What is a Traeger Grill and How To Use It?

Photo of author

By Sana

A traeger grill is a grill that is mostly related to a wood-burning grill. The company is known for the good grills that they come up with. We are sure that you must have heard of the company Traeger. It is indeed important to see the variety in the features that they offer to their customers. Many people will think about the process of using a Traeger grill and we are here to help you out with it! Here are the steps that you need to follow to use a Traeger grill. 

Get The Grill Ready

The first thing that you need to do is to get the grill ready. If this is your first time using the grill then you might need to assemble the grill first. Some grills might come pre-assembled in the first place but those grills are not that common. You have to spare some time and follow the instructions in the given grill manual to assemble the grill. The different models are going to have different assembly procedures so make sure that you pay attention to them. 

When you are starting the grill for the first time you are going to need to remove the grill grates, grease drain pan, and the heat baffle. Many people do not do this because it seems like a silly little thing to do but trust us on this. We are here to help you so we are not going to make things difficult for you. This process is going to allow you to take care of any initial starting issues with the grill. 

Traeger equipment requires power to operate the internal thermostat, fan, igniter rod, and wood pellet auger. This means that you need to find a power outlet and plug in the grill. Here is a tip for you guys. To prevent the grill from starting unknowing or accidentally, keep the grill unplugged when you are not using it. 

Now the wood pellets that you need to use on this grill are a special kind. They are different than the other kinds of wood pellets and it is recommended that you only use the branded wood pellets from Traeger on their grills. The very important thing is that you also get a lot of options to choose from. There are different flavors of wood pellets that you can try out. They are hickory, mesquite, apple, pecan, oak, maple, alder, and cherry. All of them impart a different flavor to the food you are cooking.

The large box that is attached to the grill is known as the hooper. You need to fill the chamber with wood pellets. This is going to be the place where the wood pellets are going to burn. 

Preheating The Grill

You need to preheat the grill so that you can start cooking on it. It is important to note that many people will start cooking as soon as they open the grill which is not how the entire thing works. You need to switch on the button and then allow the grill to heat up. Now set up the grill to the smoke option and if your grill does not have it set it to the temperature between 160 °F (71 °C) and 200 °F (93 °C).

For most of the Traeger grills, you are going to need to give it 5 minutes to heat up. It is the time that they require. If your grill comes with the Advanced Grilling Logic then you are going to need like a minute or two for the preheating to be complete. If you are doing this with a brand new grill then you need to preheat for 2 or 3 minutes more than the general to watch out for any defects in the grill. When the grill is done preheating, the loud roaring sound from the grill's main body is going to notify you about it. 

This is the cue to close the lid of the grill. When you hear that sound being made by your grill, you need to go ahead and close the lid to allow the heat and smoke to gather up in the grill. If your grill does not heat up or if you do not hear the roaring sound then there might be some problem with one of the components of the grill. Check out your grill’s hotrod, fan, and auger to make sure and see if there is any debris or dust clogging everything up. If you find some then you need to clean it. 

When you are done with the preheating you can change the temperature of the grill to your desired temperature. This will allow you to cook good food however you want. You have to check the temperature gauge to make sure that you are getting the right temperature. Then you can cook whatever you want on this grill. 

Shutting Down The Grill

Shutting down the grill also requires some skills and a particular technique. You have to take off any remaining food on the grill. The grill needs to be kept clean for future uses so make sure that you clean the grill properly. If you find any food stuck to the grill grates then wait for the grill to cool down and then take it out. That's it.

You have to shut down the grill after this. Traeger has the shutdown option. After you have done the shut down you need to close the lid of the grill. After 10 minutes or so the grill is going to automatically shut off. Toggle the button to the off position and unplug the grill from the power outlet to make sure that you have safely shut down the grill. You can clean the grill once it is done. This is generally going to be done with a pair of tools that can get all the stuck good food and grime off the surface of the grill. We are sure you are going to get it done in no time. The food also comes out good so you are going to be sorted out. 

Conclusion

This is the end of this article. We are sure you understand that the Traeger grills are a bit different than the other grills. You might need to be patient with the grill and there are a lot of different types of flavors that you can achieve with the traeger grills. If you are someone who enjoys tasting different things and enjoying good food then this is the one for you. You can also experiment with the cooking method and come up with your special recipes. Anyway, we do hope that this time the guide has been helpful to you. We have tried our best to make the description and the process easier. Have a good day and take care of yourself. Happy grilling!