Traeger Timberline (2022) Review: Easy Smoking

If you’re something like me, you’re most likely not accustomed to completely smoking practically 50 kilos of pork shoulder utilizing a smartphone whereas mendacity in your mattress. But there I used to be with the brand new Traeger Timberline, hitting the “super smoke” button and checking my temps at 6 am earlier than my morning espresso, making sufficient meat to feed 100 folks at my city’s annual yard kegger.

I haven’t simply been cooking large quantities of pork on Traeger’s freshly redesigned premium smoker. In reality, this summer season, it’s grow to be uncommon for me to prepare dinner something that isn’t indirectly smoked. Chicken salad? Smoke that hen first. Steak? Smoke it earlier than you sear it on the built-in induction burner. A recent juicy melon? Throw it on the Traeger for 30 minutes for a wonderfully caramelized desert.

This sensible smoker and induction burner gives the proper all-in-one out of doors kitchen. Minus a middling Wi-Fi connection (you’ll wish to be certain your yard has solid coverage), the brand new Timberline delivers every little thing I’d need from a contemporary smoker and extra: You can bake, sauté, and smoke in a single unit that’s power- and fuel-efficient. After about two months, I’ve barely used a bag and a half of wooden pellets. The fly within the smoke-ringed ointment? It prices $3,500. That’s quite a lot of money for any kitchen equipment.

A New Rig

The Timberline is available in a big orange field with clear directions for setup, however it’s your decision a associate that will help you transfer among the heavier bits. The coronary heart of the system is a large insulated smoke field with room for six pork shoulders, or in regards to the equal racks of ribs or chickens (the corporate also sells an XL version with roughly a 3rd more room for an extra $300). Inside the smoke field, there are three tiers you may put every little thing on, with a vent for the smoke minimize halfway alongside the bottom of the smoker in order that it circulates totally to the highest earlier than venting.

There’s a drip tray and ash/grease catch in an easy-to-detach compartment within the cupboard under the smoker, which additionally serves as an incredible place to retailer additional pellets and metallic liners for the drip tray. You’ll get quite a lot of use out of these metallic drip liners earlier than you could exchange one; the six pork shoulders solely crammed one up about midway.

Besides the smoke field, on the proper of the unit you’ll discover a field the place you may fill your wooden pellets of selection (Traeger despatched me an assortment of their very own in-house pellets, however you should utilize different manufacturers). There’s even a plastic bin and particular entice door so you may drop one kind of pellet out of the auger for storage and put one other kind in if you wish to smoke one thing with, say, hickory earlier than switching again to applewood.

The foremost management space for the Timberline is on the proper aspect of the unit through a really snug push-button knob and a coloration LCD show. The greatest approach to make use of it although is to attach your telephone to the grill through the Traeger app. Once you’ve it related to your Wi-Fi, you may management each facet of the machine (together with setting timers and temperature alerts) out of your smartphone. It’s fairly rattling nifty. You simply wish to be certain your router has sufficient vary as a result of I skilled a spotty connection on the Traeger every now and then. 

The left aspect of the Timberline homes an induction burner, which pairs completely with forged iron pans for searing gadgets you’ve simply cooked to perfection on the smoker, or for cooking companion dishes when you look forward to one thing to complete smoking. 

Accessory rails encompass the entrance and sides of the smoker and offer you a spot to place issues like a paper towel holder, a pop-up holding tray, and hooks for grill tools. Traeger despatched me these equipment, that are good and all, however not vital, particularly since they price quite a bit. You’ll pay $120 for a front shelf, $60 for a bin to store utensils, and $120 for a stainless steel grill tray. Yikes. The one accent you want—a grill cowl—prices an astonishing $180. No, it’s not manufactured from silk.