Torn between two grills… need advice.

Just about to season it. The manual doesn't suggest oiling the outer body of the chamber like some members do here. Should I spray oil on the outer body and inner chamber "before" firing it up??

Just now opened up the grates package and saw this "Note" attached -

"Note: The Cast Iron Grates and Grill Body Interior are coated in an Approved vegetable oil to protect them from rusting. There is no need to remove this oil, just make sure to follow the preparation instructions in the Owner's Manual."

I thought that may ease any concerns as per the gunk if in fact that is what they are talking about.

Queue wrote:

Just about to season it. The manual doesn't suggest oiling the outer body of the chamber like some members do here. Should I spray oil on the outer body and inner chamber "before" firing it up??

Sorry this is so late. You're probably eating your first meal off the CG by now.

FWIW, I didn't spray the outside of mine when I first seasoned it. Now, for the main chamber, I just wipe it down with a cloth with a LITTLE oil evey once in a while. The SFB gets oiled on both sides regularly, since the paint has blistered on that.

Hope this helps, a bit.
Longmill

Longmill wrote:

Sorry this is so late. You're probably eating your first meal off the CG by now.

FWIW, I didn't spray the outside of mine when I first seasoned it. Now, for the main chamber, I just wipe it down with a cloth with a LITTLE oil evey once in a while. The SFB gets oiled on both sides regularly, since the paint has blistered on that.

Hope this helps, a bit.
Longmill

Hi Longmill. Thanks for the response. Actually all I did on Sunday was oiled and fired it up.

I oiled inside and out (except I think I forgot to do the charcoal tray). I used a spray bottle of veg oil and a few paper towels to spread and smear on semi-evenly inside and out.

I fired up a chimney of generic charcoal and threw it on and about the 215 temp I dumped on another chimney of charcoal (which brought it to about the 325 mark).

I kept sliding the cooking grates (outter portions in and inner portions out) to make sure they got even smoke. I then placed two softball sized chunks of mesquite on top of the coals. From beginning to end it was fired up for about 2 to 2-1/2 hours.

I took out all of the coals and left everything as is. I got good color (or so that I think) on the inside of the chamber and the grates.

Thanks to all of you for the information in this thread and for the pictures as well. That help me gauge on whether I was doing everything ok.

I have a few low quality pics but will have to look around on how to upload.

As for now, I've gotta locate the recipe forum. This weekend I want some grub on that sucker.

Queue, sounds like you're all set for some good eating!

Keep in mind that it'll be a while yet before your CG is fully seasoned. You probably have a nice mahogney (sp) color on the interior now. When fully seasoned it will be jet black. Further seasoning is easy! Just cook on it.

Just be sure to do a thorough clean up right after every cook. (Next day is fine.) Remove the ashes. Give all interior surfaces another light spray of oil. After a few cooks, you won't need to spray the walls. However, you should continue to spray the grates. Direct and indirect grilling will tend to burn off the seasoning on those.

One of the easiest ways to build up a good seasoning on the grates is to do Boston Butts or other fatty meats. Their drippings actually do a better job, IMHO, than spraying with oil.

Good luck with your upcoming cooks. Do keep us posted. BTW, check out the sticky topic on photography. Then, if you have any questions, please feel free to post. We'll try to help, if we can.

Longmill

"Just be sure to do a thorough clean up right after every cook. (Next day is fine.) Remove the ashes. Give all interior surfaces another light spray of oil. After a few cooks, you won't need to spray the walls. However, you should continue to spray the grates. Direct and indirect grilling will tend to burn off the seasoning on those."

Longmill, you have been a great deal of help. Thank you. I'm officially calling you the Kingpin of the board!

One more question if you don't mind and I promise I'll try not and bug ya as much (I just need to get off and running properly). First off, how do you get excess food off of the grates? Would scraping it off mess up the seasoning?

For the cleanup should I wipe up any excess food with a paper towel then spray everything down with oil and wipe that around with a paper towel. Also any tricks with the charcoal tray in getting sticky ash residue off of the tray below the grates? I take it that giving it a good hosing would not be good. And do you oil that up as well.

Yes the inside is not jet black but darker as you've indicated. Thanks again. Much appreciated on everything.

