It’s just started raining here in NE Oklahoma and it got me thinking about a few things everyone might want to consider when it comes to maintaining your smoker.First don’t leave ashes in your smoker ESPICALLY during wet season, the ashes will actually draw the moisture into your smoker and in turn expedite a bad case of cancer (rust).
It’s always a good idea to also spray any hinges latches etc with WD-40 or something of the like. On a semi regular basis, TRUST me you would MUCH rather stay ahead of rusted shut hinges or latches than trying to recover from them.
Last is covers….I am actually not a big fan of covers, if you do insist on covering your smoker make sure it is WELL ventilated, smokers that are covered for extended periods of time end up trapping moisture in and because they do not get enough air circulation the moisture is unable to evaporate. This is why I normally just give my smoker a GOOD cleaning (spot paint, etc) and make sure the fire box is completely cleaned out for the winter season.
Any of you that know me, know that my smoker is pretty much going year round, like the cheese and olives I COLD smoked in the blizzard of 2008….good times. Anyway just a few off the tops I thought I would share.
Also worth noting if you have a new smoker, it is always a good idea to season the cooking chamber. This process is pretty much the same as season any kind of cast iron cookware, you are going to coat the inside with any kind of oil, you can use spray (pam, etc) or beef fat, whatever you want (it don’t affect any kind of taste so use whatever you have on hand or whatever is cheap) once all the cooking chamber surfaces are coated you will then just fire up the smoker and heat it to about 250 degrees. This will turn that oil into a nice protective coating that will more or less repel any water.
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