You've made the smart choice to buy a Pellet grill because of the unbelievable flavor you can bring to you and your family. So how do you make sure you sustain the best flavor and performance from your Camp Chef Pellet Grill?
WOOD PELLETS
Getting Started
Here are a few things you should know about your pellets. Kind of like how high nutritional foods help you feel better, cooking with Premium Hardwood Pellets is essential to getting the best flavor and performance from your grill. Camp Chef's hardwood pellets are kiln dried to minimize moisture content, have no fake additives for flavor, and are the highest compression wood pellets on the market. This means you'll get a consistent, hot burn in your fire pot, see fewer temperature fluctuations, and best of all the wood-fired flavor you've come to enjoy will taste the best as well.
Swapping Pellets For Different Flavors
If you're new to pellet grilling, save yourself the trouble and try out two kinds of Camp Chef pellets. Competition Blend (Proprietary mix of Maple, Hickory, Cherry) is great for EVERYTHING. Beef, veggies, poultry, pork, etc. Whatever you want to cook, try out the Camp Chef Competition Blend today. If you're looking for something that is extra great for poultry or pizza, try out the Natural Herb Blend. Swapping pellets is easier than you would think and is available on many of Camp Chef's lineup of pellet grills. Few other pellet grill companies even allow you to swap pellets, and typically only on their highest end models. To swap pellets, simply pull the pellet dump knob and have a bucket (ideally one with a lid) ready to catch the pellets.
Pellet Storage
Just like starting a fire in a wood burning stove; if the wood has a high moisture content it won't start, or maintain a flame. The same is true for your pellet grill. You need to keep pellets stored in a dry indoor space away from humidity and fluctuations in moisture. If your pellet grill ever isn't running properly, pellets are the first thing to check.
PELLET GRILL CLEANUP
Ash Kickin' Cleanout
Camp Chef's Patented Ash-Cleanout system is faster, easier, and more intuitive than any other pellet grill on the market, and best of all it keeps your grill running right. For quick cleanup between cookouts, you don't need to do anything too dramatic. It's as simple as pulling a knob. Before you fire up the grill each time, just empty the ash into the cup, and you're good to go. This does three things, it prevents extra ash from being blown around in the grill, and on your food, it makes startups faster, and prevents half of the flame-outs from happening.
Besides emptying the burn cup, you'll want to spot clean between cooks. This can be as simple as wiping away grease spots or food residue on the side shelf. You should also scrape down the grill grates and drip tray with a wire grill brush or spatula for best tasting food. If you take these small steps toward keeping your pellet grill clean, any deeper cleaning you do will be much easier.
You should give your grillfriend a deep clean roughly every 50 hours of cooking. So if you don't cook on your pellet grill very often (you should fix that), you may only need to deep clean your grill once every several months or year depending on how devoted you are to grilling. If you're a pellet head like we are at Camp Chef, you'll find yourself doing this routine more often. Luckily, it's quite simple.
Exterior
Safety first! Make sure your grill is totally cool and unplugged from its power source.
Empty the pellet hopper to prevent your pellets from getting wet or coming into contact with cleaning substances. This is the best way to winterize your grill for those of you in cold climates.
Wipe off the cleaner with a clean paper towel or rag. Wipe with the grain if you're cleaning stainless steel or in circles, if you're cleaning a painted surface.
Repeat the process once more to clean off any remaining grease or smoke. Rinse thoroughly if you used soapy water. Allow drying for at least 24 hours before cooking, and double check that the hopper is completely dry before reloading pellets.
Interior
Safety first! Make sure your grill is totally cool, then unplug it from its power source.
Empty the pellet hopper to prevent your pellets from getting wet or coming into contact with cleaning substances. Pull the Ash Cleanout knob and empty the ash from the burn cup.
Open the lid and remove the cooking grate, any extra racks, drip tray, and heat diffuser plate from inside the grill. Keep in mind, this is a once in a blue moon activity with a Camp Chef grill, and a bi-weekly chore for most pellet grill companies. Pay attention to how these pieces are installed (or even take a picture) so you'll have an easier time reassembling your grill.
Use a wet/dry vacuum with a hose attachment to remove loose ash and debris.
Look for places inside your grill where grease has built up. Use our chain mail scrubber and bench scraper (a paint stick, pan scraper, etc.) to dislodge and remove it.
Use hot, soapy water and a rag you aren't attached to wash the interior of your grill, as well as each piece you pulled out.
