I enjoy my Traeger. My "set it and forget it", so to speak, EZ Bake Smoker Grilling/Oven.
It takes less skill to Smoke/BBQ good food compared to an open pit. Perhaps that is not a good thing.
At what point will automation take over the joy of BBQ?
What is your opinion on this subject? Is automation in BBQ good, bad, or in between?
It's just another tool in the toolbox. For those times that I need to cook overnight and can't stay up to babysit, my Masterbuilt 1050 is a great option. Or my WSM with fan controller.
Weber Silver A (fixer upper project, currently sitting dead in my garage)
KBQ C-60
Accessories
Fireboard 2
Weber iGrill Mini
Weber Instant Read
Random Digital Instant Read from the Grocery Store (in a pinch)
Weber Charcoal Chimney
Slick University of Michigan apron w/built in bottle opener
Beverages
Favorite beer(s): Bell's Oberon, Founders All Day I{A, Corona Extra, Heineken, Guinness
Red Wine: Anything dry and under $15 per bottle
Whiskey: Makers Mark French Oak, Buffalo Trace.. anything purchased by other people and shared
About MeReal name: Jesse
Location: Grand Rapids, Michigan
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Automation is good in that it lowers the barrier of entry for people that are interested in tasty BBQ but don't have the time, knowledge, or confidence to tackle BBQ another way. Once you start getting tasty ribs off a Traeger, you'll develop the taste for smoked food and stop with these crockpot rib recipes It may even open up food that people never thought they could cook at home (brisket, Dino ribs, etc...). Some people (many maybe) will be content to use the automated tools to produce pretty good BBQ reliably. But it also might ignite the curiosity to go figure out how to do it with less automation and try to LEVEL UP their food.
I don't think automation is innately bad at all. If you don't want to use it, you don't have to. I also think that part of the joy of BBQ is the hands on aspects. But at the same time, I can (and do!) enjoy BBQ that isn't done by the purist. I don't think it is a binary choice.
Although I look forward to the day that I no longer get immediately asked the following when I say I like to smoke meat. "Oh, so you have a Traeger?" LOL.
It's EVIL. Like the FRUIT OF THE DEVIL!! Evil!! (bonus points for the movie that quote is from).
I agree with jhoskins. The main risk is that we see the pellet grill smoke profile as 'the way it should be' and other variations as somehow wrong. But I don't know if that's something to worry about for real.
My background is in laboratory science, operating machinery to attain high temperatures and pressures, and the bedrock requirement is that conditions be both reproducible and uniform everywhere in the "target zone". Automation makes that way more straightforward, naturally, and after decades in the lab I'm just pathologically incapable of leaving much of anything to chance when it comes to temperature control. Not having to worry about that frees me up to think about what I consider to be far more important things, like the nature and quality of ingredients, recipes, what conditions to actually cook at, all of which, I'd argue, are far more important to the outcome than whether one uses some kind of automation.
And as jhoskins wrote, the availability of this tech was my doorway to start in on serious outdoor cooking. Same thing happened once home music recording software became so very easy to use about a decade ago, it opened the door to my musical creativity in a way nothing else had done all my life. And just as in the BBQ world, there are recording purists who think you can't possibly make "real music" without outboard gear, which, friends, is flat wrong, just saying.
I am how you say extremely unreceptive to technology
1. I don’t get it
2. I don’t understand the great majority of it
3. I’m a dinosaur.... I don’t want to get it or understand it
One if the reasons I retired early was my employers insistence of ramming technology down my throat insisting it would make my life easier while in reality it made they’re life easier
....a pit, a fire and meat.... I’m happier than a lark
I say it's a good thing. I picked up an Inkbird controller fan/thermometer and a battery pack to use with the SNS and the Weber, and it is wonderful for long cooks-bacon at 4-5 hours and pork butt at 8+. For short cooks (tri-tip at about an hour) or a whole chicken (an hour and a half) I can manage the fire just fine manually.
As noted above, it's going to free me up to cook a brisket at some point.
Scotch: Current favorite- The Arran (anything by them), Glenmorangie 12yr Lasanta, sherry cask finished. The Balvenie Double Wood, also like Oban 18yr, and The Glenlivet Nadurra (Oloroso sherry cask finished) among others. Neat please.
About meReal name: Aaron
Location: Farwell, Michigan - near Clare (dead center of lower peninsula).
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Once again a gentle reminder, the Off Topic Non-Food channel is not for food talk. Please use the proper food discussion channels, even if it's simply Miscellaneous if it doesn't fit anywhere specific.. I will move this.
Yep, I'm all about the technology. After all hasn't life been made better through chemistry....or is that science? Oh I don't know. But I am slowly upping my game. Here's the latest addition to the Troutman kitchen. I'm trying to learn the darn thing, the instructions are kind of vague. It's also a bit difficult to shove a whole packer in her. Had to cut it into thirds and ram it in.
Wouldn't automation take the fun out of learning? Sure the food may turn out good but where's the challenge? I'm sure many of you, as well as I take a certain amount of pride in what we cook. Learning the little tricks. Learning to master your smoker and overcome the problems that weather, or even the that chunk of meat may throw at you. I feel like I'm cheating by using propane. Once I retire and have more time, my dream is to buy an offset smoker and learn how to use that.
Why should cooking great food have to be a challenge? Life is full of challenge, 24/7/365, these days and has been for a long time. Being a foodie is one of my few respites from the relentless bad out there. I don't want it to be a challenge. And I maintain that I am having just as much fun as I oughta be - in fact, my neighbors keep saying to me, you are having WAY too much fun over there!
Large Big Green Egg, Weber Performer Deluxe, Weber Smokey Joe Silver, Fireboard Drive, 3 DigiQs, lots of Thermapens, and too much other stuff to mention.
I don't see myself as some kind of gatekeeper. Automation is the rising tide that lifts all boats, so to speak. My brother in law bought a pellet cooker and he is absolutely in love with it. Busy dad who probably wouldn't have time or be able to cook good BBQ without it, and we all benefit when we have dinner at his place. I like cooking with wood. Takes all kinds! It's nice to have options.
It may even open up food that people never thought they could cook at home (brisket, Dino ribs, etc...). Some people (many maybe) will be content to use the automated tools to produce pretty good BBQ reliably. But it also might ignite the curiosity to go figure out how to do it with less automation and try to LEVEL UP their food.
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