Shawn Pack (@shawnpack)

I went to Costco yesterday and the Traeger representative was there for a road show. We talked a while. He complimented me on my $200 Z Grills purchase. We talked Traeger versus others and he was petty honest about what sets them apart. They also had some straight hickory pellets for sale and I got two bags. My first pellets I used with this grill were the Traeger gourmet mix sold at Costco. Hickory, Maple, and Cherry. I mentioned I bought a bag of the Kirkland pellets. Same woods, bit with oak added. I will not buy them again. He was telling me that Traeger owns their own pellet manufacturing and compresses the pellets with 10k PSI. Whereas other companies are compressed to 6K PSI. I have been using bear mountain brand lately. Really cheap at my local restaurant supply store. And they have pretty much every wood. But I am seeing you burn through pellets faster and have more ash with cheaper pellets. We talked smoke flavor and that over 250 you're not getting much smoke. My one complaint with pellet grills. Hence the $10 tube for smoke. Problem solved. Eventually I hope to buy a new Traeger for my house. I love my Weber kettle grills. I own two. I've got the Slow n Sear set up for one. It's the only way to cook London Broil. But I really want to be able to run an overnight smoke, but I can't do that at my shop. I can't just leave the smoker running in the alley unattended.