# First Cook on my New Traeger PTG



## Old Dave (Dec 8, 2012)

Finally a break in the rain we have had for a day and a half and I got my little cooker going. I fired it up to burn off all the manufacturing gunk like the manual said to do and just turned it loose on the high setting for 40 minutes. The temp got up to as high as 460  
degrees measure by the digital control and to 540 degrees measured by the thermometer in the hood of the cooker. Really not sure which one is right so I plan to chart it in the near future. The digital control temperature probe is up high and in the back left rear corner of the cooking area and I think this one is probably off some. Anyway, that’s for another cook.  

The next step was to shut it down, cool it off, and then put some foil down on the bottom of the cooker and then wrap the drip and diffuser pan and fire it up again to cook something. I’m not one to waste a good fire and just decided to cook something that wouldn’t drip grease and crap down on my new cooker before I had it foiled. 

Breakfast Pizza in a Black Iron Skillet







Rolled out some dough, spooned on some tomato sauce, and then added 3 scrambled eggs.






Then Jan added some Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilies.






Next was the Canadian bacon and some sliced onions and bell peppers and then the cheese.






The PTG waiting for it’s first cook and I had cut the temp back to 375 degrees for this pizza. 






As soon as I got some of the cheese melted, I cracked another egg right in the middle of my pizza.






Jan added some more of the Rotel tomatoes and green chilies to the top of the pizza and it was ready to serve. 










This crispy crust black iron pizza was killer!

Next up on this first burn was some blackened chicken breasts as we could do them in another black iron skillet and it wouldn’t drip anything down on my new toy. 






Jan trimmed these up and sprinkled on her spices and I had the skillet on the cooker warming up so out we went to put them on the cooker. 






The chicken came out looking good. 

I did one more pizza on this first cook and will show in in another post as this one is getting long.

I am very happy with the cooker and I feel it will do everything I want on the upper end of the heat scale.

More coming....


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## bbquzz (Dec 8, 2012)

Wow two great cooks in one. Both look great Dave! What kind of dough did you use for the breakfast pizza? I'm thinking I have to give that a try if you have any other tips.


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## Nick Prochilo (Dec 8, 2012)

Yeah, tell a little more about the pizza!


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## Old Dave (Dec 9, 2012)

Buzz and Nick,

The pizza was made in a #6 black iron skillet.

I used 3 of the Pillsbury Grand refrigerator biscuits. I just stacked them up and rolled them out to fit the skillet. 

Getting the egg on top and the pizza done at the same time is tricky. I usually wait a few minutes and let it cook some before I add the egg but all these cookers are different. I would suggest you crack the egg on the pizza before you place it into the cooker. Or best yet for the first time, just fry the egg in a pan and put it on top of the pizza after it is done. 

Hope this answers your questions.

Dave


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## bbquzz (Dec 9, 2012)

Thanks Dave!


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## bigwheel (Dec 9, 2012)

Looking mighty tasty. Fine job!!


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