Anyone else own a Traeger here? Need help with cleaning outside of it

[ksstang]

So last weekend my wife had marinated a 1 gallon zip lock bag full of chicken breasts. I pulled the traeger out, cleaned it all up, new foil, etc. Fired it up, and when it got to temp I took the bag of chicken out to thrown it on. Little did I know I wasn't paying attention and had that zip lock bag to close to the traeger, and it was touching the outside. It obviously melted right through that bag, and dripped marinated all down the front of it. Along with the melted plastic to the grill. I immediately grabbed a wet wash cloth and tried cleaning it off as best as I could, but, you can still definitely see where the crap was.

Has anyone else accidentally pulled this bonehead move, and if so what did you use to clean all the stuff off of it. I don't want to go scrubbing on it hard with something that will scratch/scour the grill, but I really want to clean it off so it doesn't look so hideous!

Thanks

 

[rotor_powerd]

Love my Traeger, use it damn near every day. I've never melted plastic to it but I did manage to set the entire inside of the thing on fire a couple weeks ago.

I would try WD40 or something similar to see if it will help work the plastic off. Unfortuantely I don't think there's going to be any gentle way of getting it removed.


I came out to this:

Melted some paint but I scraped it off

After I put out the fire, cleaned out the firebox, and restarted:

 

[ksstang]

I was going to try WD-40 and maybe a green scour pad from the kitchen. Just something that isn't too harsh.

My wife and I cook just about EVERYTHING on ours. We love it. A friend of mine is a dealer for them, so I picked up the Texas Elite for a pretty good price. I pull my grate and vacuum it out with a shop vac before every use to get all the dust out of it. I've had two other friends catch theirs on fire because of the dust buildup and it igniting. I also tend to change my foil if not every time, every other time.

I love doing burgers and kc strip on it. My next favorite would have to be a good pork butt. The pulled pork is amazing.

Have you ever done pizza on yours? If you have a Papa Murphy's take and bake around you, get one of those and cook on it. Absolutely phenomenal! And the pizza actually tastes better the next day. You just cook it just like the oven directions, except on the traeger. Rotating the pizza a 1/4 turn every 10min I think it was.

 

[SonicDTR]

The blue scotch brite pads should be non-scuffing. Try them on a spot and make sure. I'd use that to scuff it off if so. Otherwise, a razer blade might scrape it off, but will scratch if not careful.

 

[rotor_powerd]

I was going to try WD-40 and maybe a green scour pad from the kitchen. Just something that isn't too harsh.

My wife and I cook just about EVERYTHING on ours. We love it. A friend of mine is a dealer for them, so I picked up the Texas Elite for a pretty good price. I pull my grate and vacuum it out with a shop vac before every use to get all the dust out of it. I've had two other friends catch theirs on fire because of the dust buildup and it igniting. I also tend to change my foil if not every time, every other time.

I love doing burgers and kc strip on it. My next favorite would have to be a good pork butt. The pulled pork is amazing.

Have you ever done pizza on yours? If you have a Papa Murphy's take and bake around you, get one of those and cook on it. Absolutely phenomenal! And the pizza actually tastes better the next day. You just cook it just like the oven directions, except on the traeger. Rotating the pizza a 1/4 turn every 10min I think it was.

I learned that I need to start cleaning it out every time. I have a Pellet Pro PID controller in mine (Awesome investment if you don't have one, keeps temps within a 3* swing and is dead nuts accurate), and it tends to build up a ton of ash in the firepit very quickly due to the way that it works. After 2-3 uses without cleaning the firepit I'll get burn-back through the auger on shutdown, which is always a pain.

I tried pizza once.... I couldn't find my pizza peel and tried to get them on there by hand, the dough wound up sticking to everything and it was a disaster. The pizzas came out looking like shit but they were delicious.


The new Traeger Pro lineup for 2016 looks badass, they have a new controller which they claim keeps temps within 15* of the setpoint. That's the biggest complaint I have about mine, the factory controller was awful. I always had huge temp swings and it would way overshoot in the summer, no matter what P setting I used. The PID controller has fixed all of that and now it's truly set it and forget it.

 

[SonicDTR]

BGE 4 lyfe

 

[DHG1078]

BGE 4 lyfe

I hear weber is making a similar style grill. Hear great things about BGE, but we love the weber kettle. We are thinking about getting a weber smokey mountain soon.

 

[Blown 89]

I learned that I need to start cleaning it out every time. I have a Pellet Pro PID controller in mine (Awesome investment if you don't have one, keeps temps within a 3* swing and is dead nuts accurate), and it tends to build up a ton of ash in the firepit very quickly due to the way that it works. After 2-3 uses without cleaning the firepit I'll get burn-back through the auger on shutdown, which is always a pain.

I tried pizza once.... I couldn't find my pizza peel and tried to get them on there by hand, the dough wound up sticking to everything and it was a disaster. The pizzas came out looking like shit but they were delicious.


The new Traeger Pro lineup for 2016 looks badass, they have a new controller which they claim keeps temps within 15* of the setpoint. That's the biggest complaint I have about mine, the factory controller was awful. I always had huge temp swings and it would way overshoot in the summer, no matter what P setting I used. The PID controller has fixed all of that and now it's truly set it and forget it.

I have the tailgate version that I take to the track with me. The controller on it is awful. Does the temperature probe on the PID show the temperature on the readout? I'm about to spend $80 on an igrill2 because it has a bright LED readout that I can see from the kitchen window and if the PID shows the temp I'm buying that instead.

