New OJ Smoker How do I season this beast?
- Thread starter ddrian
- Start date
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dave schiller
Meat Mopper
I haven't had the experience of breaking in a new smoker. But from what you say, I'd wipe/clean up all the factory grease/oil possible and then fire it up and run it as hot as possible for a while. That should remove the crud.
dabigbozman
Smoke Blower
gr0uch0
Master of the Pit
Fire it up with heat in both the FB and the CC, and let it burn all the cutting oils out. Then take lard or some cooking oil and coat it inside and out. Then fire it up again with the FB only, but run as hot as you can. Then tear the FB back off of it, because you'll see that it's leaking smoke--and heat--like a sieve unless you installed a gasket pre-assembly. OKJ used to be built like tanks and you didn't have to do all this garbage, but once Char Broil got a hold of them, the quality suffered immeasurably. Get some type of stove gasket (or similar) that you can put between the FB & CC, and bolt it back together. You're going to need something around the CC door as well--stay away from the Permatex-type stuff. It doesn't hold up well to temps, regardless of what the label says, and it can be toxic as it melts down. Do it right from the get-go, and you'll have a lot less problems afterwards--cobble it together like some on this forum, and all you will see are issues after issues after issues.
- Apr 13, 2017
- 188
- 48
Thanks for the inside scoop!
I did just what you said upon assembly.
It is sealed up nicely!
I didn't think about fire in CC so that will come tomorrow. Ill clean and coat it with some cooking oil and coat it good and fire it up again
!!!
I did find a cool way to clean my racks on my smokers. Put them in the house electric oven and run the clean cycle on the oven. Makes them shine like new and no tedious cleaning!
Thanks
DDR
I did just what you said upon assembly.
It is sealed up nicely!
I didn't think about fire in CC so that will come tomorrow. Ill clean and coat it with some cooking oil and coat it good and fire it up again
!!!
I did find a cool way to clean my racks on my smokers. Put them in the house electric oven and run the clean cycle on the oven. Makes them shine like new and no tedious cleaning!
Thanks
DDR
gr0uch0
Master of the Pit
You're welcome, and enjoy. Just an fyi: I'm overly critical of the current OKJ, because I know what they used to be, along with old school New Braunfels, before Char Broil came into either picture and really killed the quality on both. That said, couple of things:
1. Clean cycle on most ovens recommend pulling the racks--check your oven's manual as once you've left them in, they become susceptible to dulling, breaking down the finish, and ultimately breaking down the metal. I wouldn't make this an all-the-time practice.
2. If you've got a lot of goo on the racks, make dang sure you've got a commercial grade vent hood to draw out the smoke that will result if you're good to go on the oven.
- Apr 13, 2017
- 188
- 48
Thanks
I get your frustration with the current state of Quality on many items. I was BOOMED when I saw the quality of the 500.00 units in comparison! They were no better than this unit and that is the truth!
I did see a line at academy that was a little heavier,, but as for being built better precision wise I was not impressed at all for the money. They were not designed well functional. ! The fire box was a mess!
So I figured with some elbow grease and tweaking I would just get this unit and make it happen.
DDR
I get your frustration with the current state of Quality on many items. I was BOOMED when I saw the quality of the 500.00 units in comparison! They were no better than this unit and that is the truth!
I did see a line at academy that was a little heavier,, but as for being built better precision wise I was not impressed at all for the money. They were not designed well functional. ! The fire box was a mess!
So I figured with some elbow grease and tweaking I would just get this unit and make it happen.
DDR
gr0uch0
Master of the Pit
If you're talking about Old Country at Academy, they're light years ahead of CB in so many categories, not the least of which being the warranty.
- Apr 13, 2017
- 188
- 48
Thanks for the advice!
The steel used in a smoker is very inexpensive per pound, so I just cannot justify the cost at almost 300 percent more. Also I did not like the fire box on their vertical unit at all. It was not functional from a design standpoint when you needed to add wood or charcoal. Cleaning would a nightmare.
The Horizontals..... I didn't look at. They looked really put together well but I like verticals so I didn't look very hard at them.
The steel used in a smoker is very inexpensive per pound, so I just cannot justify the cost at almost 300 percent more. Also I did not like the fire box on their vertical unit at all. It was not functional from a design standpoint when you needed to add wood or charcoal. Cleaning would a nightmare.
The Horizontals..... I didn't look at. They looked really put together well but I like verticals so I didn't look very hard at them.
gr0uch0
Master of the Pit
If it is OC, you can certainly justify it on the back end. Just look across this forum at all the "redneck riggings" that have to be done on Char Broil just to make them marginally functional. None of that happens with the OC. When something comes out of the box, it should work, shouldn't it? I can't tell you the numbers of people here who sacrifice quality on the back end for the sake of a "sale" on the front end and end up spending more and more money, more and more time, and more and more frustration on a brand new "deal". Would you rather have a company willing to stand behind a product with a lifetime warranty vs. a one or two year warranty? That speaks volumes to me: if the manufacturer doesn't believe in its product, why in the world would I??
That said, I have a good friend who reps CB. He does very well for himself, as he knows the limited lifespan on the products keep folks buying his goodies over and over and over again. He knows they can't see the forest for the trees, and the sheeple aren't wiling to pay for longevity. It's no different with a Weber gasser--buy quality, buy once. Buy "sales", buy again. And again. And again.
Last edited:
- Apr 13, 2017
- 188
- 48
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