Let's Talk BBQ
Outdoor Cooking Equipment => Grills & Smokers => Pellet Grills and Smokers => Topic started by: Walleyewacker on November 25, 2020, 10:19:14 AM
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What do most of you do in the winter time as far as pellets in the grill do you empty your grill or not given that if the pellets get moist they swell up.
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What do most of you do in the winter time as far as pellets in the grill do you empty your grill or not given that if the pellets get moist they swell up.
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Although I live in the sunny south, I would like to know as well.
My grills do spend the nights in my cooking shed but it's a good question
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If you go a spell between cooks in the winter it does not hurt to empty the hopper
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After Thanksgiving I will empty the hopper, Ive had two auger lockups in the past due to the swollen pellets. The effort emptying it is much better than the alternative.
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(https://ch3301files.storage.live.com/y4mG3p3gZptszGproP0-XxFoQvUHbLGgpFylMdw1aD5mf-e-Rcpg6aookfBqAGXviwty0J7qK3m3pFebT7kh456Hk_dCPKIVGY4hx5Fi6Oyjz_AKRFa4hy7A6iYzsiTbnc9ZWupvvbHO2YtfHeKz8t2q8xPzphJjXYNhK43SRxNWG1uKS8TIsM1cv_EYVNPT7zh?width=660&height=372&cropmode=none)
I used to empty my Cookshack Fast Eddy PG500 during the 7 years that I owned it. But there were many times that it sat for weeks with pellets in the hopper without the cover. Neither rain nor snow got inside. IDK if all hoppers are as watertight.
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I live in northern Illinois, and I use my smoker all year long in any kind of weather. I empty the pellets out of my MAK 2 Star after every cook and store them in my garage.
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I don't normally empty my MAK 2 Star hopper, as I've not found that any rain/snow gets in it. However, I have had a couple of auger lockups due to, I presume, pellets absorbing moisture from the air, and then freezing solid. I wish there were an easy way to dump the hopper, and then command the auger to reverse, and clear the tube back out the dump chute. I think you can command it forward to clear the tube, but I'm not interested in taking the cook chamber apart to then empty the burn pot. I use mine 3-4 times a week commonly, and doing that after every cook would be a PITA to me. A direct manual power switch for the auger would be great, but I'm sure the safety police will never allow that to be a factory thing. I haven't ruled out doing it myself though.
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The most easy why I could think of was to put a garbage bag in your shop vac and suck them out the same way less the bag when cleaning out the ashes out of the burner pot.
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When not using my MAK 2 Star I always empty the hopper. I don't run the auger empty. One thing I really like about the MAK is the quality of the wheels. Easy to take into my garage to store.
Years ago I bought some 5-gallon buckets with screw-on lids and gasket seal. I like them a lot to keep my pellets dry.
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Been cooking on MAK’s since 2016. Have never emptied the hopper in between cooks and have never had an issue. Knock on wood ;-)