Cleaning and maintenance

[Schrec]

OK. I know I’m not the only one that’s experienced this. I am a newer user to Traeger. I have an Ironwood 650 and I absolutely LOVE IT! Here’s the issue. After smoking salmon and chicken I want to give it a thorough cleaning. The Traeger spray is OK for the outside but let’s face it. NOT for the inside. What products have you found that are OK for the smoker and do a good job. and let me add. I hate clean up so the easier the better. Thank you all!

 

[GrillMeister]

I've yet to use any spray on the inside. I vacuum every few cooks and I use a putty night to clean the drip line. Same goes for my Century 22 which is going on 2 years old.

Personally I would wonder what spraying anything on the inside would do to the flavor of what is being cooked afterwards.

 

[primeone]

Welcome to the forum @Schrec -

Do you use any protection on the drip tray? (foil or the custom foil covers from Traeger?) That sure makes life easy.

I normally just scrape the grill with a wooden grill scraper. If it's real bad I take the grate out and clean it with just dishwashing liquid and cleaning pad like this one: https://www.heb.com/product-detail/scotch-brite-dobie-the-original-cleaning-pad/959536

I also vacuum out the unit every 4-5 cooks.

 

[Beaser]

If it's not too bad I use a wadded up piece of aluminum foil on the wire rack followed by a wipe with an oiled piece of paper towel. I generally wipe the grease trough with a piece of paper towel.

If it's a major, I strip the racks and grease drip pan and was in the laundry tub.if necessary.. Vacuum the bottom and the flame pot, scrape the grease trough and pull some towel through the drain tube.. If the walls are bad, I use Krudcutter and wipe it with a rag or paper towels wetted with warm water and vinegar. There's more smell to the vinegar than the Krudcutter. The Krudcutter cleans up the thermocouple nicely as well as around the door and the exhaust. I replace the foil on the drip pan .

 

[Seed]

I do what grillmeister does essentially. Vacuum about every 12 hours of a cook and use a leaf blower too after, then scrape with a putty knife the drip slot. I’ll also foil over a replaceable tray liner at each cook. Makes clean up much easier.

 

[Ray]

OK Schrec, all of the above are excellent methods to clean your grill. You shouldn't have to do much else, just do it regularly and don't let grease and soot build up. I have a new 650 also and I love it. The only issue I have is the plug-in meat thermometer. It's low by about 20 -30 degrees and it's my second one. So I'm careful to check it regularly with a good quality Thermapen.

 

[BigOlDOg]

Im not certain why you wouldn’t use the Traeger spray for cleaning the inside? I just did mine last weekend and it was AMAZING how well the product worked. My wife even said she was going to use it to clean the oven inside the house it cut grease and cleaned so well. Basically cleaned the grill and within the hour started cooking the brisket. In the below link Traeger even sprays the product inside a grill.

 

[MaD HuNGaRIaN]

Yes, very confusing when conflicting information is given in the manual vs online videos. I'm just going to follow the video and be careful not to get it into the pot or anything electrical.

 

[egbuck80]

OK Schrec, all of the above are excellent methods to clean your grill. You shouldn't have to do much else, just do it regularly and don't let grease and soot build up. I have a new 650 also and I love it. The only issue I have is the plug-in meat thermometer. It's low by about 20 -30 degrees and it's my second one. So I'm careful to check it regularly with a good quality Thermapen.

Hi Ray,
I had My Ironwood 885 reading low deg high right outta the box, took Me a few Smoke Sessions to realize why I was over cooking My dishes. I found out that You can calibrate the probes using ice water and the Menu functions. If the probe is still reading off, after the calibration, You can offset the reading +/- like 10 or 15 deg and get it dialed in. Hooe This helps.