Is this normal? Blue greasy coating after initial burn in, see pics. Yes I read the FAQ thread.

[Olds442]

Well, go to Lowes, buy a $8 bag of pitboss and prove it otherwise...

 

[Slimpicker]

Empty that hopper, empty the auger... get new pellets in there... take your grill grate out if you don't want it affected... run some new pellets in that thing and see what happens... that's just my opinion. My bag of Traeger Signature is on the floor in my basement ready for the trash. You probably don't have to run it up anymore, just do a steady 325° cook for about 30 min and see... put some chick legs in there and see if they turn out... again, worst case is you throw them away and go get your new grill

 

[Timmy]

so the thought is that it's the oils in the pellets?

have you ever seen this before? @Slimpicker @Timmy

I dont trust Traeger pellets anymore. My issue was temperature.
I'd try a different brand and see if there is a difference.
And I've never seen anything blue. You've done 3 burn ins now, any residue should be gone.

 

[Olds442]

so i picked up a bag of https://www.traegerforum.com/threads/bbq-pelletts.2125/ pellets from home depot last night. my local ace only had traeger pellets, and this was the last bag of non-traeger pellets at HD. i'll have to stop at Lowes in the future i guess, since they don't carry traeger.

going out to do the tear down wipe down routine and re-burn after my morning coffee.

on the upside, the front tray i ordered from Amazon arrived. so that's cool.

 

[Olds442]

heading to 200f.

 

[Olds442]

so i did a while at 200f, then a while at 350f, and now it's at 450f.

honestly, it's not looking good. attaching images of the grill clean, taken prior to this mornings 4th break in.

 

[Olds442]

doing the cool down now. this f-ing sucks.

sure hope ABT comes through. they have all the pics as well.

 

[Atos]

I've read the FAQ thread and the part regarding the break in process. I recently picked up a Pro 575 and assembled it today and did the initial burn in with traeger pellets from ACE.

There was a chemically smell as stated in the burn in FAQs, but it was rather severe and i noticed a blue haze of a greasy like residue after it cooled down, relatively thick in places. I did a complete tear down and cleaned the inside with a rag and warm water, wiping everything clean. Cooking on the grates with that muck on them would have been a disaster. I did not see anything there prior to burn in, it was black and clean.

the two stripes are where i swiped it with my fingers, felt greasy.

everywhere the smoke exited, it's heavier, around the lid, by the exhaust, etc.

Yes I removed the little yellow cap on the temp sensor prior to operation. I expected a bit of a burn smell but it was pretty rough. Like I posted earlier, I cleaned the entire innards, removing the bottom heat shield and cleaning everything i could get to. I'm doing another "burn in" now to see if it happens again.

I appreciate any thoughts or comments, thanks for reading.

I just finished the second burn in, same thing, covered in light blue goo.

B4 I burned mine in, I 1st wiped all of the grease off(as much as possible). I still noticed a funky smell during burn in, but not after that. Def clean yours up as much as possible, I think I'd do a 2nd burn-in.
Much success!

 

[Olds442]

B4 I burned mine in, I 1st wiped all of the grease off(as much as possible). I still noticed a funky smell during burn in, but not after that. Def clean yours up as much as possible, I think I'd do a 2nd burn-in.
Much success!

i just finished by fourth burn in. same results as the first.

 

[daddyo]

You mentioned it "freezing out there." How cold? Much below 40 degrees or so, it might be hard to get the grill hot enough to actually burn off the machining/assembly oils. Your residue might be resulting from a partial burn off. A welding blanket is a good solution for holding heat in cold weather. WIll also significantly reduce pellet consumption.

Wind is also a BIG factor for these grills. Wind will greatly increase thermal loss from the barrel, increase pellet consumption and will generally suck the heat right up the flue. I often times put a coffee can over the flue topper when it is windy, but not cold. Slows down heat loss significantly. It also holds a lot more smoke in the barrel for longer if you want to increase the smoke taste.

My burn off run was clean and went to ~425 degrees.

 

[Olds442]

it's been warm during the day when i've run the burn ins. didn't need a jacket this am.

 

[davwhite]

What are you using to wipe the inside before your burn in? And keep that pit probe clean

 

[Olds442]

What are you using to wipe the inside before your burn in? And keep that pit probe clean

hot water on a rag.

 

[davwhite]

In the first initial burn in did you wipe the inside with oil? I would use Canola

 

[Olds442]

In the first initial burn in did you wipe the inside with oil? I would use Canola

no and that's the first i've heard of this. i did a little video watching and RTFM before breaking it in, never saw that suggested.


i just spoke with the nicest gal at Traeger CS. i sent the pics, she entered all the info, shared with others, and they are replacing it with a new unit. they're on backorder and they have two shipments coming in next week. i'll get a grill from one of those orders in a week or so after that.

really, i couldn't be happier with them and how i was treated. they'll be getting a good feedback score from me on their CS.