Finally got the beast off the trailer and standing erect .
It had a lot of crud and surface rust to clean off, and had been rained on several times too so it had a couple inches of water inside. Not easy to get out of a 500lb rig.
The paint job wasn't the best, but I did what I could on a windy day with high temp rattle can. And when I soaked it with spray on canola oil it evened out pretty nice.
Next I started on the racks and the inside. Some of the seasoning inside was still good, but the bottom, lower sides, and racks needed some attention.
After all the surface rust and build up was knocked off I laid the oil to it. Then I started a fire with wild cherry. Maybe the kind of wood wouldn't have mattered, but I love wild cherry so that's what I used for the first fire.
Temp is coming up, excess oil is running off, and I have a little blue smoke coming from the stack.
The guy that makes them says the temp will be +/-5 degrees from top to bottom. I'll have to check true temps with real probes and a remote. But the indications from the door thermometers look consistent.
After several hours (and cold beers), I called it a night and shut it down. When I checked it out this morning I found a nice smooth black finish on everything inside.
Pics aren't the best, but it's a new phone and I haven't figured out the camera yet. My first impression of this rig is that it takes a long time to get it to temp, but that's expected. Temp swings can be as much as 50-60 degrees from bottom to top until it evens out. Once it hits the sweet spot, the temp is very steady and holds even. I still have some excess oil on the racks and inside, but I also have to fire it up several more times to figure out the nature of the beast before I actually cook with it. Next time I'll drive the temp higher and see if it will hold. If consecutive fires go as smooth and even, I'm thinking this might be one hell of a rig for pork butts and brisket. Sorry for the long post, but I'm kinda proud of my Johnson. ;)
It had a lot of crud and surface rust to clean off, and had been rained on several times too so it had a couple inches of water inside. Not easy to get out of a 500lb rig.
The paint job wasn't the best, but I did what I could on a windy day with high temp rattle can. And when I soaked it with spray on canola oil it evened out pretty nice.
Next I started on the racks and the inside. Some of the seasoning inside was still good, but the bottom, lower sides, and racks needed some attention.
After all the surface rust and build up was knocked off I laid the oil to it. Then I started a fire with wild cherry. Maybe the kind of wood wouldn't have mattered, but I love wild cherry so that's what I used for the first fire.
Temp is coming up, excess oil is running off, and I have a little blue smoke coming from the stack.
The guy that makes them says the temp will be +/-5 degrees from top to bottom. I'll have to check true temps with real probes and a remote. But the indications from the door thermometers look consistent.
After several hours (and cold beers), I called it a night and shut it down. When I checked it out this morning I found a nice smooth black finish on everything inside.
Pics aren't the best, but it's a new phone and I haven't figured out the camera yet. My first impression of this rig is that it takes a long time to get it to temp, but that's expected. Temp swings can be as much as 50-60 degrees from bottom to top until it evens out. Once it hits the sweet spot, the temp is very steady and holds even. I still have some excess oil on the racks and inside, but I also have to fire it up several more times to figure out the nature of the beast before I actually cook with it. Next time I'll drive the temp higher and see if it will hold. If consecutive fires go as smooth and even, I'm thinking this might be one hell of a rig for pork butts and brisket. Sorry for the long post, but I'm kinda proud of my Johnson. ;)
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