Traeger - New Owener - Tips/Advice?

[mike243]

I leave the pellets in,its easy to empty the hopper but no need to when stored in a dry place,

 

[Thebutscher]

I don't do anything but brush the grates after each cook. About every 5 cooks I chand the foil, scrape the creosote and vacuum out the ash.

 

[graywolf1936]

As it was stated keep it clean from ash. I have a Vacuum head from Home depot that fits on a clean 5 gal. Paint bucket ($20), I can vacuum pellets out of the hopper if I want to change “flavors”. I also use it to vacuum the ash from the unit ( I clean the bucket). I suggest you don't have the back or the end when the hopper is facing the wind. The wind, I believe, can cause the fan to turn faster and the wind entering the rear can cause the pellets to burn faster. THIS is what I found with my unit. I have not had a problem with my Traeger since I been doing this.

 

[illini40]

What is safe to use on the exterior of the Traeger to wipe down?

Any experience with the cleaner that Traeger sells? Seems kind of pricey, but assume it works well.

 

[dv242]

Ok Traeger guys, could use some help. I bought a new pro 34 a few weeks ago, used it for the first time on July 4th, and noticed that there was a 25 degree or so discrepancy between the Traeger readout and my Ivation digital, and also some serious temp swings, which I didn't expect, and bought this grill precisely to have a more consistent cook. On the 225 setting, it would swing between 180 and 260, consistently reading 25 to 30 degrees higher than my Ivation, and it actually quit burning after 7 hours, with pellets still in it.

So yesterday, I cleaned it all out, started over with the start up procedure and everything fired up fine. Later at about 9pm, I put on a 9 lb pork butt, and watched it until after midnight. The temp swings went from 180 to 255, and it was under 200 a good bit of the time. So I turned it up to 250 and watched it run from 201 to 300. Set it back to 225 and it's still swinging wildly his morning. I walked out and checked it at 10:30 am, 181. While I stood there watching it, it spiked to 290, this is on the 225 setting.

So I called Traeger and explained what was happening. I got 3 explanations, which all sounded like BS to me. First, the guy told me they have a new start-up procedure that could cause my issue. I reminded him it was still doing it 14 hours into the cook, so then he told me me you can't do long cooks, like a pork butt or brisket, because ash builds up in the firepot and causes the swings. I told him I know others that do that so he put me on hold, came back and told me it's a common issue called "Tunneling", where the pellets aren't being fed evenly. He said you have to keep the hopper 3/4 full and stir the pellets with a wooden spoon every hour or two...that will solve it he said...stir every hour or so with a wooden spoon. If true, I would think it would be in the operating tips section of the manual. The 9 lb butt has been on for 15 hours and the IT is only 168. My MES did better than that for 1/8 the price.

Anyone else have the same issue with wild temp swings?