Stampede Normal Amount of Ash?

[grillmeister]

New to pellet smokers and after the initial burn in I cleaned the grill up and did a three hour smoke on a pork loin. I’m getting it clean to do a pork butt and I noticed what seems to be, to me, an abnormal amount of ash from that short smoke. I’m using lumberjack pellets after a recommendation. It may be normal but I just wanted to check. Thanks!

 

[Greg Jones]

It’s not always to tell by looking at a photo, but doesn’t look excessive to me for a 3-hour cook. The amount of ash you will get can, and will, vary from pellet to pellet. As example, I’ve had good results from all the Lumber Jack pellets I’ve used, but for the Char Hickory. That was the dirtiest pellet that I’ve ever used, and I bought 100# of it.

As a side note, recteq currently recommends cleaning the fire pit after every 4-5 cooks, letting the hopper run empty after every 4-5 bags of pellets, and only cleaning the ash out of the bottom of the grill 1-2 times a year. Personally I don’t get the running the hopper empty part at all, but the rest of it makes sense.

 

[grillmeister]

It’s not always to tell by looking at a photo, but doesn’t look excessive to me for a 3-hour cook. The amount of ash you will get can, and will, vary from pellet to pellet. As example, I’ve had good results from all the Lumber Jack pellets I’ve used, but for the Char Hickory. That was the dirtiest pellet that I’ve ever used, and I bought 100# of it.

As a side note, recteq currently recommends cleaning the fire pit after every 4-5 cooks, letting the hopper run empty after every 4-5 bags of pellets, and only cleaning the ash out of the bottom of the grill 1-2 times a year. Personally I don’t get the running the hopper empty part at all, but the rest of it makes sense.

Thanks! I just wasn’t sure being new to all this. The tenderloin was amazing so I figured if it was something bad I’d taste it.

 

[ol' stonebreaker]

I always let my hopper run down almost empty so I can push all the dust down into the auger.

 

[C. Keeper]

A clean grill is a happy grill.

 

[Mastertech59]

Looks completely normal for that long of a cook. I haven't cleaned the bottom barrel of my Bull, only the fire pot and throw that in the barrel in way over a year, probably 3 to 4 hundred pounds of pellet's used, the ash is great insulation.

 

[FastEddie]

Yes, clean the firepot. I have a can of compressed air to get it good and clean, and toss in a small amount of fresh pellets for the next cook to start off smooth.

I leave the ash for insulation. It'll need to get cleaned out some day when it builds up too much.

 

[sdynak]

Ok.. since we are being honest here I have yet to clean either the pot or bottom since I started using it. I got it about mid December and can't say for sure how many cooks. Certainly a few day longs and more than I can count on cooks with reverse searing.. like 1hr deals. It just works too good and I'm afraid to change anything . I guess I better take a peak at the pot before the next fire up.

 

[charlesrshell]

Ok.. since we are being honest here I have yet to clean either the pot or bottom since I started using it. I got it about mid December and can't say for sure how many cooks. Certainly a few day longs and more than I can count on cooks with reverse searing.. like 1hr deals. It just works too good and I'm afraid to change anything . I guess I better take a peak at the pot before the next fire up.

I vacuum out the fire pot and body after every use.

 

[ol' stonebreaker]

That's a good idea to leave the ash in the barrel for insulation especially in my cold climate. I also use the small shop vac for the firepot. I do that after burning 20 lb of pellets.

 

[Greg Jones]

I guess I better take a peak at the pot before the next fire up.

That’s the #1 tip I would give to anyone about these pellet grills. Every time one of my grills starts having temp fluctuations or is slow to warm up to temp, cleaning the fire pot has fixed it. The Bullseye can even fail to fire up with a dirty pot because its igniter rod length needs to be adjusted, but I’m waiting for spring to do that.

 

[sdynak]

That’s the #1 tip I would give to anyone about these pellet grills. Every time one of my grills starts having temp fluctuations or is slow to warm up to temp, cleaning the fire pot has fixed it. The Bullseye can even fail to fire up with a dirty pot because its igniter rod length needs to be adjusted, but I’m waiting for spring to do that.

Well I guess that is kind of the opposite why I have not done anything yet as everything is working normally.. I guess I'm on borrowed time. Will see what it looks like today. I have to estimate maybe 100# of pellets so far so not that far in.