How To Clean A Traeger Grill
If you decide to purchase a grill after checking out our Traeger grill review, then youre making a lifetime investment. A Traeger grill is made to last so long as you maintain and operate it safely at all times. Furthermore, you must always clean it on a regular basis to eliminate the build up of grease and carbon accumulation.
No one wants to taste rancid grease or stale carbon on their majestically cooked steaks, or seafood kebabs. Not even exotic condiments can hide the taste of burnt, stale wooden pellets.
Whenever grease burns, it creates acrid smoke, which can ruin your food. Moreover, grease accumulation has been known to cause fires. Before you cook, you need to do some cleanup to keep your smoker or grill performing in an excellent condition, to stop off flavors, as well as to prolong the life of your cooker.
Then, the device needs maintenance and thorough cleanup. If you always use it, then you need to do a thorough cleaning three or four times a year and before storing it for winter.These tips below will guide you on how to clean a Traeger Grill effectively.
SPRAY THE GREASE CATCH BUCKET USING VEGETABLE SPRAY, when you are ready to empty it. Then the drippings will more slide out easily. Take some paper towels so that you can swab down the inside of your bucket. Drain the grease when the weather is hot on a more frequent basis, so it does not turn rancid. Or put in a cottage cheese container and throw it out as required.
Best Ways To Clean Grill Grates
Cleaning grill grates is a nasty job, but not if you want your food to taste nasty too!
Ive heard people say they dont mind a little leftover grime on their grates, with the claim that it adds flavor. No, this is not a thing. Only lazy people say that. Grease, oil, and marinade get caked up during grilling. After they sit there for a while, they turn rancid and will make your food taste bad. Just clean the grates, its not that hard.
You never think of using a frying pan and want to cook something that has left-over gunk and dried sauce everywhere. Well, your grill is pretty much the same principle and should have proper hygiene you need for a fine BBQ.
Lets talk about heavy metal for a second. Not the kind that you listen to that makes the neighbors wonder if youll ever grow-up. The kind that gets hot enough to put an excellent sear and crust on your steak. Below well cover everything you need to know about grates, DIY cleaning hacks, maintenance tips, and our top picks for the best grates and cleaning tools.
Cleaning Tools & Grate Upgrades, Reviewed & Ranked
| Product |
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| Kettle Grate |
Empty The Grease Bucket
The grease bucket on your Traeger grill is located on the undercarriage of the grill. Its a great component that makes grease, oil and residue clean up nice and easy. The more you use your grill, the more the bucket will fill up, so regular cleaning is vital.
- Empty the cooled grease into a disposable plastic cup. Its important to never pour grease down the drain or into the gutter. This is because grease solidifies once it cools completely. The grease may be in a liquid form when you pour it however, soon after, it will turn hard and stick to the internal pipes.This is what causes pipe blockages and poor drain functioning.
- Rinse the bucket with warm, soapy water and wipe clean with a cloth to remove any stubborn leftover grease.
- Like the pan, line with aluminum foil for an easy clean-up however, do not neglect the bucket itself by doing so.
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Cleaning The Interior Of The Traeger Grill
Clean the food particles from the grill with the brush. You may use a hard bristles brush to scrape off the stubborn grease and then remove the grates. Now clean the heat shields and remove them. Next, make sure that the drip tray is clean. Finally, brush down the dirt into a grease bucket.
Remove the wood pellets from the hopper. Remove the dust from the pellet hopper. Now check that the whole interior of the grill is clean. Check the corners of the grill. They should be free from dust and stains.
Choose Grilla Grills For Low
If youre tired of your high-maintenance grill, get something more fun to cook with and easier to maintain. At Grilla Grills, we offer high-quality grills at a reasonable price. Our range of smokers and pellet grills provide an authentic smoke flavor with reliable and durable engineering.
Browse our selection of Silverbac, Chimp and Grilla pellet grills and our Kong kamado smoker for low-maintenance grilling options. Check out more grill cleaning tips on our site, and contact us at 616-392-7410 with any questions you have. Make grilling and cleaning up a breeze with our products at Grilla Grills!
