Reverse sear on my Traeger is not for me

[bbqLuv]

Even after cleaning my Traeger, there is a chance for a grease fire when doing a reverse sear.
The Timberline can reach temperatures up to 500°F.

I cooked a rib roast with a front sear, no problem, and it came out great.
I tried a reverse sear on a rib roast and had a grease fire after turning the temp up to 500°F.
Because the grease drain is nestled under the cooking chamber, it will also catch fire.

450°F
Grease buildup is normal when smoking fatty meats on a pellet grill. If the grease is not cleaned out and the pellet grill is cranked to a high temperature such as 450°F then a grease fire will start. If the pellet grill is set on a lower temperature such as 180°F or 225°F then there is almost zero chance of a flare-up from happening. Most vegetable oils have a smoking point around 450°F, while animal fats like lard or goose fat will start smoking around 375°F

Have any other pellet grill owners noticed this also? any recommendations?

[Huskee]

I've never tried on my pellet cooker. I usually use charcoal, the griddle/flat top, or cast iron on the stove inside, to reverse sear. But it's rare, I'm a front sear fan.

I would suggest if you start with a clean cooker and can therefore front sear safely, simply do that and ditch the reverse sear. If however you insist on reverse sear, perhaps setting a pan or skillet directly under the meat (if there's room) to collect all its dripping grease, then remove that when you're ready and crank it up, is the way to go.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

Unfortunately some (most) pellet grills just aren't suited to cooking at higher temps. Usually due to their grease management and firepot designs. Furthering this issue is that max temp has become a marketing point, so even if the grill isn't suited toward hpt and fast or grilling cooks the manufacturers all are trying to get that 500+F (now 600+F) number on the spec sheet. It's kinda like the hopper size thing (The it size is 20lbs but many are now coming woth 21+lb hoppers for marketing) except the max temp thing can actually cause issues, like flareups and worse.

[Michael_in_TX]

I agree. I've also noticed a lot of the YouTuber/Influencer videos with the newer grills are cooking steaks on utterly pristine grills, markedly reducing the risk of a grease fire.

[captainlee]

Don't know about the Traeger but the Yoder has a steel plate above the fire box which is sloped and goes to a drain bucket. I have always used a sheet pan covered in foil to catch the drippings. No drippings are in actual contact with the smoker, just the pan. I throw out the foil after every cook. So far that has worked and keeps the smoker itself free of the drippings.

[Michael_in_TX]

When I got my pellet grill I started to go down this route a little bit, but at the end of the day, pellet grills just aren't meant for this. For me it is far easier (and arguably less dangerous) to just have a side burner -- one of those cheap butane burners works just fine -- and a cast iron pan for searing.

[fkrall]

+1. I have a Traeger and a Weber kettle, AKA a convection oven and a charcoal burner. I clean each after every cook and reserve searing for the Weber and rock-steady low-and-slow for the Traeger. I have the best of both worlds and have never looked back.

[Huskee]

To add to everyone else's sentiments and my own above, a pellet cooker is best viewed as a smokey-air oven. You typically don't try to sear in your home oven, right? Just not meant for it, with rare exceptions.

[Jerod Broussard]

No searing for me on a pellet smoker. That's what my gas grill with inverted GrillGrates is for.

[yakima]

For me, altho not a cleanliness nut, it is critically important to keep innards clean on a pellet grill. The one fire on my MAK was a brisket at 225F. Select grade, untrimmed, dirty grease drain route.
My sideburner for searing is a gas grill with a griddle, parked next to the MAK.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

I've never had a flare up on my MAK that I didn't create intentionally. I grill on my MAK fairly often. Sometimes I'll use nonstick spray to initiate a flareup for a little extra heat.

[OC Sandy]

When I use my pellet cooker I use a Camp Chef Woodwind Pro. It has a drip tray right under the cooking grates that funnels any grease to the grease bucket which sits to the right, outside of the cooking chamber. While that takes care of the bulk of the grease during a cook, it doesn't entirely eliminate it. If there is any grease at all on the drip tray there is still a chance it would catch fire at those higher temps. When I want to reverse sear I smoke the meat in the pellet cooker, then finish it over a charcoal or gas grill so I avoid the chance of a fire in the chamber of the pellet cooker. The only time I use those high temps is when there is no grease on the drip tray.

[DavidNorcross]

They are great cookers, but I save my searing for my griddle or an open fire.

[Lynn Dollar]

The Masterbuilt Gravity Feeds have same problem. They're advertised for temps up to 700* in just a matter of minutes, but unless cooker is very clean, that's a grease fire about to happen. Embers from the firebox get blown into the cook chamber when the fan is running on high.

Grilling and smoking ............ just don't mix.

Unless its a Kettle. Which is best for grilling anyway. I smoke steaks indirect on the Kettle at low temps, I shoot for 200*. Then dump a chimney of coals in the SnS and sear.

[Huskee]

I thought about saying this same thing. I've had a few fires in my MBGF 560!

[Lynn Dollar]

Huskee I don't know much about pellet smokers, but don't they control temps by how much fuel they feed the fire ? Rather than on a MBGF, temps are controlled by the fan speed. Do the fans on pellet grills change speed ?

That was the biggest culprit for a grease fire on my MB560. High fan speed blowing embers into the cook chamber. I did not have that problem at smoking temps.

[Huskee]

Pellet cookers I'm familiar with have one speed- on or off. Mine, and I suspect many with PID, will cycle on/off in 3 second intervals to maintain, or stay on while heating up.

[Caffeine88]

I have the ReqTec DualFire, which is a pellet cooker two cooking chambers. One is meant for smoking, and the other for searing. Only one time have I tried to ramp up the smoking side to 500F after a long cook, and the grease fire I started was no fun. On the other hand, it works really well to reverse sear if you use both sides as intended. The smoking side smokes, and the searing gets legitimately to searing temps (not screaming charcoal temps, but hot enough). This has been effective for ribs, chicken thighs, ribeye steaks, and prime rib roasts.

So yeah - trying to sear on pellet smoker has been a bad experience for me.
But - if you feel like buying dual chamber pellet cooker, the DualFire has been a very good experience!

[smokenoob]

If searing on a Traeger, have a PBR tall boy close by to put out the fire!

[Michael_in_TX]

Huskee Okay, that was funny!

[Huskee]

Michael_in_TX I average something funny once, maybe twice a year. Guess I've got a dry spell coming up now...

[bbqLuv]

TRhe PBR Tall Boy is for afterwards LOL