# Preserving smoker over time



## Paulie Walnuts 440 (Sep 9, 2020)

Hey I wanted to get some thoughts on what people do to preserve the exterior of your smoker. I see if you have surface rust some suggest sand with 50 to 80 grit then clean surface with like a mineral spirit for a clean surface area then apply high heat paint and call it a day or some apply linseed oil after they warm the smoker up evenly  and keep that patina look.


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## daveomak (Sep 10, 2020)

Linseed oil will work...  It's what's used to season cast iron cookware...  the edible type...  Called Flax seed oil...  Regular non food will work just fine...   
Once it dries, which takes several days, it forms a hard polymer coating...   You can thin it with mineral spirits so it will dry faster and make a thinner coating...  Be careful...  mineral spirits is flammable....  Linseed oil will burn also...  
If you soak a rag with linseed oil, and leave it laying around, it's been known to auto combust into flame...


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## Chasdev (Sep 10, 2020)

It's much easier and quicker to spray the whole thing with Pam, the firebox area will burn off but it only takes a few seconds to do a re-spray.


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## Paulie Walnuts 440 (Sep 10, 2020)

Thanks guys and also I see people just spray the whole smoker with vegetable oil also. Any thoughts on that  ?


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## slapaho_injun (Sep 10, 2020)

Exterior - I keep it covered with high heat black spray paint. The sun really wears on it so I paint it about every year. I also wrap it with a cheap tarp to keep the sun and weather off it for winter or when I’m not going to be smoking for an extended time. 

interior - I just spray vegetable oil very liberally before each smoke. I lay tinfoil down in the bottom of the cooking chamber.

independent fire box- I just remove all ash Inside after each smoke and I keep it covered with that same high heat black spray paint.


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## SmokinAl (Sep 10, 2020)

What kind of smoker do you have. I don’t do anything to my WSM, or Smoke Vault. But I do coat my Lang with Pam inside & out every smoke, and so far no rust.
Al


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## ozzz (Sep 10, 2020)

I season the inside with olive oil and also coat the outside with olive oil.


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## Paulie Walnuts 440 (Sep 10, 2020)

I have a standard flow offset smoker by piggy back smokers. He didnt really tell me much of anything and I didn't think to ask since I had really no clue lol..now I see what's really all about smok ing bbq hahahaha..thanks to everyone on this great forum. I did season the inside with canola oil pretty liberal and I did notice some excess black residue on my food and I actually torched a lot of it off and solved that issue.


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