Have a FEC-100 cooker and have seen recently where some folks say to empty the hopper after each use. Is this necessary? Reasons - maybe the moisture effecting the pellets and the auger?
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doughboy
we live in florida where the humidity is high,.
after every use or shut down procedure is this
1-turn to max temp and run all pellets out.
2-after parking the rig vacuum out both the hopper and the firepot
3-clean all grills,grease pans, tray, greasepan and the greasepan nozzle for lack of a better term
doing this prevents off smells and flavors but more importantly precludes grease fires and the dreaded pellet-crete
we do this everytime the fec is used
jack
we live in florida where the humidity is high,.
after every use or shut down procedure is this
1-turn to max temp and run all pellets out.
2-after parking the rig vacuum out both the hopper and the firepot
3-clean all grills,grease pans, tray, greasepan and the greasepan nozzle for lack of a better term
doing this prevents off smells and flavors but more importantly precludes grease fires and the dreaded pellet-crete
we do this everytime the fec is used
jack
doughboy,quote:Originally posted by prisonchef313:
[qb] ...and the dreaded pellet-crete...
jack [/qb]
You don't want to get the 'crete. Mess to clean up.
For me, I've had zero problem in our area (knock-on wood) because I keep it covered and our area's not too bad on humidity.
Just keep a little small shop vac and it clean right out..and fast.
I never run mine out and have never made crete . I want it to start up when I turn it on and not have to wait and then re start it to lite it up .I do vacumn mine when done and clean racks so it will ready when I get hungry for BBQ or cook a cookoff . Just my 2 cents
KP,
We don't have many pellets left in the hopper at the end of cooking, but we do let them burn all out. In St. Augustine, envelopes seal themselves if you let them sit around 1 day, so we have a very high humidity, especially during warmer weather. We burn out the pellets and vacuum the hopper and as far into the auger as possible. I think cleaning out all the fat is important too.
I try to get rid of all of it.
I would think SC would be pretty humid. But we lived in Atlanta for a while. The people there said it was humid when I thought it was pretty dry. If your humidity is like Atlanta's maybe you'd be ok letting them stay in. But that probably depends on how often you use your FE.
Peggy
We don't have many pellets left in the hopper at the end of cooking, but we do let them burn all out. In St. Augustine, envelopes seal themselves if you let them sit around 1 day, so we have a very high humidity, especially during warmer weather. We burn out the pellets and vacuum the hopper and as far into the auger as possible. I think cleaning out all the fat is important too.
I try to get rid of all of it.
I would think SC would be pretty humid. But we lived in Atlanta for a while. The people there said it was humid when I thought it was pretty dry. If your humidity is like Atlanta's maybe you'd be ok letting them stay in. But that probably depends on how often you use your FE.
Peggy
Hi all,
I live not to far from KP and have no where near the vast experience with my FE as him because I have only had mine a little over a year but my experience has thus far been that my pellet hopper had a couple of leaks in it and the pellets would get wet in the corners in a rain.(I sealed them up)
I do not run it out after a cook but I do not let it sit idle for more than a few days either.
I have found that some pellets seem to leave more debris after a burn that others so I always check the fire pot before a cook to see if it needs cleaning. Some pellets can burn 100 hours worth without needing to clean the pot and some about 3 hours.
experience will tell you what to do,
My .02
I live not to far from KP and have no where near the vast experience with my FE as him because I have only had mine a little over a year but my experience has thus far been that my pellet hopper had a couple of leaks in it and the pellets would get wet in the corners in a rain.(I sealed them up)
I do not run it out after a cook but I do not let it sit idle for more than a few days either.
I have found that some pellets seem to leave more debris after a burn that others so I always check the fire pot before a cook to see if it needs cleaning. Some pellets can burn 100 hours worth without needing to clean the pot and some about 3 hours.
experience will tell you what to do,
My .02