Alternate Homepage Forums Grills, BBQ’s and Brick Ovens Will the drum work on a Traeger

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  • #4328
    Shane Lewis
    Keymaster

    I have a Traeger Lil’Tex and am interested in using it to roast coffee – I didn’t know if you guys have had experience with others who have used the Traeger for that and if your equipment would work on the grill…Do you have a drum that works and what would you recommend – thanks
    -Josh Lansford

    #4329
    Shane Lewis
    Keymaster

    Hi Josh,

    Sorry, it took me a couple of days to answer your question. I don’t have direct experience with this grill, but…let me tell you a few things that I see based upon what I can tell. Now, this is just based on photo observation and specs: Here’s the reference I’m using:
    https://www.traegergrills.com/shop/grills/bbq070
    If I’m wrong to let me know.

    Pros:
    1. Dimensions look like they will fit the drum
    2. The shape is ideal, in that it appears that it was made to fit the drum in that they are both rounded.
    3. Looks to have good heat retaining capabilities
    4. You already own it!

    Cons:
    1. From what I see, it doesn’t appear to have a rotisserie slot…. don’t have very good images, so I could be wrong here, and if that’s the case, you’ll need to cut a hole for it.

    See this link (Figure 3)
    https://blackbalsam.co/rkdrums/index.php/how-to/which-grill-should-i-buy
    2. It doesn’t appear to have a shelf for mounting the motor…at the center of the grill chamber. Looks like there is a smoker box on the left? That looks like it sits too high to put a motor on. You’ll probably have to bolt it to the right side, which still leaves the question of the rotisserie sticking out onto the other side, where…that smoker box appears to be in the way. You might have to remove some things and adjust some things, but it could be done.
    3. Perhaps your biggest problem is BTU. This is a 20,000BTU grill. For the 4LB drum, it is recommended to have 35,000 BTU. If you can trap the heat inside the grill, you may be able to get away with this…but you won’t have much overhead to power the roasts through.

    All in all, I think you would be best served by keeping this one for meat grilling and just picking up a used grill off of craigslist, or snagging the cheapest grill at Home Depot or Lowes or Walmart. It doesn’t need to be fancy, even a $119 grill will fit the bill. The coffee just doesn’t care. It just needs a box to hold heat.

    Read through this grill selection guide and as long as whatever you find meets these requirements you’ll be good.
    https://blackbalsam.co/rkdrums/index.php/how-to/which-grill-should-i-buy

    Let me know if I can help in any other way, or if you have the slightest question.
    Thanks
    -Shane

    #4700
    Bob Roseman
    Participant

    I’d be interested to know if you did roast on your Traeger. I’m a former Traeger owner. My Traeger was a victim of hurricane Harvey and was replaced by a Rec Tec. My Traeger didn’t have PID temperature control and the temp varied significantly over the course of a roast. That’s not desirable for coffee roasting. Nor I think would I want every roast to be smokey. And of course you couldn’t smoke meat on it. But this is all pure conjecture and I am interested to learn from your first hand experience.

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