New to smoking

[notavaper]

Am what is often referred to as a NOOB haha and am looking for advice on first use and things to avoid. Instructions with the smoker I got as a present are to oil everything apart from the charcoal pan (kind of obvious) but have read elsewhere you should 'Season the smoker' So help would be appreciated :)

 

[joe black]

Welcome from SC. It's good to have you on this great site. There are a lot of really nice folks here who are always eager to share their ideas, recipes and tips. All you have to do is ask and keep reading.

Did you wash out your smoker first? There are some oils and manufacturing residue that needs to wash down. Simple Green, car washing soap or dishwashing soap are good. Just use a brush or cloth and wash it with soapy water. Then spray with water. After that let it dry and coat everything inside, including the grates, with oil. Pam or other cooking oil is good. Spray a liberal coating and build a fire. Run the smoker at 250-300* for several hours and then let it die down. You're ready to cook. Some folks say to throw on a chicken or something to cook while its seasoning, but I just let it go. There's a lot of oil burning, etc. so I just don't bother with cooking anything.

Occasional cleaning will help to keep your cooking fresh and will keep everything running smoothly.

Good luck and good smokin', Joe. :grilling_smilie:

 

[notavaper]

Thank you for the welcome, How is South Carolina today? I am on the east coast of the UK. I haven't washed it out yet just got it put together at this moment,  Thanks for the tips mate, Appreciate it. I will probably have lots of questions but my first one is to start the fire off how many lumpwood coals should I use too burn the chips and should I burn chips to season it....Like I said am very new to this but am very eager to start and learn now I have the ability too lol Would it help if I were to upload a pic of my smoker?

 

[wade]

Hi NotaVaper. Welcome to the forum. Where on the East Coast are you? I am from Kent

If you can let us know which kind of make/model of smoker you bought we can certainly offer some advice to get you started. I also see from your other post that you are looking to make some smoked salmon. Is this traditional cold smoked or are you looking to hot smoke it?

Cheers

Wade

 

[smokin monkey]

Hi NV, yes if you could let us know what smoker you've got then we can help, suggest things that might need to be done before you start that will help you later to control the heat more effective.