Grate/Drip Pan Cleaning & Gasket Sealing

[JGouvisis20]

How's it going everyone!

I'm a newbie to pellet grilling, and have done 5 cooks since getting my bull last week. Ive read a few posts and tried a few things, but am wondering about a couple of them now and need some input.

Grate & Drip Pan Cleaning

I've seen a few people with drip pan mods, and different preferences on cleaning grates etc. From what ive found over the past week for myself is there doesn't really seem a point in cleaning the grill grates entirely every other cook? Am I wrong? It makes sense I think to scrub off heavy build up on the grates, but not so much to scrub down all the rails if there isn't build up all over the grates? Maybe a quick scrub across it all, but not "deep" cleaning them every time. After all, you want your grates to be seasoned right?

Same thing for the drip pan. Some foil them, and replace the foil every other cook. Some don't foil, and just scrap off heavy build up that falls on the drip pan. It makes sense to me to foil so that grease doesn't build up too much and start a grease fire, but wondering if its best to not foil and just scrape off heavy build up so that the drip pan can become seasoned also?

My question is how often do you clean your grates, what are your go to cleaners/ solutions you soak them in, and how often do you deep clean your grates is so?


Gasket Sealing The Door, Hopper, Etc

I myself just sealed the door of my bull. Don't really see a point in sealing the hopper from what i can see. However ive seen some say they put gasket on the upper and lower part of the door only, but not the sides. Since putting gasket on all four sides under the lid, it seemed like when I set a temp point it took longer than without the gasket to reach the last 1-2 degrees? What have you found to be best? Im not so sure its a good thing to keep all smoke from escaping, and wondering if taking the gasket off the sides on the under side of the door is better?

My question is what should I do? Im sure many have done what I am doing now, and have found out what is typically best. Please let me know your thoughts.


Thanks in advance for your help!

Josh

 

[Lager1829]

Re grates: I just use a wire grill bush to scrape off the chunks. It's a grill!

 

[Gonefishin]

I either toss it on the gas grill, cover with foil, and put it on high, or, put it in the utility sink, spray with Members Mark grill cleaner, wait a few minutes and clean with a SS scrubbie.

As far as how often, when the brush doesn't clean them well enough.

 

[ol' stonebreaker]

I foil the drip pan and change the foil when the hopper is almost empty. At the same time I vac out the ash in the firebox and bottom of the barrel. I also scrape all the grease out of the trough and vac it out and use a welding rod with hook in the end to clean the grease chute.
For the grate I just use the stainless steel scrubber to clean the top only.

 

[gwrace1]

I dont see any need for the gaskets. Grill is working perfectly and what little smoke escapes just adds to the experience of smoking. I do use foil on the drip pan and a jar in the bucket.

 

[C. Keeper]

I dont see any need for the gaskets. Grill is working perfectly and what little smoke escapes just adds to the experience of smoking. I do use foil on the drip pan and a jar in the bucket.

The Traeger aluminum foil covers looks interesting if you can find the right size, but pricey.

 

[Uncle Bob]

I'm with @padlin00 on the Members Mark (almost typed Maker's Mark...............tells where my priories really lie) grill cleaner. Grates in the utility sink. Just be careful, it's a caustic.

There seems to be a quaint notion that escaping smoke is akin to losing smoke flavor, or alternately that holding smoke in helps increase the smoke flavor add. This is one of those things that messes with the brain and is the result of incomplete processing. The smoke travels on air currents. The fire needs air to be part of the fuel burn process. The PID controller measures the heat based on settings and sends signals to the fan to control the amount of air flowing. Whether you put a gasket on or not, it's going to do it's thing. All the gasket does (to some degree or other) is keep the air/smoke from releasing where you want or don't want. There's still going to be the same amount of air being pushed in, which in turn will be forced out..........wherever it finds an opening. "Holding in the smoke" would mean holding in the air, which in turn would mean the fire would be starved. This is a forced draft system, as opposed to say a charcoal burner that relies on balancing the intake and exhaust controls for induced draft, it's going to force whatever amount of airflow it is programmed to do to maintain the temp level it's set for (all things operating properly).

 

[Greg Jones]

All the gasket does (to some degree or other) is keep the air/smoke from releasing where you want or don't want...

I agree 100%. Fire needs oxygen and the only way to get it is to force the oxygen-depleted air (with smoke) out. As a side note, the BGE is a pretty tightly sealed unit, and closing down the vents on a hot fire can produce a pretty dramatic backdraft if the lid is later opened suddenly! One quickly learns to burp the lid in that scenario.

I put a gasket on my Bull because I wanted maximum smoke to escape out of the smoke box, and to that end it was well worth the effort. A side benefit, which I really like, is that closing the lid gives a nice sound rather than the clang of metal-on-metal. My wife insisted I put a gasket on her new RT-340 for that reason.

 

[Uncle Bob]

@Greg Jones I just noticed you list a Wyldside in your inventory. Have you done any review of that I missed?

 

[Greg Jones]

@Greg Jones I just noticed you list a Wyldside in your inventory. Have you done any review of that I missed?

Yes, just added it a couple of weeks ago. I’ve not done a review per say, but I’ve posted pictures of a couple of cooks on it in the Wyldside forum here. There’s lots of work with it, unlike the Bull, but what a blast to cook on. And it doubles as a fire pit when we are done eating!

 

[Ostrichsak]

Only reason I put a gasket on my lid is because I don't want to deal with trying to keep the stainless steel around it looking clean. Bonus: it closes nicely and "feels" better as a result of putting a 1" strip of LavaLock around the perimeter. I couldn't care much less about the minimal (if any) difference in efficiency or smoke-on-meat. Not sure why everyone is so focused on those aspects as not everyone chooses to do it for the same reason.

