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Re: Rained on during cook- now what?

Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 6:06 am
by k.a.m.
The pock marks on the outside are due to the cooker not being blasted before painting. What is happening is the cooker was painted with the mill scale still on the metal. When the mill scale releases so does the paint. You can lightly sand those areas and spray rustoleum high heat paint to the chamber it is a DTM paint and does not require a primer. It will most likely happen again so be prepared for minor touch ups.
For the inside just take some wadded up foil and rake the flakes off then rinse out the cooker. Heat her up and spray a little Pam on her once dried out.

Re: Rained on during cook- now what?

Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2016 6:22 am
by Rodcrafter
The inside of all smokers build up the dry flakey stuff. I use a wide 4" drywall knife and just scrape areas above the racks, then spray olive oil on it and get cooking. The FB will never stay painted on an offset for long. Paint just doesn't stand up to that sorta heat for long. The only way I know will work is if the FB is insulated. As for the rain this is what I did about that.
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I haven't had any trouble since.


Making memories.

Re: Rained on during cook- now what?

Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2016 9:19 am
by k.a.m.
If you sand blast the firebox and spray inorganic zinc primer on it before top coating you will not see any more rust or bare metal for that fact. The zinc primer becomes part of the metal when it is applied to blasted metal.
As far as super ultra high heat paints they are a waste of money on fireboxes in my opinion. The hottest I have ever had one of my fireboxes was 728° and that was when I was seasoning her and got the cooker to 350°.
Preparing the metal for paint is everything. If you're just gonna throw on some paint then be prepared to touch up over time.
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Re: Rained on during cook- now what?

Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2016 3:16 pm
by Txdragon
BladeRunner wrote:Do you think a stiff wire brush would work for both of those? The flakes and the top of the firebox.

When you say 'good' high temp- do you have a brand or a preference? I've not had to use it before.


Yes on the brush for the inside at least. I use my grill brush to clean up the interior before re-seasoning. On the outside, it may take a tad more elbow grease lol. I'd use something with a little more "oomph" for that; sander, wire wheel, etc. The Rustoleum high temp stuff that K.A.M. mentioned is good to use on a shelf cooker. Personally, I wouldn't invest the time and money for VHT on anything less than a rig I built myself.

Re: Rained on during cook- now what?

Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2016 6:19 pm
by BladeRunner
I am looking to expand the covered patio... But it's a bit late for that.
It's good to know the inside flakes are some what normal. I'm cooking again this weekend, so I'll hold off on the scrubbing and painting.
I'm not sure how I would get this guy sandblasted... I had to borrow a truck to get it home from the store.
I'm a bit worried though- KAM said his FB was 728 and the cook chamber was 350... I've had the chamber shoot up to 450-500 when I was learning this pit (well, shoot, I'm still learning). I bet I was a mite higher than 728 in the FB.

Thanks for the great insight everyone.

Re: Rained on during cook- now what?

Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2016 5:03 pm
by Txdragon
A sand blaster is a good tool for getting the surface in near perfect prep for paint. It may not be possible in some cases (I fall into that category as well). You can prep the surface with some 200-300 grit sandpaper or a paint stripper wheel (or 2) for a power drill if ya have one. After sanding down, you can wet a rag with some denatured alcohol and clean up the surface pretty good, then primer and paint! I would go at least that distance for a higher-end shelf unit like old country or oklahoma joe.