Zgrill and residue?

[JCAP]

Hey guys,
New to the pellet smoking world and I picked up a reasonably priced Zgrill about a month ago. I like it so far- easy to run obviously and it cooks great food, albeit without any smoke flavor. I still haven't added another tube yet. I

Anyway, I have two questions!

1. I went to use it yesterday and noticed that there is a ton of brown residue in the grill itself. It's on the grease plate drainer, the heat baffle, the feeder arm inside the grill. I've seen stuff like this in my wood smokers before but it wipes away. This doesn't, so I'm wondering if it's rust...but already? I emailed Zgrill support and they said likely rust but to not worry about it.



2. My second issue is that no matter what I cook- pork butt to just a pan of veg- I get this large grease accumulation next to the fire pot. Here is a picture of where it forms circled in red with another cone of red inside indicated the dispersion of the grease (I don't have a picture with the grease actually there since I clean it up). Surprisingly though, the grease plate is mostly clean when in use. Any idea of what this could be? I'm waiting to hear back from Zgrill support on this issue still.



While I wait for responses for some of these things, I just thought I would pick the brains of the community here. Thanks for any advice or ideas!

 

[RCAlan]

Hey guys,
New to the pellet smoking world and I picked up a reasonably priced Zgrill about a month ago. I like it so far- easy to run obviously and it cooks great food, albeit without any smoke flavor. I still haven't added another tube yet. I

Anyway, I have two questions!

1. I went to use it yesterday and noticed that there is a ton of brown residue in the grill itself. It's on the grease plate drainer, the heat baffle, the feeder arm inside the grill. I've seen stuff like this in my wood smokers before but it wipes away. This doesn't, so I'm wondering if it's rust...but already? I emailed Zgrill support and they said likely rust but to not worry about it.

View attachment 472267View attachment 472268

2. My second issue is that no matter what I cook- pork butt to just a pan of veg- I get this large grease accumulation next to the fire pot. Here is a picture of where it forms circled in red with another cone of red inside indicated the dispersion of the grease (I don't have a picture with the grease actually there since I clean it up). Surprisingly though, the grease plate is mostly clean when in use. Any idea of what this could be? I'm waiting to hear back from Zgrill support on this issue still.

View attachment 472275

While I wait for responses for some of these things, I just thought I would pick the brains of the community here. Thanks for any advice or ideas!

1. The metals of your pellet grills heat diffuser and grease drain pan appear to be untreated metals. Heat helps to accelerate the formation of rust on untreated metals. Wiping down the grease drain pan with a light coat of cooking oil or grill spray and then wiping any excess oil off after cleaning will help to prevent the formation of rust. You could do the same to the heat diffuser with caution by wiping the oil/spray completely off til dry or just invest in a higher quality heat diffuser. SmokeDaddyinc sales heat diffusers and they do not warp due to heat either.
2. As for your second issue, if it looks like grease and feels like grease, then it’s a probably grease... Some how, there is grease and liquids running off and accumulating at the bottom of your grill. With the heat being produced by your grill and the items being cooked along with the grills fan, you will have some accumulation of grease within your grill. Just make sure everything is placed in there correct position within your grill to promote proper grease runoff and continue to clean your grill completely after every use and everything should be ok. Good luck

Pellet Pro Austin XL and a few more mods... In SoCal and Always... Semper Fi

 

[JCAP]

Thanks R RCAlan . Appreciate the response. I was just surprised to see rust after just a few cooks!