Four Top Tips for Winter Grilling in Oregon
Pacific NW Winter Weather Grilling Can Be Great
Ahhh winter in Oregon – the crisp winter air, snow falling softly outside, and warm home cooking simmering away on the stove. If you thought grilling was out of the question during these chilly months, think again! With a few easy tricks and tips at your disposal, anyone can learn to successfully grill throughout the winter in Oregon. From proper preparation to post-cooking maintenance, we’ve got four top tips for ensuring your food comes off of that hot grill sizzling and served up just right. As an official Traeger Dealer we also carry the full line of supplies to take your winter grilling to the next level.
The grilling season doesn’t end as the weather gets colder. In fact, many hearty favorites, including smoked brisket, pulled pork, smokey chili con carne, and more, taste even better when the wind is howling and snow is pouring outside. However, grilling throughout the winter is very different than BBQing in the summer. Here are some pointers for grilling in the winter. And as always the team at Classic Pool Spa and Hearth have the accessories and advice to help at every turn with two Portland area locations.
1 - Safety First
Are you wondering how to effectively protect your Traeger Grill during winter? With a few precautions, such as keeping the cover on at all times and protecting from harsh weather elements, you can ensure that your Traeger Grill continues to perform optimally for years to come. Whether you’re looking for extra protection in dry climates or ways to reduce moisture damage in wet climates, we’re here with tips and tricks on how to keep your Traeger Grill lasting through those cold winter months.
Make sure that you can walk back and forth securely by clearing a path, applying salt or sand, and other measures. Maintain a clear path to your grill and refrain from letting snow accumulate there. Your Traeger investment will be shielded from the weather and made easy to clean of any ice or snow buildup with a grill cover. Rain can cause “black” ice to form on your patio or deck, even if you live in a lower elevation and don’t have to deal with snow very frequently. We are all accustomed to Oregon’s cloudy, wet, windy, and sleety weather. The use of a grill cover keeps your Traeger looking brand-new and makes grilling simpler and more pleasurable.
Winter Grilling Safety Review
When working with raw meat, poultry, or seafood, wash your hands thoroughly. Before you grill it, keep it apart from the other items, and refrigerate it. Always be sure to wash your hands before and after working with it. Make sure that the juices from it do not come into contact with any other food, utensils, or surfaces.
Utilize a food thermometer to check that it has reached an appropriate temperature level. And lastly remember. keep leftovers in the refrigerator for up to two hours after cooking. You can always learn more about how to grill safely from the CDC’s Food Safety information pages.
2 - Keep Your Grill Clean and Ready to Use
Maintaining a clean grill is important for more reasons than just its aesthetics. It’s required for good barbecue maintenance. A clean grill is not only healthier for those who use it but also assures that it will perform the way you need it to. The specifics of how to clean a grill are going to change depending on the kind of barbecue you have, but the fundamentals will stay the same. The experts at Classic Pool Spa and Hearth are always happy to answer your questions.
Start by checking to see that your grill has totally cooled down. We suggest using an all-natural degreaser and cleaning should be sprayed on the grill grate as well as the interior of the chimney. Traeger does produce their very own all natural grill cleaner and Classic Pool Spa and Hearth keep it on hand and available. Take the grill grates out of the grill, and clean both sides. Most often times consumers only clean the top side of the grates. This often overlooked detail can lead to a premature need to replace the grates. Instead of utilizing wire brushes, we advise picking up a cleaning cloth or some heavy-duty paper towels and giving those a go.
Get rid of any old foil or liners in the drip tray. Then remove the drip tray and the heat baffle. The next step is to clear out the hopper of all of the pellets. Vacuum the inside of the grill, the firepot and the hopper thoroughly, making sure you gather as much residual sawdust as possible is important. This also provides the opportunity to inspect your grill for any additional maintenance or repair needs.
Avoid Wire Brushes
Cleaning the interior of the chimney is important. It cannot be stressed enough how strongly we advise against using wire brushes. Instead, you should make use of a cleaning cloth or paper towels with a heavy-duty weight rating. Spray the all-natural degreaser and cleanser on the interior and outside of the grill, and then let it soak for several minutes before wiping it clean with a paper towel or cleaning cloth. You are welcome to use any non-chemical cleaner, such a mixture of dish soap that has been diluted with water and vinegar, however we prefer using our Traeger All Natural Cleaner instead.
3 - Work Smarter with the Traeger App
The Traeger App places a plethora of taste combinations at your disposal. All of these things can be done from your phone, including controlling your grill with WiFIRE® whenever and wherever you want, accessing more than 1500 wood-fired recipes, learning from the experts, and receiving tailored material that helps you become a better cook.
The Traeger App Adds Flavor to Your Winter Grilling
The control panel of our grill makes it more simpler than ever before to check on the status of your meal, make temperature adjustments, configure alerts, activate Super Smoke Mode, and do much more besides. You should save all of your go-to recipes and follow all of your preferred cooks and barbecue pitmasters so that you can readily refer to them anytime you need to. With the push of a button, you may transmit the necessary cooking instructions for a dish to your linked grill. Find hundreds of recipes for cooking over a wood fire by going to the “Recipes” tab and looking for the magnifying glass symbol in the upper right corner of the page.
4 - Your Leave-In Thermometer is Your New Best Friend
It’s the meat probe you may have never known you needed or wanted. This meat probe will change your grilling game and the compliments you receive. Often times even if there is no snow in sight, your grill will take longer to heat up and may lose heat at a more rapid rate. All these changes mean that you may not know how much heat has really gotten to your food. Opening and closing the grill numerous times just leads to more heat dissipation. Try to keep your grill closed as much as possible in order to keep the heat in.
Wired Meat Probe
Most of the Traeger grills come with a wired meat probe to help ensure you reach and maintain the perfect temperature for your meal. Remember to pay attention to this tool, especially during the winter season in the Pacific Northwest.
Wireless Meat Thermometer
The MEATER Plus, an improved version of the first completely wireless smart meat thermometer, keeps your grill cord-free while providing you with accurate, real-time data on your cook so you can guarantee excellent results every time. The MEATER Smart Meat Thermometer App allows you to keep a careful eye on your cook from across the yard or from your couch thanks to its expanded wireless range of up to 165 feet. You may keep an eye on your cook from the app, eliminate guesswork with the Guided Cook System, and schedule the arrival of dinner using the Advanced Estimator Algorithm. So get rid of the mess and use the MEATER Plus to cook with flawless results every time.
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