So, you have bought a new smoker? Good, but have you prepped it for your first use? Yes, you can’t use a smoker right out of the store, you need to prep it, or season it to make sure it’s safe. Don’t worry; we are going to explain it in details!
What is Seasoning?
Seasoning means cleaning the inner chamber of the smoker to get rid of dust, oil or other chemicals. These chemicals are left on the device from the manufacturing process. Electric smokers have become very popular, and their demand has increased in recent years.
The industry stepped up, but it created a small problem for us, users. Whenever you buy a new smoker, you must season it before smoking meat.
Importance of Seasoning
These devices are produced on a massive scale. Therefore, they are hardly sanitized from paint, oil and other industrial chemicals. Not to mention, dust builds up inside the inner chamber These things not only ruin the taste of your food but pose a great danger to your health. This is why you should season the smoker before using it.
Prep-Work
Unpack the device and prepare it for seasoning. Do it in a garage or outdoor. If you haven’t bought a smoker yet, refer to our 2018 Electric Smoker Reviews, and find the best device according to your budget.
Once you have your pick, unbox it and look for issues. IT will make sure the device works perfectly. Once you are sure the device has no issues, turn it on.
Power Up
Power up the device, plug in the power cable and hit the power button. Press it or hold it, depending on your device. Wait for it to start working.
Preheat
Why do you need to Preheat? Well, your device isn’t ready for use, and you better fix that. Set the temperate to 275 degrees and leave it there for three hours. This will evaporate everything including oil, dust and other chemicals to keep them from running your food.
Use Woodchips
Smoking or curing is easy, once you set the device to preheat, change the temperate to 275 and leave it to accumulate the heat and get rid of the harmful stuff. Once you do it, get some wood chips. Put them during the last hour. The wood chips will sanitize the whole inner chamber and prep it for future use.
Type of Wood
You can choose between Mesquite Wood Chips and Maple Wood Chips. Both offer the same result. Add them two hours after you have set the device to preheat.
How to do it?
Depending on your model, you may have a knob on a side or level, pulling it will lead to the wood chips tray. Put the chips here.
Last Step
After three hours, you would have used all your wooden chips. So, turn off the device and take extra care when opening the inner chamber, it will be full of smoke. Get a clean cloth, and wipe the whole inner chamber clean. Now you are done!
