I know you are here because you just welcome the Traeger pellet grill into your life.
Now you are much excited to up your smoking game on your Traeger!
If you are a total newbie for pellet grilling, you may wonder can you use Traeger without pellets?
Then the simple answer is, no.
You can’t use Traeger without wood pellets.
As Traeger is a pellet grill and its main source of fuel is wood pellets.
If your Traeger running out of pellets during the cooking, the grill temperature reduces and flame off the grill eventually.
It is not safe at all using the electric pellet grill without pellets.
Here you’ll get to know in detail about Traeger and its main fuel wood pellet.
How Does The Pellet Grill Work?
The augur pushes the hardwood pellets to the fire pot.
Inside the fire-pot, there is a little hot rod that has a silver finish that gets red hot.
This hot rod ignited the pellets and feed the flame thus add delicious wood-fired flavor to your food.
So, your Traeger doesn’t need any gas, propane, or charcoal as fuel.
There is a fan within the grill that circulates the heat and smoke for consistent and even cooking.
A drip tray keeps the flame away from your food and avoids any flare-ups.
All functioning is controlled by the controller.
It maintains the right temperature so that you don’t need to babysit while cooking on your grill.
Can You Use Traeger Without Pellets?
As I mentioned above detailed functioning of the pellet grill, pellet grill needs wood pellets.
Traeger needs pellets for cooking over it.
Wood pellet is the sole fuel for Traeger pellet grill. Without pellets, it won’t work.
So, if you are wondering, can you use Traeger without pellets?
Then the simple answer is no.
You can’t use Traeger without pellets.
If your Traeger running out of pellets while cooking, the temperature of the grill decreases and flame off the Traeger eventually.
It may be dangerous to use an electric pellet grill without pellets.
Always ensure there are enough pellets in the hopper before cooking.
The great thing about Traeger wood pellet is it does not just contain wood; it comes in a variety of flavors that suits a different variety of food.
So that you can enjoy different flavors to your food with flavored wood pellets while cooking on Traeger.
Let’s dive into the various types of Traeger wood pellets and their flavors here.
Different Types of Traeger Wood pellets
These flavors are matched to every type of food.
The Traeger pellets are good for any type of food.
But if you want to get the most out of the pellets burn them wisely for a specific food.
The Traeger pellets are FDA approved.
They come in an extensive variety of flavors.
You can even blend the flavors and form a unique flavor for your food.
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Click Here to see the best selling Traeger pellets on Amazon
How Much Pellets Does a Traeger Grill Use?
The amazing thing about Traeger grills is that they burn real wood and they are all-natural wood pellets.
Traeger pellets are a bit expensive but the final food flavor is amazing.
The pellets burn in a controlled manner offer an outstanding flavor.
The Traeger burns 1 to 3 pounds of pellets per hour that really depends upon the temperature you are cooking at your grill.
Traeger says each 20-pound bag provides between 6 to 20 hours of cook time.
If you just grilling on your Traeger, a 20-pound bag could last quite a while.
However, if you are smoking your food, a bag could last for only one or two cooking sessions.
What To Do If You Run Your Traeger Out of Pellets?
Probably every pellet grill owner made this mistake- You turn on your pellet grill, throw a nice cut of meat in the grill and you are not attentive to your grill for an hour or so for some reason.
When came back, you see the message pops up on your Traeger “LEr” error code.
You got this message it means that your grill dropped below 125 degrees for more than 10 minutes and caused the grill to shut down.
After getting the LEr message, you need to restart the grill.
For this, turn off the grill and ensure the grill is cooled down.
Remove the grill grate and drip tray. Slide the heat baffle so that you can access the fire pot.
Vacuum out the fire pot as accumulated ash in fire pot may be the reason for Traeger’s flame out.
Then fill up the hopper with pellets. Turn on the Traeger again and set it to a high temperature.
Wait until the auger fills with pellets and some pellets feed into the fire pot.
Put the grill back together and apply the normal starting process to fire up the Traeger.
Can Traeger Wood Pellets Go Bad?
Yes, a Traeger wood pellet can go bad.
If Traeger pellets not stored properly or are not protected from moisture, they can go bad.
The poor handling also causes pellets to go bad.
Traeger wood pellets are made just like other wood pellets.
If you leave Traeger pellets in the grill hopper it also leads to pellets going bad.
We don’t recommend leaving pellets in the hopper. It causes the moisture trapped in the pellets and the pellets to rot.
So, storing the pellets precisely is very essential for their longer shelf life.
Can You Just Grill on a Traeger?
Of course, you can just grill on Traeger.
In fact, Traeger can do much more than just grilling and smoking!
Traeger says, their Traeger grills are a “6-in-1” grill. Their grill can:
Grill, Smoke, Roast, Bake, Braise, Barbeque
Traeger heats up using indirect heat. The grilling is a little slower than on a traditional grill.
As Traeger is an electric grill, it cannot get as hot as a charcoal grill or a propane grill.
The Trager grills achieve temperatures up to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
Whereas charcoal grills can attain a temperature over 650 degrees and gas grills can get between 600 to 650 degrees.
You can use two-zone cooking on charcoal and gas grills, where you can leave one side cooler than the other.
This allows you to grill over different heat like direct, very hot heat or indirect, lower heat.
If you are looking for a grill for only grilling function, then it is wise to buy a gas or charcoal grill instead of a Traeger.
You may not have enough control over the temperature setting, but you have more control over deciding on whether you cook with direct or indirect heat.
But you can even grill veggies on Traeger like a traditional grill.
The Traeger won’t burn anything as it uses indirect heat. But it may possible you can overcook it.
Where to Buy Traeger Wood Pellets?
You can buy the Traeger pellets in your nearest local retail stores like Walmart.
However, you can also buy online at Amazon.
You can easily compare the prices and you may find them at economical prices at Amazon.
After getting them, don’t leave them in the bag they come in.
Make sure you’ll store them precisely in a Traeger pellet storage bucket.
This bucket holds 20 lbs of pellets and keeps your pellets completely free from moisture.
Final Thoughts
Now you know, you cannot use Traeger without pellets.
Cooking over Traeger brings the true flavor to the food with fire.
It enhances the taste with all-natural hardwood pellets.
But you should also take care of while cooking on pellet grill for safety reason.
For safety, you should make sure Traeger has sufficient pellets to burn especially during long cooking hours.
You should inspect the wood pellets before start the cooking on your grill.
If you notice the Traeger is going to run out of pellets during a cooking session, you can add more pellets anytime during the cooking.
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