The pellet grills are a great option for those who enjoy cooking outdoors.
However, if you want to take your grilling experience to the next level, Camp Chef’s Pellet Grill is the way to go.
But when it comes to cleaning the pellets, the burning question is, how to empty pellets from the camp chef grill?
To make this task easy, you should go for those pellet grills manufactured with a pellet hopper door; so that you can pull the door and pellets easily come out from the hopper.
Why Would You Remove Pellets From The Camp Chef?
There are various reasons for which you need to to remove the pellets from your camp chef grill.
Change the Flavor
You can test out different flavors of hardwood pellets by using your Camp chef grill.
Camp Chef come up with different pellets.
Some pellets pair better with certain foods.
Many folks prefer certain flavor for certain type of food.
So, if you want to change the flavor, you need to remove previous pellets, if they are different flavored pellets and fill your hopper with your preferred ones.
For deep cleaning
If you want to deep clean your pellet grill, you need to remove the pellets from hopper and auger to make it empty.
If you are cooking brisket, ribs or more greasy food, your pellet grill gets dirty or greasy quickly.
The pellet grills are especially made for long slow cooks. But these long slow cooks make your grill dirty quickly.
So, Camp Chef recommends to deep clean your grill roughly after every 50 hours of cooking.
If you don’t cook on your pellet grill very often, you can give a deep cleaning to your grill once every several months.
For a deep cleaning of the grill, you should remove the pellets, so you can clean the dust from the hopper and auger.
Storing the grill properly
Many Folks enjoy grilling on their pellet grill throughout the year especially if it doesn’t have very cold weather where they live.
Whereas some people like to store their grill during the colder months and like to enjoy grilling in the spring.
If you’re storing your grill outside, you should remove the pellets from hopper and auger.
Leaving unused pellets in your hopper can lead to rot, if they will be exposed to the outdoor environmental elements.
Emptying your hopper after each cook and storing the leftover wood pellets in a sealed bucket safely can ensure your pellets last as long as possible.
This can also help to prevent your Camp Chef auger from jamming.
How Do You Empty the Camp Chef Pellets From the Hopper?
If you own a grill or pellet smoker, you have to maintain it to be in its optimum condition.
If you are thinking about how to empty pellets from the camp chef, read the steps:
Safety first
Before starting your emptying process, it’s essential to read out the manuals.
Ensure that the grill is cool, and then unplug from the power source.
While unplugging it, your hands should be properly dry.
You should then wait for 36 or even 48 hours to start your cleaning process.
Emptying the hopper
We then start with our motor area, or what we call the hopper.
Grillers often dread the hopper area, considering it has many technicalities to it, but it’s your grill, and you’ve got to own it.
Since the hopper is where you store your pellets, you first scoop out whatever you can for further use.
Keep the pellets somewhere safe, or you can just put them back in before your next grilling adventure.
Emptying the drain
Even if you don’t know how to empty the camp chef pellet grills, the Smokerpro has got you covered.
The hopper has a pullout knob attached to it that does all the work.
You raise the pullout lock located at the bottom of the hopper.
The manual will give you a clearer description of this cover.
You pull out the hopper cleanout flap, and the pellets come running out of the drain.
Remember to use a bucket underneath the drain, so you catch all your pellets.
Using the hopper rack
Now that you’ve let the hopper drain do its part, there are some measures you can take to clean this out more evenly.
There is a hopper rack that you can use, or you can use your hands to push the remaining pellets out the drain.
The race here allows you to reach the guard and sweep the pellets out.
If the dust bothers you, you can wipe it with a rag or use your vacuum again.
That sums up cleaning the hopper.
Push that tiny cleanout knob back in and lock the entire drain back in place using the pullout lock.
Place the rack back at the top in between the hopper lid.
The hopper lid isn’t generally a problem but opt for Philip’s screwdrivers if it needs opening up.
How Do You Empty the Auger to Add New Pellets in the Camp Chef?
After figuring out how to empty pellets from the camp chef, it’s time for the auger section.
The auger rarely needs cleaning because it has been built like a screw to prevent jamming up.
However, there are situations when your grill will turn you down, mostly because the auger needs maintenance during rainy or windy weather.
