Advice on Seasoning. . . ..

[smokefever]

Hello All! My name is Jeff and I am just starting out in the wonderful world of smoking. I just bought a Char-Griller Duo w/SFB and plan to season it using bourbon barrel wood. Has anyone used this type of wood to season their smoker, if so, how did it turn out? If you have any insight on preventing rust that would be a huge help as well. I've read about spraying with oil everytime you cook and touching up with high-temp paint. Is that all there is to it?

 

[jirodriguez]

Easiest way to season is spray the inside with a can of PAM then fire it up and let it smoke for at least 3 hrs. (I did 5 hrs. on mine). If you are using all wood fire just make sure you don't create creasote all over the inside of your cooking chamber - it will make all your food taste nasty for quite a while.

 

[meateater]

Spray it down with cooking oil and do a couple of burns, cooking without food and you will be good to go. I only seasoned mine once, no need to do it again and again.

 

[smokefever]

I plan on putting down a bed of charcoal first and then adding the chunks of barrel wood, which brings me to another question. Is there a major difference in lump charcoal and briquettes? Do they perform differently? Does one give a better taste?

 

[jirodriguez]

There is a lot of variation in both lump and briquet charcoals. The most basic differance is lump is generaly charcolized wood that has not been reshaped and put back together with binders into the shape of a briquet. Most good quality lump will still look like pieces of tree branch after a forest fire. But there is also a lot of lump made from lumber mill hardwood trimmings as well.

Briquets are basically the charcoalized wood ground and reshaped with adders and binders to make a dense uniform shape. Some briquets are more natural than others - meaning they have less fillers. Usually best ones you can find will just have cornstarch added as a binder and thats it.

Performance differances: Lump burns hotter, and generally gives a bit of flavor smoke as well. Briquets burn more consistant (less temp. spikes), but less flavor and generally more ash.

Here is a great link that reviews lump charcoal:
http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lumpindexpage.htm?bag

After much trial and error I found I like to use a mix of about 50-50 or 60-40 Lump to Briquets. I get nice long burn times, good heat controll, some flavor, and not as much ash as all briquet. I also toss on fist sized chunks of my flavor wood (hickory, mesquite, oak, ect.)

 

[smokefever]

That site was exactly what I was looking for, thanks a bunch for all the info. I think I'll try what you have found to be the best (mixture of briquette and lump) as it seems to be the most logical way!

 

[seenred]

Hello Jeff, and welcome! Glad you joined us. Congrats on the new rig. The guys are givin' ya good advice on gettin' it seasoned. Lump or briquette??? Many a debate has been waged in these forums on the subject. Most of the purists here swear by lump, and I prefer lump too, but it is sometimes more difficult to find. I don't mind using briquettes when I can't find lump, as long as you don't use the matchlight kind. Good luck and happy smokin'!

 

[chef jeff tx]

Howdy, welcome to the SMF!!
I would save the barrel wood for food and just use some plain old oak for seasoning the pit.

 

[timtimmay]

I don't think I'd use the barrel wood for seasoning. I'd save it for smoking when you have a load of meat in. The initial seasoning is to protect your smoker and I don't think you will get much of a performance difference in what charcoal or wood you use to season it with. Just spray some oil on and heat it up.

After you've seasoned, cook with the lump and your wood of choice. I primarily use lump, but I will use some briquettes as well. The lump I can find around here burns hot and fast, so I use some briquettes as well they seem to put out a little less heat but last longer.

 

[smokefever]

Great! Thanx for the advice. I will definitely use just oak in the season. I have to order my wood chunks online because there is no selection where I live, so that will allow me to fire it up right away as soon as it arrives!

 

[triplebq]

1st and foremost I am a smoker . Welcome to SMF , home of the 5 Day eCourse , FATTIE s , EVOO , Qview , MES , ECB , ABT s and all kinds of stuff . I live in Texas and my name is Buddy . Triple bq stands for Buddy Burk BBQ .

 

[dnovotny]

if you have abig smoker like some before i got started I got a mop and some (olive & veg.) oil and lined the inside with oil before i started my fire and it helped season my big smoker..