I would really like to hear your tips on how to best clean a pellet grill. In the past I have done the basics; vacuuming out the ash and scraping the grates. I have also turned up the heats (450 degrees) to burn all the little bits and scraped out the burnt stuff. This weekend I tried to do a deep clean and I sprayed the interior with Simple Green and scrubbed it down with a heavy duty brush and some synthetic steel wool. It made a big difference but was a lot of work and it still not like new. I could likely repeat this process again and get it close but I am questioning if I am going about this all wrong.
One thing I considered was a steam cleaner, has anyone tried one of those? I would also like it hear your experiences with that as well.
I will gently scrape the sides of any grill that contains flakes I don't want on my food. For the pellet I will also vacuum it out and clean the grates, that's it.
I clean my MAK 2 Star completely inside and out but only after 3 or 4 cooks. Like mentioned already clean any flaky stuff off the sides and cover, clean out the ash in the firepot and main cabin as best as you can. Clean the outside surface with appropriate cleaner, wipe down with a damp clean cloth and make sure the grease tray / pail is cleaned.
I am getting some light surface rust on my Yoder, even though I keep it under the cover a lot. It's been rained on 1 or 2 times, but not a lot. It's only in a couple spots, really just on the front. Any way to prevent this? I mean, should I rub it down with a light coat of oil or something? Not enough to make anything a fire hazard, just to protect the finish. Is that reasonable? Should I just scrub it off with a brillo pad and spray some black hi-temp grill paint on the spots? I hate to mar the finish, but I don't want the rust getting worse...
I did what evollbrecht did one time on my Traeger, taking it out in the yard and cleaning and wiping it out as much as possible, man that was a sick old mess.
Is this what people with giant stickburners do? Or do they just turn a hose on 'em? Or just keep cookin'? I don't know, I can't figure out a good way... I've got nowhere on my property I want to turn loose and spray a bunch of grease and creosote out onto the ground, anyways....
I purchased a used one with lots of rust on it. i am using Rustoleum High Temp grill paint on it. I am, however painting the whole unit, so I am not worried about color differences. Yoder sells it's own matching grill paint, but it is expensive. I would recommend that you do not let it get worse. I am having to do a lot of sanding and took the grill off the comp cart. It is a lot of work.
I have a rather large custom pellet cooker. Like all my cookers, I try to give them a superficial clean with each use and a deeper clean periodically (depending on use). I use a heck of a lot of aluminum foil. I buy the big restaurant rolls at Costco and cover about any surface that is susceptible to grease accumulation. It's so much easier to throw away a real greasy bunch of foil then it is to mob up grease.
Getting back to my pellet cooker, here is the inside of the chamber when it was brand new....
......I vacuum out the burn pot and inside of the chamber after no more than 2 cooks. I had a back draft fire go up my auger and into the pellet hopper when the burn pot got too full of ash, so I'm pretty religious about keeping it clean. The ash in the chamber actually aids in mobbing up some of the light grease accumulations on the walls. The rest I us Simple Green and just scrub it clean, again periodically.....
The grease collector that the cooking plate drips in to I fashioned a bent foil tray that I place in there to collect the heavy stuff, the rest goes out the ball valve and into a bucket.....
Cooking large amounts of chicken or turkey makes the most mess. In those cases I generally put down additional grease pans to catch the heavy fat that is generated. It's all part of the process of owning and operating large cookers. Going on a year and I have yet to do what I would consider a heavy clean, like pressure washing. After a few years I'm sure it will get to that point, but periodic cleaning and foiling where you can, spreads out the maintenance and keeps it relatively clean.
My FEC100, I'd wrap the firepot in plastic tightly. Spray fume-free Easy Off oven cleaner and let sit for a day, then spray it out with a hose. Gets all the gunk out. Jambo goes to the carwash to clean inside and out. Yoder I sprinkle pellets if there's grease (usually all the grease goes into the full size pans that are underneath the cooking rack), then scrape that out and pour hot water thru the drain. Brush ash down towards the drain to go out with the water.
Hi I think most of them are covered but the best tip I have is to buy yourself a plastic tray with a decent 2inch lip, large enough to take your grills. that makes the process of cleaning them super easy, just throw them in the tray with some ordinary detergent and boiling water I have a toughened type of plastic witches house me to use it with a pressure washer!
Lol bloody auto correct! The plastic tray is toughened, so once the grills are soaked, I empty the water and can hit them with a pressure washer without eating through the tray. Will send you a pic.
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