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The Kitchen Table

How do you season a smoker/grill?

Amazing Aunt Audrey

13 years ago

I won and assembled this smoker/grill. The directions tell me it's important for me to season it well to protect it from rust. Am looking for everyones best directions on just how to do this.

Thanks

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Comments (9)

alisande
13 years ago
Nice prize! The directions on our new charcoal grill said to spray the interior with cooking spray. My son did all that, so I don't know the details. I can ask him, but you'll probably get good information from others at the KT.
two25acres
13 years ago
Probably similiar to seasoning cast iron. I use crisco and fire up the oven. In your case, spread it on the interior and start it up. I would imagine lower temperature for a long period of time. Have fun. Hubby just got the electric smoker for his birthday.
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Wow! Thanks for all the help. Of course, I knew I could rely on my Gardenweb friends. David52, I do use Penzey's spices and am a fan of theirs. At first I could only shop there in person when I went to Madison, WI with DH once a year for his heart check-ups. Then I found there was one about an hour north of here and I will try to get there whenever possible. Carol, I'd never heard of The Spice House. Thank you for letting me know about them. I will definitely check them out, too. Dave, nothing wrong with Montreal Steak Seasoning. Heck, I want to try out as many things as I can. Ristau5741, thank you for sharing your rub/injection recipe that you like so much. It's a must try so I've copied, pasted and printed it. I'll be seasoning the Brinkman this weekend. Right now I'll be using a tarp to protect it, after its cooled down, but I am planning on getting the cover they make specifically for it. John, thank you for sharing the link to BBQ'rs Delight and your advice. Right now I have a bag of apple wood chips and a bag of cherry wood chips and I know you have to wet them down, then squeeze any excess water out before using them. I've been debating on whether I should buy chunks in the future. Also, the young man across the road was over last night and said he'd give me a log of persimmon wood that I could try in the future. I wonder if it would be worth it. I was fired up over this before, but now I'm even more excited about it. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
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I see you asked this a couple years ago, but I'll answer what I can anyway. the size of any ceramic piece is limited by the size of the kiln to fire it. If you can fit only one piece at a time in the kiln, that increases production time and cost. The folk who make bathroom fixtures probably have HUGE kilns. I'm confused about what you're planning; you say, "This would not be a mold were you pour out the slip ... I am assuming slip can be used to to make a solid peice" I don't see why you would want a solid barbecue. And a slip-molded piece more than 1/2" thick is likely to crack like crazy when drying--and forget about firing it, it would probably explode. I don't think glazing greenware (even without paper) is a good idea; if the glaze vitrifies before all the moisture is gone, you'll get cracking or worse. If you don't need a glassy finish, you could use underglaze or colored slip to coat your greenware.
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I agree with Alexa. A thermometer is worthwhile. I have had both electric and charcoal smokers. The electric is more convenient, but the charcoal gives better flavor IMO and is worth the slight amount of fussiness it takes to maintain the right temp. Best piece of advice I can give is to avoid the temptation to look at the food cooking. You may need to do so a couple of times during the cooking, but every time you take off the lid the system cools dramatically and it takes a good while to get back up to cooking temps. As far as wood goes, I really like pecan. You can use pecan shells if you have access to them. Hickory is good, but a little stronger than pecan. I used to live near an apple orchard; apple wood is great, too. I don't care too much for mesquite, but that's just me. Another trick is to put something fatty on the top rack and something that needs basting on the bottom rack. My dad used to do a pork roast on the top rack and as it cooked it dripped fat onto a turkey on the bottom rack. I've done ribs on the top rack dripping on to chickens on the bottom. Delish. I found I could smoke about 6 whole chickens at once. (They make little wire racks that make the chickens sit upright during the smoking, and that does make for a more efficient use of space. I found them worthwhile.) What I would do is smoke them, and then store them in individual freezer ziploc bags. Use a soda straw to evacuate as much air as possible, then seal them and freeze them. When you wanted a quick and yummy dinner, just take a frozen bird in its plastic bag, open the bag and put a couple of ounces of water or white wine in the bird's cavity, and microwave it in the bag for a few minutes till reheated. If you take the smoked chickens and take the meat off the bones, the meat makes a fantastic chicken salad; save the skin and bones, though, and you can make an incredibly rich and flavorful chicken stock that would jack up the flavor of many dishes like beans, soups, etc. What's really nice is that the cooking times are not written in stone, and slightly overcooking the stuff will not ruin it since it's a very moist environment. Another plus is that most of the work is done 3 or 4 hours (or more) prior to serving food. Once you load the smoker and get everything going, it really doesn't take much attention at all--in fact, most of the time it's better to leave it the heck alone. That means that if you're entertaining a bunch of people, you have time to check on everything else without worrying about the main dish. Much less stressful than, say, grilling a bunch of steaks for a crowd.
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Here are videos showing the factory assembling components into Thermapens. I don't know if they have the facilities to manufacture any components. I assume all the other products they sell are all imported. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvP0GXD3fcI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gspPLB4B1KY And this is from their WEB site: "ThermoWorks ----------- While a few of our products are manufactured here, many are made for us by partner factories in Europe, Asia and the USA. Most of our in-house staff is engaged in marketing, technical support, product definition, design, and operations. -----------" Thermapen is a very good product. I have one. I also have one I bought on ebay 15 years ago for $2.00. It is still working fine. Slower, but same accuracy as Thermapen. Amazingly, the same one is still selling on ebay, but inflation! $2.78 now!!!! dcarch
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jannie
13 years ago
Back when he was healthier, DH did all the grilling. He used to wipe the cool cooking surface with a cloth dipped in cooking oil (not olive oil). We live in the NorthEast and get snow; one winter recently I forgot to put it in the shed so it got very rusty. I've been able to set it up and use it this year but it's clearly past its prime.
dees_1
13 years ago
Been there, done that and have the same one (does it have a fire box on the side?). You don't need to season the outside; just the cooking racks. don't use cooking spray either, as that stuff leaves a nasty tacky film.

