How To Clean A Pellet Grill

Cleaning and maintenance of your pellet smoker isn’t all that glorious, but it is essential in becoming the best pit boss you can be.

It’s a bit like a pro NFL player, they train more than 20 hours a week for a matter of minutes of game time, you can’t be a star without putting in some hours on the less glamourous tasks.

Lucky for you I am sharing some of my tricks and tips on how to clean a pellet grill with minimal effort and fuss, leaving more time to smoke your favourite recipes and wow your family and friends with your pit boss skills.

If you’re like me, you probably research a fair bit on how to get the best out of your smoker and how to perfect each cook you take you on.

Not only does routine maintenance and cleaning of your pellet smoker increase the life of your smoker but it also improves its efficiency, heat regulation and will assist in preventing grill fires.

According to big grill brands like Traeger, having an unclean grill and grease spills are the top two causes of grill fires on pellet smokers, so learning how to clean a pellet smoker is a must for anyone new to grilling!

Why Cleaning Your Pellet Grill Is Important

Cleaning and maintenance of your pellet smoker is important both from a safety perspective, but also a food quality standpoint. Each time you use your pellet grill it creates ash and collects grease, over time this build up of ash and grease will impact the quality of the cook and may even impact the lifespan of your smoker.

After a long Christmas period where we hosted numerous gatherings at our house my Traeger grill had been well and truly put through its paces. The food was fantastic, and my motivation levels were high.

When the noise had settled down, I thought I’d tackle another delicious Traeger smoked brisket recipe.

It was during the low and slow super smoke stage I noticed smoke coming from my pellet box. Although it wasn’t much smoke it still got me on edge and straight to the research.

According to Traeger themselves, having an unclean grill including the build-up of ash and grease are the top two causes of a grill fire.

It turns out that letting too much ash build up around your burn pit can restrict air flow and cause backburn, where the pellets on the auger start heating to a smoking point.

But, there are also some other reasons you may want to clean your pellet grill.

My top reasons to clean and maintain your grill regularly are:

Safer Grill Operation

Having an unclean grill including the build-up of ash and grease are the top two causes of a grill fire. To ensure that your cook is as safe as possible and reduce the chance of a grill fire regular and routine maintenance is strongly recommended.

Better Temperature Regulation And Control

Maintaining a clean pellet grill interior allows better airflow, which results in better temperature control.

If the ash builds up too much in the burn pot, it can reduce airflow, which can cause the grill to heat unevenly or the fire to die out.

Ensuring the sensors are free of grit and ash ensures that the measured temperature is as accurate as it can be which allows the target temperature to be achieved more consistently.

Whether you’re perfecting your favorite cook or trying something new, reliable temperature control enables you to produce the best results each time.

Keeps Food Clean

As pellet ash collects in your smoker, it will inevitably begin to circulate throughout the smoker and over your food.

The joy of smoked meat is the smoky, hearty and deep flavors, but I like my favorite dish to contain a little less ash in the mix of flavors.  

Proper Grill Function

Infrequently cleaning the burn pot can cause ash to build up, which can make it hard to light the grill and may restrict airflow leading to backburn of the pellets. 

Ensuring that you regularly clean and maintain your grill will reduce smoke at start up and reduce the chance of a grill fire.

When your grill is regularly maintained the hopper works as desired, pellets are delivered to the fire pot at the correct quantity which allows the grill to operate with ease and less temperature fluctuations.

It Looks Great

If you’re into smoking as much as I am and host people fairly regularly (they tend to invite themselves these days), then having a clean grill is a matter of pride.

When pumping out great meal after great meal it is human nature for your guests to be inquisitive, so it is only a matter of time before they start asking questions and want to see where the latest masterpiece was produced.

Don’t get me wrong, my grill looks used, but it is well maintained and the grill plates are always clean, other than the wear and tear of cooking consistently great meals, I have no fear in showing off my smoker and letting them look in awe as they picture themselves satisfied in a great cook.   

So, if you want to maintain your pellet grill’s quality for a long time, understanding how to clean a pellet grill and proper BBQ maintenance is essential, then my guide below will help your grill lasts longer and operate better.

How Frequently Should You Clean Your Pellet Grill?

How often you clean your pellet grill depends on how often you use it and how you use it. If you are a grill enthusiast like me and find yourself cooking your favorite Traeger beer can chicken recipe every other night, you may want to perform a thorough clean weekly.

If you only grill every couple weeks, you can clean your grill less often.

In either case, I like to keep on top of my pellet grill maintenance. I find keeping on top of it keeps the cleaning and maintenance times down, with a deep clean only being required once or twice a month depending on how much I use it. 

Here is a basic grill cleaning schedule for how often to clean pellet grill:

Each Time You Grill

I recommend doing a light clean before and after each grill.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the extra flavors of cross-cooking but regular maintenance makes it so much easier in the long run.

