The Hasty Bake Legacy 133 Corten Steel Has Arrived

[HotSun]

This is just a teaser, with more to come on this thread this weekend, weather and time permitting. So this showed up yesterday:


Nasty weather late yesterday and a family birthday dinner kept me from doing more than unwrapping and putting in the garage. I'll do my best to document my setup here, but at least I got it unwrapped and off the pallet (and protected from the storm).

Thanks again to AR and Hasty Bake!

In the meantime, if you're interested in corten (or COR-TEN) steel, here's the Wikipedia entry for weathering steel: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weathering_steel

To be continued....

[Carolyn]

Have fun. Looking forward to your set-up and what good food you create on the Hasty Bake.

[Spinaker]

This is gonna be great. I can't wait to see that patina develop! Post a lot of pics! Congrats again on the win!

[Duanessmokedmeats]

You are going to love it!

[WI Bubba]

New cooker day!

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

Do you have a plan for the rust? Some folks just let it go, some expedite it, some seal it... I had fun making patterns using fingerprints the first couple months, now I just watch it gradually change each week.

[Duanessmokedmeats]

My most recent pic of my Legacy 133.

[TripleB]

Beautiful.

[JCBBQ]

Sweet

[HotSun]

Do you have a plan for the rust? Some folks just let it go, some expedite it, some seal it... I had fun making patterns using fingerprints the first couple months, now I just watch it gradually change each week.

Great question. I'm going to clean it tomorrow and let nature do the rest. We have some artwork/sculptures in my area that are made with corten steel. Until I learned about weathering steel, I always wondered why someone would make a sculpture from it. But they look cool. Here is one from the Kirkwood Public Library in WIlmington, DE:


Source: Google Maps ; Credit: Martin Fox, 2017

Do I need to concern myself with rust staining underneath the grill as I let the steel do it's thing? I'm wondering if I need to get a mat.

[ItsAllGoneToTheDogs]

For sure put a grill mat under it. The rusty water dripping from the outside isn't a big issue BUT the interior will collect water and leak out the sides, that's enough to stain a deck or whatever.

[HotSun]

Thanks, ItsAllGoneToTheDogs , I appreciate you. That's what I was expecting.

[HotSun]

I could not post yesterday, but I was able get the HB washed, rinsed and dried:



So it already has some oxidation and the metal didn't change even when using a solvent, i.e., what you see in the pics is as clean and free from contaminants it is going to get.

Side note: I have to source some scrap corten steel just to play with it and see how it reacts and oxidizes when exposed to different chemicals.

I had to wait until later in the day when my DS came over to move it to the deck. I will assemble today as time permits.

[HotSun]

A Questionable Decision
As I cleaned and played around with the HB yesterday, I decided that I wanted to coat the ash pan with high heat enamel paint, a decision I may regret. Two things formed my decision: having to use tons of foil to protect the ash pan and corrosion from ash anyhow. So I painted it:

I will put another coat on today, because I forgot to recoat after an hour.

I am now doubting that this was a good idea because I forgot that small bits of burning ember will fall from the fire box, and the paint is not designed for direct flame contact. So I may still need the foil. However, it will work out in the long run, I think, as falling embers is a concern for the space under the fire box and not the entire ash pan, i.e., the ash pan will still have a protective coating all around.

After I recoat it and it dries, I will bake it for an hour at 450F. I'll figure that setup when I get to it...hot coals in the fire box while protecting the ash pan from, you know, ash.

Weather permitting, I may actually get to use this tomorrow. I've got picanha dry brining and am making black beans today with my DD.

Two other thoughts:
Firstly, there were no assembly instructions or manual (got mine online), unless I missed something. I mean, I can figure it out easily enough, but that might be a little frustrating for some.

Secondly, I was thinking about fuels and energy density this morning after reading the HB owner's guide. So I started this thread in the Charcoal section:

https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/forum/fuels-discussion-not-for-grills-and-smokers/charcoal-aa/1873499-energy-density-lump-versus-briquette

[Duanessmokedmeats]

I just use foil. I can get 5 to 10 cooks/smokes before having to replace the foil.

[HotSun]

Well that took long...

After only two hours exposed to rain. Reminds me of brake rotors.

Let us see what this looks like tomorrow.

[jfmorris]

Grill looks great, and I did a lot of reading up on Corten steel after your initial post.

I hope the paint works out, but I would worry a little bit about offgasing that may occur when the paint is exposed to high heat. Grill paints are not intended to be used inside cookers - just on the outside.

From what I read, the ash pan is made from galvaneal - this is steel sheets that are galvanized (zinc coated) from the steel supplier. I have parts made from that as well. Hasty Bake just cuts and bends the galvaneal, so edges won't have the coating, but the bulk is galvanized. You need special paint for galvanized metal, so don't be surprised if the paint turns loose pretty quick on that ash pan.

That is an amazing amount of change from 2 hours of rain!

If I ever win the prize again, I'm going with Corten steel too.

[HotSun]

...
I hope the paint works out, but I would worry a little bit about offgasing that may occur when the paint is exposed to high heat. Grill paints are not intended to be used inside cookers - just on the outside.

I had the same concern, but the manufacturer indicates the offgassing when baking the enamel is harmless. Again, questionable (and impulsive) decision, so we'll see what happens.

Went home for lunch and Mother Nature has been busy:

Every instinct in my body is screaming that this is all wrong, but I am trusting the process. The rain should be gone by the time I go home to cook, so we'll see what I can do with it. The plan is for picanha, dry brined for three days, indirect heat and direct sear to finish. To be continued....

[Panhead John]

I don’t get it either Jim. Our whole lives we’re taught rust is bad and try to prevent or fix it. To each his own, but having a rusty looking cooker just ain’t for me. 🤷♂️

[jfmorris]

I think you are going to get staining on your deck too if you don't watch it, during the weathering/rusting process. I was reading about buildings made with this stuff, and how it discolored all the sidewalks around them.

[HotSun]

jfmorris , my grill mat didn't arrive as scheduled (supplier canceled my order), but another is on the way. The deck will need refinished next spring, so I'm not sweating it. For now, there is only a slight amount of iron oxide that comes off when I touch it. Definitely a different animal from other iron/steel.
Panhead John , right now it looks like a hot mess, no pun intended. If nothing else, it is a conversation piece...maybe not the conversations some people are comfortable with, lol.

[fzxdoc]

So it's going to look like this after it goes through its seasoned by nature process?



I imagine the surface would feel rough?

Congrats again on your well-deserved win.

Kathryn

[HotSun]

So it's going to look like this after it goes through its seasoned by nature process?

I imagine the surface would feel rough?

Kathryn

Thanks, Kathryn. The surface is not rough, yet at least, though the sculpture that I showed above has a slightly rough texture after years of weathering. Here is what it looked like Monday afternoon, about 24 hours of exposure to rain (food is cooking in there and the removable stainless steel work shelf is in place):


I don't think it will quite look like HB's stock photo, just due to differences in weather, etc. I plan to just let it do it's thing. I'll spray with water from time to time on the sides to help even things up.

I hope this answers your questions.

[JCBBQ]

Looks cool to me!

[fzxdoc]

Thanks for the additional info and photo, HotSun . It's wonderful that you're enjoying your prize so much. Watching the patina form is an added bonus, I would imagine.

Just don't let it stain your deck. I guessing that any staining will stop happening when the process is more matured.

Kathryn