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How to use a Traeger Silverton 620: Grill, Smoke, Bake/Roast

Are you the proud owner of a Traeger Silverton 620 because of all of the features? Do you want to be able to Grill, Smoke, Braise, Bake and Roast live a pro? I have used all of the features, and would like to share them with you.

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How to Smoke on a Pellet Grill

My experience is with the Traeger Silverton 620, but any pellet grill should be able to use the smoke feature. Smoking is a way of slow cooking with smoke. It’s best for meats, it will give your meat a delicious smoked flavor. The Traeger Silverton 620 does not have a smoke setting, but you can smoke using low heat 180-225 degrees F. I’ve used it for brisket, pork butt, ribs, and I even use it for starting out steaks and burgers. Here is my fabulous fall off the bone ribs recipe.

Baby back ribs smoked
Baby back ribs smoked

How to Braise on a Pellet Grill

Any pellet grill should be able to braise. By definition braising is slow cooking with liquid. Often, after smoking a meat on the pellet grill, the meat can be wrapped with foil or butcher paper along with a liquid. The liquid used will vary depending on the recipe. For pork I usually use apple juice because pork works well with sweet ingredients, for beef I usually choose beef broth. Braising on the pellet grill is done at 225-275 degrees F.

Baby back ribs wrapped with foil
Baby back ribs wrapped with foil

How to Grill on a Traeger

Some pellet grill models may not be able to get a high enough temperatures to Grill. This is not a problem for the Traeger Silverton 620. You can use it just like any other normal gas powered or charcoal grill and just heat it up to the high temperature required for grilling by definition 450-500 degrees F. Then add your burgers or steaks, flip at desired interval and grill the other side to desired doneness. But what is the fun in that? You have a multitasker pellet grill. Use the features!

How to grill burgers on a Traeger

I love to grill burgers on my pellet grill. I usually start by smoking the patties at 180 degrees F for 30-60 min. This is wonderful because it gives me time to enjoy spending time with my guests or family. When my guests or family start to get hungry, I simply turn up the heat to 350 degrees F. I know I said grilling needs a higher temperature, but during the heating process the burgers will become overdone. Check on the burgers during the heating process, flip them and periodically check the temp of the meat. You will still get the desired grill lines, and you will end up will delicious smoked flavor!

Burgers grilling on a pellet Grill

How to grill steak on a Traeger

For grilling steak I start with the same process I did with the burgers. Obviously you will want to add some smoky flavor, so start by smoking the steaks at 180 degrees F for 30-60 min. Remove the steaks, and turn the temperature up to 450 degrees F. Return the steaks to the grill and flip after the desire time depending on how done you want your steaks. Check the meat temperature and grill the other side to desired doneness.

How to Bake/Roast on a Traeger

I will discuss baking and roasting together because by definition they are very similar and seem to have a lot of exceptions. This feature should only be used if your pellet grill has a bake/roast feature.

What is the difference between baking and roasting?

Baking and roasting differ in two ways: by the dry heat temperature or by what is being baked/roasted. Baking requires the grill to be able to self maintain a desired temperature in the range of 325-375 degrees F depending on the recipe. Whereas roasting requires a grill temperature >400 degrees. Baking generally refers to dry heat cooking something that will change and become more firm during the cooking process, for example: cakes, pies and casseroles. Roasting is generally the term used for foods that have a firm texture prior to cooking, such as large cuts of meat or vegetables. Cakes, pies and casseroles are baked. Turkeys, and vegetables are roasted. Pizza seems to be an exception, since it is baked at 425-450 degrees F.

What can you bake on a Trager Silverton 620?

The options are endless! I pretty much bake anything on my Traeger Silverton 620 that I bake in my oven. I use a Pyrex baking dish or a foil pan. I have shared a couple of my favorite recipes on my blog. Try my peach blueberry pie or shepherd’s pie!

Peach Blueberry Pie on the Traeger
Peach Blueberry Pie on the Traeger

You can also bake pizzas on the Traeger. For pizza I preheat my Traeger Silverton 620 with pizza stones to 425 degrees F. A pizza chef once told me that the best pizza dough recipe is from King Arthur Flour. So that’s the recipe I always use. If we make pizza on the Traeger it is an event. We load the table up with pizza toppings and each person creates their own pizza on a piece of parchment paper. Before placing the pizza on the stone, I trim the parchment paper and slide it onto the warm stone on the grill. Check the crust after 6 min, and continue checking every 2-3 min until desired crispiness. Usually small personal pizzas bake for 6-10 min.

Pizza on the Traeger

What can you roast on a Traeger Silverton 620?

Traeger in snow

Once again the options are endless. I usually roast vegetables. It’s easy to roast broccoli, brussels sprouts, potatoes, carrots, sweet potatoes and more. Roast veggies at 400 degrees F. Whole potatoes and sweet potatoes for about 60 min. Other veggies or cubed potatoes I roast on a metal tray or pan with oil and seasonings for 35 min, periodically mixing or flipping.