I use a stiff wire brush to clean the grates. For the heavy stuff I use a SS wire brush from the hardware store (welding supplies area). For lighter stuff I use a regular grill brush that has a scraper end on it. Yes, brushing and scraping will remove some of the seasoning, at first. But, in time, that won't be a problem. Keeping the grates clean, even if it does remove some of the seasoning, is important. In time those cast iron grates will be almost non-stick, if you keep them clean as the seasoning builds up.

I like to scrap the grates while they are hot to get off the heavy stuff. Sometimes both sides of the grates need to be done, especially after butts or chicken halves.

After scraping them, just spray or wipe with cooking oil. Next time I fire up, I'll brush/scrape them again and apply another coat of oil when they are hot.

For the grill body, I spray, followed by a paper towel wipe to get off the excess oil. All you need for that is a thin film of oil. Too much oil can get gunky, for lack of a better word. It's better to build up the seasoning with thin coats of oil.

For the interior of the CG main chamber and the charcoal pan, I keep those lined with foil. Makes clean up so much easier. Two sheets of the wide heavy duty foil, lined up front to back will take care of the chamber. The narrow HD foil is the right width to go under the grate in the main chamber charcoal pan. Then, tear a length in half to cover the sides of the pan above the grate.

To clean up prior to foiling, use a cleaner such as Greased Lightening to clean up that charcoal pan. Use anything you have handy to scrape under the charcoal pan grate. Something like a yardstick works good. Spraying with a water hose is fine. Once you have it clean, rinse and dry thoroughly. Then, apply a coat of oil, followed by the foil.

The foil will generally last through several cooks, especially when you're using the offset. Just replace, as needed. BTW, I also foil the ash tray in the SFB for the same reasons.

Hope this helps.
Longmill

Perfect! Thank you, Longmill. I forgot about the foil bits too. I put that on my list to get.

I feel pretty good about keeping this grill up to par now. Thanks so much.

Well, I finally did it. Bought myself a Char-Griller with the side firebox. I've been looking at this grill for the past year and waiting for a sale and recently Lowe's had 20% off all grills and I snagged one.

Thanks to this forum for all the wonderful advice. Especially to BBCUE-Z for the seasoning advice and photographs.

I do have 2 small problems though. I followed BBCUE-Z's advice for seasoning however I messed up a little. When I began seasoning it, I did not raise the charcoal pan and instead let it sit on the bottom of the grill. After using 2 chimneys of charcoal I tried to remove the charcoal pan and it was stuck to the bottom of the grill and I had to yank it out which resulted in a layer of the seasoned bottom coming off with the pan. Subsequently I used 2 entire bags of charcoal to re-season the bottom with little improvement. See photo below. What can I do to restore it so that it's not exposed?
<a><img src='http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/5986/img0007so9.jpg' border='0'></a>
<a><img src='http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/9051/img0010oj4.jpg' border='0'></a>

The other problem I have is that the Inside of the Grill Cover (right side) does not get as dark as the rest of the inside. As mentioned previously, I have so far used 2 bags of charcoal and a lot of oil and this area just does not seem to darken. Please see photos below:
<a><img src='http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/5082/img0009vg3.jpg' border='0'></a>

<a><img src='http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/9072/img0008ei0.jpg' border='0'></a>


Please let me know what I can do to correct these problems and again thank you for all the advice.

Welcome aboard, Sam! Sorry I can't help you, but I don't own a CG. I'm sure someone will be along who may be able to help, though.

Sam - you're working too hard and worrying too much. Seasoning aint that big of a deal. It'll darken up over time, and your bare spot will re-season over time.

Put some food on there and fire away!

Like TT said, don't worry too much about it. Just make sure it's oiled and you'll be fine. Start cooking on it and it'll get pitch black before you know it.

Oh yeah... Welcome to the board!

Thanks for the replies so far. I am just concerned about the bare spots developing rust over time.

Welcome to the board Sam!

Everyone is right, don't worry about it. Just add a little oil before cooking and it will cure just fine. You can even put a thin coat on it not to keep it from rusting. Congrats on your new CG and enjoy it.

Thanks again everyone for the warm welcome and the awesome advice.

I went ahead and inaugurated the grill with a few juicy T-bones. Ok, so I have to learn this grill and how to use the tampers and so on since I did burn a few of the steaks, nonetheless they turned out fantastic. Now on to trying out the smoker.

Thanks again.