Seasoning Smoker

[tf bbq]

What is this about seasoning a smoker? I have been smoking meats through a multitude of different devices for many years. My first was a smoker was made from granite rocks/small boulders out behind my grand daddy's summer house. He grew up learning to smoke in a shed. He taught me how to smoke using the rock pit and a brinkmann water smoker with hickory. He never mentioned seasoning the smoker. Of course we never really used the kind of smokers talked about here. Just about anything can be configured to be a smoker rather easily.

I received a Brinkmann SNP which in some resepects is my first smoker. Or at the least the first that was actually designed as a smoker. The rest have been fabricated from junk or other grills/smokers.

I assume seasoning a smoker is running empty smoke the first time to certain temp for a certain time. What would be time and what would be the temp?

Also, what does seasoning the smoker produce versus not seasoning. What am I missing?

Thanks

 

[richtee]

Hia Doug. First off, stop into the Roll Call forum and give us an introduction...or just paste your first paragraph there...heh. Kinda a tradition.

Seasoning is important for a couple reasons, biggest being burning out any manufacturing goops, oils, overspray, etc. from the inside of the unit. It also allows you to get a feel for the thing before ya got $50 worth of meat in it and have to scramble to keep temps or smoke under control.

All in all, well worth a few wood chunks and a load of lump.

 

[doctor phreak]

ditto what rich said....just think of it this way...you season cast iron skillets and do...right....well a smoker is virtual the same you want to burn off all the stuff mfg put on them and then you add a layer of oil to the inside of the smoker and run that thing dry ( meaning no meat ) and get that thing up to 300 to 375 degress and let it go....hope this helps....oh...welcome to the forum

 

[shooterrick]

I have owned 3 smokers. 2 home made and now a lang. The first one I made worked well but I didnt. Not knowing what I was doing I didnt season it and the first batch of meat was tender but tasted terrrible. Not to mention I ran the whole 8 hrs on straight hickory and put my wifes mouth asleep and numb for several hours. If that novicane shot had been my mother in law I would have considered it a successful smoke