Curing vs Pre-Season New Electric Smoker

[linkkoh]

Hello,

I have a brand new Electric Smoker (Aldi Brand Range Master). Looking at the manual it tells me I need to Pre-Season and Also Cure before first use, however the instructions are slightly different for both and I am not sure what to follow

1. Pre-Season
A. Water bowl in place no water
B. Set to MED for 3 hours
C. During last 45 min add 1 cup of wood chips
D. Shut down and allow to cool

2. Curing
A. Remove water pan from smoker and do not use flavoring wood while curing your smoker (Question: Not sure if that means no wood at all or just not wood that is flavored?!?)
B. Coat interior with oil
C. Plug in (does not specify temp)
D. Cure for 2 hours then unplug an allow to cool and make sure not to scrape or rub during curing/cooling process.

It looks identical to this Masterbuilt and is most likely a re-branded version. https://masterbuilt.com/product/mb20070210-electric-smoker

Thanks for any help, complete newbie here.

 

[SonnyE]

Do the pre-season. Simply follow the outline.

When cool, do the curing. As is vaguely depicted, curing is to give the oven a baked on coating of cooking oil.
Much like curing a cast iron pan, pot, griddle, where it is coated with cooking oil, then put in a hot oven to bake the oil into the cast iron to cure it.
Use highest heat (of the smoker/oven) for the 2 hours.
(Cast iron is 375° in the oven.)

Most, including myself, simply let the oven take on coatings of smoke as it is used. And leave it build on.
But if your suggests curing as a step, use it.

If in doubt, contact customer service for clarification / specifics.

Welcome to SMF. And congratulations on your new smoker!