Seasoning a Backwoods Party ?
 

I know about wiping everything down with peanut oil and letting it burn enpty with high heat but does one leave the water pan and heat divertor in while seasoning

I always wipe them down and season them, too.

I'd wipe them down and season them too! Couldn't hurt!

you put water in the pan or leave dry?

Spray pam works well also.

When seasonong my BWS Chubby I took out heat diverter and left water pan in. Since the water pan is stainless steel I can't imagine it would make a difference one way or the other

thanks all..sprayed everything down down with a spray bottle filled with peanut oil..Built a hot fire (300) and let it run all day..
still at 300 BTW..weird thing is how hot the outside of the cooker got...ive touched the outside of other Partys while they cook and you cant even notice much heat..
maybe they forgot to insulate mine :)

I would bet that they are designed to be smokers and not designed to run that hot for a long period of time.

huh???
when I say all day im talking about 1:00 pm to about 4:30..I seriously doubt running any cooker at 300 for 4-5 hrs or so is going to damage it..in fact i was told by other BWS owners to season at 300 or so

it will be fine, now fill it with water, and cook a nice beef roast in it at 225 and it will be all set, the outside may have felt hot if there was no meat and no water in the pan, it will be fine, enjoy your Backwwods :-P

yea i wasnt too worried. ..anyway ill be loading it up with butts end of the week Thursday evening for a product demo on Saturday

Any Backwoods is going to feel hot to the touch if it's near 80 degrees and under the sun. :wink: The Party only has 1" of insulation and even running 225 it feels warm to the touch on the outside regardless of the weather. The larger models with 2" insulation maintain a cool touch to the outside if not under the sun.

Seasoning - what you did will be fine as long as you ran it long enough to get a nice clear smoke color going. Last time I seasoned mine I didn't go long enough or hot enough and I continued to pour out a nasty smoke while smoking til I got a good whiff of the oil one day and then ran it very hot (450) long enough to burn out all the peanut oil.

ok i was basing it on what I felt on an older Party model that was cooking..
yea it went long enough for the smoke to clear up..in fact it smelled so good toward the end that if it wasnt so late I would have run to the store to get some meat to throw on it :smile:
anyway no worries and thanks for the confirmations!

Bill, is this your first Backwoods? I had a Party before my Competitor - great cookers.

yep..very first one..started out with an NBBD and a Bandera..then a WSM..now the Party
any tips on starting the fire using lump?