Cooking gadgets
Weber Summit Charcoal Grill Center
Weber Summit Platinum D6
Blue Rhino Razor
Dyna-Glo XL Premium Dual Chamber
Camp Chef Somerset IV along with their Artisan Pizza Oven 90
Anova WiFi
Thermometers
Thermapen Mk4 - ThermaQ High Temp Kit - ThermaQ Meathead Kit - ThermaQ WiFi - ThermoWorks IR-GUN-S - ThermoWorks Signals & Billows - ThermoPop -ThermoWorks ProNeedle - ThermoWorks TimeStick Trio x2 - and a Christopher Kimball timer - NO, I do not work for ThermoWorks...I just like their products.
Other useful bits...
KitchenAid 7-qt Pro Line stand mixer
A Black & Decker food processor that I can't seem to murder
A couple of immersion blenders, one a "consumer" model & the other a "high end" Italian thing. Yes, the Italian one is a bit better, but only marginally
Instant Pot Duo Evo Plus 8-qt + accessories like egg-bite & egg holders
All-Clad pots & pans, along with some cast iron...everything from 7" Skookie pans to 8.5qt Dutch ovens
Weber GBS griddle, pizza stone, and wok
Knives range from Mercer to F. Dick to "You spent how much for one knife? One knife?!" LOL
For me personally, I can't see ever see using pellets.
I hear ya! That said...my father has one, so I've used it on occasion. It's reliable (he's had it for years) and easy to operate. I just had to wrap my head around what it is...at least in MY opinion...and it took me a while. LOL It's NOT a smoker (again IMO)...it's a wood fired oven. Yes, perhaps a battle of semantics but it was a game changer in the way I look at his Traeger. If you can cook it in the oven, one can pretty much cook using that as well. Set the temp and walk away...just like indoors.
I find that the smoke taste/profile isn't quite to my liking so ALWAYS add an A-Maze-N smoke tube to the mix. That helps a bunch. The pellets heat nicely but are perhaps a little too clean/efficient for my liking.
All that said, I think they can turn out some really tasty stuff. I also have an uncle with one (which prompted my father to have a look) and a cousin with two. All of them seem to be used regularly...and with good results. And while I also fully agree with vwskirch I can also see why pellet cookers are hugely popular.
I bought the Traeger 34 a few months ago and really like it. As I'm generally keeping busy with other things in life, I like the set it and forget it approach. We also entertain a decent amount and the Traeger allows me to spend more time with guests and less time standing over the gas-passer we have.
I completely understand pellet cookers are not for everyone but it works for myself and my family.
My wife and I love a heavier smoke flavor in our meat, almost too much for some folks. That said, I personally like a lessor smoke profile on pork ribs for instance. Not sure why but I want a cleaner meat flavor shining through. The pellet cooker has it's pluses (set and forget, consistent temperatures) and it's minuses (low to no smoke, moving parts) so like any cooker out there it's not for everyone. I don't know anything about Traeger per se, but everytime I see one in Costco or elsewhere I'm struck by the tin can, flimsy metal they make them out of. I've gone through too many cheap cookers in my life, I don't need another rusting hulk. But hey, if you like your's, more power to ya !!
I've been to one fair since 1990. It was 2013-ish and it was to volunteer to hand out food safety information. All those years I always felt I'd be too weak to pass up the opportunity to buy a funnel cake every 15 minutes. Of course I came home with a red velvet with icing.
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