We loaded this thing up for its 1^st run

Patti and I are both excited. This weekend we purchased a Texas Style Traeger. Jacob Kappeler of T&H Meats and Sausage carries a full line of them. He was kind enough to make some good suggestions on the meats for our 1^st Time out with Traeger.

And, he gave us some great tips on “How To”. It all started when we were driving by on our way to our Uncle Buster and Aunt Luisa’s house. Driving past we smelled BBQ! Turned out Jacob attracts customers to his shop by cooking his various sausages and meats outside in his Traeger smoker/grill.

We, of course, had to stop and check it out. When Ken started to drool while tasting the samples, I knew we had to get one. Being our wedding anniversary is this week, it was the perfect mutual gift that keeps on giving. We’ll be back soon for more of his great sausages, too. You can go to: www.tandhsausage.com to check things out ….

We smoked a capon, a tri-tip and some assorted sausages along with our garlic pie. Then, topped it all off with our grilled peaches. I wanted to see this thing in action. And to tell you the truth, I don’t know yet how to dance with this grill as I do my others. (I have a wall of “Q’s” on our patio.) But, we are warming up quite nicely.

I was a little confused at first about how much the “pellet feed system” would need to hold a temp of 350 for an hour. A lot? A little? Everyone I asked just said to fill the hopper. Not being made of money I wanted to know if I was also stuffing money down the hopper.

 
The Hopper

The Digital Control Panel

Well, I was surprised to learn that I only used about 2 inches of the hopper to do the first burn in and cooked for about 2 more hours. I had a temperature range from 300 to 500 during this time. So it really can put out the BTU’s when you want them. I am more of a low and slow kind of guy so I am thinking that we are going to get along just fine. Queue the dance music, please.

We put Patti’s capon on first, sitting on a soda can of lemon juice and water to steam it from the inside. It kept things nice and juicy. I let it just soak in the smoke for about 15 minutes then kicked the temp up to 350 for half an hour. Next, we put our garlic pie on for a half hour.  After that we dropped the temp down to about 295 and added the tri-tip and sausages for 45 minutes or so until the internal temp was 130. (Remember, they will keep cooking after you remove them from the heat.)

Capon

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: About 2 hours

Ingredients: Capon

1 capon, this one was 8.5 lbs.

1 soda/beer can of lemon juice and water mix

Lemon Pepper

Worcestershire spray

Directions: Capon

I sprayed my Worcestershire mix on the bird then covered it with lemon pepper and rubbed it in as best I could. Taking the can of lemon juice mix, I inserted it up the chicken and just set it on the grill using its legs for balance.

Note: I use a spray bottle when cooking on the grill filled with a Worcestershire sauce and liquid smoke mix that keeps things moist and adds tons of flavors. (Mix is 3 parts Worcestershire with 1 part liquid smoke)

                                                                                                           Garlic Pie
If you LOVE garlic, this is for you. This pie is packed with 3 cups of garlic,

½ pound of bacon and almost a pound of cheese…

And it was Hickory Smoked to perfection.

Ingredients: Garlic Pie

9” pie crust

3 cups peeled garlic cloves

½ lb. bacon (we like the ends and pieces)

1 large sweet onion, rough chopped

12 oz. grated cheese, I used a cheddar mix

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 cup cilantro, chopped

1 Tbsp. coarse black pepper

1 Tsp. liquid smoke

Directions: Garlic Pie

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 60 minutes

Directions:

Patti did this one while I was out fooling with the grill, so it was real easy for me…

She used a ready to bake crust.

Sauté your bacon and garlic until the bacon is still limp tender and the garlic is golden brown, add and sauté your onions for 2 minutes or so and remove from heat. You don’t want to brown the onions. Drain the grease and set aside.

Beat the eggs and milk together with the cheese and cilantro, add the liquid smoke and pepper. Pour the garlic, bacon and onions mixed well into the bottom of the crust. Then pour the milk, egg and cheese mixture over that. Put it right on the grill for about 50 minutes or until firm.

Directions: Tri-Tip

I just put a simple rub on this guy and set it on the grill.  Smoking for about 45 minutes or so, or until the internal temp hit 130. Then, I pulled it, and covered with foil, let it rest.

(Remember it will keep cooking after you remove it from the heat)

Garlic Pie, Tri-tip and Sausage on the grill

Directions: Sausage

I just put them on where they would fit, again for 45 minutes or so.  Then, just let everything hang out in the hickory smoke for a bit…

It all came together perfectly (because yummily isn’t a word).

Plus, we did something we don’t normally do, we cooked on our brand new Traeger grill with foods we don’t normally have and we invited some of our favorite “crash test dummies” for dinner. The experiment was way more than successful.

Hickory Smoked Grilled Peaches

The ingredients for smoked peaches sound a little odd. You would not think that blue cheese, honey and black pepper would go together on anything much less a peach.  But they dance. This is a dessert from Heaven…

  Ingredients: Grilled Peaches

  1 Peach per person                              Honey

  Fresh ground black pepper                Blue Cheese

Cut peach in half and remove pit. Place cut side down on the grill with medium high heat for 2-3 minutes. Then, turn over again for 2-3 minutes. Cover with cheese and close the lid and turn the control to SMOKE. When the cheese is melted, plate the peaches and drizzle honey over them. Finish off with a good sprinkle of coarse black pepper.

I don’t care for peaches myself but Patti loves them. Every time I make these for someone the first time I get less than an ENTHUSIASTIC RESPONSE. But, in the end they always fuss over how good they were and always request them when they come over again.

This was a fun day. We picked up our grill and the whole time we were there Jacob was putting chicken, pizza and sausage on a grill to show us how it works, while he was feeding us. Patti was doing the wine tasting and you know me, we were talking BBQ.

Jacob goes by the title of Sausage Meister and he is not kidding. If you get a chance and you are looking for great meats and custom sausages check him out @ www.tandhsausage.com or call him, it will be a fun day trip.(Take an ice chest. )  Phone # 760 471 9192

                                                                                                Our Traeger Premier

Remember that a recipe is simply an outline; it is not written in stone. Don’t be afraid to make changes to suit your taste. Take it and run with it….

Enjoy,

Ken & Patti