Country Smokers Wood Pellet Grill and Smoker

[JEBar]

I bought ours from Amazon but for some reason they no longer sell the Traveler .... the best price I've seen lately is at Walmart ===> https://www.walmart.com/ip/Country-Smok ... ected=true .... the Walmart price is the same with free delivery as we paid Amazon Prime back in March .... we've used a wide range of smokers since the early '80's .... the Pit Boss Competition Blend Barbecue Pellets ====> https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pit-Boss-Com ... ected=true are the finest we have found .... compared to other brands we have found they burn clean, are very economical, and are designed to be used with smoking a wide range of different foods .... Dansons Inc produces Pit Boss, Louisiana and Country Smoker grills its a solid company

[BigAl52]

I bought mine direct from Country smokers and it was that price shipped to my door.

[JEBar]

earlier today we used our Traveler to grill some chicken breast fillets and baked some potatoes .... not only did they both really look good, they tasted even better

[JEBar]

we continue to be very pleased with our Traveler .... I just ran across an independent video on Travelers ===> https://www.loveyourrv.com/country-smok ... let-grill/ .... I find it to be an accurate and to provide some really good info on electrical draw that I haven't seen elsewhere

[JEBar]

UPDATE :

as an experiment, I decided to leave our Traveler, protected by only the cover shown in the last picture in the 7th Post on Page 1 of this thread, sitting outside during two days of heavy rain .... as noted at that time, the cover is advertised as water resistant, NOT water proof .... that appears to be accurate .... everything from the outer metal shell to the inner workings got wet .... not standing in water wet, but wet indeed .... even the pellets in the hopper got wet and were rendered useless .... once again our small shop vac proved to be the answer to cleaning up the inside of the Traveler .... filled with fresh pellets, she's fired up and with the dial set on 400 degrees she will dry out rather quickly .... I consider the need to use a large trash bag, as seen in the 1st Post on Page 5 of this thread, to be clearly demonstrated .... experiment successful, lesson learned ..

[JEBar]

I just got back from our local Walmart where, based on a recommendation from a fellow I trust, I purchased 2 40lb bags of their Pit Boss Competition Blend Pellets ===> https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pit-Boss-Com ... 5/40583459 <=== for $14.86 per bag ....

just found a good deal on the same 2 40lb bags from Walmart .... per their website we ordered 2 40 lb bags that Walmart will deliver to our house for $29.11 ===> https://www.walmart.com/ip/2-pack-Pit-B ... /882061273 ... to qualify for the free shipping an order has to be at least $35 and my wife was perfectly happy to order an additional $6 worth of dish towels

[JEBar]

this time, ribs smoked on our Traveler at home .... still using the 3-2-1 method .... fall off the bone tender ...

[JEBar]

MAJOR UPDATE :

new Pit Boss Table Top Pellet Grill!

Pit Boss and Country Smoker are both divisions of Dansons .... Pit Boss has introduced a portable grill patterned after the Country Smoker Traveler .... this video takes a good look at one ====> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsYlWe3tgGA .... it is sold by Walmart and Lowe's (among others) and is priced on par with the Traveler .... that said it comes with accessories not available with a Traveler .... we aren't in the market for a portable smoker/grill but if we were, my first choice would be the new Pit Boss Table Top Grill

[BigAl52]

Sir Henry needs one. Used mine tonight to grill some fresh shrimp. It was 72 degrees here today.

[JEBar]

ours is packed in the camper's basement along with three 5 gallon buckets full of pellets

[JEBar]

UPDATE :

below can be seen our Country Smokers Traveler's control panel .... over time the small screen has become so clouded/stained that you have a very tough time reading the info it is designed to provide .... I tried cleaning the outside of the screen which only proved that the stain is on the inside .... I almost removed the panel to see if I can clean the inside but decided to call Country Smokers' Customer Service first .... the call went right through but I had to leave a number for them to return the call .... about a half hour later a fellow called .... I asked him how to clean the smoke stain from the screen .... it took him a few seconds to confirm that I had registered our Traveler and then said, he'd get a new replacement control panel shipped today .. .. I continue to be impressed by the support after the sale from Country Smoker

[JEBar]

just checked .... the price listed to purchase a new Traveler directly from County Smoker is $174.99 .... according to an itemized bill on our account the purchase price of the control they are sending under warranty at no charge is $103.99 ....

