Take me out to the ballgame, then take me home for the meat! Today, Traeger announces a wild partnership with Louisville Slugger to help kick off another season of Major League Baseball. And why not? Not only is the hardwood maple of a Louisville Slugger great for a Traeger, but the time it takes to watch a nine-inning game is about as long as it takes to smoke a 14-pound brisket!
And it’s not just a gimmick. The limited-edition Traeger Louisville Slugger pellets are real maple repurposed from the manufacture of the iconic baseball bats.
“Wood isn’t just the fuel, it’s the secret ingredient,” Traeger Grills CEO Jeremy Andrus said. “Traeger has dedicated over 30 years to perfecting the art of hardwood pellets. We’re bringing the same maple wood professional baseball players utilize at the plate to the plates in backyard cookouts.”
Louisville Slugger sources hardwood maple from forests in New York and Pennsylvania. In the course of a year, the Kentucky bat-maker will produce about 1.8 million bats. Now, that byproduct finds second life as the fuel — and flavor — for backyard barbecues and tailgate hangouts.
Traeger Louisville Slugger Maple Pellets
Traeger claims Louisville Slugger maple imparts a distinctive “sweet smoke” to just about anything you can grill — beef, pork, chicken, lamb, vegetables, even baked goods.
To help kick off the special-edition pellets, and spur the creative cooking juices, Traeger also partnered with the man with the sweetest Louisville Slugger swing of all time: Ken Griffey Jr. With the help of Chad Ward, Traeger’s director of BBQ marketing, and some maple wood pellets, Griffey tackles a Traeger spin on the Philly cheesesteak sandwich.
Check out the recipe below.
The Louisville Slugger Pellets go live today, along with the first MLB game of the season (the Dodgers and Padres square off in Seoul, South Korea). An 18-pound bag retails for $28, but they’re only available for a limited time. So, make like a Randy Johnson four-seamer, and move fast.
