Stickburner Maintenance

[Smokedstanley]

In the spring of 2014 I built a trailer mounted reverse flow offset and painted the outside with rustoleum brushable high temp. My thinking was that it would be thicker than if I spray painted it and should hold up better. The cooking chambers are holding up ok but the firebox is just rusting through the paint. I was wondering what others are using on their smokers and if they had any tips to stop it from rusting.

[Dewesq55]

That's a beautiful rig.

[Smokedstanley]

Thank you

[Huskee]

No tips yet, I'm about to cross into the territory of repainting mine. She's getting surface rust on the firebox and it's getting a bit unsightly.

I remember several months ago on the main AmazingRibs site, in the Disqus comments, a fella had a massively large stickburner and he documented refinishing and painting it. It would take some searching to find it but I'd start at the Stickburner pages. If I can find it I will post the link here, it's worth a read.

[Smokedstanley]

I hope you find it. I didn't do it the first time, but I am going to try coating the outside with grease after it's hot to help seal it this time.

[Huskee]

Try as I may I can't find it. It must be placed on an erroneous page where I wouldn't think to look. Bummer.

[DWCowles]

You want to grind the rust off and repaint. After the paint has dry for at least 24 hrs.. Then you want to treat the firebox like you would a iron skillet keeping it greese with bacon greese or lard.

[Marauderer]

I know I don't have a "Stick Burner" yet but, I have been doing a bit of research and found this on the Lang Site.
Maintenance & Extras

Frequently Asked Question

What should I do?

Q: My firebox is starting to rust a little. What can I do to stop this?

A: You have two choices, wire brush and repaint seasonally or keep the exterior oiled with a light coat of cooking oil.

Q: My Model 60 was delivered Wednesday. I pre-seasoned it Thursday night per your instructions. The paint on top of the fire box popped off. It looks like there was no metal primer put on before the finish coat. What should I do?

A: Primers don't work with high heat paint. The paint won't stay subtle around the firebox, it loses its elasticity and that's why it cracks and flakes. All you can do in the firebox area is treat it like a cast iron skillet and use cooking oil on the surface when it's not hot. Get a can of high heat bbq grill spray paint and touch it up before you put the oil on. Sorry for the inconvenience. Hope this helps.

[DWCowles]

Hum, that sounds a lot of what I posted. I just did my Lang about three weeks ago. It had some rust on top of the firebox so I used a wire wheel attached to my grinder to clean off the rust then I put three coats of high heat paint on it. After 24 hours to let the paint dried I heated some lard and brust it all over the firebox. I'm planning on brushing cooking oil on the firebox after every cook this year. But anytime you put steel and fire together you're going to have rust.

[Spinaker]

In the spring of 2014 I built a trailer mounted reverse flow offset and painted the outside with rustoleum brushable high temp. My thinking was that it would be thicker than if I spray painted it and should hold up better. The cooking chambers are holding up ok but the firebox is just rusting through the paint. I was wondering what others are using on their smokers and if they had any tips to stop it from rusting. [ATTACH=CONFIG]n52711[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n52709[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]n52710[/ATTACH]

That is a custom deal?!?!? If so, you need to start building these for a living. I love the table that doubles as a lid for the storage box. That cooker is a thing a beauty. Do you have any pictures from when you were building this beast, I would love to have a look at those. Thanks!!!

-John

[Smokedstanley]

Thank you for everyones advice. I am definitely going to oil the outside of the fire box after I refinish it in the spring. I have oiled it recently just to stop the rust that already started and it seems to be working. Spinaker, Thanks for the compliment. Here is a link to the complete build of the smoker. It took 5 weeks from start to finish, which I think was pretty quick with work, kids, and taking night classes. I am starting to plan out building a vertical offset in the spring, probably not on a trailer though.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/166890/100-gallon-reverse-flow-w-vertical-box#post_1232481