Like Johnny said, you don't need to season it, but if I were you I would fire it up & see how to control the temps. Put a couple of therms on the grates & monitor the therm temps against the factory therm in the dome. You will find there are cooler spots on the bottom grate & the top grate is hotter, also around the sides it's hotter. You will also find that after you get it up to temp with all the vents open, you will only need 1 vent in the bottom about 1/4 to 1/2 way open the other 2 shut & the top vent wide open. If you want to maintain 225 start shutting down the bottom vents when you get to 200. If you let the temp get away from you it takes a long time to bring it back down. This is the perfect time to experiment with it. You will get a feel for controlling the temps with no food in it, so if you screw up all your loosing is some charcoal & wood chunks. Also when you load it up mix in some wood with the charcoal & light about 6 to 8 briquettes to put on the unlit charcoal. This is called the minnion method & with a full ring you can maintain 225 for 18 - 20 hours. Good luck!
