FYI Clean those grills (pellet grills)

[Neal]

Green Mountain Grills Daniel Boone at the S&B - two cooks ago had a flameout mid cook, restarted fine. Last night went to cook a steak and no start. It's been a while, yeah, a long while, so I knew it was time for a cleaning. I could hear the auger turning but no pellets likely pushing through.

So today it was janitorial duty day and removed the grates, etc. etc. and vacuumed it out, it had a lot in there! Still no luck so now it's time to remove all of the pellets. Pellets looked terrible anyways so I think I'm going to be much more careful about adding pellets when I intend to use the grill. That's probably why GMG build a slide hatch on the back side of the hopper to drain the pellets, ehh? Well, I scooped all the pellets and crap out, tons of just saw dust. Cleaned it all out, loaded some pellets and and after working the pellets forward after a few tries we have fire (smoke). All is good again.

Next time out in the coach I'll need to do the same with the Davey Crocket. I'm sure the pellets in that hopper are yuck and the main area needs vacuuming out as well.

Your turn!

 

[Jim]

Green Mountain Grills Daniel Boone at the S&B - two cooks ago had a flameout mid cook, restarted fine. Last night went to cook a steak and no start. It's been a while, yeah, a long while, so I knew it was time for a cleaning. I could hear the auger turning but no pellets likely pushing through.

So today it was janitorial duty day and removed the grates, etc. etc. and vacuumed it out, it had a lot in there! Still no luck so now it's time to remove all of the pellets. Pellets looked terrible anyways so I think I'm going to be much more careful about adding pellets when I intend to use the grill. That's probably why GMG build a slide hatch on the back side of the hopper to drain the pellets, ehh? Well, I scooped all the pellets and crap out, tons of just saw dust. Cleaned it all out, loaded some pellets and and after working the pellets forward after a few tries we have fire (smoke). All is good again.

Next time out in the coach I'll need to do the same with the Davey Crocket. I'm sure the pellets in that hopper are yuck and the main area needs vacuuming out as well.

Your turn!

I did mine about a week ago. Picked up a dustbuster at Walmart to pick up the garbage that always accumulates in the compartments under the steps and it works great for vacuuming up the dust from the pellets.

 

[GypsyR]

I had a flameout too, happily I caught it. Cause being leftover bits from the last cook. Upon reviewing the manual for my newish smoker it says to do a cleanout of the auger area after every cook. Ahem. So yeah, I do that now.

 

[Dona40]

Pellet quality (price) is a consideration. We picked up some while traveling. Wasn't my preferred brand and next time we used it, same thing. I think some pellets absorb moisture more than others and break down to sawdust again.

 

[CaptainGizmo]

Yes. Routine clean out is mandatory on ALL pellet grills. Best practice is to clean the pot at least every couple cooks. And depending on your environment’s humidity, yes…pellets can absorb too much moisture when stored in the hoper and make pellet cooking life “challenging”.

Also, all pellets are not created equal. Additives and “false” wood can make them burn dirty as well as get sticky. For ramped feeders, such as the Memphis, these will cause pellets to “ladder out”, making a nice flaming trail back to the hopper!

At theBBQhq.com, with @Ericrowley18 and Jeremy Yoder (MadScientistBBQ), we’ve done some various tests with a variety of top grade pellets. You’d be surprised what we found!
Check both of their YouTube channels out!

 

[Neal]

I use one of these for pellet storage and I have about four of them for the different wood flavors. It would also work well for capturing the pellets coming out of the hopper, if only I would do it, which I now will. Pellet grill is fired up for the steak retry.

Amazon.com