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What Is The Smoke Setting On A Traeger?
Some of Traeger’s earlier wood pellet grills drew criticism from barbecue purists for not producing the same kind of thick, rich smoke as a natural wood smoker.
This inspired Traeger to build several updated models with a special Super Smoke setting to boost the smoke density inside the primary chamber.
Even if your Traeger grill doesn’t have a smoke setting option, you can come close to replicating a similar effect by preheating the grill at a lower temperature of around 180 to 200 degrees.
This will produce a smoldering effect that boosts smoke density.
To activate the smoke setting, you need to select it on the Traeger’s control panel or via your paired WiFIRE app. This will cause the internal auger to deliver wood pellets to the firepot slowly, in a way that promotes a smoldering effect.
Though this process affects temperature accuracy, and the internal temp can easily fluctuate between 150 to 180 degrees. When you turn up the target temperature the Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD) takes over, turning off the smoke setting to regulate the temperature normally.
Is the Smoke Setting Always On?
The smoke setting is a specific setting on select Traeger grills that you have to turn on using the controller or the WiFIRE app. It only operates at low temperatures and doesn’t have the same accuracy as setting a specific temperature.
The smoke setting is typically only used as part of the preheating process when you are first setting your Traeger grill up for a long smoking session.
Can You Turn the Smoke Setting Off?
The smoke setting on a Traeger grill can be turned off automatically by turning up the temperature. It’s a feature that you turn on via the control panel or your WiFIRE app to boost smoke density early on in a grilling session.
The Traeger’s auger then feeds wood pellets into the firepot at a very slow, yet consistent rate, to cause the wood pellets to smolder. Though this is an inaccurate want to maintain the temperature as it can fluctuate between 150 to 180 degrees.
When you turn your Traeger up, the Super Smoke mode turns off. Then the Resistance Temperature Detector takes over the automated process of holding the internal temperature within 15 degrees +/- of the new target temperature.
What Temperature Produces the Most Smoke on a Traeger?
Lower temperatures between 180 to 225 degrees tend to produce more smoke inside a Traeger than higher temperatures. As you turn the temperature up to 350 to 400 degrees, the smoke production inside the Traeger’s cooking chamber is minimal.
What Traeger Models Have the Super Smoke Feature?
The “Super Smoke” feature is currently only featured on select models like the Traeger Ironwood 650, the Ironwood 885, the Costco Traeger Silverton, the Timberline, and Timberline XL.
Final Thoughts
The special Smoke feature on Traeger’s newer wood pellet grills is designed to boost the overall smoke density inside the primary cooking chamber.
It does this by carefully limiting the amount of wood pellets the auger delivers to the firepot in a way that promotes smoldering.
This also creates a low-temperature environment that hovers between 150 to 180 degrees, which is inaccurate for foods that need precise temperature control.
You can turn the Super Smoke feature on via the Traeger’s control panel or the WiFIRE app on your phone. When you turn up the target temperature of the wood pellet grill it turns off the Super Smoke mode and the Resistance Temperature Detector takes over to accurately regulate the process.
Robert is a certified Pitmaster, with over a decade of experience in smoking the best meats you’ll ever feast upon. He also has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio. When he’s not researching technical topics, he’s most likely barbecuing in his backyard.