Cleaning a pellet grill is an essential step to cooking healthy foods. Many of the residues that build up in the grill can cause health issues. Here are tips on how to clean a pellet grill.
Don’t know what pellet grills are? Pellet grills are outdoor cookers that combine elements of charcoal smokers, gas grills, and kitchen ovens but use pellets as a heat source. You can read more here.
Cleaning Supplies
- Gloves- wear your gloves before cleaning the grills. A box of latex or nitrile gloves comes in handy for cleaning the grill.
- Grill Cleaner- This formula removes baked-on grease, food, and carbon deposits from the grill and grates. It is clean rinsing such that it cleans deeply both the interior and exterior of the grill.
- Puttie knife
- Paper towels
- Vacuum
- Cloths
Directions for Cleaning
Take out the removable parts – Remove the grates, drip pan, and defector plate. Use the knife to scrape away build-up.
Vacuum– Use a shop vacuum to get rid of all the debris.
Clean the Lid Spray the lid with grill cleaner and allow it to penetrate to clean any missed build-up, then use a clean rag to wipe away the cleaner and the gunk.
Scrape the inside of the barrel, scrap away build-up in the chimney and use the corner of the knife to clear the vents in the drip tray.
Vacuum– use it one more time to suck up all the scraped gunk.
Clean the grates clean the thermometer and grease chute, clean the outside of the grill and wipe down with a clean cloth or paper towels.
Reassemble– Replace the deflector plate, drip pan, and grates.
Furthermore, pellet grills are designed to basically run themselves, with precise temperature settings and even pre-programmed recipes on high-end models. Unfortunately, they don’t come with a setting for self-cleaning – that’s all on you.
Though it may seem like a chore, cleaning a pellet smoker isn’t all that difficult or time-consuming. In fact, I encourage you to get in the habit of cleaning at least your grill grates after every cook so leftover food debris and grease don’t eat away at them.
To do so, turn your pellet grill to its highest heat setting, close the lid, and let it sit for about 10 minutes. The high heat will convert all the stuck-on, caramelized food into carbon, which is much easier to scrub off the grates. Once this 10-minute “burn-off” process is complete, just do the following-
- Turn the grill to a moderate temperature setting of about 250-300 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Open the lid and let the temperature come down
- Using either a grill brush or a loosely wadded ball of paper towels held in tongs, scrub each grate back to front once.
- Go back over any particularly sticky spots with the brush or foil
After this cleaning, you might have to reseason your pellet grill just as you would do a new grill.
Tips to clean a pellet grill
It’s safe to use a stainless steel brush on grill grates made from the same material, but be sure to have a nylon-bristle brush handy when cleaning porcelain-coated grates. This is because the stiffness of stainless steel bristles can damage the porcelain coating on your grates.
Robert Chill
Robert Chill loves to cook on pellet grills and uses all types of recipes and techniques to cook some awesome food. With his experience, he is able to share many reviews, tips, and ideas on how to buy a pellet grill. You can read more about him here