Rookie Question

[jftx]

I just got a Masterbuilt XL and need to season.  I think I read somewhere that I need to wipe the interior down with vegetable oil.  Is that true? What else do I need to do?

 

[metaluno67]

That's all I did. I also ran it at high temp for about half an hour the. Let cool before I did first smoke. I'm curious to see what the pros say also.

 

[jftx]

I'm wondering if I need to fire it up and let all the manufacturing oils burn off and then rub it down. 

 

[metaluno67]

I'm wondering if I need to fire it up and let all the manufacturing oils burn off and then rub it down. 

Mine said rub down then fire up to burn off any dust or oils.

 

[fclover]

My MasterBuilt manual says to rub the grates and inside of the door, run at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  Then let cool completely.  Rub the grates and inside of door with oil again and heat for another 20 minutes

 

[fclover]

Sorry, I forgot one step.  It says to put two cups of chips in the flame disk bowl for the first "burn".

 

[pigalicious]

You're going to want to modify the chip pan by foiling the vents closed and lifting it about 3/4" to an inch off the base of the smoker so the heat can flow between the burner and bottom of the pan.  Before I did (after reading another post here in the forum) I was burning through chips like crazy and could not achieve the thin blue smoke (TBS) you'll read about here.  After that, I've smoked chicken wings and breasts, porksirloin roast, pork butt for pulled pork, and even a couple of prime ribs for this past Christmas dinner...o man, were they good!

 

[pigalicious]

Oh yeah, one other thing...the factory thermometer makes a nice paper weight, at least that's true with mine. It read ~150F when the smoker is off and the outside air temp id 45F.  Purchase a digital dual probe that can measure both the meat and the oven interior itself.  Well worth the money when the goods come out just the way you want them!

 

[jftx]

Mine manual says the same thing about rubbing it down with oil.  I was just wondering if there were any other opinions. 

I've read about the issues with the chip pan and I plan to use a cast iron skillet.  I thought I could set the skillet directly on top of the chip pan????   I went ahead a replaced the thermometer with the 2" thermometer from Academy.  Thanks for the responses.  

 

[pastorgadget]

Different smokers come with different instructions with the same goal. Run your smoker at a high temp to burn off any oils, paint, and residue from manufacturing and you have to season your smoker with Veg oil. Some combine these two steps some don't.  You do want to keep your smoker seasoned (oiled) to prevent corrosion.  I like to use a spray veg oil myself every so often to keep my smoker, and my grill seasoned. It adds A LOT of life to both smoker and grill, especially if you are like me and tend to get the more ... economical models :).

 

[themule69]

I just got a Master built XL and need to season.  I think I read somewhere that I need to wipe the interior down with vegetable oil.  Is that true? What else do I need to do?

hello jftx. looks like you have a nice smoker. i see many years of great smoken coming from it.

. if for any reason. your not sure or the owners Manuel tell you something that doesn't make since. by all means. go ahead and smoke what ever your wanting to smoke. then send it to me. i will tell you how you did. their is no reason for you to take a chance and not like it. i'm just that kinda guy. i will take one for the team.

happy smoken.

your going to love it.

David

 

[tamarockstar88]

JFTX there's also a post on this forum I found very helpful with the masterbuilt XL smoker. Someone else mentioned using foil and raising the chip bowl, a cast 10-12" cast iron skillet should fit inside the chip bowl and you should be able to burn the chips properly. I found out that the bowl sat too low on mine and caused the flame to burn incorrectly leaving black soot. Check out this post for a lot of great advice on how to make your smoker run great, it's helped me a lot.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/99373/masterbuild-xl-mods-post-your-mods-here

And this is what I bought to hold my skillet


Best of luck hope this gives you some good ideas

 

[jftx]

hello jftx. looks like you have a nice smoker. i see many years of great smoken coming from it.

. if for any reason. your not sure or the owners Manuel tell you something that doesn't make since. by all means. go ahead and smoke what ever your wanting to smoke. then send it to me. i will tell you how you did. their is no reason for you to take a chance and not like it. i'm just that kinda guy. i will take one for the team.

happy smoken.

your going to love it.

David

 

[jftx]

JFTX there's also a post on this forum I found very helpful with the masterbuilt XL smoker. Someone else mentioned using foil and raising the chip bowl, a cast 10-12" cast iron skillet should fit inside the chip bowl and you should be able to burn the chips properly. I found out that the bowl sat too low on mine and caused the flame to burn incorrectly leaving black soot. Check out this post for a lot of great advice on how to make your smoker run great, it's helped me a lot.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/99373/masterbuild-xl-mods-post-your-mods-here

And this is what I bought to hold my skillet


Best of luck hope this gives you some good ideas

I'll look at it right now.  Thanks. 

 

[twocubdad]

A labor-saving trick I learned cleaning and seasoning piles of cast iron with the Scout troop, is to use cooking spray to coat the surfaces.  It's like using a can of spray paint.  The cheap stuff (canola oil) works well.   On the cast iron I've also used the Pam for Grilling variety which is a blend of canola and cottonseed oils.  

 

[jftx]

I got the MB seasoned. I'm going to do a couple of beer can chickens this weeked.  I'll let you know how it goes.