When it comes to a pellet grill, most of you scared of grilling on such type of grill.
But you if are a Traeger pellet grill owner, you are undergoing an awesome grilling experience as it is pretty much easy to use- set it and forget it!
I know investing in a pellet grill is a huge investment for the next many years before you replace it with a new grill and everyone always taking care of it for keeping it in good condition.
But most of you face the problem of rusting. If you are living in areas where you are facing weather challenges, you might experience your Traeger grill is started to rust.
If you are wondering, how do I stop my Traeger Grill from rusting?
There are few simple practices such as regular cleaning, seasoning, repainting of the grill are little things but having a great impact on the grill, which helps to keep your Traeger from rusting.
You should also protect the grill from outside environmental conditions. For this, you should keep the grill in a garage or covered area after every use, and investing in a Traeger grill cover also works best.
Read further to know more about the prevention of Traeger grill from rusting in detail.
What is Rusting?
Rust is a reddish-brown oxide formed by the reaction of iron and oxygen. It is formed in the catalytic presence of water or air moisture.
Rust is formed through the oxidation of iron. Oxidation means forming a compound known as Iron Oxide, this is called rust.
There are three elements involved in rust formation- Iron, Oxygen, and Water. The presence of three elements together leads to rust formation.
The environment of the rusting item plays an essential role in the speed of rusting.
There are high-quality grills which immune to rust to some extent. But if you don’t take care properly, it might get rusted.
Do Traeger Grills Rust Out?
Traeger grills are known as the king of pellet grills. They are invented by Joe Traeger back in 1986, they are still a top-selling brand to this day.
No doubt, Traeger manufactures high-quality grills. They are made up of stainless steel material.
These high-quality grills are immune to rust to some extent. However, with improper care, they might get rusty as well.
As I mentioned above the environment of the rusting item has an important role in rusting speed. If your Traeger grill is constantly get contacted with water and humid condition, it might get rusted.
If the grill rusted speedily, it will lose the aesthetic value and effective functionality as well.
So, always save your Traeger grill from these environmental factors that prone to the grill rusting.
How Do I Stop My Traeger from Rusting?
Following are the best practices to keep your Traeger grill from rusting and keep it running long, new, and perfect forever.
So, better care and maintenance, longer it will last.
Keep the Traeger grill clean
When you cook anything on your grill, there always some food residue left.
You should clean the grates by using a grill brush to keep it clean. Also, clean inside and outside of the grill.
There is powder coating on the exterior of the Traeger grill. For keeping the powder coating like brand new, use warm soapy water to remove the grease. Don’t apply oven cleaners, any abrasive cleaners, or scouring pads on the outside of your Trager grill.
The ash is very alkaline and corrosive, so it is a good practice to keep it away from the metal.
Many of you have dedicated vacs to clear the ash. So, don’t wait for a warning message and clean the ash more often than waiting.
It is very much easy and hardly takes a couple of minutes.
Dry the grill thoroughly after cleaning
It is very essential to dry the entire grill thoroughly after cleaning. Because if the water is left inside the grill, it leads to a high risk of rust development.
If any grill parts came into contact with water for longer, it will get rusted so early.
You need to check even small nooks and crannies whether there is water collected inside and dry it completely.
After cleaning is done, you should wipe off the grill with a dry soft cloth or paper towels also works great.
Every so often deep clean your Traeger grill
Give a deep clean of your Traeger on regular basis.
You can clean the grill with the following steps and maintain the functioning of the grill for longer:
- Start with spraying the grill grates with an all-natural cleaner. Also, spray inside of the chimney.
- Remove both sides of the grill grates and clean them. Don’t use wire brushes for cleaning.
- Discard old foil or drip tray liners. Take out the drip tray and the heat baffle.
- Vacuum the inside of the grill and the fire pot and clean it properly as they are exposed to quite a bit of heat so you get surface rust.
- Scrub the inside of the chimney.
- Spray the inside and outside of the Traeger grill with the all-natural cleaner and let it soak for few minutes. Then wipe down with a paper towel or cloth rag.
