mattdean1003
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2012
- Location
- Bogart, GA
We fired up the Smokehouse vertical today! I dry ran it for about 2 hours to let it heat up and then I rinsed it out, as in the Lang videos, to sorta "steam clean" if you will, but I think that was a bad idea as the water immediately ran down and mixed with the ash. I know, ash and water don't mix, but I was able to get it super hot again and evaporate all of the water, however, a VERY thin layer of ash seems "glued" to the bottom of the firebox now. I'm hoping that sweeping all of the ash out and then going over the firebox inside with an oil soaked rag will help prevent rust, but I'm sorta concerned about the little bit that was left, especially the little layer that I couldn't scrape off.
This smoker does NOT take a big fire to get hot. When I have a large fire, I cannot latch the firebox door, so Dad is going to come back over with his handheld grinder and see if he can grind just a tad off the latch itself so that it shuts when it's hot. That is the only issue we have found, though. Outside was soaked in oil and wiped down, inside was wiped down, process repeated a few times, has a beautiful slick look inside and out.
I'm just praying I haven't prematurely ruined the firebox bottom by baking any ash/water mixture onto it. I am not going to leave ash in the cooker, any ash I can get out will come out, and the firebox will be wiped down with oil after every single cook. The firebox rusted out on my Ranch Hand (also by Old Country) and I REFUSE to let that happen to my new toy. Maybe I can get out there tomorrow and scrub it with a little soapy water? I am going to break it in with a small chuck roast to see how it does.
In the pic with the fire, you can see a little of the waterlogged ash below the wood. AMAZING size on the firebox. I could literally put full size firewood splits in if I wanted to, although I'll probably stick to a small hot fire.
Pics! They are night pics, after a few adult beverages, be nice..lol
This smoker does NOT take a big fire to get hot. When I have a large fire, I cannot latch the firebox door, so Dad is going to come back over with his handheld grinder and see if he can grind just a tad off the latch itself so that it shuts when it's hot. That is the only issue we have found, though. Outside was soaked in oil and wiped down, inside was wiped down, process repeated a few times, has a beautiful slick look inside and out.
I'm just praying I haven't prematurely ruined the firebox bottom by baking any ash/water mixture onto it. I am not going to leave ash in the cooker, any ash I can get out will come out, and the firebox will be wiped down with oil after every single cook. The firebox rusted out on my Ranch Hand (also by Old Country) and I REFUSE to let that happen to my new toy. Maybe I can get out there tomorrow and scrub it with a little soapy water? I am going to break it in with a small chuck roast to see how it does.
In the pic with the fire, you can see a little of the waterlogged ash below the wood. AMAZING size on the firebox. I could literally put full size firewood splits in if I wanted to, although I'll probably stick to a small hot fire.
Pics! They are night pics, after a few adult beverages, be nice..lol