 

[SonicDTR]

I hear weber is making a similar style grill. Hear great things about BGE, but we love the weber kettle. We are thinking about getting a weber smokey mountain soon.

Any Komado style ceramic "smoker" should be comparable. The ripoffs are the cheap ones that are thin metals with no insulation, but same shape and appearance.

Dream outdoor kitchen I would have one of just about every style, including a Traeger style!

 

[rotor_powerd]

I have the tailgate version that I take to the track with me. The controller on it is awful. Does the temperature probe on the PID show the temperature on the readout? I'm about to spend $80 on an igrill2 because it has a bright LED readout that I can see from the kitchen window and if the PID shows the temp I'm buying that instead.

It shows the grill temp. It also has an input for an additional probe, and I believe if you have one plugged in it will alternate showing grill temp and probe temp, but I'm not 100% certain on that.

The iGrill2 is great, I use mine on every cook. The only problem is after a year of regular use the probes are no longer accurate as I've found out in the past week. I'm going to try changing the batteries in the device itself but I have a feeling I need to buy new probes.

 

[DHG1078]

Any Komado style ceramic "smoker" should be comparable. The ripoffs are the cheap ones that are thin metals with no insulation, but same shape and appearance.

Dream outdoor kitchen I would have one of just about every style, including a Traeger style!

Ya, we are really interested in a Komodo style one, but they can be pricey and the food comes out so good on our weber already. similar thing with pellet grills. It would be a lot nicer/easier to use a pellet grill with a controller for longer cook time items, but we get by pretty good with our weber.

 

[Blown 89]

It shows the grill temp. It also has an input for an additional probe, and I believe if you have one plugged in it will alternate showing grill temp and probe temp, but I'm not 100% certain on that.

The iGrill2 is great, I use mine on every cook. The only problem is after a year of regular use the probes are no longer accurate as I've found out in the past week. I'm going to try changing the batteries in the device itself but I have a feeling I need to buy new probes.

Have you noticed any less smoke coming off of it at higher temperatures? I've heard that aftermarket controllers have less smoke flavor at the higher temps.

I'm going to sew my own insulation blanket. I really struggled getting the temps up when the outside temperature dropped below 50*. I hear they help with temperature swings too. Here's a write-up on how to do it:
http://adamsblurbs.blogspot.com/2013/01/i-found-cure-for-cold-weather-blues.html

 

[rotor_powerd]

Have you noticed any less smoke coming off of it at higher temperatures? I've heard that aftermarket controllers have less smoke flavor at the higher temps.

I'm going to sew my own insulation blanket. I really struggled getting the temps up when the outside temperature dropped below 50*. I hear they help with temperature swings too. Here's a write-up on how to do it:
http://adamsblurbs.blogspot.com/2013/01/i-found-cure-for-cold-weather-blues.html

A buddy of mine also bought a PID but returned it because he said his wouldn't smoke. He also had no issues with controlling temperatures with the factory controller. My PID in my grill will pour out smoke on 'smoke' and give just as much if not more at the higher temps. My grill is the Century model from Costco, I wouldn't think anything would be different internally than the normal line but who knows.

Mine has the cabinet underneath of it so it isn't as temperamental with ambient temperatures, I can still get it to 400* when it's below freezing outside. I also use a blended non-Traeger pellet, that may help some too.

 

[Otroo]

BGE 4 lyfe

I am debating between one of those and a Yoder.

 

[SonicDTR]

I am debating between one of those and a Yoder.

Never heard of them. Looked it up and looks like an Oklahoma Joe? Those are pretty popular and great grills/smokers. Each style has its pros/cons. I love my kamado style ceramic cooker(i'm not brand loyal).

 

[2013GT'ed]

I did this once...but not maybe as bad. I ended up using a propane torch set really low and loosening it with the heat from the inside and scraping it off. It may, or may not work for you. I would suggest taking your time with it though. Also used wd40 to get the little bit of residue that was left.

 

[norcalcobra]

would goof off work?

 

[99COBRA2881]

Spray it with non stick cooking spray and wipe/scrub the area with a paper towel.

I spray my COS down with cooking spray and wipe it down clean. The cooking spray bakes onto the outside and makes for a nice rust preventative. Once it's on everything wipes off easy. Grill is kept in a storage shed.

Don't spray it on a lit grill, it is flammable.

 

[CompOrange04]

I have a Traeger that's about 9 years old and the outside is really starting to look like hell. I always wanted to take it apart and use it with a heavy duty old style air tank vertically. I think if you could get a good controller it would be the perfect setup. I do also own a ceramic smoker just like the BGE and have realized how spoiled I got with my pellet smoker all these years. I'm like a teenager grilling for the first time. I'm super frustrated lol

 

[Blown 89]

The iGrill2 is great, I use mine on every cook. The only problem is after a year of regular use the probes are no longer accurate as I've found out in the past week. I'm going to try changing the batteries in the device itself but I have a feeling I need to buy new probes.

FYI. Both probes for my iGrill2 went out a few weeks ago and I called Weber for a warranty replacement. They informed me that the point where the metal probes join the braided line are not water proof. A quick search on the net confirmed that this is true of most probes and is a common source of failure. Weber told me to clean just the tip with a damp cloth while keeping everything else dry and the probes should function flawlessly for years. I have a different temp monitor with a bad probe and that manufacturer said the same thing. Hopefully this helps you get better life out of your probes.