Each time you use your Traeger you should make sure the pellet burn pot is clean of ash. The reason being, at the base of the burn pot is the hot rod igniter. If the burn pot is full of ash getting the pellet fire going could be difficult.

After typically 2 to 3 cooks of large fatty meats or 5 to 6 cooks of burgers/steaks you'll want to make sure the grease tray and grease bucket are clean. If there is a build-up of grease on the tray, when cool, you'll want to get a scrapper and clean that grease/fat off there to reduce the risk of a grease fire.

As Traegers don't have a flame broiler their risk of grease fire is lower than that of pellet grills that offer direct-flame access. However, that doesn't mean a Traeger can't experience a grease fire.

To make clean-up easier, you can get disposable foil liners for the grease tray. Some people also just use some heavy-duty foil.

However, if you are going to use a piece of foil make sure its not too large and it blocks the air gaps around the grease tray as that's where the hot air/smoke from the burn pot enters the cooking chamber.