The Traeger Pellet Grill was invented in 1985 by Joe Traeger. Angry that a regular grill burned his family’s food, Joe made the first commercial pellet grill.
He later sold the Traeger company for around $12.5 million dollars in 2006. Ingenuity and a love of good food certainly paid off for Joe. How long can you run a Traeger off a car battery?
A Traeger pellet grill can run off a 120-volt car battery for 8 hours with a power inverter. The heating rod that ignites the pellets and fan that cooks the food like a convection oven each need electricity to work correctly.
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Can You Run A Traeger With A Car Battery
Not only can you run a Traeger off a car battery, but it’s the best option. Car batteries are durable and offer plenty of power. After all, they exist to make cars move, and a car is a lot larger than any grill.
These clever pellet grills are ideal for outdoor vacation and party activities because they are created to run off a car battery and wood pellets.
You can quickly head to the beach or mountains for a camp and cookout. Plus, Traegers are fantastic for tailgating.
The flavor of a pellet girl is deep, rich, and intensely smoky. Like more traditional wood chips, Pellets come in a variety of flavors, so you have lots of options.
However, it would be best if you never used pellets in place of wood chips or vice versa as they are made for different styles of cookers.
I recommend the Traeger Grills Pro Series 34 Electric Wood Pellet Grill and Smoker from Amazon. You’ll love the six-in-one versatility and easy-to-clean porcelain grill grates.
Better still, the wheels are built for all-terrain types, so this durable grilling, smoking, baking, roasting, braising, and BBQ ready cooker can go wherever you need to cook.
- Never use gas or charcoal again: cooking with wood just tastes better. Traeger created the original wood-pellet grill as the ultimate way to achieve wood-fired taste
- Versatile barbecue cooking: hot and fast, or low and slow, the Traeger Pro Series 34 pellet grill offers 6-in-1 versatility to grill, smoke, bake, roast, braise, and BBQ food to juicy perfection
- Precision temperature control: The Digital Pro Controller rocks Advanced Grilling Logic, which maintains a +/- 15 degree F temperature control to precision grilling. 450 °F Max Temp
- Sturdy and durable: powerful Steel construction and durable powder coat finish, Easy to clean porcelain grill grates and all-terrain wheels
- Large cooking capacity: 884 sq. In. Cooking capacity that can accommodate 8 chickens, 7 racks of ribs or 40 burgers
Last update on 2024-04-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
How Long Will A Car Battery Run A Pellet Grill
A standard 120-volt battery will run your pellet grill all day, or about 8 hours. Meanwhile, you can get a 360 A-hr expanded battery bank and run the grill for a literal 24 hours.
However, regardless of your goals, I always recommend going with the more-power option.
A pellet grill is suitable for hanging out at home and even better for on-the-go fun, but it has a third use people often overlook.
If you have an expanded battery bank and a storm knocks the power out for a day or two, you’ll still have a way to cook.
Plus, with the size of most pellet grills, you can feed a party or half the neighborhood in a pinch. Since you’ll rarely need to run a home grill for twenty-four hours, it is the best possible backup option that will last several days.
Traeger Inverter
Choosing a quality inverter is about more than just grabbing the first one that ‘looks right.’ As anyone who has ever dealt with solar systems can tell you, you need one that has the correct VA or volt-ampere rating.
Luckily, you’re not dealing with a whole house system. Making calculations based on the wattage of your Traeger Grill or the size of your battery is unnecessarily complicated in this case.
Traeger makes an inverter that is ideal for Traeger Grills. I always suggest going with a manufacturer part to avoid getting a mismatch.
It cuts down a lot of shipping back and forth, refunds, and generally wasted time when you could be grilling.
You can have a Traeger Grills BAC287 BBQ Power Inverter delivered to your door in no time. Not only will this model convert 12-volt DC power to 110V/60HZ AC, but it’s literally made for this pellet grill.
Plus, you get two three-prong outlets and a USB port so you can run music or lights at the same time.
- Grill anywhere you go with the Traeger Power Inverter
- Connects to any Traeger model equipped with a Digital Thermostat Control
- Converts standard 12Vdc power to 110V/60HZ AC
- Includes two 3-prong outlets and an added USB port for convenience
Last update on 2024-04-19 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
Can You Run A Traeger Off An Inverter
You can run a Traeger off an inverter. The company specially designs inverters to connect a car battery or battery bank with your grill.
Part of the beauty of the original Traeger pellet grills is that they are (partially) electric and wholly portable.
You’ll still need pellets for cooking and smoky flavor, but the fan and ignition system are supposed to plug into an electric power source.
At home, you can use a standard outlet for the six-and-a-half-foot cord. If necessary, these grills do fine with an extension cord. However, Traeger anticipated the need to grill away from home.
How To Use Traeger Power Inverter
To use a Traeger power inverter, you need one essential warning. Never cross-connect your power cables. For anyone who doesn’t know this, it’s always positive-to-positive and negative-to-negative.
Follow the steps below to get grilling in a few minutes.
- Turn your car off and set up your grill.
- Find the positive terminal, marked by a plus sign, and the negative terminal, marked by a minus sign.
- Make sure your inverter and grill are turned off but plug the grill’s cord into the outlet on the inverter.
- Connect the cables to the battery. Red is positive, and black is negative, so this should be straightforward.
- Next, take the red (+/positive) and black (-/negative) cables and secure them to the correct terminals on your car battery.
- Turn on your car, then flip the on switch on the power inverter. There is a light that will turn on when the inverter is on.
- Now you can kick on your grill and cook whatever you want.
Helpful Tips To Know About Running A Traeger Grill Off A Car Battery
Running a high-end pellet grill like the original Traeger off a car battery is the perfect way to take your cooking equipment with you on road trips and vacations. However, I recommend bringing a spare battery for your existing car.
Here are more helpful tips to know about running a Traeger Grill off a car battery.
- You cannot run a Traeger grill off of a car battery without the matching inverter. The type of current produced is not compatible. As FujiElectric points out, “They are electronic devices that can turn DC (Direct Current) to AC (Alternating Current). It is also responsible for controlling speed and torque for electric motors.”
- A Traeger pellet grill does the job of baking and barbecuing, but it’s technologically more related to smokers and convection ovens. The pellets produce wood smoke in addition to the heat like a smoker. Meanwhile, the fan that dives the heat around is similar to the fan inside a convection oven that evenly distributes the heat for faster cooking.
- Running a Traeger Grill of a car battery is just one option. If the need arose, you could also run it off of a generator—both solar and gas generators come with power inverter options.
Final Thoughts
The cliche about necessity being the mother of invention isn’t always true, but it certainly was with the Traeger Grill. This ingenious invention was the result of frustration over ruined food and a lot of hard work.
Creating a grill that can multitask is no small feat. Joe Traeger made a grill that can bake, smoke, barbeque, and more, plus he managed to find a way to run it off a car battery.
This clever convection-style cooker is the best option for versatile outdoor cooking, as long as you remember your inverter and bring a spare battery.