Seasoning the Char-Griller Barbecue

Finally was able to break out the Char-Griller Barbecue, season it and then as an after thought, smoke some ribs! I purchased the Char-Grill Barbecue for Cooking-Outdoors a couple of months ago, built it and there it sat. You can see the initial review of the Char-Griller Barbecue here.

Char-Griller Review part 2, the Seasoning.

The Char-Griller Barbecue needs to be seasoned or it will rust. The inside of the drum and smoker box is unfinished and needs to be protected. All of the outside surfaces are painted with a high temperature paint. As Henry Ford said “You can have it in any color you want as long as it's black” and the Char-Griller is black. I have the “Pro Deluxe Model #2222”.

Here are the instructions from the Char-Griller site:

BBQ Grilling Tips and Preparation

1. Curing Your New Char-Griller®BBQ Grill
   1. Curing your grill protects the grill's interior and exterior finish while preventing unnatural flavors in your first meals. Please follow these steps in curing your BBQ grill.
      1. Lightly coat ALL INTERIOR SURFACES (including GRILLS, GRATES, and INSIDE of the BARREL).
      2. Build a medium-sized fire on the fire grate.
      3. After coals ash over, spread out coals, replace cooking grates, close lid and heat at approximately 250º F for two hours.
      4. Re-coat GRATES and return to grill at approximately 200º F for two hours.

      Your GRILL will then be ready for use. NOTE: Your GRILL will drip a lot of oil during the curing process and for several uses, but the dripping will slow over time. NEVER EXCEED 400º F BECAUSE THIS WILL DAMAGE THE FINISH AND CONTRIBUTE TO RUST. THE PAINT IS NOT WARRANTED AND WILL REQUIRE TOUCH-UP. THIS UNIT IS NOT WARRANTED AGAINST RUST.

2. To START FIRE – stack 50 – 60 briquets in a pyramid and saturate with lighter fluid (DON'T USE GASOLINE). Light coals in several places, close lid after briquets ash over or 1/2 gray, spread them out and start cooking. If one end burns faster use tongs to move coals from one end to the other for even heat. ALWAYS FOLLOW CHARCOAL AND LIGHTER FLUID MANUFACTURERS' INSTRUCTIONS AND WARNINGS. USE OUTDOORS ONLY ON NONCOMBUSTIBLE SURFACE – 15′ AWAY FROM WOOD AND COMBUSTIBLE MATERIAL.
3. Control heat with amount and type of FUEL, DUAL DAMPERS and ADJUSTABLE FIRE GRATE. Adjust GRATE one end at a time. Wood burns hotter than coals. More airflow is more heat.
4. For no flare-ups, cook with lid in the down position. Add water to soaked hardwood chips for a smoked flavor.
5. Suggestion: Screw 3/4″ cup hooks (not furnished) on front of the wood shelf to hang cooking utensils.
6. Burn out may be rust out. Ashes left in the bottom of the GRILL too long hold moisture and rust through any thickness of steel. This grill is made of steel and cast iron, which WILL RUST, ESPECIALLY IF NOT PROPERLY CARED FOR.
7. Do not use self-starting charcoal as it will give unnatural flavor. Burn lighter fluid completely before closing lid.
8. After using, coat vegetable oil on interior grates and bare metal while warm to reduce rust. On the EXTERIOR, remove rust with wire brush and touch up with a high heat paint, available at most hardware/auto stores.
9. HINT: If cast iron grates get caked, put them in a self-cleaning oven. They will come out looking like new, but will require re-seasoning.
10. HEAT GAUGE may obtain moisture, which will steam out during cooking. Your heat gauge may be calibrated in your oven.
11. You may fill unwanted holes with nuts and bolts (not provided).
12. Problems getting the temperature up in the SIDE FIRE BOX, see below for some tips.
    1. Make sure that the perforated area has been removed from the main grill and that the opening on the grill matches the opening on the SIDE FIRE BOX.
    2. Make sure that you are using large logs of wood, not chips or chunks. You may use charcoal to start the wood, but if you just use charcoal the temperature will not get hot enough in the main chamber. You must use wood logs.

The dampers on the side of the side fire box and the top of the smoke stack will regulate temperature. If you have more air, the fire will burn hotter. If you have less air, the fire will burn cooler.

NOTE: Smoke will escape from areas other than the smoke stack. This should not affect your cooking.

© 1999-2005; Char-Griller®. All rights reserved.

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I of course, didn't follow the instruction exactly

• I used spray oil to coat everything (so much easier).
• Built the fire in the Barbecue and the smoker box.
• Tried to keep the temp at 250°.
• Only seasoned it once. Got bored and decide to smoke my ribs!

All in all it worked out quite well. I am extremely happy with the results and I will do a re-seasoning before I put it through some real smoking.