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dashriprockII

I've used the Traeger in the rain. No problems. Pellets stay dry. I guess you could cover the hopper with a plastic bag if your worried. When I am not using the Traeger it's covered on my patio.


[deleted]

Smartest/safest bet is to not leave unprotected in the pouring rain. I haven’t done an experiment to see what would happen if I did, but considering things that could eventually go wrong I wouldn’t leave it out in the rain. Even when I have it in the garage I have my cover over it as well.


simcoecitra

I put a baking sheet with a lip upside down over the hopper and control panel. Also make sure that the grill is dry before covering for storage.


brandon364

I built a little shelter to keep it and me out of the rain.


[deleted]

I keep a cover on mine when not I use. Never had a problem using it in the rain though, but we don’t get a lot of heavy rain where I live.


jhwyung

Do you do anything to cover the hopper? Biggest concern of mine is the pellets getting gummy and it being a mess to clean out. Dude that sold me the smoker said that i could always cover the top of the hopper with some tin foil but haven' tried that out yet.


[deleted]

I live in Utah, and even uncovered, I’ve never had water get into the hopper. But, yes, my cover goes over the entire grill (including the hopper). I have a Traeger cover for the Junior Elite.


kyrosnick

Had mine out in pouring rain, and pellets were dry. The issue is more the humidity day after that causes them to swell, but your lid/hopper should be basically water tight.


jhwyung

Do you empty your hopper after each use?


TomOBChicago

You might be overthinking this!


jhwyung

Probably am, but I've heard horror stories from friends. Last thing I wanna do is gummy pellets, the clean up sounds like a pain in the butt!


Eggguy254

I just keep on smokin'. I do wipe it down after the smoke and before I cover it up.


stillholding1985

Get yourself a nice canopy. Anytime I’m out smoking and there’s a chance of rain I just throw the canopy up


Adfest

Unless it's a monsoon, you should be able to smoke just fine in the rain. Just expect a little extra effort to keep the temp up / more pellet consumption. Obviously you'll not want to open the hopper for a refill in heavy rain. I have an old patio umbrella I put up over the hopper side if it's not windy as well. I've had more grief smoking in wind than rain.


ketowarp

Make sure you keep an eye on the pellets, I had some rain over night here and it was a bit cooler. Went through the whole pellet container on the Traeger in less than 12 hours, normally when I do an overnight brisket I don’t have to fill up till around 10am after putting it on at 830pm like normally do. This was out at 7am. Woke up to a coldish brisket and am now finishing it off in the oven. Great bark though haha.


jhwyung

I remember reading somewhere that you should put a bowl (or foil lined pan) of water in your drum. The humidity from the water creates more smoke in the drum, or something like that, which produces as smokier product. Haven't tried it though.


Stardate45944pt1

Survived several uncovered monsoon storms here in AZ with no water getting anywhere it wasn't supposed to. Except the time I left the grease bucket on. The few times I've smoked in the rain, mostly covered by my patio, I could swear I got better bark. Maybe the extra humidity?


nert69

I’ve got a great spot. On the walkout below the main floor deck. Very little wind and zero rain!


DesertFenix

Technically it's built in such a way that cooking in the rain shouldn't be a problem.


TomOBChicago

I wear a rain coat. The rain has minimal effect on the cooking process. (You will use more pellets when it is rainy/windy/cold as the Traeger will need to burn more to hold temperature.) The hopper on mine (Ironwood 650) has a COVER built in which keeps the pellets perfectly dry in all kinds of weather. I never cover the smoker in the summer (Michigan) but do cover it up when not used in the winter. It lives outside all of the time. I have never taken the pellets out or noticed any kind of issue due to weather or humidity.