Help! Drip tray / Heat baffle rusted

[ivqancorp]

Hello all,

I havent used my 34 in 6-months or so. I wanted to smoke a turkey for Thanksgiving. As I was cleaning my smoker, I noticed the Drip tray and Heat baffle, both had rust on them. Are they safe to use? If not, is my only option to replace them or is there a way to clean them and continue to use? Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you gentlemen.

 

[traeger860]

How bad is it? Try a food safe grill cleaner/degreaser and a scraper and see what you can get off. Make sure they're dry before you re-install.

 

[RayClem]

The drip tray and heat baffle are plain steel, not stainless. The main body of the grill develops a layer of grease and soot that acts as a protective layer. The heat baffle and drip tray get hot enough that the protective layer cannot develop. If moisture gets inside the grill, these parts will rust. While unsightly, it is not going to hurt anything as far as cooking is concerned. Try cleaning the rust with a green Scotch Brite pad. Do not use a cleaner designed for stainless steel such as Bar Keeper's Friend as these products contain acid that will just make the corrosion worse if not neutralized completely.

If you want a pristine looking grill, there is a guy on the forum with a metal shop that sells custom made drip trays and heat baffles made of stainless steel. I do not have one, so I cannot vouch for the quality, but the photos look good. He makes them specifically to fit different Traeger models.

Here is the thread started by @Shawnbbqman. If you send him a PM along with your Zip Code and Traeger model, he can provide a quote for the cost of the new parts plus shipping to your door.

Heavy Stainless steel drip trays and heat shields

I build these to order for almost every traeger grill. Send me a message with your grill model and zip code and I can get you a quote. These are built out of heavy 304 stainless so No more rust No more warping so less apt to catch fire No more hotspots Looking forward to talking to all of you

www.traegerforum.com

 

[ivqancorp]

Thank you.

 

[BobbyQ]

Every cooking grill I owed developed rust on parts exposed to flame or high temperature. It hasn't affected my cooking in fifty plus years.

 

[TELLIOTT]

Check this post out. https://www.traegerforum.com/threads/heavy-stainless-steel-drip-trays-and-heat-shields.3566/