Are you ready for your summer barbecue season? Do you have your electric smoker up and running, ready to smoke all kinds of meat? Before you can start smoking in your new electric smoker, it’s crucial to season or cure it. However, not everyone is familiar with this process. To learn how to prepare your electric smoker for use, just read through this article and take notes.
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Seasoning an Electric Smoker: What Does It Mean?
Curing or seasoning an electric smoker is the process of removing dust, industrial oils, and any other harmful substances left over from the production process. With the increasing popularity of electric smokers, mass production has become the norm. As a result, it’s important for consumers to season the smoker before its first use to ensure it’s safe for smoking meat.
Why Is Seasoning Important?
Electric smokers are produced on a large scale to meet consumer demand. Consequently, these products aren’t sanitized and ready for use immediately after purchase. The inner chamber of an electric smoker may contain residues like paint, oil, and industrial dust. These substances can not only affect the flavor of the food you’re smoking but also pose health risks. That’s why it’s crucial to cure or season your electric smoker before using it for the first time.
Now that you understand the importance of seasoning, let’s dive into how to do it. The process is straightforward and only needs to be done once on a new electric smoker.
Unpacking and Preparing Your Electric Smoker for Seasoning
First, unpack your electric smoker and get it ready for seasoning. It’s best to choose a location in your garage, workshop, or outdoors for this process.
Turning It On
Once you’re ready to start seasoning, turn on your electric smoker. This is simple: locate the power button and press it. Now, all you need to do is wait for it to start working.
Set It to Preheat
If you skipped the first part of this article, you might wonder why you need to preheat the electric smoker. The reason is that your new electric smoker isn’t ready for use yet. You need to cure it first to remove any residues that could taint the food. Preheating is the first step in this process.
Set the temperature to 275 degrees Fahrenheit and let it run for three hours. During this time, oils, dust, and other residues will evaporate, leaving the inner chamber clean and ready for smoking.
Adding Wood Chips
Seasoning your electric smoker might sound simple, but there’s one critical step: adding wood chips during the last hour of the preheating process. This helps to sanitize the inner chamber and prepare it for use. Not sure which wood chips to use? You can explore the best wood chips for your electric smoker here.
Which Wood Chips to Use for Seasoning?
Whether you use mesquite or maple wood chips for seasoning doesn’t make a big difference—the result is the same. Choose your preferred wood chip brand and type, and add them to your smoker exactly two hours after starting the preheating process. If you’re unsure whether to soak the chips, this guide on whether to soak wood chips for an electric smoker might be helpful.
How to Use Wood Chips for Seasoning
Even if you’re new to using an electric smoker, this step is easy to do on your own. Depending on your model, you’ll either have a knob or a lever to access the wood chip tray. This is where you’ll place your wood chips whenever you’re smoking meat. For seasoning or curing, you’ll only need a small amount—just grab a handful of wood chips and insert them into the tray. For detailed guidance, consider reading this how-to guide on using an electric smoker.
Finishing the Process
Once three hours have passed and all the wood chips have burned out, you can turn off your electric smoker. Be cautious when opening the inner chamber, as it will be filled with smoke from the wood chips you used.
The final step is to wipe down the grates with a clean cloth. This will ensure your electric smoker is ready for use. The only time you might need to repeat this process is if you’ve smoked one type of meat and want to avoid flavor cross-contamination when smoking another. In that case, seasoning again will prevent any leftover flavors from affecting the next batch.
For a visual guide on how to season your electric smoker, check out this video.
Conclusion
Now that you know how to properly season your electric smoker, you’re all set to start smoking delicious meats. Make sure to follow these steps carefully to ensure the best results and a long-lasting, well-performing smoker. If you’re still deciding on a smoker or want to compare, check out this comparison between Camp Chef and Traeger or dive into electric vs propane smokers. Happy smoking!
