Preparing Your Traeger Grill for Summer

Getting ready to fire up your wood-fired Traeger grill for the summer? There’s a whole season of delicious grilling not far off. But before you can start your grill for the first time, it’s important to make sure the grill is ready for another season of use.

Here are a few tips from our grill store in New Jersey to help you prepare your Traeger grill for all the use it’s going to get this summer.

Clean it out thoroughly

Cleaning your grill isn’t exactly a fun chore, but it’s a necessary one to keep it in good condition and to keep all your food tasting great. First and foremost, take out the grates and give them a good scrubbing. You can use a simple wire brush and damp cloth to clean off the grates. However, it is not recommended that you use soap—the soapsuds can linger on the metal, and it’s tough to wash them off completely.

There are some types of specialty grill-cleaning products that you can soak your grate in that will dissolve the carbon and leftover food on the metal, leaving it looking bright and shiny once again. But oftentimes a good soak in water and a bit of elbow grease with the right brush will work just fine.

Once you’ve set your grates aside, be sure to clean the inside of the grill as well. Remove any ashes or buildup of burnt food or grease, and wipe everything down really well with a damp rag. Do not use the wire brush on the interior of the grill—you could scratch it up, causing some irreversible damage. Stick to your damp cloth or rag. Take your time, and don’t feel like you need to get it looking like new again—this isn’t going to happen with a grill that’s been used for a while.

Finally, make sure you clean the auger and hopper. All Traeger wood-fired pellet grills have augers at the bottom of the hopper that pull the hardwood pellets into the fire pot. Cleaning the hopper is easy, because it’s a much larger open space, but the auger takes a bit more time and effort. Still, it’s worth it to ensure you have a completely clean grill.

Prepare your grilling utensils

Gather all your grilling utensils, clean them and make sure they’re organized and ready for the new year of grilling. If anything appears to be missing, replace it now—the last thing you want is to throw some meat on the grill and suddenly find you’re missing your favorite spatula or tongs. Look closely at your grilling pits, pads and aprons. If they have been burned, damaged or soiled beyond any hope of repair, consider replacing them as well.

These are just a few steps you can take to help you get ready for a full season of grilling this summer in New Jersey. For more tips, contact the experts at our grill store in New Jersey and we’ll be happy to assist.