Before and after grilling, be sure to thoroughly scrub the grill grates. When you clean grill grates regularly, you can maintain quality food taste and prevent too much grease from building up. 

I tend to do a light clean after each cook while the food is resting, this wat you are cleaning the grates while they are still hot. Then before each use it is a light brush and clean to remove any stubborn residue. I tend to empty the grease drip bucket after each other cook and check it before use.

Once A Month

Every few weeks (or once a month) I recommend that you clean the grease drip tray inside your grill and empty the ash from the burn pot.

If your BBQ has an ash collection tray, you should empty it frequently. How often you clean the inside of your grill will depend heavily on how often you grill.

I tend to deep clean my Traeger once a month, which will be between 6 – 8 smoker sessions, this reduces my risk of fire, keeps better grill airflow and extends the quality and lifespan of the grill. 

Pro Tip : To make cleaning the grease tray and grease bucket easier, place heavy-duty aluminum foil, or get a pellet grill drip pan liner, on your drip tray.

I like to use the Treager drip tray for my Ironwood 885 as it fits perfectly, can be cleaned, lasts quite a few cooks and turns out to be almost as cost effective as aluminum foil without the mess.

If you keep up with regular pellet smoker maintenance throughout the year, your grill will be more reliable for the next time you go to use it.

Each grill does vary so if you have lost your maintenance instructions you can always consult your pellet grill manufacturer for exact maintenance procedures or cleaning schedules.

What Can You Use To Clean Your Pellet Grill?

To properly clean your pellet smoker, you will need different tools for scraping grease, removing ash, washing the surface of your BBQ and generally wiping of all surfaces.

In some instances, you want to use a non-mental scraper that is not too abrasive in order to protect the surface of your grill.

Use gentle cleaning cloths that can get grease and smoke on them, avoid using cleaning cloths that you regularly use for other areas, as these cloths will become very dirty very quick.

Rather than cleaning your grill and then the cloth, I recommend using disposable rags or cloths as they will often be and full of stubborn stains and grease after cleaning the grill.

Here is a list of the tools you will find in my cleaning cupboard:

Disposable Rags And Paper Towels

Disposable cleaning rags are perfect for wiping down and polishing the outside of your grill, while paper towels are often best for messier tasks like cleaning the grease bucket and grease drip tray.

I often soak the rags in soapy water and wipe down the grill, they will get dirty very quick due to all of the ash.

A Brush Or Scraper

I like the combination scrapers with steel bristles on one side and the scraper on the other, this is the perfect tool for using straight after a cook.

Using a scraper or brush while the plate is still hot will minimize the amount of force you need to apply to clean the grill, hence reducing the chances of damaging the grill.

Cleaning Solution

There are a lot of expensive products on the marker, I like to use a bucket of soapy water, using dishwashing liquid to clean most areas of the smoker.

For stubborn areas you can use a BBQ grease cleaner.

Once the outside is cleaned you can polish any of the stainless steel areas with a stainless steel cleaner or polish to keep that new shine.

Utility Vacuum Cleaner

A shop vac or utility vacuum cleaner is the easiest way to remove ash build-up from inside your pellet smoker.

If you do not have a shop vac, you can use a handheld vacuum cleaner instead.

It is best to wait for the ash to cool down before cleaning the ash out of the smoker, I generally conduct a deep clean the day after using the smoker.

Nitrile Gloves

Gloves are an optional tool, when conducting a deep clean and removing grills you will get your hands dirty. If you are sensitive to soapy water for removing the grease and grub I recommend wearing a pair of dishwashing or nitrile gloves.

Cleaning your pellet smoker does not require any fancy tools, often you will have what you need sitting around the house, however, I do recommend having dedicated tools for it so that you don’t spread the mess through the rest of the house.

How to Clean a Pellet Grill

Cleaning a pellet smoker may seem like a bit of a choir, but they don’t come with a self-cleaning function.

When cleaning my smoker I like to think of it as preparation for my next great cook. Cleaning a pellet smoker isn’t all that difficult or time-consuming. In fact, I recommend that you to get into the habit of cleaning at least your grill grates after every cook so leftover food debris and grease don’t eat cause damage or rust to the grill.

Once you have finished your cook, turn the pellet smoker to a high heat setting for about 10 minutes, this will cycle the pellet auger and will burn off most of the food that is left on the grill.

So after each cook:

Step 1: Turn the grill to a high temperature setting of about 300 degrees Fahrenheit

Step 2: Turn off the grill and start the shutdown cycle

Step 3: Open the lid and let the temperature come down

Step 4: Using a grill brush or disposable rag (held in long handle tongs), scrub each grate back to front once

Step 5: Go back over any particularly sticky spots with the brush or foil.

