Traeger’s latest pellet smoker brings a welcome innovation to a new price point. The company has unveiled its latest Ironwood design. It offers some of the features that debuted in his more expensive Timberline product line a few months ago. As a longtime Traeger smoker, I’m excited about these updates that make using the grill more manageable and cleaner.
I was using the $1,999 Ironwood XL grill last week. So far, I’ve cooked a ton of competition chicken thighs, two whole chickens, and a plate of Brussels sprouts. We will be publishing a full review on Smokers in the coming weeks. I need to cook some more first. So far, the Smoker has made a good impression, but there are some concerns about the build quality.
The main innovation concerns the grease trap. It’s much easier with the new Ironwood and Timberline grills. On previous Traeger models (and nearly all competing models), drips run down a large metal pan and into a narrow channel that leads to a bucket. there is. Now the smoker’s entire lower abdomen is the channel. All drips fall into a slanted metal strip that leads to a large bucket in the center of the smoker. Traeger introduced this redesign to their revised high-end Timberline models a few months ago, and I love it.
This design has significant advantages. All the crumbs and drips stay in the same spot for a clean burn. And once the smoker has cooled, the owner can shove the remaining scrum into the bucket without removing any part of the grill. I hate cleaning other Trager grills. The new design changes the game.
Another important change is the smoker’s hood. Instead of having a door on the front of the hood, the entire hood folds down. The result is a one-piece hood that leaves a small hole for the thermometer wire. The advantage is much less air leakage without doors. The downside is that the interior temperature drops sharply when the hood is opened. In a cold Michigan winter, the internal temperature dropped 100 degrees within 2 minutes and took about 25 minutes to recover.
Overall, the redesigned smoker is impressive, but I have concerns about the durability of the LCD control screen and temperature knob. The control knobs are critical to the operation of the grill and are made of cheap plastic.The gearing inside the knobs is made of even worse plastic. I’m worried that exposure to the elements will degrade it quickly in bad weather. It doesn’t work well in extreme weather. Thanks to an overnight ice storm, my Ironwood XL tester was covered in ice this morning, so I quickly brushed off some of the snow and ice before trying out the touchscreen. It didn’t work. I had to remove the ice entirely from the touchscreen to get it to respond accurately to touch. Will it work in rain? I’m not sure, but that’s a big concern of mine. Who’s driving a smoker in the rain and snow? Me;
To make a final impression, you have to live with smokers. So look out for reviews in the coming weeks. Key areas have been updated to address underlying shortcomings. This is a great start.