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Remove Old And Add New Aluminum Foil
I like to bring the grease drip tray over to the kitchen sink when I remove the old aluminum foil. Its typically full of caked on grease and dried food but sometimes there are some loose remains that will fall off, so doing it over the sink is easy to catch those pieces.
Once the foil is removed youll notice that the tray may look a bit discolored but thats to be expected. However, youll also notice that there will be minimal to no grease or food stuck to it. If there is, take some soap and water and scrub as needed.
When it comes to the new wrap, I prefer to use 2 large sheets of heavy duty aluminum foil. If you were to look at the tray youll probably notice that its built to slant down towards the right, towards the grease bucket on the grill. I lay the first sheet of foil on the right half of the tray and then overlap it on the left side of the tray with a second sheet. This now allows the grease to roll freely out of the grill and into the bucket.
How To Clean Grill Grates
Cleaning grates on your pellet grill is a bit tricky, but here are some tips to get them clean fast.
- Use appropriate cleaning products. The grill grates on my Camp Chef SGX come off, and I put them in the dishwasher to get all the baked on gunk off. If yours dont come off in small enough sections for your dishwasher, use a nylon scrub brush for cold grates, or balled up tin foil between a pair of tongs for hot grates. Both of these can get into the grooves and knock off the bigger pieces of burnt on gunk.
- Degreaser works wonders. I can fit my grates in my dishwasher, so I wash mine through with a degreaser. You can also use a spray degreaser to break down the buildup. You can also remove the grates and soak them in a plastic bin or in your bathtub with blue dish soap.
- Avoid using water inside your smoker. Almost all smokers have metal components inside them that can rust. Avoid this and only use water once you remove the grates.
- Avoid abrasive grill brushes! Do not use the grill brushes with wire bristles. They can damage the protective coating on your grates and rust them out. These bristles may also flake off, and you run the risk of ingesting them and getting seriously hurt.
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Should Traeger Smoke All The Time
To get a smokier flavor in your food, you will need to leave the Traeger set to smoke for a longer period of time. The amount of time you want your food to smoke will depend on what you are cooking. For example, a fillet of salmon may only need a few minutes of smoking, but a large brisket may need a few hours.
Technique # 2 Soaking
Soaking your grates is an easy way to loosen the burnt carbon and grease. You will need a container large enough to house the grates within a water solution for this.
Here is a safe and easy soaking solution
If you dont want to buy a plastic tub, you can get by using a heavy-duty lawn trash bag. Just be sure there are no leaks. The black water will stain almost everything it touches.
Another alternative to soapy water is vinegar and baking soda.
Here is a quick video titled how to clean stainless steel grill grates from ehow, showing the vinegar & baking soda method.
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How Often Should I Clean My Grill
The frequency you clean will depend on a few factors like how often you use it and how messy the last thing you cooked was. If we are smoking a whole bunch of briskets, we might go three or four times of use before cleaning. But every time we smoke fish the grill needs to get cleaned afterward. No one likes fish-flavored prime rib after all. Traeger recommends cleaning their grills after every two or three uses and that seems to be about right in our experience.
Clean Out The Grease Drain Pan
While changing out the aluminum foil on your grease pan is a good first step, it isnt the only thing you need to do. To get the most out of your grill, you have to clean underneath of the foil. When grease is allowed to build up and fester, it can actually eat away at the metal in the drain pan.
Start by scraping out any of the extra debris and grease that can build up in both the grease pan as well as the grease drain tub. Its best to do this after cooking since grease is easier to clean when it is still warm.
Keeping the drain tub free and clear is not only much cleaner but can actually prevent grease fires from happening. Make sure to clean both the drain pan and the drain tube from time to time to prevent fires.
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Why You Should Clean Your Grill Grates
A dirty grill grates will ruin your barbecue.
Thats the main reason to take care of you grill grate. Another reason is that it makes it much easier to clean the actual cooking surface, making life easier for whoever has to clean up after you are done barbecuing. You could easily save yourself 15 minutes or half an hour if you would only take the time to properly clean your grill grate before using it again! But besides all these practical reasons it also looks very disgusting when somebody comes over and starts preparing food on a dirty grill that hasnt been cleaned in months, seasons or even years. So, yes, there are several good reasons why you should regularly clean your BBQ grill grate.
