Traeger Pro 575 Smoker on Sale at HD

Hey Guys. If you are thinking about getting into smoking food, Home Depot is selling the popular Traeger Pro 575 Pellet Smoker for $560 and, I got another 10% off as a Veterans discount. Normal price is $799. They have two left at Bay Shore HD but 29 in the system and will deliver. The box is big and heavy. Delivery would be nice. I got a sales person to help load it at HD and a neighbor to help unload. I know nothing about smoking. BoatGuy and Longcast have been helping me decide on a smoker. Thanks to both. When this deal came along, I went with it.

This link helped in my decision. Traeger Pro 575 Pellet Grill Review: 'Pellets Better Than Gas?'

You can smoke anything except a rock. The only thing is something like cheese or anything else that melts. But blues, blowfish, mackerel, and so on should be great. For things that melt, you really need cold smoker and that's an entirely different type of smoker. Wait until you try brisket. You're looking at somewhere in the 8 to 10 hour cooking time. But talk about yummy.

Mike

Thanks Mike. You're making me hungry. I can't wait. All assembled. Nice looking unit. I have never seen anything packed so well as this thing. The cost must be in all the cardboard. I'm itching to try it. I'm going to season it tomorrow between the rain drops. I can't believe this thing can get to 450 degrees. I need to find a fish. I have frozen bass and triggerfish. Or, perhaps I might make a trip to H-Mart or Restaurant Depot. I itching to give it a try. What do you think a first try should be? Meat or fish?

Thanks Mike. You're making me hungry. I can't wait. All assembled. Nice looking unit. I have never seen anything packed so well as this thing. The cost must be in all the cardboard. I'm itching to try it. I'm going to season it tomorrow between the rain drops. I can't believe this thing can get to 450 degrees. I need to find a fish. I have frozen bass and triggerfish. Or, perhaps I might make a trip to H-Mart or Restaurant Depot. I itching to give it a try. What do you think a first try should be? Meat or fish?

I'm going with the ribs. I totally get it about the fish being more delicate plus the weather has been too unstable and I might see a lot of temperature variations. I can see where the meat might be more forgiving for a lot of reasons. I've watched a few videos about cooking ribs on this smoker and my mouth is watering. I cook a good, not great, rib in the oven but I can see how a smoker and certain techniques will make them much better. Longcast, are you recommending I cook the chicken along with the ribs? I guess, why not. I'm sure there's enough room to throw some on. Never brined before. Gotta read up on that. Thanks again for the tips.

Okay. Just got home from Restaurant Depot with four 20" racks of pork St. Louis cut ribs. If this grill wasn't on sale, I should have probably gone with Longcast's suggestion and gotten the next size to better fit the rack. My grill is 21 1/2" wide. Should I cut the ribs in half or leave them whole? Just wondering if ends will not cook as well or will the heat circulate enough? And, with all the work and time, should I cook one rack or two? I plan to freeze the other two or three to have them on hand. I'm assuming there's no problem freezing them.

Not that I'm going to cook one for awhile but while at RD I did not see a brisket. There were huge pieces of meat that looked like a brisket. Does it have another name?

I always leave them whole. I have seem them too. I do not think they are briskets.

Cook two. You will eat it! LOL

If you only eat one rack as ribs on the bone, you can strip the meat from the other rack and make giant quesadilla's using these. Back to RD, LOL.

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Is that a Made In knife you’re sporting there?

I always leave them whole. I have seem them too. I do not think they are briskets.

Cook two. You will eat it! LOL

If you only eat one rack as ribs on the bone, you can strip the meat from the other rack and make giant quesadilla's using these. Back to RD, LOL.

I just watched a few videos on cooking ribs on my smoker. I liked this one the best. She's with Traeger and pushes their products but I'm going to make my own rub and sauce with Sweet Baby Ray's cause I have it.

Diva Q is the chef. I really liked her redo of 3-2-1 ribs. The video is very complete. Sounds like she has serious COPD from hanging around too many smokers.


Longcast, I see what you mean on cooking two. They seem to have a lot shrinkage.

"Enjoy. Oh, and gas grills don't even come close to pellets"

Thanks Jaws. I'm excited to see the first bluefish to arrive. I think that will be my first attempt at smoking a fish. Seems all the smokers out there have their pros and cons. For some, I'm sure they love their gas smoker for a lot of reasons. I'm happy that I don't have to monitor this pellet smoker as much.

We catch a lot of blowfish. What do you think, can I smoke a blowfish tail? It sounds awesome. I did read that this smoker is not the intense smoke you can get from other smokers but for me, it's a start. I like the idea of starting off at a low temperature for the first couple of hours to get a bit more smoke flavor. Thanks for the tips on smoke pellets at HD.

Cany, do you leave the skin on all of your fillets? Any vertical cuts into the skin side or leave it uncut. Also, do you scale the fish before smoking?