Before you start ordering new parts, always check the auger.
Unscrew the hopper
You first unscrew Phillip’s screws to attach the hopper to the grill.
The Camp Chef grill typically has four screws externally, two in the front and two in the back.
After you’ve done unscrewing them, you’ll find two more screws inside the hopper at the bottom.
There is also a vent shield underneath the hopper that will need unscrewing.
You’ll find that the hopper is separated.
To keep the hopper safe, rest it above a chair or tool and keep on working.
Separating the motor
Around the auger’s axis is a pin that will need an Allen wrench to be removed.
On the other side is a lock nut which can be taken apart using some needle-nose pliers.
Your main target is to separate the motor from the small rod covering the auger.
After segregating the nuts from the bolts, your motor comes out easily.
This is where you’ll find the rest of the pellets.
Vacuum the pellets nice and clean, and you’ll see your auger in front of you.
This is a long metal screw that is fixed into the grill.
More about Auger jam
You can twist the auger to see if it moves uniformly inside.
If it’s stuck, it will mean that there’s either grease or hard pellets stuck around the auger.
This usually happens if the smoker sits outside for more than 10 to 15 days, and bad weather can make it even worse.
In situations like these, taking the extra pellets from the smoker is essential.
Otherwise, the Camp Chef augers can jam up badly if there are a bunch of pellets down there.
The wetness can further make them swell and revert into sawdust, which will turn everything into a locked and rough surface.
Afterward, your grill will not run efficiently.
Fixing Auger Jams
To pull the auger out, you will first need to pull the auger guard out, which is fixed with the help of a small screw.
If you’re doing the job right now, you will be able to feel the auger moving without all the screws typically attached to it.
If it’s hardened pellets that have kept the auger stuck, use needle pliers or vacuum inside as much as you can and give the auger a hard pull (or an easy one if it’s not stuck).
Washing this part depends on whether or not it’s caked.
If not, a good wipe is enough.
That’s about it. Put everything back up, and you’re good to go.
Check Here To Know in Detail About Camp Chef Auger Jam
Adding new pellets
Before adding new pellets, make sure that the hopper is clean and dry; and pellets are dry as well.
Firstly, open the hopper’s lid and keep checking that no substance is blocking the auger tube.
After priming the hopper, grab your pellets and start filling the hopper thoroughly.
This priming procedure is essential for the hopper as soon as you get the camp chef for your outdoor cooking session so that, at any time, the smoker can run out of pellets.
When you put in the pellets, you can prepare your grill for cooking.
How To Clean the Camp Chef Auger?
After figuring out how to empty pellets from camp chef, it’s time for the auger cleaning.
Between the cook
You don’t have to follow any rocket science maneuvers for this part.
Just keep in mind that you must remove the ash from the cup before firing up the grill.
You will find this on the right side of the chamber.
You also want to clean the food residue or grease spots while cooking sessions.
Make a vinegar solution and use a clean spongy pad to look squeaky clean enough to reflect the sunlight.
Remember that the chamber is hot, so keep checking the temperature before using your hands.
This will help avoid the burnt taste of food on your tongue as well.
Other than that, cleaning between cooking sessions makes deep-cleaning efficient all the more.
Cleaning Auger
The inside section of the auger tube gets greasy and dusty after processing the pellets.
It’s better to clean out the entire auger every 72 hours of cleaning.
Nowadays, pellet grills come up with this pellet dump feature so that emptying the pellets becomes effortless.
It doesn’t matter if your grill has this feature since the pellets may need to be scoped out manually.
Grab a vacuum to dust out the particles and wipe away all the greasy substances.
Before re-dumping the pellets, the auger has to be dry and clean.
Final Thoughts
Enjoy your winter evening with your family without worrying about empty pellets from the camp chef.
We have laid for you the entire way to make your task easier.
The aforementioned steps helps you to empty the pellets from your Camp chef grill.
So, cherish each moment!
Sources:
https://www.campchef.com/blog/how-to-safely-deep-clean-your-pellet-grill/
https://www.campchef.com/blog/how-to-clean-your-pellet-grill/
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