Preventing rust
Getting rid of rust is pretty difficult, you might be wondering how this could be related to what should I clean my grill grate with. The thing is, if your grates are rusted they can cause flaking onto your food which you eat and that would not be something healthy or tasty at all. You might think that this will not happen because the grate just sits above the fire and doesnt actually come into contact with it but think about it, there is still ash on it from the last barbecue-session. What do you think happens when the ashes get so hot that they turn into sparks? They fly around anyhow and eventually land somewhere. And where exactly do you think those flying sparks land first?
Keeps your grate straight
You can clean it with almost anything
It looks better
You Would Like Your Pellet Grill To Last Longer
Thinking about that Traeger has actually been in existence for so long, you can have assurance knowing that you will certainly have the ability to obtain substitute parts in the close to future.
As long as you stick to the manufacturers upkeep suggestions, Traeger grills commonly last many years in leading form.
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Cleaning The Hopper Auger And Fire Pot
Use an empty pail, box, or bag and empty the pellets from the hopper. Make sure to get as much from the auger as possible. Use a shop vac to vacuum dust and loose pellets out of the hopper and auger. Vacuum out the fire pot making sure to get all of the ash. Use a scraper to loosen anything that has clumped in the auger area or in the fire box.
Why Cleaning Your Pellet Grill Is Important
First and foremost, cleaning your grill is an essential step to cooking the best tasting food possible. Accumulations of grease and smoke affect the flavor of your food and can introduce off flavors you don’t want. Worse, many of the chemicals that build up in your grill can cause health problems.
If good tasting, healthy food isn’t enough to convince you that cleaning your pellet grill is important, perhaps this next bit will offer encouragement. Have you ever seen a pellet smoker burn to the ground? It’s not a pretty sight and it can be incredibly dangerous, too. Even a small grill fire can quickly spread, catching your house on fire. Cleaning your pellet grill should be a part of the regular maintenance you do to keep everything working properly.
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Once A Year Grill Maintenance
At the end of your grilling season, you should do a deep clean of your grill.
- Remove and clean the grill grates
- Clean your grease drain pan
- Empty your grease bucket
- Wipe down your grill exterior
- Remove extra ash from the firepot
Since youre doing a deep clean at the end of grilling season, youll save yourself the work of doing it when the weather starts to warm up again. In the spring , a simple wipe down and inspection of the grease drain pan, firepot, and grill grates will suffice.
How A Traeger Grill Works
The inner workings of a Traeger grill are pretty straightforward. You first start with loading up the hopper with all-natural hardwood pellets, which are then moved from the hopper to the fire pot by an auger.
Then theyre ignited by the HotRod to feed the flames. A fan then circulates the heat and smoke for an even, consistent cook, and the drip tray keeps flames off your food and prevents flare-ups.
All of it is operated by a controller that maintains precise temperature so you can spend less time monitoring the grill and more time doing other things, like hanging out with your family and other guests.
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Best Cleaning Device: Wagner Spraytech
The caked-on residue that seems would never come off is no match for this Wagner steamer model. The plus side is you can use this steamer for all sorts of cleaning on your grill aside from the grates. The upper lids or the inside parts that are hard to reach wont be a hassle anymore to clean. This portable steam cleaner makes cleaning your grill a lot more fun!
How Do You Keep Porcelain Grill Grates From Rusting
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Deep Cleaning Your Grill
Now it’s time to get into it and get that grill fresh and clean. Soapy, warm water will get the outside and easily accessible surfaces clean without a lot of effort. Make sure to wipe down edges and lips where juices can drip and collect in unseen spaces.
You can use the Traeger grill cleaner and simply spray the lid, sides, and outside. Pay special attention to cleaning the chimney or back vent. This is where the majority of volatile chemicals accumulate and you don’t want to leave anything that can catch your grill on fire.
A nylon brush designed for cleaning bottles and jars works very well for cleaning the chimney pipe. Use a couple paper towels to keep loose soot from dripping into the grill. Then, use shop towels to wipe the surfaces clean.
