Nope, no new cats. We have enough thank you very much.

Concluding that we weren’t going to be able to carry the BGE, the Weber Bullet or the Weber Performer, we found ourselves in need of a small smoker. We have a little grill which is fine as a grill, but use as a smoker last year resulted in the lid propped on top of a turkey breast and temperature control was what aeolus gave us.

So…I was dimly aware of a new small Traeger pellet pooper. After a little sleuthing and measuring we are the proud owners of a Traeger PTG or Portable Traeger Grill.

It’s a spiffy little gizmo with a 12×15 grate and lest ye bbq snobs go off on me, it’s a WOOD-BURNING COOKER.

Stock configuration is a bit useless. The “Smoke” setting is too hot for cold smoking and too cold for hot smoking. “Medium” is around 325F, too hot. “Hi” is 450F, too hot for smoking and too cold for grilling.

Fortunately there’s a digi thermo-control available and it’s expected tomorrow. Supposedly it works like a thermostat.

First cook, thighs. Mighty close to perfect, but that bite-through skin is still elusive.

Second cook, pork butt.

I usually cook butts at around 350F if I don’t want to stay up all night, so that’s what I did. The pooper delivered a consistent 300F so the four-pound boneless butt was off in five hours. It was a little barky;  I should’ve foiled it. So the little Traeger is a dry cooker.

Third cook, atomic buffalo turds. Cooked on medium, perfect. Fourth cook the same evening, grilled tri-tip.

Well..the thermometer said 450F and that’s probably accurate but that’s too low for grilling that gives any sort of browning.

Expecting that, GrillGrates are on order that supposedly boost the working temperture. We’ll see.

The short conclusion, however, is that the gizmo works extremely well straight out of the box. I think I can get this baby singing in short order.

OK we’ve been loud tonight. Loud as in “if you don’t like it see us tommorrow.”  No one here would utter a peep.

But a tune by John Mayall came on the stereo and I swear he was singing about Mokey’s Holler, and Mokey backs me up.

Just another data point.

We just spent a couple of nights in Camp Parking Lot. Fun fun!

We went down to the shop to get the jack motor and pump replaced; after 21 years they’d given up the ghost. But on the way we stopped to get a bite at Crossroads Bar and Grille in Flowery Branch (great!) and to shop at Publix. We got loaded up from Publix and wanted to go around the back roads to Home Town Spirits but Mom said “The steps didn’t go up!”

Good catch Mom!

So I squiggled and wiggled on the hot tarmac for a while, then since Mom was telling me what to do I invited her to come take a look. That might seem snarky but it’s not; Mom’s really mechanically astute and I hoped she’s see something I didn’t but unfortunately that wasn’t the case. So we used some bungee cords to hold the steps up like the hillbilly crackers we are and we proceeded.

Note that all this started with replacing a shade.

Anyway, Zebedee and Matt got the jack gear in, modifying as necessary (a lot) and the jacks go up and down. Actually with the new pump and motor I think it’s working better than new. And then they tackled the newly-broken steps on the second day. Wham-bam about an hour and we’re ready.

Southland Motorhome and RV, Buford GA. Extremely highly recommended. Good guys.