The price to pay for searing

[Coug86]

I am on week 2 now with my Ironwood 885. I have to say that I am extremely impressed with performance of this grill. Everything about it has impressed me. From the easy ignition of the fire pot, to the even temperature holds and the outstanding wifi capabilities, I am truly excited for the summer grilling season. I have been a 10 year Traeger owner. This IW 885 replaced my BBQ 070 Lil'Tex. It was time for her to go. One of several options that intrigued me was the ability to sear at a higher temperature. It was my past usual protocol to do the majority of my cooks on the Lil' Tex and then finish searing on my Weber Genesis. The ability to crank it up on the IW 885 and sear was a major factor in my decision to upgrade.

So over the weekend I had a couple dozen wings and some beef ribs on the grill a majority of the afternoon at 225 degrees. (They turned out delicious by the way). I threw on a couple of Filets and brought them to 115 degrees. Took the filets and ribs off. I always crank up wings at the end to crisp the skin so I left them on. Cranked up the 885 to 500 degrees to prepare for the sear. Within about 5 minutes I had a full on grease fire going, obviously from the grease coming off of the wings. Luckily I was close to the Baking Soda and was able to immediately put out the fire. Eventually I was able to stabilize the situation, brought the IW 850 up to 500 degrees and put a nice sear on the filets (which still impresses me after 10 years not being able to do this on the lil' tex). My crowd was tickled pink with the results and all was well.

I have noticed with the newer Traeger models, ( a couple buddies included here both Pro's and upgraded models) that when you do crank it up to 500, there is a tremendous amount of residual fire that is visible coming from the fire pot underneath the deflector shield. This obviously was the culprit of the minor grease fire. When you crank up older models (the highest temperature which I was able to achieve was around 445 degrees) there is no noticeable flame that you can see.

I am assuming that this is the price you pay if you want to have the ability to both low smoke and high sear on these units. It must be the price to pay for the ability to sear. I am sure as I become used to how to use the high heat searing option I will have to be cognizant of what I have previously cooked and what remnants may be on the drip tray. With all being said, I really do like the IW 885. Traeger On!

 

[Coug86]

Here was the goodness by the way.

 

[jp9724]

Welcome to the Ironwood Club sir!! It is a tank to say the least. Magnificent for me so far as well! glad to hear you got control of the fire and were still able to pull off an excellent lookin dinner!

 

[primeone]

Those grill marks look great!

 

[MikeyR]

How does the paint look on the front and back of your grill? Cranked mine up to 450 for 15 mins once, and it is all faded along the bottom of the barrel in the front and bubbling in the back below the downdraft vent...not impressed....Traeger doesn't want to help at all either, brand new grill...

 

[Coug86]

How does the paint look on the front and back of your grill? Cranked mine up to 450 for 15 mins once, and it is all faded along the bottom of the barrel in the front and bubbling in the back below the downdraft vent...not impressed....Traeger doesn't want to help at all either, brand new grill...

No issues with the paint at all. The grease fire was contained within a couple of minutes. I tend to grill a lot of things extremely hot during the week just based on time. Last night I ran it at 450 for about an hour. No issues.

I did have an issue with the paint coming off my previous Lil' Tex that was 3 years old and they sent me a whole barrel. In fact Traeger had a huge issue with that model. I was told it was one of the first to be manufactured in China. That was a long time ago before everybody and their neighbor owned a Traeger. You used to call the 1-800 number that was based in Oregon. Great guys. I think now it is outsourced to a call center. I have not had to reach out to them in a while. Good luck. I have found that emailing them is a good way to communicate.

Good luck. I hope you get the help you need.

 

[MikeyR]

I’m told they can’t replace the barrel on the Ironwood. The first one I got had scratches from shipping damages, so they replaced the entire grill. Now a month later with actual issues and they say no, it’s cosmetic...grill has had nothing but issues lately, and there’s the lid issue too...at my wits end with Traeger, they had been so good...

 

[JonO]

How does the paint look on the front and back of your grill? Cranked mine up to 450 for 15 mins once, and it is all faded along the bottom of the barrel in the front and bubbling in the back below the downdraft vent...not impressed....Traeger doesn't want to help at all either, brand new grill...

I'm dealing with this exact issue right now. Grill was less than a week old and the first time I cranked it up to sear, the paint at the front bubbled and melted in the exact two spots where the inner heat shield ends. Seems like a design problem. Still waiting to hear back from Traeger.

 

[MikeyR]

I'm dealing with this exact issue right now. Grill was less than a week old and the first time I cranked it up to sear, the paint at the front bubbled and melted in the exact two spots where the inner heat shield ends. Seems like a design problem. Still waiting to hear back from Traeger.

Damn! Glad (but not glad) to hear I'm not the only one. I called again this morning. They said they needed pictures (so I sent them again for the 3rd time, and they live streamed a video of the grill with me last week), and were surprised I had not got a call back from Upper Management. Rep said to call be back in 2 hours once they had the pics..... I am trying to be polite, but at my wits end with these guys. Definitely a design flaw with these lovely grills. That is the exact same spot for me in the front. What about inside your grill near the vent holes or where the bottom grill grate rests in the front or at the back below/behind the downdraft vent cover?

 

[JonO]

Damn! Glad (but not glad) to hear I'm not the only one. I called again this morning. They said they needed pictures (so I sent them again for the 3rd time, and they live streamed a video of the grill with me last week), and were surprised I had not got a call back from Upper Management. Rep said to call be back in 2 hours once they had the pics..... I am trying to be polite, but at my wits end with these guys. Definitely a design flaw with these lovely grills. That is the exact same spot for me in the front. What about inside your grill near the vent holes or where the bottom grill grate rests in the front or at the back below/behind the downdraft vent cover?

Yeah, at the front where the grill rests has some damage too. I'll have to check the other spots. I'm in Calgary too. I wonder if we didn't get a bad run of these or something. Doesn't seem to be a lot of people complaining about this issue generally. I hope they address the issue because this was too expensive to not be completely satisfied.

 

[RustyJake]

On those spots on my grill I notice grease on the rails there if I cook something like chicken or burgers. For me it is primarily on the front rail. I was thinking my patio isn't level, so it is allowing the grease to run down the grill and pool there. I haven't had any issues with paint as of yet, but I am ensuring that I clean the ledge after each use.
I am going to be leveling my patio blocks in the coming weeks, but maybe it isn't because of the level that it is happening if you two are seeing something similar. Or do you not see any grease on those rails on yours?

 

[JonO]

On those spots on my grill I notice grease on the rails there if I cook something like chicken or burgers. For me it is primarily on the front rail. I was thinking my patio isn't level, so it is allowing the grease to run down the grill and pool there. I haven't had any issues with paint as of yet, but I am ensuring that I clean the ledge after each use.
I am going to be leveling my patio blocks in the coming weeks, but maybe it isn't because of the level that it is happening if you two are seeing something similar. Or do you not see any grease on those rails on yours?

I get some build-up there but I don't know if it is grease per se. I think it's just the smoke residue that I get everywhere else inside the grill.


Think I'm going to start a new thread on this issue to see if we can't find out how common it is.