Before using a stainless steel brush on grill grates make sure you know what material the grates are made from.

It is perfectly safe to use a stainless steel brush if the grill is made from stainless steel, 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 exposing the steel which may lead to corrosion.

How To Clean The Grease Drip Bucket And Drain Tube 

Below are my steps to cleaning the grease drain and bucket.

Step 1: Remove the bucket when the grill is off.

Step 2: Use your scraper to remove any grease from the drain opening at the bottom of the grease drip tray and scrape the inside of the drain tube that connects to the grease bucket to remove the excess grease with a paper towel. Use a drip bucket liner or make your own with aluminum foil for fast and easy cleanup.

Step 3: Clean the grease bucket by scrubbing out the grease with a wooden or plastic scraper — because grease can be messy, it is best not to use your nice nylon brush for this task.

Step 4: Empty the grease (and bucket liner) into a container you can throw away or directly into the trash. You cannot pour grease down the drain or into a gutter. Cool the grease entirely before throwing it away, as grease is flammable.

After dumping the grease bucket, you can also wash it with cleaner or soap and water.

Step 5: Add a clean bucket liner.

How dirty your grease drip bucket is will not affect how well your pellet grill functions, but if you empty your grease bucket often, it will be a lot easier to clean the next time.

If your pellet grill’s grease bucket gets exposed to the weather, be sure to remove it after use, as rainwater can

How To Clean The Outside Of Your Grill 

For spot-cleaning on the outside of your pellet smoker, you can simply use a damp cloth to remove grease marks, dust and dirt relatively quickly.

To perform more of a a deep clean, use a soft cloth with soap and water, stainless steel cleaner or a BBQ degreaser. Follow these simple steps:

Step 1: Make sure your grill has cooled down to room temperature before spraying any cleaner on the outside of your grill.

Step 2: Apply your cleaner using a soft cloth or spray bottle. If you choose to spray cleaner onto your pellet grill, be very careful not to get any inside of your grill. Avoid spraying stainless steel cleaner onto plastic components as it can cause them to degrade more quickly.

Step 3: Allow the cleaner to sit for at least 30 seconds to break down any dried grease or food residue.

Step 4: Wipe the cleaner off with a clean cloth or paper towel. If cleaning a stainless steel BBQ, wipe in the same direction as the grain. If your smoker has a painted surface, wipe in circles.

Repeat this process as necessary until you remove all of the dirt and grime.

Using a wet cloth, wipe down the grill’s surface to remove all remaining cleaner or soap residue. Do not rinse your pellet grill with a hose or bucket, as water can get into the grill or hopper and cause damage to its electrical components or ruin the pellets.

WARNING: Always unplug your pellet grill from the power source before cleaning it with water. It is best to move the grill out to the open where the water can drain into the garden.

Once finished allow it to dry for at least 24 hours before your next grilling session.

Empty your wood pellets from the hopper before cleaning and check that there is no water or cleaner in the hopper before putting the pellets back in. You can read more about the cons of wet pellets in my guide on do you soak wood pellets before smoking?

How To Deep Clean A Pellet Grill 

Everyone has different schedules and preferences when it comes to cleaning their pellet grill. Some people may prefer only to clean what’s necessary and only clean when it looks required, however others like (myself included) like to the a quick, simple clean after each use and a deep, detailed clean at least once a month.

Here are the steps I take to deep clean a pellet grill:

Step 1: Remove both grills from the smoker. These should already by clean from after your last cook, if not follow my guide on how to clean a pellet grill and ensure the grills are clean before removing.

Step 2: Remove the drip tray from the smoker. If the drip tray has a cover or foil, assess the cover and clean if in good condition otherwise dispose of the grill tray cover and or aluminium foil. Clean the drip tray with a BBQ grease cleaner or soapy water.

Step 3: Once exposed vacuum all of the ash out of the smoker. Be sure to clean all of the ash out of the fire pot, and any pellets laying in the fire pot.

Step 4: Wash down the inside of the smoker with a rag and soapy water.

Step 5: Wipe down and replace the fire pot guard and ensure it is secured in position.

Step 6: Replace the clean grease tray and either re-wrap in aluminium foil or place a new grease tray liner.

Step 7: Replace the shelves.

Pro Tip: Be sure to clean the temperature sensor with a rag and soapy water so that your temperature regulation is perfect next time around.

FAQs On Cleaning Pellet Grill

Final Thoughts On Cleaning A Pellet Grill

Cleaning and maintaining your pellet grill is a vital part in ensuring both safety and a great cook!

So, be sure to keep this pellet grill cleaning guide handy to ensure you don’t miss any steps.

And if you’re looking for more great guides, why not check out my guides on can you use a pellet smoker in the garage or the best place to buy pellets for smoker!