Amount of Smoke created by Traeger Pellet Grills

Amount of Smoke created by Traeger Pellet Grills

Traeger pellet grills are versatile cooking machines that can smoke a brisket, grill a burger, and even bake a pizza.

Simply change the temperature setting and the Traeger grill will cook food differently.

Given that a Traeger can cook such a wide variety of food, common questions I hear with Traegers are around when they produce smoke and how much smoke do pellet grills make?

So let’s dive into the common questions regarding the smoke levels of Traeger grills and we’ll also cover how to increase or decrease the amount of smoke produced by the Traeger.

Read this article to learn more about how pellet grills work and how to get the most out of your pellet grill.

Does a Traeger Always Smoke?

Traeger grills will always produce smoke. At lower cooking temperatures, the smoke is visible since the wood pellets are allowed to smolder which creates thick smoke. Although at high cooking temperatures the smoke may not be as visible, the Traeger still creates smoke.

Traeger pellet grills cook food by burning wood pellets in the firepot. The burning wood pellets create both heat and smoke.

At higher cooking temperatures, the Traeger grills will feed in more pellets into the firepot which creates a hotter and cleaner burning fire.

Although there is less visible smoke, the Traeger still creates smoke even at high cooking temperatures.

Does a Traeger Smoke A Lot?

Traeger grills will produce a lot of smoke at lower cooking temperatures when the pellets are given a chance to smolder. Keep in mind, plumbs of thick white smoke will lead to an acrid taste. So a Traeger producing a lot of smoke will have bluish-gray smoke that leaves a pleasant smoky flavor.

Even if the Traeger is not producing a lot of visible thick white smoke, the Traeger will still create a smoky flavor on the meat being smoked.

In fact, every pitmaster will advise you to not create thick white smoke since the smoked meat will taste bitter.

Traeger grills will regulate the amount of smoke the pellet grill makes so you get the right amount of smoke needed to create a pleasant smoky flavor.

If you want to produce even more smoke on a Traeger then see this article for 5 tips on creating more smoke on pellet grills.

Does a Traeger Smoke at 225?

A Traeger grill will produce smoke at 225 degrees and at all of the temperature settings. However, Traeger grills will produce more smoke at lower cooking temperatures such as 180 degrees and 225 degrees. Lower cooking temperatures allow the wood pellets to smolder which creates more smoke.

Since Traeger grills use wood pellets in order to create both heat and smoke, the pellet grill will create smoke at all cooking temperatures.

A Traeger grill set at 400 degrees will still produce smoke even though there will be less visible smoke compared to a Traeger grill set at 225 degrees.

Generally, 225 degrees is a popular cooking temperature on Traeger grills for smoking meat low and slow.

Does a Traeger Smoke at High Temps?

Traeger grills will smoke at all temperatures including high temps. Pellet grills burn wood pellets which create both heat and smoke. So even at high temps, the Traeger pellet grill will still create smoke even if it’s less visible.

Keep in mind that pellet grills set to high cooking temperatures will act as wood fire ovens.

The wood pellets are fed into the firepot so quickly that the hot fire will burn the pellets relatively cleanly. So the pellets will not have a chance to smolder or produce as much smoke.

However, even at higher temperatures, there is still smoke that does get created by the burning wood pellets.

Does a Traeger Smoke at All Temperatures?

Traeger grills will smoke at all temperatures. Pellet grills cook food by burning wood pellets. As the wood pellets burns, both heat and smoke are created. Traeger grills will produce more visible smoke at lower cooking temps compared to higher cooking temps since the pellets can smolder more at lower temps.

Allowing the wood pellets to smolder will create more smoke which is why most meat is smoked at low temperatures such as 225 degrees.

Trager grills set to a high cooking temperature such as 400 degrees will still create smoke but there will be less visible smoke. At higher temperatures, the wood pellets burn faster which creates less smoke.

However, Traeger grills will smoke at all temperatures since wood pellets are burned to create both heat and smoke.

What Temperature Does a Traeger Smoke At?

Traeger grills will smoke at all cooking temperatures. Traeger grills burn wood pellets which creates both heat and smoke. So as long as the Traeger is turned on, the pellet grill will create smoke the entire time.

Traeger grills do create more smoke at lower cooking temperatures since the wood pellets are allowed to smolder. Smoldering pellets will create more smoke compared to pellets that burn quickly.

That being said, food cooked at a high temperature for a short amount of time will not taste very smoky on a Traeger.

Use lower cooking temperature settings on a Traeger to create a nice smoky flavor on the food.

Adjusting P Setting on Traeger for More Smoke

Some Traeger grill models will have a P setting that allows you to adjust the “Pause Setting” which can change how much smoke the Traeger produces on the Smoke setting.

If your Traeger does have the P setting then setting the P setting to a higher number will force the Traeger to pause longer in between feeding pellets into the firepot.

Allowing the wood pellets to smolder longer will always create more smoke. However, the fire will also produce less heat if there are fewer wood pellets.

So it’s a balancing act to find the right P setting that creates the most amount of smoke while creating enough heat.

See this article to learn how to adjust the P setting on a Traeger.

One Last Word

Traeger grills will produce smoke at all cooking temperatures. However, Traeger grills produce more visible and thicker smoker at lower cooking temperatures as opposed to higher cooking temperatures.

So use a lower cooking temperature the next time you want to make your meat taste smokier on a Traeger.

The wood pellets will smolder longer which will create that delicious smoky flavor.

Steven

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