new wood smoker

[nat brown]

i have a new wood smoker, before cooking should i do anything to the smoker to get started

 

[txbbqman]

Welcome, You may want to run over to roll call and post there to introduce yourself and tell us a little about your rig.

You should season the smoker first...I know I would

Which basically means just lighting a fire and let her rip, but with out the meat. Do this at least once before you go with meat.

Just my .02

What Kind of smoker is it?

 

[bman62526]

Agreed. Once you season it, you're good to go. Now there are MANY opinions on how to season, using what, how long, etc. but they are all basically:

Buy a can or two of cooking spray, depending on the size of your smoke.

First, use a wire brush on the entire inside of the smoker, just going over it to remove any metal shavings or other junk inside there from the packaging.

Spray down the entire inside of the smoking chamber with your cooking spray. Let it dry for 30 min. and do it again!

Light a fire in the firebox using charcoal or lump coal and some wood chunks. At this stage, it's VERY important to use good, seasoned wood. If you have a wood supply you aren't sure of - go to the grocery store, or Lowe's, Menards, Ace, True Value, Farm & Fleet, etc. - and buy a bag of wood chunks or chips.

Get the smoker temp up to around 250° and hold it there for maybe 5-6 hours, then crank it up to 275 or so...after about an hour of that, you can run it at 250 again for as long as you want.

Some folks think you have to season a smoker for like 18 hours - but I didn't. Mine went for 8 hours or so, and my first cook tasted great.

Pro tip: depending on the kind of smoker you have, when I seasoned mine I wiped down the outside of the FIREBOX with a thin coat of veg. oil before getting the fire going. It helps seal the paint, which can come off after just a few cooks because of the high temps.

Have fun with it!

 

[txbbqman]

Awesome Tip, I second this

 

[mballi3011]

Yea please stop into Roll Call and introduce yourself please. Ok to your smoker I would season it. It's easy and pretty quick too just spray some pams or bacon grease around nside it and start a good fire without any meat and let it go for a couple of hours. Then you'll be ready for the good eats thats are coming your way very soon.

 

[scpatterson]

Season it by spraying cooking spray (PAM) inside and then wipe the outside of the firebox with cooking oil, heat it up and let it run for a few hours.....Works like a charma nd cooks out any oil or chems that may ahve been left during the building process. Also prevents rust inside...Welcome--