I also attempted roasting a turkey for Thanksgiving. I say attempted, because although I was able to start the cooking process by smoking my turkey, I ended up having to finish in the oven, just as this author described, due to the cold Michigan temperatures in November. This is the only drawback to the Traeger Silverton 620. Due to it’s rear venting system the company has not made a heat blanket for use in cold temperatures. I really don’t mind because the main reason I like to bake/roast on my grill is because I don’t like to heat up the kitchen in the Summer. I don’t mind using my oven in the cold winter months and my grill is still useful for smoking in the winter, even if I have to finish in the oven, it still adds the smoky flavor.

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Categories
Recipes

How to Make Fabulous Smoked ribs

Finally, after multiple attempts, I have been able to perfect my fall off the bone smoked baby back ribs. These ribs are fabulous! I’ve tried 3-2-1 recipes in the past; but in my opinion this recipe is better than 321 ribs. They are certainly award winning according to my family. I want to share this wonderful recipe for how to make fabulous smoked ribs with you.

Smoked ribs Ingredients

2 racks of Baby Back Ribs

4 Teaspoons garlic powder

4 Teaspoons Traeger Pork and Poultry Rub

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup apple juice

4 Tablespoons Dark Brown Sugar

BBQ sauce to taste

How to prepare fabulous smoked ribs

The first step is to remove the silver skin from the baby back ribs. This may have been done by your butcher, but if not it’s a really simple process. Just turn over the rack and use a paper towel to find the skin and pull to remove. Once the silver skin is removed season both sides with garlic powder and a generous portion of Traeger Pork and Poultry Rub.

How to prepare the Traeger Silverton 620 for ribs

Clean the Traeger from any previous cook. Ribs can be really messy so you should use a Traeger tray liner to protect your grill. This Trager grill liner is slightly wider that the liner that came with my Silverton 620 grill, but it is bendable and actually provides more coverage. You could just use foil for this step, but the tray liners do work better. Initially I tried to clean the tray between cooks, but I ended up finding the best cost saving option to be lining the tray with foil. This way I just remove to foil and reapply clean foil to the tray. I get several uses out of each tray, and keep my grill clean. Fill the hopper with Traeger Signature Blend Pellets. Preheat the Traeger to 200 degrees F.

How to make fall off the bone ribs on the Traeger Silverton 620

Place the prepared ribs directly on the rack of the preheated Silverton 620 Treager grill. Smoke at 200 degrees F for 2 hours.

Baby Back ribs prepared to smoke

Line a 21 x 13 Inch foil pan with aluminum foil, make sure there is excess foil to wrap the ribs.

Remove the ribs from the grill, use a hand held Probe Thermometer to check the meat as close as possible to the center between two ribs. The internal temperature at this step should be approximately 150 degrees F. Turn the Traeger Silverton 620 temperature up to 235 degrees F.

Smoked baby back ribs

Place the ribs in the foil lined pan. Drizzle the ribs with honey, approximately 1/3 cup.

baby back ribs drizzled with honey
Baby back ribs drizzled with honey

Pour one cup of warm apple juice over the ribs. Then sprinkle each rack with dark brown sugar, approximately 2 tablespoons each.

baby back ribs with dark brown sugar
Baby back ribs with dark brown sugar

Tightly wrap the foil around the ribs and return to the Traeger.

Baby back ribs wrapped in foil

Smoke the foil wrapped ribs for 2.5 hours.

How to make your own BBQ sauce

While your ribs are smoking prepare your own BBQ sauce.

BBQ Sauce Recipe

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons mustard

3/4 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoon dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

2 tablespoons apple juice

Mix all ingredients together in a sauce pan over low heat. I highly recommend the Ballarini Parma sauce pan for this. If you choose to buy one you will thank me when it comes to clean up time. Stir occasionally while maintaining a simmer. Taste your sauce. If it is:

Too sour? Add more apple juice or brown sugar

Too sweet? Add more apple cider vinegar

Not enough mustard, garlic, onion? Add more of those ingredients.

Continue to simmer until sauce is slightly thinner that you would desire your BBQ sauce to be. It will continue to thicken as it cools.

homemade BBQ sauce
Homemade BBQ sauce

Final step for perfect fall off the bone baby back ribs

After your wrapped ribs have smoked 2.5 hours, remove them from the Traeger Silverton 620 with, heat resistant silicone gloves , and once again check a temperature with a hand held probe thermometer. The temperature at this step should be approximately 200 degrees F.

Use a silicone basting brush to coat the top side of each rack of ribs with your homemade BBQ sauce.

Smoked baby back ribs coated with BBQ sauce

Return the ribs to the Traeger. This time they go right on the rack, unwrapped. Continue to smoke at 230 degrees F for 30-40 minutes or until the sauce is tightened.

baby back ribs with sauce on the Traeger
Baby back ribs with sauce on the Traeger

Remove from the Traeger with large tongs, slice or break apart and enjoy!

smoked baby back ribs
Smoked baby back ribs

Hope you enjoyed learning how to make fabulous smoked ribs.

