painting vs seasoning outside of a UDS

I've always wondered... why paint a UDS when you can season the outside with a bit of vegetable oil? Will the blackening degrade too rapidly with the changes in weather? I ask because the bottom of my blackened skillets, which are subjected to extremely hot and direct heat, only require oiling every once in a blue moon to prevent rust on the bottom. It would follow logically that a smoker running at relatively low temps should only require a swab of oil even less frequently to prevent rust, discounting environmental factors (ie torrential rain/snow). Is this even a feasible concept?

ya see! I'm not silly!

Thanks all for the advice. The two quoted posts were especially helpful.

There are two reasons why I originally thought of this:
1) Areas that tend to rust are hot. Like the firebox on a horizontal, or where the coals might touch the sides on a vertical depending on the fire basket layout. The vertical scenario is probably a bit unlikely though.

2) I have found that a proper seasoning (mostly just a good torching) can create a very durable petina. I have purposely scuffed (with steel wool) and seasoned metal cookware, like spatulas because it provides a non-stick surface with virtually no heat limitations (only the spatula tho, I don't abuse my seasoned pans). The petina on the spatula has lasted ages, through frequent dishwashing machine cycles and light scrubbing.

3) Ok I lied, three. And because it's cheap and doesn't ruin the entire paint job if water gets under a chip.

It would appear, however, that a fair bit of this argument is moot because the vertical drum owners seem to have no issues with heat or rust at all. If I ever do have a rust prone piece of gear that runs hot, I will most definitely try this out. Thanks again for the info.

QansasjayhawQ said:

Well, contrary to what others have offered up so far, seasoning my smoker (Brinkmann Smoke'N PitMaster Deluxe) is what I do every spring. The trick is to heat the smoker up as hot as it will go. I stuff my firebox with huge amounts of seasoned silver maple which burns really fast and hot. That gets even the far end of the smoker up to almost 400F. Then I rub it all down with lard, keeping the fire stoked until the lard has 'caramelized' on the surface of the steel.

Works great - no stickiness - and it protects the steel just fine from rust.

The seasoning on the firebox wears off first because of the high heat and so I re-apply that a couple more times over the next year or so as needed while I'm cooking.

Hope this helps!
-
P.S. Do this over the grass or some gravel. If you do it over the patio, the wifey gets a tad bit upset. (Voice of Experience)

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brotherbd said:

For one thing, it's not a SILLY question :tsk:, but one that shows some valid thought and a genuine desire for understanding. :clap2:

Bbq Bubba is correct. :becky: Unless you are intentionally raising the temperature enough, like for the initial seasoning burn for the inside, the normal operating temps for a UDS simply aren't hot enough to carbonize the oil, rendering the seasoning so highly prized on cast iron cookware. The lower the temp the longer it takes but not much happens below the smoking point of the oil or grease. It would only turn gooey and eventually turn rancid like Crazy Harry said :-D, although it would not run off like Captain Dave said :nono: because it would still retain the oils resistance to mix with water.

I'm sure you've experienced something like this. An aluminum sauté pan it what comes to mind for the example of the non-carbonized goo of which I speak. Although the bottom of the pan absolutely gets hot enough the sides are relatively much cooler. Traces of oil from inside may run down the side through whatever action, but it just will not carbonize on the sides because of the lack of higher heat for a long enough duration. It's also extremely (difficult) to clean off because of its resistance to mix with just about anything to disolve it.:boxing:

The inside of the pit seasons, but not in the same way as cast iron. Unless you are raising the internal temperature high enough and long enough to carbonize the oil, true seasoning does not occur. What we get in a smoker, UDS or any other type of smoker, is a coating of vaporized oils that coat the insides of our pits. That’s why we can get a sludge build up over time that needs to be scraped out and it’s always gooey to one degree or another.

Just my .02, :wink:

Thanks for your question, hope the answer helps. :thumb:

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