1st year observations Silverton 620 and question about leaving Grill Grates in all the time

[dfeew99]

Greetings and thanks to all who contribute to this forum. Your input is invaluable.

Synopsis of my 1st year with Silverton 620:
Traeger is way oversold as a smoker, but WiFi and temperature control make it very convenient to use.
Smoke tube is essential and generally corrects the lack of smoke flavor issues. Difference in pellet woods is subtle at best for main burner, but may be more important in smoke tube.
Included temperature probes are inaccurate even after calibration (inexcusable for a temperature-driven device), but direct read thermometer should be the final check anyway.
I used it for meat, veggies, pizza-on-stone, and even tried cookies (pizza and cookies came out fine but no different flavor than oven). Best for meat and slower cooks, acceptable for other tasks.
It is my only grill. I don't mind using as 'normal' medium-temperature grill. Increased pellet consumption for higher temperatures isn't a big deal.

Grill Grates question:
I added two GrillGrate panels and found they are helpful. Seriously doubt they increase temperature 100 degrees as advertised, but they do add sear marks and corral loose veggies better.
(Nice folks to deal with and always have some kind of sale going on). Grates are greasy so to keep from moving them on and off, I keep half the grill with Traeger grates only and half with Grill Grates over the factory grates. When I am using Traeger as a gas grill substitute (e.g. quick burgers where I'm not trying for any smoke flavor) I tend to use GrillGrate side. When I am starting with low temps (180-225) to get smoke in first, I use the factory grate side for maximum air flow.
MY QUESTION: Anyone have experience only using Grill Grates 100% the time for both slower/lower cooks as well as higher temperature sears? (620 is a smaller grill so it would be handy to have one configuration). Grill Grates have much less air flow through the bottom, but 620 does have fan-driven convection and rear exhaust. Any thoughts?
Thanks

 

[RayClem]

Although I have an IW885 rather than a Silverton, most of your remarks are consistent with my own observations.

I did purchase a set of Grill Grates. My grates only cover about half of the grill surface, so there is plenty of room for air circulation. Like you, I doubt that the temperature of the grates can be 100 F higher than the grill air temp. The laws of thermodynamics and heat transfer dictate that heat always transfers from areas of higher temperature to those of lower temperature.

In a gas or charcoal grill where the grates can be heated by direct infrared radiation from the burners or coals, it is possible for the Grill Grates to get hotter than the air temperature inside the grill. However, in a Traeger grill, the grates are partially blocked from direct Infrared radiation by the drip tray.

The advantage of the Grill Grates is that they are excellent heat sinks. With the conductivity of the aluminum, it will quickly transfer heat from the mass of the Grill Grate to the protein being seared. Carbon steel and cast iron are also excellent heat sinks, but the heat conductivity of these metals is less than aluminum so heat will not be transferred as efficiently.