Bull Ash dust

[sundazes]

Do you folks that have the HD Bucket Head vac notice the ash getting thru the filter bag and blowing out the exhaust?

Yes, most definitely, especially since I vacuumed out the BGE's.

 

[Kent taylor]

I have a cheap stick vacuum I'm my garage that has a crevice tool the work's quite well in getting rid of any ash inside the chamber and the pot. I have.had my Trailblazer for about a month now and it does seem that the ash buildup is less than initially. I will clean out after a couple weeks or so.

Im on my 2nd 40 lb. Bag and have not seen a dust problem. Im sure it needs cleaning by now
I plan to use a shop vacuum. We will see.
.

 

[Grilltreats]

I've been in for near two years now with an RT-700 and Bullseye. I only vacuum the ash out of the 700 a few times a year. It's great insulation for the winter months, and a good grease catcher if need be. I use a couple gloved fingers to remove buildup from the fire pot about every five or six cooks. No foil.

Ash is not an issue for me. If I do see a couple of ash pieces floating around, I don't freak-out, I know I am grilling with real wood.

It does depend on the make up of the pellets as to how much ash is produced per cook. Those that contain a lot of oak burn hotter and cleaner, but with less flavor and ash. The RT pellets produce far less ash than the 100% Lumberjacks do, due to their oak content. I only use 100% LJ pellets. They include the bark, which I find to produce a lot more smoke flavor, but about double the ash of the RT pellets. I don't see a lot of ash floating around with my cooks. Occasionally, I'll see a spec or two, but for the most part I don't see any. My grill is well seasoned after two years.

Think about this. If your chamber is new and slick, the ash has nothing to grip to as it floats around, so it just keeps floating. With a layer of ash on the bottom, that's a place where ash can't bounce off of.

I think you'll find with a lot of use, the ash issue will diminish to next to nothing.

As a newb, I use to go crazy trying to keep my grill spotless inside. I do keep the outside looking pristine, but on the inside, I mainly keep the grate spotless only. I do clean/scrape the inside chamber and do a thorough cleaning about once per year.

 

[jmdaniel]

Anyone else here with a new Bull getting pellet/ash dust blown all over, both inside and out? I saw the one video where they said it was normal until the grill is seasoned. I have gone through a full bag of RT pellets on various cooks and testing for temps . I have done 4 lbs of bacon, couple chicken cooks, burgers, a prime rib and seasoned the griddle so far. I have cleaned its out a couple of times.
I have not called yet. Oh and it did not come with the card with with the owners cell phones on it. I have been on vacation so I have had too much time to play.

I didn’t get a card, either.

The dust went away after the first couple of cooks.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

I stopped by HD last night and picked up the Bucket Head vac. I haven't used it yet. But I did run it to check the suction.

I had thought it would double as a vac for the cars, so we didn't have to mess with the 25 year old cumbersome 12 gallon Shop Vac. But the suction doesn't come close to the big ol' Shop Vac, which we need to get the dog hair out of carpet and such. No such luck for $24.

I also picked up 5 or 6 buckets to store partial bags of pellets, 2 of which are from Lowes. Be advised, the rubber seal type lids from HD are tighter on the Lowes bucket. I never did get the HD lid on a Lowes bucket.

 

[cookingjnj]

I have not gone with the bucket. I picked up a 4 gallon porter cable wet/dry vac at Costco for about $20 a few years ago. Works like a charm and have not noticed any pellet dust bleed from the unit. I do use a vacuum bag in the unit.

 

[BDuffel]

I use the buckethead for general stuff and its great. I have had the 700 for 6 months and haven't cleaned the ash out yet and it's used every weekend. That's insulation for the cold months and I figure it is a once a year spring cleaning deal.

If you're doing hot cooks you will see a lot more ash and more will be blowing around. Most of mine are a few hours on LO then 225-250 for as many as 15 hours. Haven't had a problem with ash on food. I do knock the ash off the sides where the grates sit with a brush occasionally.

 

[Buckeye smoker]

I use the ole shop vac for ash when needed. And keep the Bucket head clean for pellet switching. It has plenty of suction for that.

 

[Mike]

There will always be a little ash blown around since you are cooking with real wood. However, I have noticed over time, as the pit gets more and more seasoned, the ash gets less and less. I still see some ash now, but not nearly as much as when the pit was new.

I must have seasoned mine quickly as I really haven't seen any ash on my food and only at the bottom of the grill where I just suck it up with a shop vac.

 

[Bytor]

I must have seasoned mine quickly as I really haven't seen any ash on my food and only at the bottom of the grill where I just suck it up with a shop vac.

I have to agree. I haven't had any ash on my food, just in the bottom of the pit.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

I have to agree. I haven't had any ash on my food, just in the bottom of the pit.

The background radiation from Oak Ridge might be pulerizing the ash.

 

[Switek]

I didn't notice any in the exhaust. A good amount was on the paper filter, in addition to the bottom of the bucket of course. That said, I also didn't have a ton of ash to remove. Others might have different results.

Same result here. Plenty on the filter, none in the exhaust.

 

[sundazes]

Three months later and the Bull is still spewing ash. Been going back and forth with CS for weeks. I saw a friends last weekend that is 3 years old and guess what, no ash. I am getting really tired of this. I have sent pics, videos, etc. I get different reps telling me different things. I was going to really raise hell last week but was swamped at work. They last time they told me to bend the fan mount farther away from the pot. Yea. no. it doesn't work like that.
They did send me new probes and board because they bad too. I think I got a lemon.
Any suggestions?

 

[bfletcher]

Three months later and the Bull is still spewing ash.

Can you share a couple pics with us that illustrate your concern?

 

[sundazes]

The pic below s about 10-12 cooks of varying times and temps. The dark spot below the probe was cleaned off and was ash free for 2 cooks.
One rep told me to let it go, so I did. The other was like oh no, you need to clean it out. You can plainly see the build up of ash all over the grill.
I have sent pics and videos. One video was of buying embers flying around.
I have since cleaned it out and scraped off a lot of the gook on the walls and door. I did a couple cooks and the ash is building up again. Doesn't matter if I vacuum it out ofter every cook or not. My buddies was ash free. He hasn't cleaned his in a year.

 

[sundazes]

 

[sundazes]

After cleanup and 2 cooks.

 

[sundazes]

I also have burning embers flying around. Anyone else see this? See the orange dot? I have video of them in motion...

 

[mooncusser2k]

Some ash and burning embers are to be expected with any pellet cooker. But the pic in post #35 looks excessive in my opinion.

What pellets do you use and what cooking methods? Pellets themselves can vary widely and low/slow versus hot/fast will mean differences in burn rate and efficiency. Any idea what your buddy uses as comparison?

 

[sundazes]

We both use RecTec and Traeger. Mostly Rectec. I got 400lbs of RT with the grill in Dec. I used one bag of cherry pellets from Traeger.
Been down that road with CS. I even traded a bag of his for one of mine. Same results.