[JEBar]

today we fixed something different on our Traveler .... a couple of days ago we purchased a Kentucky Legend ham ( picture 1 ) at the Walmart in Conroe, TX .... we buy hams like this from time to time and have found them to be pretty bland but still OK .... we've found that we can improve the flavor by smoking it with a homemade glaze .... this is the second time we've fixed on on our Traveler .... the glaze is a home mix of sugar free Maple Syrup, honey and brown sugar .... mix it to taste and heat it sufficiently to absorb the brown sugar .... we smoked it at 250 degrees for 2.5 hrs .... tonight we served lima beans, whole kernel corn and a lettuce salad .... tomorrow morning we plan to reheat it for breakfast .... we should get 4 meals or so out of it

[JEBar]

note for folks who have or who are interested in a Traveler smoker .... with our OEM control, the cycle of pellets being pumped into the burn chamber, them burning, cooling down followed by more being pumped into the burn chamber varied + or - fifty degrees of the set temp .... with this new control, the programmed variation is in the + or - twenty degree range .... both work and work well but the change is taking a bit of getting used to

[BigAl52]

Sure do like mine and its easy on pellets. Smoked some pork chops last night and they came out great.

[JEBar]

Sure do like mine and its easy on pellets. Smoked some pork chops last night and they came out great.

its been a good while since we purchased a pack of pork chops .... we find it a good bit cheaper to buy pork loins and cut them into chops

[MuddyWaters62]

JEB, I have the same problem with my thermostat. It is a Camp Chef 24 DLX. It is a great smoker. A couple of nights ago, I was smoking/grilling 2 chicken breasts and 2 leg quarters. The outside temp was in the mid 40s. I had that wild temp swing of 40-50*s every time the machine went through a cycle. It seemed it was under the preset temp more than over. It would go up to 280-90 on the warm side and down to 190 on the cold side. My preset temp was 250*. I may either buy a welders blanket or maybe a new thermostat. During warmer temps I don't notice quiet the swing in temps. I live up on the Red River just 70 miles north of Dallas.

Muddy Waters 67

[JEBar]

at first the large temp swings bothered me .... as you note about yours, the food kept coming out just fine and eventually I stopped worrying about it .... I figured the average temp was pretty close to the one I set it on .... we've had ours about 9 months .... early on I read comments on Amazon, Face Book, ratings from folks who bought theirs at Lowe's and Tractor supply .... the overwhelming response was that's just the way it works .... since installing the new control I've scanned some of those same sources and I'm not seeing complaints .... it seems to me that Country Smoker must have worked on it and refined their controller's program .... all that being said, the bottom line is it still turns out good food .... have you considered calling the folks at Camp Chef and asking .. .. I wish I'd of done that early on

[BigAl52]

My Traveler has the swings also but not like a Traeger grill I had. My grill at home has no swings to it but its alot better grill than this Traveler or the Traeger. But I like this traveler grill for the RV and thats the only place I use it. On a side note Jim pork chops were bought on sale and were a pork loin chop. At 1.99lb for a pork loin chop I wasnt to disappointed.

[JEBar]

My Traveler has the swings also but not like a Traeger grill I had.

most of the small grills I've used have been hot .... our former Holland Companion was the only brand of small grill I've used where I didn't have to work at keeping the heat down .... in a pellet grill I can see how it could be a challenge to tightly control the temperature of the pellets burning with a fan blowing on them .... as noted, the bottom line is the food's good