The Complete Guide to Pellet Grill Maintenance & Cleaning

There is a good reason why pellet grills have taken over backyards. They are very versatile and taste great. You can make everything from burgers to brisket taste great. Traeger and Pit Boss are two brands that have made it easy to keep certain temperatures for hours. You can use a lot of different types of wood pellets to give your food a great smoky flavor. You know how great the food is that they make, whether you have a big Traeger Ironwood XL or a small Brisket It Origin 580.

But these aren’t just regular charcoal grills. A pellet grill is a complicated piece of equipment. It cooks your food perfectly by using mechanical parts, electronics, and gravity.

Your pellet grill smoker will work well for years if you follow a simple maintenance schedule.  We’ll show you how to fix common problems and keep your pellet smoker in great shape.

Why it’s important to keep your pellet grill in good shape

Your pellet grill is like a car. It has parts that move and need to be taken care of.  The fan gives off oxygen. The fire starts with the igniter. The whole system can stop working if any of these parts are dirty or blocked.

This is why maintenance is so important:

• Stops Flame-Outs: Too much ash in the fire pot can put out the flame.
• Stops Over-Fires: A greasy inside can catch fire, which can lead to dangerous temperature spikes.
• Keeps Temperatures Stable: A clean temperature probe gives accurate readings, which is important for long cooking times.
• Better Tasting Food: When grease and carbon build up, they can make a bitter, acrid smoke that ruins the taste of your food.
• Make Your Grill Last Longer: Cleaning your Traeger grill or Pit Boss smoker regularly keeps it from rusting and protects its moving parts.

Quick Cleaning: 5 Minutes After Every Cook

A little work after each meal goes a long way. This one simple habit will make deep cleaning a lot easier.

1. Scrape the Grill Grates: Use a good grill brush or scraper while the grates are still warm. This stops them from turning into a black crust.
2. Get rid of the grease: Look in your grease trap or bucket. If it’s almost full, dump it.
3. Clean the Outside: Use a damp cloth to clean the lid, shelves, and body. This keeps your pellet grill clean and looking good.

Every 20 to 50 hours of use, do a deep clean

You need to clean your pellet smoker grill thoroughly on a regular basis for it to work at its best. As a general rule, you should clean it after every two or three bags of pellets.

Step 1: Do a “Burn-Off” (optional)

You can run the grill at a high temperature (about 350–400°F) for 15–20 minutes before you start scrubbing.

Step 2: Take everything out of the hopper and auger.

• Wood pellets can soak up water from the air. If you leave them in the hopper for weeks, they can get bigger and stop your auger from working.
• Take all the pellets out of the hopper. A lot of Pit Boss and Traeger models have a release door that makes this easy.
• Start your grill and let the auger run until all the pellets are gone and pushed into the fire pot.

Step 3: Clean the inside from top to bottom.

• You will need some paper towels, a shop vac, and a putty knife or plastic scraper.
• Take out the grill grates, the drip tray (or heat shield plates), and the heat baffle that covers the fire pot.
• Scrub the Grates: Use a grill brush and hot, soapy water to clean the grates very well. Let everything drop to the bottom.
• Vacuum Everything Out: Use a shop vac to clean up all the ash and other junk that has built up at the bottom of the grill barrel.
• Clean the Fire Pot: This is the most important part of a deep clean. The magic happens in the fire pot. Take out all the ash from the pot with the shop vac. The number one reason why fires don’t start or go out is a clogged firepot.
• Find the temperature probe inside the grill. It looks like a small metal rod. It can get dirty with smoke and grease, which can make the readings wrong. Use a cloth and some vinegar or a mild degreaser to carefully clean it.

Step 4: Clean the system for managing grease

The most dangerous thing about a pellet grill is the grease. Take a scraper and get all the gunk off your heat baffle and drip tray.

Step 5: Put everything back together and get ready to cook.

Put all the parts back in the grill in the opposite order that you took them out. Your Traeger or wood pellet grill pit boss is now ready for its next tasty meal.

Pellet Grill Questions and Answers (FAQs)

Advanced Troubleshooting: Fixing Common Pellet Grill Issues

A pellet grill that is well cared for can still have a bad day. Knowing how to fix common problems will help your cook and make things less stressful. This is how to fix the most common problems with your Traeger or Pit Boss smoker.

Issue: My Pellet Grill Won’t Turn On

This is a bad way to start any cookout. If your pellet grill smoker won’t start, check these three things in this order:

1. Power: Is it plugged in? Is the outlet working?
2. Pellets: Are you out of pellets? Check that the hopper is full of fuel and that the pellets are going into the auger.
3. Igniter and Fire Pot: The fire pot with the most ash is probably the one that caused the problem. The igniter rod can’t get hot enough to light the pellets if it is buried in ash. This is usually fixed by giving the fire pot a quick vacuum, as we explain in our deep cleaning guide. Your igniter rod may be broken and needs to be replaced if it won’t light even after you clean it.

 Problem: A “Flame-Out” While Cooking for a Long Time

When the fire goes out in your fire pot while you’re cooking, that’s a flame-out. As the auger keeps feeding unburnt pellets, the temperature of your grill will drop, and it will start to make a lot of white smoke.

1. Ash buildup is the first cause. This is the main cause of a flame-out. Ash can build up and put out the fire if you cook something for a long time, like a brisket. This is why every pellet smoker needs to clean the fire pot before every long cook.
2. Cause 2: “Pellet Bridging” or “Tunneling.” The pellets in your hopper can sometimes form a solid bridge or tunnel over the opening of the auger. You have pellets, but none of them are falling into the auger. To break up the bridge, just use a scoop to stir the pellets in the hopper.
3. Wind or weather is the third cause.

 My auger is stuck!

You hear a clicking or grinding noise, but the pellets aren’t moving. If your Traeger grill or Pit Boss pellet smoker gets an auger jam, it can stop cooking right away.

How to Fix It: Unplug and turn off your grill. Take all the pellets out of the hopper. You will probably have to move the auger back and forth by hand to get the jam to come loose. Some grills can go in reverse. If not, you might have to carefully use pliers on the end of the auger, or in very bad cases, you might have to take off the auger motor to get rid of the blockage. To avoid this, always use dry, high-quality pellets.

 Problem: Big Changes in Temperature

Your pellet smoker grill should keep the same temperature all the time. Something is wrong if it swings up and down by more than 20–25 degrees. Clean the Temp Probe: A dirty temperature probe sends wrong information to the controller. A clean probe gives you the right temperature.

The Important Role of Wood Pellets

The grill is important, but so is the fuel you use. Your wood pellet grill, Pit Boss, or Traeger will work best with the right pellets.

Taking Care of Your Pellet Grill in the Off-Season

Getting Your Smoker Ready for Winter

It’s fun to cook when it’s cold. To make sure your Traeger or Pit Boss grill works well in cold weather, get an insulated blanket. Many brands make thermal blankets that fit their models.

Getting Ready for the Season of Grilling in the Spring

Your pellet smoker needs some work after a long winter.

• Do a full deep clean: Now is the perfect time to do a full top-to-bottom deep clean, as described above. Get rid of any old grease, ash, and bugs that may have made a home there.
• Listen for any weird sounds when you start up.
• Tighten Everything: Cooking can make nuts and bolts come loose. Make sure everything is tight and safe by looking at the legs, shelves, and handle.
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