Smoking adds a whole new dimension to the overall texture of the meat.
It makes the meat taste so delicious and yummy.
Nowadays every restaurant tries to smoke their meat to make burgers sandwiches or shawarmas.
They do it because smoking gives a dramatic effect on the entire flavor of the meat.
When you smoke meat for a long time, the smoke will break down the collagen making the meat more tender and juicier.
You can’t achieve this by simple grilling.
But there are some parameters you have to maintain.
When it comes to Traeger grills, one question might have come to your mind.
It is related to a Traeger grill pellet box smoking.
Why does it happen?
Well, smoke will arise from the hopper when you cook.
But make sure it’s not happening during the shutdown mode.
This incident is known as the backburn.
To prevent this issue, turn your grill to smoke mode.
Today, I am going to talk about the main reasons why Traeger grill pellet box smoke so much and the main remedies that you can try to avoid this smoking issue.
5 Reasons Why Your Traeger Pellet Box is Smoking Too Much
1. Backburn
Many people complain that their Traeger grill is smoking too much.
Some may neglect it thinking it’s normal. But in reality, it’s not.
This happens because of backburn.
The pellets in the Traeger pellet box burns in the Traeger grill auger which causes excessive smoke.
Excessive smoke can ruin the texture of the meat.
The meat will get overcooked and chewy.
No one likes overcooked meat.
Other reasons that can cause excessive smoking are as follows.
2. Excessive Grease
After cooking for a long time, grease and dust start accumulating inside the Traeger grill’s tray.
This gradually leads to creation of too much smoke.
3. Moisture in the Pellets
It is best to keep the pellets dry.
When there is too much moisture in the pellets, it does not ignite easily.
This obviously leads to unnecessary smoke.
Also, when there are large number of moist pellets in the grill, you will experience too much of smoke.
4. Airflow Issues
If your Traeger grill fan is not functioning properly then there can be too much of smoke.
Upside down fan is a common issue that generates air to the hopper.
Also, when you don’t clean the fan for a long time, molds and grime spread on it deteriorating its function.
5. Not Being on the Level Surface
Check if your grill is on a level surface.
If it’s not then this may be the main issue for the smoke.
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6 solutions to Control the Smoke Coming out of Traeger Grill Pellet Box
Smokes coming out of the Traeger grill pellet box indicates an airflow issue.
You shouldn’t neglect it at any cost.
The main reason behind it is due to the fan not functioning properly.
Therefore, it doesn’t blow the correct amount of pressure.
As a result, the air doesn’t come out of the exhaust allowing the smoke to rise.
There are some solutions you can try to control the smoke coming out from your Traeger grill pellet box.
1. Manually Spinning the Fan
Try cooking something on the grill.
While cooking, listen to how much sound the fan makes.
If you can’t hear the spinning sound, then turn off the grill.
And then try manually spinning the fan with your hands.
When you manually spin the fan, the pressure loosens up grimes or molds of the fan that prevent it from functioning properly.
2. Re-Installing the Fan
Another reason smoke can come out is that the fan is pushing air to the hopper rather than the firepot.
In this case, the fan should exhaust all air to the firepot preventing any smoke.
If this happens try to reinstall the fan properly.
3. Cleaning the Pellet Box
You should always clean your pellet box every once in a while.
If you don’t maintain its cleanliness, then ash and molds can get stuck in the vacuum.
This can ultimately cause airflow issues.
Take your time and clean the pellet box properly with a clean cloth and some detergent.
4. Unplug the Grill
Try unplugging the grill.
It will reduce the amount of smoke gradually.
5. Keep the Lid Closed
If you keep the grill and hopper lid open then it will do no good.
The smoke will keep on rising due to the oxygen in the air.
So, keep the grill and hopper lid closed to maintain a minimum oxygen level.
6. Final Shutdown
In the end, you can perform the shutdown procedure by turning the whole Traeger pellet box off.
Make sure all the components of the pellet box are closed.
Try not to remove the pellets right away as it will be extremely hot.
Give it some time to cool down and then remove all the burned pellets from the hopper.
Can a Traeger Pellet Grill Catch on Fire?
Yes, like all other cooking appliances the Traeger pellet grill can catch fire.
Although they are quite safe, there is always some risk of catching fire.
Fire can cause because of way too many pellets in the firepot.
Also, if grease gets stuck in the drip tray, it can catch fire.
That’s why try to keep the pellets as dry as possible.
But no matter how careful you are, unfortunate events can still occur.
If by any chance fire catches, try not to panic.
Just try to close the pellet lid and move the grill away to a safe spot.
Unplug the grill and let it cool down.
The fire will eventually die out after some time.
Never put water inside the grill when its really hot.
It’s an electrical machine.
Putting water into it will only make matter worse.
Should Traeger Grill Pellet Box Smoke All the Time?
Yes and No both.
Its not necessary for your Traeger grill pellet box to smoke all the time.
But you can certainly do it if you want more soft and delicious meat.
Smoking for a long time gives the meat the perfect texture.
If you are grilling pork ribs then the bones will just fall off.
Traeger grill pellet box can smoke for up to 5 hours.
They are made of stainless steel.
So, there is no issue with the rust.
Also, the innovative and revolutionizing design of the box can hold up to a lot of wood pallets.
So, you can smoke for a much longer period of time.
But the grill will start to produce less amount of smoke when you set the temperature much higher.
It depends on your cooking style too.
How to Get More Smoke from My Traeger Grill?
Some of us love to smoke the meat.
We want to create as much smoke as we can to get the true essence of barbecues.
In most Traeger gill models, there is a switch to set which you can use to adjust the grill to smoke.
This will dispense just the right number of pellets to create enough smoke.
Also, it won’t raise the temperature above 150 degrees.
You can also turn the temperature up or down any time you want to get your desired results.
But if you are still not pleased, then try getting a cold smoke generator for your grill.
To attach it to the grill, you will need to make a hole in the side of the grill and attach the tube with it.
Then you can turn your grill along with the cold smoker and voila.
The smoke will be enough to put the clouds to shame.
I highly recommend you to use Realcook 8 Inches Cold Smoke Generator if you want to smoke pork, cheese, salmon and other meat items.
Final Thoughts
While cooking pork or other meat inside the Traeger grill, the smoke can often get inside your eyes.
You can get teary from it.
But the tears will turn into joy when the food tastes delicious.
Smoke is an essential element in cooking.
If you manage to master the art of it, everything you cook will turn out to be finger-licking good.
You can definitely get more smoke from your Traeger grill if you want.
If your grill pellet box is smoking too much, then you can also control the smoking with the help of above mentioned 6 solutions.
Best of luck for grill cooking.
References:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Traeger/comments/abe0nl/my_traeger_caught_fire_any_help/
https://www.traeger.com/support/smoke-coming-out-of-the-hopper
https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/threads/traeger-ptg-smoke-in-pelletbox.167308/
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