# How to season or seal



## jaymar (Mar 29, 2017)

I am building a smoker for the first time. Was wondering if there is any good way to season or seal it for its first time. It is all built from raw metal no coating. All I know at this time is that I will be sand blasting and cleaning thoroughly before it sees its first fire . 


       I am New to the forum, and New to building, but not New to the business end .thanks for any help or suggestions.  


                     JAYMAR


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## 416bigbore (Mar 30, 2017)

To the SMF JAYMAR, You're going to have a lot of fun here! 
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





To answer your question on the whole season and seal, YES!  Depending on how actively you use your new unit you might have to reseal after each use over an extended period of time of not using it regularly? 

All you are doing is coating the inside of your smoker with a light to heavy film of smoke coating on everything to seal off and hold any undesirable elements inside your smoker in place, before adding your product to be smoked.
	

	
	
		
		



		
		
	


	





  

You also need to have your smoker preheated and up to temp also before adding your product. You want the surface of your meat air dry also before placing it into your smoker. 

You're on the right smoke meats forum to learn all this and to have fun in the process, lots of valuable, knowledgeable information to be found here, with a great bunch of SMF members who are willing to jump in and help you at anytime.

Try to post up pics if you can and keep us all posted with your progress. Have fun ! Smoke on, Mike


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## jaymar (Mar 30, 2017)

416Bigbore mike , 

                Thanks for the response . So far I have seen and read a lot of interesting post and ideas. I do believe that you are right sir. I'm sure I'm in the right place. 

            To further elaborate on my question, I'm all but positive that I will only need one good seal on this beast , as it will be the highlight of my friends and familys outdoor cooking  also . I have heard to coat with some type of vegetable oil , and or cook down a bunch of fat on its maiden run. So I figured who better to ask than a bunch of MEAT heads . Lol .

     Again thanks for the response.  Pics be up soon .


                     JAYMAR


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## 416bigbore (Mar 30, 2017)

Cooking oil and or spray isn't necessary and has nothing to do with seasoning your smoker. Yes it will help stuff keep from sticking to a point, but not a must thing to use.

A preheated smoker is key and will also help from any condensate which is produced from cold smoker start-up temps and will want to drip on your product, some call it acid rain.

You're in the right place to find all these answers and have fun while doing so, good luck. Mike


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## SmokinAl (Mar 30, 2017)

416bigbore said:


> Cooking oil and or spray isn't necessary and has nothing to do with seasoning your smoker. Yes it will help stuff keep from sticking to a point, but not a must thing to use.
> 
> A preheated smoker is key and will also help from any condensate which is produced from cold smoker start-up temps and will want to drip on your product, some call it acid rain.
> 
> You're in the right place to find all these answers and have fun while doing so, good luck. Mike


I'm sorry Mike, but I respectfully disagree with your statement that some veg oil ( I use Pam ) is not needed to season a new smoker.

The only way this would be true is if your smoker was built out of stainless steel, then no oil is required. As in a MES.

If your smoker is made from rolled steel the oil & smoke combo in the first smoke will keep the inside from rusting.

Al


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## 416bigbore (Mar 30, 2017)

SmokinAl said:


> I'm sorry Mike, but I respectfully disagree with your statement that some veg oil ( I use Pam ) is not needed to season a new smoker.
> 
> The only way this would be true is if your smoker was built out of stainless steel, then no oil is required. As in a MES.
> 
> ...


This is why we are all here Al, I don't know it all either and will post a question just as the next guy who is wanting to learn more. 

Pam cooking spray was introduced in the 1960 era Smoking of meat goes way back before that!  So I am not seeing the connection there, sorry. 

The heavy smoke is your protective coating and or seasoning inside your smoker before you put your product into it. 

IMO, anything you make from Stainless is gold and it will last forever. 

A new homemade carbon mild steel smoker can and will rust if it's not seasoned first, because of the oxygen and moisture coming together and making contact for the first time. IMO A heavy smoke on new steel will do the same as your cooking spray to seal off and will protect your product.

The first thing I would do on a custom built smoker,  Is fire that Bad Boy up and get it as hot as you can to burn off any bad stuff from it. Then go right into seasoning the inside. 

I do understand your wanting to use cooking spray for the same purpose to help season your smoker. A new smoker needs all the newness burned off it first before using. . 

If I missed your point please explain more.


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## tropics (Mar 30, 2017)

I like seasoning the whole inside of the smoker,I had offsets before and always used fat on the gratings.Now after seasoning a lot of cast iron Peanut Oil is my go to. A small bottle a basting mop and 400* F heat will save the inside for years. IMHO

Richie


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## russmn (Mar 30, 2017)

I did the same as tropics... went to the meat market got big ole chunk of fat .. loaded the UDS full .. ran it till it was out of charcoal!


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## SmokinAl (Mar 31, 2017)

416bigbore said:


> This is why we are all here Al, I don't know it all either and will post a question just as the next guy who is wanting to learn more.
> 
> Pam cooking spray was introduced in the 1960 era Smoking of meat goes way back before that!  So I am not seeing the connection there, sorry.
> 
> ...


This is the instructions that come with a new Lang smoker.

It doesn't have to be Pam, but you need some kind of oil.


The written instructions are on the Lang website.

Al


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## phatbac (Mar 31, 2017)

I used a spray bottle of veg oil and quite a bit when i first seasoned black Betty. I spray cooking spray in her every 3 or 4 smokes when using her too but i know the expanded metal racks i used are seasoned with oil and smoke just as Al said. Its not only a good idea its how the manufacturer recommends seasoning the smoker.

Happy Smoking,

phatbac (Aaron)













IMG_20160214_092207.jpg



__ phatbac
__ Mar 25, 2016


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## 416bigbore (Mar 31, 2017)

Al great video, you have a very nice smoker/cooker rig there, looks to be very well built! I don't have speakers on my old PC so I couldn't hear the video. I had no idea the inside of your CC would be all painted black like that so I can see where the manufacturer would want a person to preseason the inside of their equipment in that manor.   

In a way it's a lot like seasoning cast iron before you use it for the first time. I have cast iron racks on that one BBQ grill and love them and I keep them coated also to keep them from rusting.  

Moral to the Story, Manufacture knows best!


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## hoity toit (Apr 17, 2017)

tropics said:


> I like seasoning the whole inside of the smoker,I had offsets before and always used fat on the gratings.Now after seasoning a lot of cast iron Peanut Oil is my go to. A small bottle a basting mop and 400* F heat will save the inside for years. IMHO
> 
> Richie


I use avocado oil on my last one, it has higher burn point than peanut oil. I think any type of cooking oil would do the job. I have heard of people using lard on the exterior to keep an offset smoker looking new and nor rusting. They rub it on while the pit is still warm.

HT


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