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Categories
Recipes

Peach Blueberry Pie on the Traeger

This pie is a family favorite. It is requested in place of birthday cake for two of my family members. It can also be baked in an oven, but peach season is in August, obviously a terrible time to heat up the house. I prefer to bake Peach Blueberry Pie on my Traeger Silverton 620 pellet grill.

How do you bake on a pellet grill?

Baking on a pellet grill is basically the same a baking in an oven, as long as your pellet grill has a bake feature and is able to maintain a consistent temperature. Just preheat the grill to the same temperature the recipe calls for in the oven. This peach blueberry pie is baked at 400 degrees, which is a little higher than most baked recipes. Pyrex is rated to 425 degrees, but I never go higher than 400 degrees when I use a Pyrex pie dish on my Traeger Silverton 620 because the temperature does fluctuate + or – 10 degrees.

Pellet Grill Cooking Methods Infographic.  How to bake, smoke, grill, roast and braise on a pellet grill.

Peach Blueberry Pie Recipe

Ingredients:

Best Pie Crust

5 Cups of peeled and thinly sliced peaches

2 Cups of fresh blueberries

1 cup of sugar

3 tablespoons of lemon juice

1/4 cup tapioca

1/8 teaspoon of salt

2 tablespoons of butter

Directions:

Prepare a pie crust. Find my Best Pie Crust recipe here.

Preheat the Traeger to 400 degrees F.

Peel and thinly slice peaches. Add peaches, blueberries, sugar, lemon juice, tapioca, and salt to a large mixing bowl. Mix well.

Peach Blueberry Pie filling
Peach Blueberry pie filling in bottom crust

Pour into a prepared Pyrex pie dish. Top with slices of butter. Cover with top crust. Pinch the edges together. I use the handle of a butter knife to make a decorative edge, and the blade to make a few slits.

Peach Blueberry Pie ready to bake
Peach Blueberry Pie ready to bake

Cover the pie edges with foil so the crust doesn’t brown too quickly, and place in the center of the grill.

Peach Blueberry pie with foil covering edges
Peach blueberry pie with foil covering edges on the Traeger grill

Bake for 30 minutes, then remove the foil.

Peach Blueberry Pie on the Traeger.

Continue to bake for another 20 minutes or until the crust is slightly browned.

Best Pie Crust
Peach Blueberry pie with Best Pie Crust

Alternate baking directions for the oven.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Cover the edges of the crust with foil, so the crust doesn’t brown too quickly, and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned.

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Categories
Recipes

Smoked Shepherd’s Pie on the Traeger Recipe

This Smoked Shepherd’s Pie on the Traeger recipe is a favorite at my house. It is actually modified from a recipe I got from my favorite chef Alton Brown. My daughter loves it so much that she will eat the leftovers for breakfast lunch and dinner until it’s gone. She even chooses it as her “birthday cake”. It can be baked in a regular oven, but in the Summer months I prefer not to heat up the house with my oven. This is why I started to bake Shepherd’s Pie on the Traeger pellet grill. I use a pyrex baking dish on my Traeger pellet grill for may recipes, including peach blueberry pie.

Smoked Shepherd’s Pie Recipe

Ingredients for the potatoes

4-5 pounds of potatoes
3/4 Cup half and half
1/4 Cup butter
1 teaspoon salt
3 Egg Yolks

Ingredients for the meat filling


1 large onion minced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic power
1 Cup all-purpose flour
2 pounds ground beef or lamb
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 can chicken broth
1 can tomato sauce
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables (carrots, peas, corn, beans)

Instructions for Shepherd’s Pie potatoes

Peel the potatoes, and slice into quarters. Place in a large pot and cover with cold water. Set over high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, decrease the heat to maintain a simmer and cook until tender and easily crushed with tongs, approximately 15-20 min.

Drain the potatoes, add the salt and mash with the butter. In a small bowl mix the half and half with the egg yolks. Use a hand mixer to whip the potatoes, slowly add the egg mixture to the potatoes. Whip until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

Instructions for Shepherd’s Pie meat filling

Brown the beef or lamb. Set aside to drain on a paper towel lined plate. Pour the olive oil into the pan and sauté the onions until tender. Return the drained meat to the pan. Next, add the flour and mix to evenly coat the meat and onions. Slowly pour the can of chicken broth over the flour coated mixture, mix to coat. Now,  thoroughly mix in the tomato sauce. Season the mixture with the garlic powder, Italian seasoning and pepper. Finally, add the frozen mixed vegetables and stir until the vegetables are warm and slightly softened. Transfer the meat mixture to a large Pyrex deep baking dish 13x9x3″ (See the recommendation below) and spread evenly. Top with the potatoes and smooth with a rubber spatula.

Instructions for Smoked or baked Shepherd’s Pie

Preheat the Traeger to 375 degrees F. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes. Enjoy! 

If you would prefer to bake this in an oven, then preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.  Bake uncovered for 40 -50 minutes or until potatoes are lightly browned.

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