Prepare your food. Now that your grill is clean and your hopper full, you need to get your food ready. What meat should you smoke on your Traeger? Whatever you like best! Pork is especially well suited to smoking (think bacon) as its mild flavour soaks up the flavour of the wood. That said, a beef brisket is the holy grail of meat smoking, while chicken and fish offer lighter meat alternatives.

Once you’ve decided on your meat, you need to season it. That can be as simple as salt and pepper or also simple—but tastier—a Traeger spice rub.

Choose the right grill temperature. Smoked foods cook low and slow. The ideal grill temperature for smoking food is around 225°F, though some smoking recipes go as low as 165°F and others up to 275°F. And many recipes will have you start at a lower temperature to generate a lot of smoke and then raise that temperature to speed the cooking process once the food has absorbed the maximum wood-fired flavour.

While cooking low and slow is perfect for tough cuts like brisket and pork butts, smoking can also flavour quicker cooking meats before they are finished at a much higher heat. Many of our most delicious steak recipes start with a short smoke followed by a sear on high heat for the best of all worlds.

Use Super Smoke if you have it. If you want the optimum amount of wood-fired flavour, use the Super Smoke function if available on you Traeger. By simply pressing a button, you can increase the amount of smoke in the Traeger. Note that Super Smoke works at temperatures between 165°F and 225°F and that it need not stay on during the entire duration of a long cook.

Use a meat thermometer. We highly recommend using a leave-in meat thermometer when smoking meat. Many smoking recipes require some action, such as raising the grill temperature or wrapping the meat, when the meat reaches a certain internal temperature. Without a thermometer, there is no way to tell when this is reached. By using a leave-in thermometer, such as MEATER, there’s no need to keep opening the lid to check as you would need to do with an instant-read thermometer. And because the MEATER can connect to an app (either ours or its own), you can monitor the internal temperature remotely.

Also, though there may be some other doneness indicators for your smoked meat, such as it being fork tender for a pork butt, the thermometer confirms that you have reached optimal doneness. Our recipes often give suggested times, but because of variables like weather and the size of the meat, the internal temperature is always the best way to discern doneness.

Smoke the foods directly on the grate or use a pan. Smoking directly on the grill grate allows for the most smoke penetration, but using a sheet pan or an aluminium pan can keep things tidier, and there will still be plenty of wood-fired flavour.

Keep the grill lid closed during smoking. Many smoked meats cook for a longggggg time. Resist the urge to constantly open the grill lid to check on the meat; if you do, you will not only lose heat but precious smoke, too.

Let smoked meats rest. Once your smoked meat is done, let it rest. This helps redistribute the juices inside the meat guaranteeing it turns out tender and juicy.