Seasoning

If you're under the impression that "seasoning" means to rub some McCormick spice on your grill, you probably need to consult some more cooking sources before beginning on your own smoking odyssey. "Seasoning" refers to the fine art of rubbing something oily over your cast iron cookware to keep things from sticking and to keep them clean. It sounds a little counter-intuitive -- rubbing grease on an object to keep it clean, but that's how it works. Cast iron is an extremely durable material that withstands high temperatures and holds heat extremely well. So I was glad to see cast iron grates on my grill when it arrived. But before use, they must be treated with oil to prevent rust and to keep them from getting sticky. Think of grandma's old, heavy pan that she'd make bacon and corn bread in. Chances are, it was cast iron. And remember how nasty it looked most of the time? That's seasoning.

So here you go: the instructions recommend using some kind of cooking oil and to literally coat every surface (interior and exterior) with oil and then to fire the grill up at a high heat for several hours to bake it on. When I pulled the grills from the packing material, I found them coated with some kind of oily something that I learned was from the manufacturing/packing process. Not sure what it was, I decided to clean that first before seasoning. I took some advice from another site and threw the grates into the wall oven and set it to "self-clean" for three hours to bake off the other oily stuff. It worked like a dream.

To season the grill, I used two kinds of oil product. I bought a can of spray vegetable oil (I bought the grocery store version of Pam) and a small can of vegetable shortening (I used Crisco). I sprayed the lid, base, firebox, etc with the spray oil and then rubbed, by hand, all the grates and the entire outside with Crisco. It was a tad nasty, but seemed to do the trick nicely.

Then I fired the grill up to about 400 degrees F and let it ride for the rest of the day until the fire burned itself out. I used charcoal to start it, then once it was going, switched to oak firewood (pieces without bark are best because burnt bark can leave a nasty taste, apparently).

As expected (and I knew this could and probably would happen), the firebox paint began to bubble and fleck off. My buddy Dave says it's a common problem, especially on cheaper grills. The Amazon reviewers almost always mention it. I know I can take a can of high-heat Rustoleum to it, but I shouldn't have to. My buddy Dave says to let it rust to show that I'm using it. I may still paint it. Looks crappy otherwise.