New Offset Smoker Preparation

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Faston

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Well I took the plunge and bought an Old Country Brazos offset. I was going to coat the entire inside and outside with canola oil and burn it out to season it. Worked nicely on my last smoker...

But before I do this I noticed that some people were buying hi-temp spray paint and spraying right over new paint to add further protection. Is this really worth the $$ and effort? I noticed that some of the spray can paint jobs did not look so good as compared to the original paint. There is a corrosive sea breeze where I live to make matters worse but I will keep this unit covered.

Also, this is a heavy unit and I struggle to lift the chamber end to roll it on the back wheels. Anyone have any slick solutions such as adding a couple of wheels?

Thanks!!
 

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I've never done it, but have heard of others that use crisco on the outside, especially on the firebox.
 
Congrats on the new pit ! I've put my hands on this unit and it is indeed solid and very heavy. Really needs a counter weight on the door in my opinion.

Anyway.....I own a Horizon and I've never applied high heat spray paint to the main pit, only to the firebox as it did flake in areas. Yours probably will too eventually. What I do is apply vegetable oil to the pit pretty much every time I cook on the unit. Keeps it nice and shiny and looking brand new, kind of like maintaining a cast iron skillet.

My issue out here in the Desert Southwest is the dust storms we have. The dirt loves to stick to an oily pit and I'm really bad about keeping it cover.

Good luck, let us know how this unit cooks and maintains heat as many people have inquired about this unit over the past couple years.
 
I don't have an answer to your question but would like to say that I like the looks of that smoker.
 
Dont own one and its hard to tell from that angle in the pic but how hard would it be to extend that handle by the stack out a little ways so you could get more leverage when lifting?

Good looking smoker btw
 
You could use an expandable stem caster. You would have to cut the leg so the smoker would be level when you add the casters. I think the smallest diameter pipe that will except these is 7/8".

ex.jpg
 
This sure looks like a quality rig and a quality paint job. I would be tempted to canola oil or original pam the inside only, go with a few smokes and if you see the paint discolor, like at the firebox, hit it with a little canola as it cools. I just keep a can of pam around.
 
onexchef said:
You could use an expandable stem caster. You would have to cut the leg so the smoker would be level when you add the casters. I think the smallest diameter pipe that will except these is 7/8".

ex.jpg
Click to expand...

May want to consider ones with a small brake on them if you move it around a lot.I moved mine to inside the shed out of the snow and I forgot to lock one on my smoker awhile back and it moved itself back outside when I came in to get the meat :doh:
 
Faston said:
Well I took the plunge and bought an Old Country Brazos offset. I was going to coat the entire inside and outside with canola oil and burn it out to season it. Worked nicely on my last smoker...

But before I do this I noticed that some people were buying hi-temp spray paint and spraying right over new paint to add further protection. Is this really worth the $$ and effort? I noticed that some of the spray can paint jobs did not look so good as compared to the original paint. There is a corrosive sea breeze where I live to make matters worse but I will keep this unit covered.

Also, this is a heavy unit and I struggle to lift the chamber end to roll it on the back wheels. Anyone have any slick solutions such as adding a couple of wheels?

Thanks!!
Click to expand...

Do you really think that spraying a coat 1/100 of a millimeter thick on something that gets so hot that you can't touch it.......will protect it further?

The only thing it does is make it look bad and peel.

Old country should have welded the handle lower for more leverage, and added wheels like some other smokers. It looks like you could burn you hand on the stack when moving.

Why is the shelf not level?? It slopes to the right.

Nice smoker. Is should be air tight and the best quality for 1000.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I use a light coat of Crisco in the inside of mine, and burn it hot like 400 on the grate hot for and Hr. the shut it down and let it cool when the Outside has cooled enough that I can keep my hand on it for a second or two I spray a rag with PAM and give it a rub down.
This isn't the greatest Pic but it is 2 yrs old when I took it
PHOT0062.jpg


This was last fall (5+ yrs) it's a little dusty but once it was hosed off it still looks new.
DSCF0015.jpg
 
Nice cooker! I wouldn't worry about adding paint. Fire that sucker up and make some Q!
 
Yeah what J-Rod said. That thing wont need paint on the sfb i bet for at least a season of hard cooking. When it does real easy just take a wire brush and knock off what ya can and spritz alittle high temp paint on and ur good for another season. Ive done this for over ten years with my CG like Bludawgs and it looks new still so i know urs will.
 
Wow!

What a nice bunch of folks here chock full of great suggestions! As reading the responses I have reconsidered the paint and am not going to do it till I really need to. I am very capable of screwing up the paint and peeling would really depress me. I will go with coating everything inside and out with canola oil, burn her in and relax about it. I might use Crisco on the exterior as it is suspect might be more durable. Problem living here on the Gulf Coast is that most of the time we have a nice sea breeze that corrodes everything in its path. I will keep this baby covered and will try to make room downstairs to store it inside.

I couldn't believe the shelf is slightly tilted, never noticed itL It actually is only off only about 1 degree according to my angle cube. Not really enough to cause a problem so I am not going to worry about it. That shelf folds down and is held up by a single rod, amazingly sturdy.

I will wait till a while to think about shortening the legs for the casters. Looks like a great suggestion but I am not ready to cut on this one yet.

The cover is heavy but not that bad for an adult. If I had small children around I would counterweight the cover.

Thanks everybody!!
 
I bought that same smoker at Academy 18 months ago. It was by far the most substantial piece of equipment I could find for the price. It cooks really well, holds temp pretty solidly and having the exhaust stack located beneath the main grate seems to help even out the heat across the smoke chamber. It took about 6 cooks before the paint started to peel on the firebox, so I bought a phosphoric acid rust preventative product that several of the Brethren recommended and took a wire brush to the firebox. Applied the product to the firebox and waited three days before wiping it down and repainting with high-temp spray paint. Still looks good for setting out in the Texas weather for a year. Only two problems I have found with the Brazos - one, it is danged heavy to move around (600 pounds, per the manufacturer), and the steel on the inside of the firebox lid seems to be flaking. As thick as the material is, I don't foresee a problem for a long time. I want to put some casters on the front legs, so maybe I'll try the above suggestion. BTW, the top rack cooks a bit hotter than the bottom, but based on the biscuit test, temps are pretty uniform from right to left.
 
I'll be sure to let you gents know how things work out. One thing I firmly believe is that this cooker will be way more capable than I am. Hope my learning curve can keep pace.

I have wanted a cooker like this for decades but would never cough up the coin. If I had just laid the coin down years ago I probably would have been miles ahead.

I plan on installing two thermometers at meat height of the lower rack, one near the firebox end and one close to the flue to check temp spread. I will probably install one in the center of the top chamber rack too.

Does this makes sense to you guys?

Thanks!

I think Horizon makes a deflection plate that might possibly fit.
 
Thats a nice rig for sure.

What thickness is the metal on the chamber and the box?
 
Muscrat said:
Thats a nice rig for sure.

What thickness is the metal on the chamber and the box?
Click to expand...

Joy to the world, both the chamber and firebox are 1/4" plate as verified by my digital calipers.
 
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