 

[TheGuto]

@Ostrichsak I agree, I'm a new RT-590 owner and with my first cook the sides of the stainless steel all around the lid are discolored now (best way to clean that?). Was hoping gasket around the lid perimeter will help cut that down.

I was also thinking that there are three vents on the back top of the cook chamber, smoke has plenty of room to escape there - am I wrong in this line of thinking?

 

[DrewD]

Only reason I put a gasket on my lid is because I don't want to deal with trying to keep the stainless steel around it looking clean. Bonus: it closes nicely and "feels" better as a result of putting a 1" strip of LavaLock around the perimeter. I couldn't care much less about the minimal (if any) difference in efficiency or smoke-on-meat. Not sure why everyone is so focused on those aspects as not everyone chooses to do it for the same reason.

DId you use the 1/4 or 1/8 thick lavalock?

 

[Ostrichsak]

@Ostrichsak I agree, I'm a new RT-590 owner and with my first cook the sides of the stainless steel all around the lid are discolored now (best way to clean that?). Was hoping gasket around the lid perimeter will help cut that down.

I was also thinking that there are three vents on the back top of the cook chamber, smoke has plenty of room to escape there - am I wrong in this line of thinking?

Same happened to me on the front and back from the initial burn-in. If you didn't do it much basic cleaner and a little elbow grease should be enough. If you did it for a longer period something like bartender's friend could save some effort. If it's really bad you may into scotch pad territory. For me, I always prefer less harsh solutions with more elbow grease though as it tends to be better for the item you're cleaning.

 

[Ostrichsak]

DId you use the 1/4 or 1/8 thick lavalock?

I opted for the 1" by 1/4" stuff. I initially ordered the 1/2" wide by 1/8" but when it arrived it was tiny. The cost was about the same with the larger version being a few pennies less so I sent the smaller stuff back. Happy with the size/fit of the larger option and I imagine it will hold up better long-term and give more margin for error when wet and other things that could affect the performance of it.

 

[JGouvisis20]

Wow guys thanks for all this! I really do appreciate it!

 

[OceanSailor]

I like to clean my grates after every use. I have found that spraying the grates with olive oil spray before cooking makes it much easier. I clean them in my kitchen sink using Dawn, a scotch pad and sponge. Before I started using the olive oil I used a stainless steel chain mail scrubber https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08HHXDDPC?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share
but now only use it for bad spots.

For the grease inside the grill I found Greased Lightning from Lowes works well. I've decided not to clean the lower barrel often on the unproven hypothesis that the grease may capture ash and keep some of it from ending up on the food.

 

[Snook]

I double foil drip pan and then just replace top layer of foil if it’s really covered and I’m going to do a cook on high heat for something like chicken. You don’t want all the grease on drip pan before high heat cook. I leave the bottom layer of foil on for many many cooks. Using two layers makes replacing the top layer very easy. Grease still gets through foil to drip pan and two layers keeps the top layer from sticking. If I’m only doing low and slow cooks there is no need to change foil or scrap drip pan. Not enough heat to create grease burn smoke. I only scrap my grill grates with a wire brush. I never wash. It’s just like using a cast iron pan. Never wash with soap and water. You want it to stay seasoned so nothing sticks to it.

 

[Rlhanson]

I agree 100%. Fire needs oxygen and the only way to get it is to force the oxygen-depleted air (with smoke) out. As a side note, the BGE is a pretty tightly sealed unit, and closing down the vents on a hot fire can produce a pretty dramatic backdraft if the lid is later opened suddenly! One quickly learns to burp the lid in that scenario.

I put a gasket on my Bull because I wanted maximum smoke to escape out of the smoke box, and to that end it was well worth the effort. A side benefit, which I really like, is that closing the lid gives a nice sound rather than the clang of metal-on-metal. My wife insisted I put a gasket on her new RT-340 for that reason.

Greg, please explain the gasket. My Trailblazer came with the lid a little tweaked from shipping damage. RT gave the ok to bend it back to shape and said they will send me a new one if I want. After 8 cooks There is visible leaking at the top corners and bottom of the lid. So I’ve been wondering about sealing or gasketing. I also bought the vent tubes and they don’t seal well. I live in NW Iowa. Windy all the time

 

[Greg Jones]

Welcome to the forum!

The lids are not going to seal 100% even without shipping damage, and recteq’s position is that’s to be expected. The people that choose to seal them up with a gasket material like LavaLock do so for multiple reasons. Some don’t like the looks of the staining on the stainless steel where it comes out-that doesn’t bother me as I like patina on a well-used tool. Some believe that it keeps more smoke in the chamber, for flavor-above @Uncle Bob explains well why the physics of combustion says ‘Nope, doesn’t work that way’. Some don’t like the clang of metal on metal when opening the lid-I’m in that camp myself. Some want to direct as much smoke as possible through the smoke box of the RT-700s that have them, and I’m in that camp as well. There may be other reasons for doing it, but that’s all I could come up with this morning.

Frankly, it’s an expense and a pain to apply the gasket and not needed from a functional standpoint, other than directing smoke through the smoke box may give marginal benefits. My wife asked me to gasket her new RT-340 because she too doesn’t like the metal on metal clang, but the all-weather vents are gasket free. A search here for ‘LavaLock’ will, I expect, give you more info than you want on the subject!

Edited to add:
@Rlhanson , one thing I forgot to mention-I’d never seal the lid to fix shipping damage. If that’s why you are inquiring, then contact recteq and request a replacement. They have the best service in the business, and they will make it right.