Cleaning the Pellet Grill

[veryolddog]

Hello Everyone,

After I came back from the VA hospital today, I decided that with all of the use that we had in the last 10 days that I would clean the Yoder. I grabbed a pair of work gloves and removed the grills and for the time being just leaned them against the bottom of the pedestal. I removed the heat diffuser and walked over to the trash can and began to tear off the tin foil. Boy, that top layer was really greasy. Then I washed down the metal and wiped it clean with paper towels. I relined that with brand new tin foil and let that sit.

I then went to the combustion chamber and removed the burn grate from the fire pot. Got my little Eureka hand held vacuum and clean out the fire pot and the main area of the lower grill and I had to empty this little vacuum 3 times. When this was done, I re-installed the burn grate and placed the heat diffuser back into position. That was the easy stuff.

Then the real work began. I brought each of the grills into the house one at a time and scoured them with "Dawn" liquid soap and a scotch pad which eliminated most of the stain from smoking. The second shelf, I really did not pay much attention as I really just wiped this down with a wet towel and then a dry cloth. I think that this part consumed most of the cleaning effort. And, then, it was simply put all the grills in place and wipe the exterior clean with a damp cloth and dry.

Oh, yes, I emptied the grease can was surprised to actually see that this had grease in it. I washed that clean and re-installed that as well. First time doing that. Put the cover on and it is now ready for the next use.

This process took about 1 1/2 hours. it could have been done more quickly, but I am old and slow. I think that if I do this twice per month, that this will keep it in premium operational condition. Do you guys have a cleaning regimen? And, how often do you perform a full cleaning on your pellet grill?

With kind regards,

Ed

[Savannahsmoker]

Do you guys have a cleaning regimen? And, how often do you perform a full cleaning on your pellet grill?

About once a year I do a complete spring cleaning including sanding and painting.

Pull the electronics and component:


Clean:


sand and paint.

[muebe]

One thing you should do is clean the burn pot after every cook or at least every other cook. With my Memphis I do a light cleaning but not real extensive. It is outdoor cooking equipment and that greasy interior is "seasoning" in my humble opinion

I vacuum out the ash and scrape the drip pan. I will place the grates and drip pan into my gasser on high for 30 minutes to burn off the crud. I really only do this after several cooks or a messy one like some butts overnight for example.

The exterior will get a periodic wipe down with stainless steel cleaner.

I would not worry too much about deterioration on your Yoder Ed. That thing will be around after the apocalypse.

[IBCookin]

Run a brush across the grates after a cook or before the next one (after reaching temp) while still warm.
Change foil on the drip pan as needed. Usually put 3 or 4 layers on it so that I don't have to mess with it very much.
Remove drip pan, firepot cover, and baffle. Vacuum each of these, generally every two or three cooks, depending on length of time cooks were.
Run vacuum around inside of grill. Check for any real build-up of crud and sometimes use putty knife in spots.

Doesn't take long, keeps things clean and working. Not too clean as I agree with previous "seasoning" comment.   

[GrillGeek]

I keep them just clean enough to prevent bad bacteria and grease fires. I really believe in leaving it "seasoned." The guys at the fire station whine when I bring in a new unseasoned grill to cook on as it doesn't have the flavor.

[smokeasaurus]

About once a month I will will let the hopper on my Yoder empty and I will blow out the dust in the auger and re-prime the auger for the next go round. I also lay some carnauba wax in the hopper to help with pellet movement (that is in the Yoder manual by the way)  I spoke to a dude at Yoder when I was ordering my thermometer and asked about popping off the side of the hopper for any cleaning and he felt it was not necessary. I also like to stuff a clump of paper towel in the chimney with a foil cap and turn it down towards the side grate while the stack is still warm. This way any moisture will run down and my smokestack stays cleaner.

I am a maniac and shop vac out the Yoder every Monday and clean and cover for the next fiasco we get into......