My Amerique arrived yesterday. Plan on seasoning it Saturday and smoking on Sunday.
Are there any woods better suited for the initial seasoning?
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I wouldn't think so, a nice big pork butt is the best way to get the "seasoning" going, enjoy your AQ and welcome to the family!
quote:Originally posted by Ziggy:
My Amerique arrived yesterday. Plan on seasoning it Saturday and smoking on Sunday.
Are there any woods better suited for the initial seasoning?
I would say hickory or mesquite
Seasoning means taking the shining/mirror like finish off the interior walls.Think of your grandmother's old cast iron skillet.The more years she cooks in it,the darker it gets.If you have no wood,look around on the ground and pick up a few pieces of hardwood or fruit wood.
If you have the wood you will cook with on Sunday-that is "the perfect" wood.
Either of the posts above will work.If you don't have time to get to town and shop,look around your freezer.Anything fatty that has been in there too long.Frozen groundbeef,old package of bacon,old pack of fatty spares been there until funny colored.
Toss something in there and let it run for four,or more hrs.
Fast Eddy used to tell us put about 2 lbs/ 8 hamburgers in and slow cook them. Unseasoned won't hurt your product,but seasoning lets the cooker run a little more evenly.
Over the years we have started saying"porkbutt",because you can eat it.
Enjoy.
If you have the wood you will cook with on Sunday-that is "the perfect" wood.
Either of the posts above will work.If you don't have time to get to town and shop,look around your freezer.Anything fatty that has been in there too long.Frozen groundbeef,old package of bacon,old pack of fatty spares been there until funny colored.
Toss something in there and let it run for four,or more hrs.
Fast Eddy used to tell us put about 2 lbs/ 8 hamburgers in and slow cook them. Unseasoned won't hurt your product,but seasoning lets the cooker run a little more evenly.
Over the years we have started saying"porkbutt",because you can eat it.
Enjoy.
Thanks to all.
I used about 5 ounces of the hickory Cookshack included with the smoker and, following the advice given in the forum, found a lump of meat from the freezer. I'm still not quite sure if it was pork or beef. 
I wiped down the inside with a batch of paper towels - first dry and then wet - and set up a rack in the middle.
I set the temp up to 275° (now the recommended temp according to an insert from Cookshack in the manual) for four hours, and my Amerique now has a nice smoky haze on the inside.
This weekend I'll do a nice butt. Well, nice is a relative term. All my local markets carry is "enhanced" pork. Sigh . . .
I wiped down the inside with a batch of paper towels - first dry and then wet - and set up a rack in the middle.
I set the temp up to 275° (now the recommended temp according to an insert from Cookshack in the manual) for four hours, and my Amerique now has a nice smoky haze on the inside.
This weekend I'll do a nice butt. Well, nice is a relative term. All my local markets carry is "enhanced" pork. Sigh . . .
I warmed my smoker up with a big fat pork butt then proceeded to eat it.