Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

What to cook first?

What should the first thing cooked on the new Traeger be?

  • 16 oz ribeye

    Votes: 9 22.5%
  • BBQ Ribs

    Votes: 10 25.0%
  • Whole chicken

    Votes: 3 7.5%
  • Venison backstrap

    Votes: 5 12.5%
  • Homemade pizza

    Votes: 1 2.5%
  • $.99 hotdogs

    Votes: 4 10.0%
  • Leave it in the box and don’t use

    Votes: 5 12.5%
  • Something else…mention it in the comments

    Votes: 3 7.5%

  • Total voters
    40
  • Poll closed .
Voted hotdogs because they're a delicious food group on their own and IMO the most cost effective meat in terms of $ and deliciousness.

Whatever you cook, make sure you have the required amount of tongue "clicks" between meat flips.
 
Voted hotdogs because they're a delicious food group on their own and IMO the most cost effective meat in terms of $ and deliciousness.

Whatever you cook, make sure you have the required amount of tongue "clicks" between meat flips.
hot dogs are the only "meat" that can taste completely different depending on how they are cooked. Boiled, grilled, microwaved, over a campfire, or raw they all taste completely different to me. My kids eat hotdogs or corndogs 7 out of 7 nights of the week.
 
hot dogs are the only "meat" that can taste completely different depending on how they are cooked. Boiled, grilled, microwaved, over a campfire, or raw they all taste completely different to me. My kids eat hotdogs or corndogs 7 out of 7 nights of the week.
Are your kids my kids?
 
My vote is leave it in the box and don't use...send it to me so you don't have to use it :D ;)

A friend has a similar grill and likes that it'll do just about anything you need but I'm still a fan of direct heat charcoal for grilling. Set it and (mostly) forget it style BBQ would be awesome though

Smoked pizza and/or queso would be pretty dang high on my list especially if you had either venison chorizo or maybe an italian style sausage.
 
Whole fryer chickens are a go to at the Jonas household.

Season with lawrys and chili powder then stuff the cavity with fresh sage and garlic. Half stick of butter. Cook at 350 for 1hr and voomba.

Cast iron cheeseburgers
Cedar plank salmon
Steaks
Ribs

You just can't go wrong.....
 
Are your kids my kids?
I don't think so, but possibly. They always say Mamma's babies, pappa's maybe's. If you want mine there are days I'd give them to you! :ROFLMAO:
I feel like we need to acknowledge this, my wife "surprises" me with a McDick's coffee... Whatever you're doing, keep on doing it...
Well, a few times we've been at the store and she has mentioned that she would like an outdoor griddle. I acknowledged that they would be very handy at times but I would prefer a Traeger because they are much more versatile. And since I do all of the grilling I thought I should be able to get what I want. Then last week she noticed that my grill, that we got as a wedding present 10 years ago was looking pretty sad. And a few nights after that an opossum crawled up through the grease hole on the bottom and wreaked havoc with the burners and the heat shields. I was watching tv and heard the commotion. I ran out the door with the .22 and shot the opossum as it was sticking its head out the bottom of my grill, but the grill had received a fatal blow. If you need a grill I have a dual grill king for free, you haul, it has charcoal on one side, gas on the other and a single burner for pots and pans on the side. Just let me know when you are going to stop by and get it, Ill move it out to the road! :ROFLMAO:
 
Whole fryer chickens are a go to at the Jonas household.

Season with lawrys and chili powder then stuff the cavity with fresh sage and garlic. Half stick of butter. Cook at 350 for 1hr and voomba.

Cast iron cheeseburgers
Cedar plank salmon
Steaks
Ribs

You just can't go wrong.....
I like to stuff a Coors light up the rear end of a fryer chicken and cook it for about 120 minutes. There is a restaurant not far from us called Kalmes Supper Club that has their own seasoning. It is close to lawry's, I like to put that on chicken.

I saw a recipe for cast iron cheese burgers on a traeger from the RMEF that looks phenomenal. Its on the short list. https://www.rmef.org/elk-network/grilled-elk-sliders/

Salmon, I have a weird thing about fish that I don't like to eat it unless I catch it or someone I know does. I will be getting a shipment of fresh salmon from my brother in AK any time so I will hold off until that arrives. But Cedar Plank salmon is a favorite.

Steaks, something about a well marbled thick ribeye gets me every time.

Ribs, I like ribs a lot! A nice bark dipped in a sweet, but spicy bbq sauce gets me every time.

I should take the afternoon off to get it put together.
 
My vote is leave it in the box and don't use...send it to me so you don't have to use it :D ;)

A friend has a similar grill and likes that it'll do just about anything you need but I'm still a fan of direct heat charcoal for grilling. Set it and (mostly) forget it style BBQ would be awesome though

Smoked pizza and/or queso would be pretty dang high on my list especially if you had either venison chorizo or maybe an italian style sausage.
We totally dig pizza on the BGE, but I get it super hot and NO smoke. IME the smoke ends up in the dough and it didn't like it.
 
Pork butt is probably the most fool proof if you don't smoke a lot. This may sound weird but I picked it up from a friend and it was surprisingly good. Buy a 5lb tube of bologna. Smoke whole or chunk up and slather in bbq sauce and smoke in pan Pretty darn tasty.

My other go to's are brisket, ribs, sausage, chicken, sausage, etc....

Crank it up and it also cooks a good steak, pork chops, chicken breast, etc...
I love smoked bologna. I take the rind off, cross hatch it with a knife, rub it very liberally with yellow mustard and then coat it with you're favorite BBQ rub. Smoke until you want to eat it. Cut into cubes and provide BBQ sauce, ranch, and horseradish sauce for dipping.
 
St Lois style ribs with the 3-2-1 method. Hard to screw up and walmart sells them for cheap. I would also suggest a pork shoulder roast too for pulled. Get the peach paper and a good thermometer and drink beer while it cook. Especially the stall. If you screw it up its going to be shredded get bbq sauce on it and you'll be a hero.
 
While ribeye is my favorite steak I voted for bbq ribs as your first thing to cook.
Unless you sear your steak before or after cooking on the traeger it just won't have the right texture even if you crank it up to the highest temp.
The steak will come up to whatever temp you like but it will not look done on the outside.
 
Whole fryer chickens are a go to at the Jonas household.

Season with lawrys and chili powder then stuff the cavity with fresh sage and garlic. Half stick of butter. Cook at 350 for 1hr and voomba.

Cast iron cheeseburgers
Cedar plank salmon
Steaks
Ribs

You just can't go wrong.....
Thirty years ago, a Yankee from New York got on our lease....WAY down in east Texas! 👀
Dude killed a deer opening! "Good shootin', Yank!"
When we got back to camp, he had cooked back strap for everybody.
We all fell too and dove in head first!
My first bite of meat made my toes want to curl and I eventually got it choked down, wondering what the hell that taste was?
Up and down the table, confused looks and sideways glances said it all!
Finally, somebody got brave enough to ask, "What wood did you use to smoke the meat with?"
"Cedar," he proclaimed loudly, "we use it on salmon in New York!"

😖😜🤯😝🤪
 
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