what do I season?

[cromag]

Do you only season the grates or do you rub veg oil on the grates and interior of smoker when you season?

 

[rbranstner]

The interior of the smoker is what you want to season. You can put the grates in there to if you want. But if they are stainless steal I don't know why you would need to but I put mine in there anyway.

 

[pineywoods]

I do the inside and the grates

 

[meateater]

Yup, what he said.

 

[bbq engineer]

Inside and grates...get some spray oil (Pam) and use that...it makes it easier to get into the nooks and crannies and removes the hassle...I'm all about removing the hassle.

Good luck.

 

[coyote-1]

IF your grates are cast iron, you MUST season them.

I have both cast iron and stainless. The stainless ones come out and get washed after every smoke. The iron ones get scraped down, heat-cleaned, scraped again, and hit with a coating of oil and re-seasoned.

 

[mr mac]

That's the winning answer right there! There's no need to season the SS grates at all but the should be cleaned after each use regardless of what they're made of. SS in the dishwasher and cast iron get heated then hit with a brass brush dipped in water (to create steam which essentially de-glazes them) and then re-seasoned as Coyote described.

 

[cromag]

So the cast iron get scubbed and reseasoned after every smoke... do you clean them right away when your meat is resting or do you season it before your meat goes on?

 

[mballi3011]

All you have to do is open the door to the smoker and go crazy hit everything that is inside the smoker.

 

[olewarthog]

I'm generally not industrious enough to clean my CI grates right after a cook. Most of the time, I clean them the next day by heating them up on my gasser, giving them a good brushing & spraying them with oil while still warm. I normally give then inside of my smoker at light spray of oil as well. I used to use PAM, but I tend to be cheap so I bought a cheap trigger style spray bottle (garden dept at Walmart) & fill it with bacon grease.

 

[cromag]

I seasoned today and realized I need SO much more lump than what I used. I was able to maintain 250* on both sides for about 2 hrs and then a steady drop. The instructions read maintain 300 for 2 hrs but I didn't get there. Should I season more?