigued by this grill. While I’ve enjoyed smoked meat at friends’ cottages before, I hadn’t paid much attention to the process. So where to start?
Thankfully, once we dove in, it was less intimidating than we thought. While we had a good instruction booklet to guide us, we also spun through a handful of Traeger YouTube videos and social media posts for guidance. But what would we smoke? Pizzas? Pork butt? Pistachios even? The possibilities seemed plentiful.
Turns out, it was easier to get started than I thought. We lined the drip tray with foil, locked in the grill, poured in the smoking pellets, and hung the grease bucket at the back of the grill. (For this fancy unit, it was slightly surprising that the grease collection vessel was simply a tiny little silver pail that hung at the back of the Traeger.) Then, we turned it on.
One hiccup: Where were we going to set it on? While an online search showed that users sometimes set them on picnic tables when grilling, all we had on hand were outdoor glass tables. Hardly a secure setup. So, we set it up on the ground–something I’d change if I invested in this kind of grill.
How does it taste?
For our first dish, we decided to do chicken breasts, mostly because we had a pack on hand. After letting our chicken sit in the fridge following a spicy rub down, we fired the grill up.
The cook time took only three hours and the flavour was a hit with the family. It was different and tastier than our usual grilled chicken breasts. There was a depth thanks to the Traeger Signature Blend Wood Pellets we used which added a subtle hickory, cherry, and maple flavor to the chicken on top of the rub.
For our second dish, I had my heart set on doing a brisket–a piece of meat that seemed to be a signature dish for the Traeger. However, after eyeing the briskets in two grocery stores, I couldn’t figure out how that size of meat would fit onto the 15.4″ L x 11.6″ W grill space. Could you cut a brisket in half? I wasn’t sure and given I was inviting friends over to try whatever we cooked for this second dish, we picked up a pork shoulder instead with the plan to make a smoky pulled pork.
The pork involved a much lengthier cooking time–we started at 8:30 a.m. and were shredding pork at 6 p.m. to mix with the barbecue sauce. And again, that depth of flavor could be tasted–in fact, shredding the pork came with some heavy sampling and really, I could have served it just like that.
One challenge we encountered was using the long internal temperature probe, which can be finicky with smokers. At one point, we noticed the temperature on the Traeger was dropping. It turned out the pellets in the side of the pellet compartment hadn’t fallen into the auger and needed repositioning—a good reminder to check the pellets regularly. As we neared the recipe-suggested finishing time, the probe began showing inconsistent temperatures. We aimed to reach 204 degrees before pulling off the pork, but one reading showed 220 degrees, while another indicated 170 degrees. Despite both being well above the 145 degrees recommended for safely consuming cooked pork, further research revealed that aiming for 204 degrees ensures the pork breaks down more easily for shredding.
Does it fit our lifestyle?
Going into this assignment, it seemed to me that the Traeger would appeal to two main groups: those looking for new gadgets for their cottages or trailers—places where time moves more slowly, allowing for more attention to day-long meat cooking ventures. It would likely also attract campers, as the flat-top grill is perfect for cooking eggs and pancakes for breakfast.
If you’re really into barbecued meat and enjoy more than just grilled chicken and vegetables, this smoker could work for you in the city as well. However, I was aware of the smell, which was delicious, of course. Yet, smoking meat at 10 a.m. in a city setting, where space is tighter, presents a different situation.
We also experimented slightly with where we put the grill. One placement that was closer to the side of our house left me smelling that smoke for hours–even after I’d fully changed my clothes, showered, and washed my hair. However, after repositioning the grill further back from our deck on the side of our house, it didn’t feel like my entire house smelled of smoked pork. I worried slightly that the smoke smell would infuse my son’s nearby basement bedroom. (It didn’t, thankfully.)
That said, if you love grilling and the taste of smoked meat, at a retail price of $599.00, this grill offers a lot of bang for your buck and is a more economical (size and pricewise) option over the fuller-sized Traeger grills that run $800 and over.
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