Traeger question (electronic thermostat)

[realist]

I have had my traeger texas smoker for a little over 2 weeks. I have cooked on it four times. Yesterday when I was smoking I had it set on the medium setting and the temperature held solid at 350 for about 30 minutes. I turned it to the smoke setting and it dropped to 180 ish then set it back at medium and it was back to what seems normal for it around 275. I was using apple wood to smoke with and had just cleaned the grill and insides.

If I was to get the electronic thermostat would it help stabilize the temperatures and narrow the wide temperature fluctuation's. I understand there is a new model that has a 225 setting so I would probably buy that one.

Can't really say enough good things about this smoker. The food is fantastic.
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Balance and moderation are the key to life.

[dabaslab]

We have 3 of the 075's that we use in competitions. We have been cooking on them for a couple of years now. We have done very well in our comps if I must say so myself. I say this so that you will know that I speak from experience.

You will definitely want to get the digital controller. I would get the one with the 225 degree setting. I'm not sure they are even selling the one w/o the 225 setting anymore.

I would keep the controller you have versus trading it in just in case something was to go wrong with the digital. Using the old one at least you would be able to cook until you got a replacement. They only allow $35.00 on trade in anyway.

When you get the new digital there is a small dial on the back of the board that has numbers 0 through 9 on it. It should come from the factory set on 2. I would before installing set the dial to at least 1 or possibly even the 0.

What this does is when the dial is set to 1 when you turn on the smoker the auger runs without stopping until the smoker lights and the temp reaches the set temp. Once the cooker reaches the set temp the auger will start to cycle on and off. When set on 1 the auger will set idle for 60 seconds and run for 15 seconds to maintain the set temp. If the temp falls below the set temp the auger will once again run w/o stopping until the set temp is reached. Once reach the auger goes back in to the run / off cycle.

The cycle time when the dial is set on 0 is the auger runs for 15 seconds and rests for 45 seconds to maintain the set temp.

When the cooker first lights up it will always go above the set temp due to the large amount of pellets that have been fed in.

Once the initial overload of pellets are burned up and the auger cycles a few times the temps should stablize. We always start our cookers 30 minutes to 1 hours before putting the meat on.

Anytime the temp drops below the set temp and the auger runs w/o stopping there will be a temporary increase in temp until the extra pellets are burned up and the auger starts to cycle on and off again.

Our cookers are set to 0. We feel the temp swings are less noticeable. The one negative to having the setting on 0 is that the cooker feeds even more pellets in during startup and therefore it tends to smoke ALOT during start up until the pellets get to burning real good. However, the cookers seems to hold a more stable temp over the long cook.

Hope this helps in making your decision. If you have anymore questions just let me know.

Dab
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Son Seekers BBQ Team

[Sandwedg]

Hey Dabaslab - I don't want to hi-jack this thread, but I have 75 with the digital thermostat (had if for about 2 months now, and starting to get used to it)

My problem is that "smoke" runs about 160 (avg) and the next notch, 225 seems to average closer to 245-250. I would really like to get the perfect zone of 200-220.

I took my thermostat off and looked at the back and found the dial you talked about, and it was set to "1". I turned it down to "0", but have not tried it yet.

The dial goes all the way to 9 - do you know how switch operates at the higher settings? Any thoughts on how to get closer to 200 degrees than what I am getting now?

Thanks in advance!

Scott

[dabaslab]

Hey sandwedge,

The higher the number the longer the auger sits idle during the cycle. If the dial is set to high I would expect the fire to go out.

In other words when the dail is set on 1 the auger rests for 60 seconds and feeds for 15 seconds once the set temp is reached. The higher the number the longer the auger would rest. I would think if rested to long all of the pellets in the fire pot would burn up and the fire would go out.

Now that you have reset the dial you may see temps closer to what the dial is set on. Make sure you keep the fire pot cleaned out and your temp probe clean. There is a thread on here that tells where you can send the controller to get it reset. I will see if I can find it and post it for you.

This is an ongoing problem with Treagers. They can't seem to set their cookers so that the 210 to 225 range is reached and maintained.

Not trying to be funny but I believe the answer to this problem is to get a Cookshack FEC100. That's my plan.

Dabaslab
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Son Seekers BBQ Team

[Sandwedg]

Dabaslab - Cookshack, eh? $3500, errr I'll keep my traeger!!

On a side note.. There are other dials on the back of the digital thermostat (kinda blue and white) - do you know what they do?

[dabaslab]

Yes they are rather proud of the Cookshacks. But I plan to have one as soon as I can.

We cook competitions and use three Treager 075's. We have done pretty well with them.

This past week end at Lebanon, TN we started up our new 075 which has the new controller. We started it up on the 225 setting and let it burn for one hour before putting on the briskets. The readout on the control board read 240 degrees when we put the meat on. After coming back up to temp it settled back in at 240 degrees and stayed there all night long. I have no idea why the 225 setting actually runs at 240 degrees????

I don't know if you have the dome temp gage or not. But let me tell you. It is almost impossible to get the digital readout and the dome temp gage to match.

As for the other dials on the control board I have no idea as to what they do.

Good luck and have fun figuring out your new toy!
Dabber
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Son Seekers BBQ Team