Removing metal shelf in hopper

[bbgriller]

All good ... my method of changing out pellets is to use a cup (or my hands) to empty out the hopper from the top down until I can see the auger ... then dump in the new pellets ... the old pellets in the auger will burn up during the IGNITE phase ... the hopper door is fairly useless - you will end up spilling out some pellets and spending more time changing out / cleaning up afterwards ...

I agree, the hopper cleanout door is useless. For the cost of the grill one would think they could come up with a better way to change out the pellets. It's a total waste.

 

[Stew55024]

I’m planning to remove the angled/holey metal shelf that is installed in the new 850s in the hopper to make it easier to clean out the hopper and change wood flavors. Is there any good reason I shouldn’t do that as long as I promise not to stick my fingers in the auger?

I purchased a separate 2.5 gallon shop vac just to clear out the pellets. It great fast and super easy. I then open the shop vac and dump them into the 5 gallon bucket that is holding those pellets. Then I seal the lid tight. $35 for the shop vac