Take your grates, rub them liberally with crisco (or other solid shortening) and bake the racks at 400 for a couple hours. It is best to season a couple times to get a good layer on there. Use the larger part of the grill to do the seasoning and you'll save yourself some air! Let me know if you have questions; we have the same exact smoker!
kacram
13 years ago
yea! you got it together! I knew you could! lol You'd think that the seasoning directions would be included! lol
Amazing Aunt Audrey
Original Author
13 years ago
First off, Kat all the directions came with a book in English and one in Mexican, except the one regarding seasoning! The English version isn't here LOL
Dee thanks so much, and I may need help along the way! I plan on starting the process tomorrow. I do have one question. It came with a wire holder for a grease catcher, but it doesn't come with the grease catcher LOL. Plus it doesn't tell me what to do with the wire holder either. My neighbor said I could buy the catcher at Lowes, but then what? LOL Seems like I need this attached before I start the seasoning to avoid grease all over the patio. No it didn't come with the side smoker box, but it's something I can add later. It did come with a cover though.
Amazing Aunt Audrey
Original Author
13 years ago
First off, Kat all the directions came with a book in English and one in Mexican, except the one regarding seasoning! The English version isn't here LOL
Dee thanks so much, and I may need help along the way! I plan on starting the process tomorrow. I do have one question. It came with a wire holder for a grease catcher, but it doesn't come with the grease catcher LOL. Plus it doesn't tell me what to do with the wire holder either. My neighbor said I could buy the catcher at Lowes, but then what? LOL Seems like I need this attached before I start the seasoning to avoid grease all over the patio. No it didn't come with the side smoker box, but it's something I can add later. It did come with a cover though.
Amazing Aunt Audrey
Original Author
13 years ago
Well, can't explain that happening!
dees_1
13 years ago
Audrey, the catcher thingy is for grease. My husband uses small cans from catfood for that. It's cheaper to buy a couple cans of Fancy Feast than in is to buy a special container to hold the grease run off. If I recall correctly, the wire holder attaches to the hole at the bottom. Put the cat food can in the wire holder and then attach to the bottom of the grill.

If you need more personalized info, I'm on the KT group on FB (my motorcycle is my avatar). Send me a message or friend me and we can share info.

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