Cleaning Your Pellet Grill

As temps start to rise and spring time rolls in, the smell of charcoal, wood smoke and barbeque fill the air. Grill masters and weekend warriors are firing up their grills. That first burn of the season is always exciting. Before you go jumping into your old favorite recipes and trying new ones, you need to get it the pellet grill all cleaned up for the season.  Keeping your pellet grill clean, will keep it performing at an optimal level and keep the food tasting great! Most of these steps below, we recommend following once a month if you are using your pellet grill often. If you take a little time after each use or every other use, you won’t end up spending an entire afternoon or morning cleaning your grill and it will always be ready for the next use.

1. Before cleaning ensure that your grill is off and unplugged. The only thing that you should clean with the grill hot would be the grates. Once your grill is off, unplugged and cool you are ready to start cleaning up.
2. Using an empty pail, box, or bag empty the pellets from the hopper. Make sure to get as much from the auger as possible. A shop vac works best to vacuum dust, loose pellets and ash out of the hopper, auger and fire pot. A scraper comes in handy to help loosen anything that has clumped together in the auger area or in the fire box.
3. Warm soapy water works best to get the rest of the grill into shape. Use the scraper again to help remove any greasy clumped messes. For the grill grates or heavy greased areas, you can spray with a natural degreaser and let it sit to help break up the grease.
4. After the nastiest parts are done, we recommend another bucket of soapy water and going one more round to ensure you have removed all the degreaser and also any greasy remnants. This is a good time to wipe down all the outside of the grill as well as all work surfaces.

Now your grill is ready for the next round of cooking. As said before we highly recommend having some sort of regular cleaning regimen to help keep your pellet grill performing optimally and functioning properly. Built up grease and ash can cause serious problems inside the grill and could also lead to a fire. So protect your investment and your pride by keeping a clean grill!