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How To Season An Offset Smoker
If you’re wondering how to season an offset smoker, you’ve come to the right place! It can be done in some of these really quick steps.
First do you want to grab a jar of oil or a can of Pam spray, then you want to promptly heat up your smoker to it around 255°F, and finally you want to get a wire brush alongside a towel that you can use to apply directly to the metal.
Once your smoker has come up to temp and has plenty of heat all throughout, and the metal is piping hot, then you can take your wire brush and begin scraping off all the rust that is present on the smoker. You should notice a light orange and red type of dust fall off.
Once you have insured all of the rust has been scraped off then you can take your towel, dip it inside of the jar oil, and start rubbing around all over the exterior of the offset smoker.
Wait about 30 minutes for the heat to start stealing the oil into the porous holes of the offset smoker metal.
That is how you season an offset smoker.
Do you need to season an offset smoker?
If you’re wondering whether or not you actually need to season an offset smoker, just know that you absolutely need to if you want to preserve the metal for several years to come.
If you do not season your offset smoker, it will get very rusty over time and start to degrade and disintegrate because of the ash present in the firebox.
Ash basically becomes corrosive if you do not take it out and start seasoning the metal that it was touching and causing to rust.
How do you season a smoker for the first time?
Seasoning your offset smoker for the first time is an exciting task and must be done.
Not only does seasoning protect your smoker but it also allows for the pit-master to begin understanding how to manage fire temperatures as well as knowing how to generally take care of it to begin with.
Another great benefit of seasoning an offset smoker for the first time is that it allows all of the factory chemicals to burn off and not emit onto any meat.
That means you don’t want to season your smoker especially for the first time if you have any meat inside of it.
Don’t put anything in, crank up the heat to around 255°F and enjoy a perfectly glorious looking offset smoker afterwards.
How long does it take to season a new smoker?
It doesn’t take too long to season an offset smoker, especially if it’s new.
You should expect anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour for you season it.
Just go ahead and apply oil all around the smoker and ensure it gets hot enough to seal it onto the metal. This should only take about half an hour!
What is the best oil to season a smoker with?
You can honestly use any type of oil to season a smoker, I personally also like to use Pam oil spray as well. This helps get all of those nooks and crannies that you otherwise couldn’t get with just oil and a towel.
That’s because it’s a mist spray that can get all around the hard to get parts.
Specifically, you can use vegetable, oil canola oil, coconut oil, Olive oil, and so much more.
It doesn’t matter really what type of oil you use.
What matters is whether or not you were getting some type of fat onto the metal to seal it from getting further rust damage.
Should I oil the outside of my smoker?
If you see rust on the outside of your smoker, you should absolutely oil and season that area.
Not only that but it is recommended to season both the outside and inside of the smoker.
This helps protect any type of rust formation and will allow you to enjoy your cooker for your entire life if you take care of it properly.
Even if you don’t happen to actually see rust forming just yet, just go ahead and get into the habit of seasoning your smoker after every cook. This will certainly help prolong its life.
How often should you clean your offset smoker?
For the frequency of seasoning an offset smoker, you should be cleaning and seasoning it after every cook.
After you cook and use any type of charcoal or ash, your smoker is most prone to damage and rusting.
That is because charcoal, if left overtime in the firebox, will turn directly into a corrosive material that will not only rust your smoker but actually eat away the metal and degrade it further.
You also want to take advantage of the fact that you’re smoker is already fairly hot after you have concluded cooking your meat.
Remember, having a lot of heat on the metal is crucial to properly seasoning it.
So you are really becoming more efficient with not only cooking meat but taking advantage of the residual heat leftover and actually seasoning and cleaning the smoker itself.
Before you start cleaning out all of the ash and charcoal that is currently present in the smoker, you may want to consider adding a little bit more to really crank up the heat.
Then go ahead and start scraping off any of the rust do you happen to see, and begin applying oil all over it and wait 30 minutes. Then you should be done.
What temp do you season a smoker?
The hotter you can get your smokers temperature when seasoning it, the better.
As a rule of thumb, you want it to at least be around 255°F or higher. If you want to go all the way up to 300°F of higher than have at it. This will further seal the oil on the metal itself and further protect it. It can be a great way for a longevity of the smoker.
Final Thoughts
In short, if you’re wondering how to season your offset smoker, just use any type of oil, grab a towel, and grab a wire brush.
Scrape all around the entirety of the metal with your wire brush before applying oil.
Then grab your oil and towel and start wiping down both the exterior and interior. Crank up the heat to at least 255°F but preferably over 300°F to further seal the oil onto the metal and protect it from getting rusty.
Robert is a certified Pitmaster, with over a decade of experience in smoking the best meats you’ll ever feast upon. He also has a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at San Antonio. When he’s not researching technical topics, he’s most likely barbecuing in his backyard.