- Reinsert all parts of the grill- including the heat baffle, drip try, drip tray liners, new bucket liners, and the grill grates.
Now your Trager grill is ready to use again.
Traeger recommended cleaning the Trager grill after every 2 to 3 cooks.
It really depends upon how high in fat and sugar content, a lot of stuff dripping off.
But cleaning after 2 to 3 cooks is a good thumb rule.
You may need to clean the grates more often after cooking greasier foods or a long cook.
Invest in Traeger grill cover
Most of the folks keep their grill in the backyard without any cover.
If you stored your Traeger grill outside during the wet weather, there is a high possibility of water enter into the pellet hopper and the pellets get wet.
If pellets get wet, they will expand and may clog the augur.
Moreover, the Traeger grill can’t cook your food with wet wood. It means the efficiency of cooking on a grill is also get affected.
So, I recommend investing in a good Trager grill cover is the best thing ever which keeps your grill from rusting and will not affect the efficiency of cooking on the grill by any means.
The grill cover protects your grill from harmful weather conditions like rain, snow, sun, freezing rain, or any other stains.
It is the best practice to a cover grill every time after you’re done using it.
The price of a grill cover is not so much high, so every grill owner should have one to prevent your expensive pellet grill from rusting and keep it in pristine condition for longer.
If you don’t have a cover, you should take extra care to keep the pellet hopper covered. Keep the pellet hopper away from the water always.
Keep the grill in the garage or covered area
Most of the Traeger grills are portable, you can easily move them to the garage.
At least you should choose a safe place to store that prevents weather conditions.
Never leave your pellet grill outside after using it. If it stays in too humid condition, it will create a rust issue sooner.
Repaint your Traeger grill
If you are facing the issue of rusting and flaking off your Trager grill you can repaint the grill and turns it like brand new.
For repainting grill, you can get the Trager paint from their website or you can use the Rust-Oleum High Heat Primer.
Rust-Oleum is a high-temperature paint that can withstand high temperatures really well.
It allows for rust protection and corrosion resistance.
Grill Seasoning
Seasoning is a great way to prevent rust build up on the grill grates.
If you want to keep the grill grates from rusting, you can recure inside the grill.
Recuring the grill also helps to keep it from rusting.
For this, you need to clean the grill grates with a wire brush and scrape off the rust if any.
Coat the insides with some vegetable oil and cook up a few pork butts.
After that, you can cook other batches of ribs, brisket, beef roasts, etc. but most of them with low-temperature setting. You’ll see a nice coating on the inside with seasoning after that.
Related Questions
How to prevent Traeger drip pan from rusting?
Rusting drip pan over the period of time is normal. You can simply wrap the drip pan to prevent it from rusting. You can also use tray liners over the foil.
You can add two Traeger tray liners to a drip tray. This helps to have an extra layer on a drip tray to protect it.
The next cooking time on the grill, just simply peel off the upper liner and you’ll get clean foil underneath as well. It makes a breeze in grilling your food next time and protects the drip tray as well.
What if my Traeger upper heat baffle being rusted?
It is good practice to spray the cooking oil over the heat baffle when you are not going to use a grill for longer.
You can prevent the upper heat baffle rust from seasoning.
You can also season the baffle with canola oil before keeping the liner in its place. Scrape off the old rust with a wire brush then apply oil on it and start to cook your food on the grill.
When you clean out and vacuum the grill each time, apply a nice seasoning layer on the baffle helps to keep it from rust.
Final Thoughts
You are a Trager grill owner who is going through an awesome grilling experience, rusting will not be your obstacle in your grilling if taken care of grill properly.
Though it is made of stainless steel, the Traeger also prone to rust due to factors such as, if your Traeger grill is constantly get contacted with water, humid condition and improper care of grill, etc.
Now you know how can you stop Traeger from rusting. Follow these simple practices and tips and tricks if it is started to rust and it will prevent the grill from rusting.
It will also help for better care and maintenance of the grill that enhances your grilling experience for longer as well.
Happy Traegering!!!
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