My new Traeger Pellet Smoker

[Wizard]

Traeger had a sale on pellet smokers at COSTCO in September. I wanted the smallest smoker, which is a tailgater, to take to the Mizzou football games. Normal price is $400 with the sale price being $300 with another $80 of attachments AND a $50 cover. A darn good deal. While waiting for the tailgater, I looked at the large Traeger smokers. They had a display model for $800 on sale for $450. Another good deal... which got better. The salesmen worked for Traeger and didn't want to take product back to the warehouse. They offered me BOTH smokers for $550 plus $200 of attachments for the large smoker. So, the deal worked to be, 2 smokers with attachments and covers costing $1530 ... for $550. What a DEAL. Thank you, thank you, everyone. It was haggling done old school. Make a deal contingent upon both pricing and freebies. Traeger is there to reduce inventory and has a LOT of wiggle room. NOW for the good part.
I decided to try my smokers with no rub, sauces, brines or other basting. Just raw meat over smoke.  Everything is controlled by a digital panel which shows smoker heat and internal heat of the meat. It also has a smoke only setting and shutdown feature. I cooked two 20 lb. turkeys. The first was Hickory and the second was Mesquite. The Hickory bird was a traditional Thanksgiving Turkey smoked for 3 hours of smoke and then 1.5 hours at 350 degrees.  The Mesquite was smoked for 2 hours and 2 hours at 325 degrees. Both birds were fully cooked to 165 degrees internal temperature. Both were exceptionally moist, very tender and flavorful. Mesquite makes an amazing Turkey soup.
The smokers are amazing and easily the best I've owned. One last comment: the cleanup is easy. All fat and liquids run into a jar you supply. Put the lid back on the jar and into the trash. Cleanup takes less than 20 minutes.

Wizard

[D.W. Verts]

I've been trying to decide between a Traeger and Pit Boss. Those kinds of savings would considerably narrow the search...

Dale

[Wizard]

I know nothing about Pit Boss. Traeger Reps hold their sales at COSTCO but are trying to find a partner to hold a sale at LOZ. The sales are July -September. I've done a lot of smoking with charcoal and wood. Family even taught me how to build a smoke house and smoke game. Traeger is super easy to clean because all fat and liquids go down a foil covered chute into a jar or pail. No portable smoker can match the color and flavor intensity of a smoke house.

Wizard