New Smoker Seasoning

[BigBrizket]

I am getting ready to pick up my new smoker made my Pitts by JJ in Houston. I know I will need to season it, and plan on giving it a good coating of PAM or what ever cooking spray I can buy a lot of on sale; but I am stuck on what wood to use use for the first burn. I will be using this smoker for competitions, so I am thinking of keeping it simple and using oak to keep it cheaper? and maybe throwing some charcoal in there to help with some heat.
Also how hot should I be looking to get the temp up to for the first burn to help get it seasoned and get everything locked in?

[txsmkmstr]

I'd be surprised if the pit manufacture didn't offer a set of instructions on how to proper season their product. Pretty much all of my pits purchased new came with some idea on what to do. With that said, I'd use whatever wood you plan of doing your comps in - or oak - but would pass on the charcoal unless you use that for a coal base to your wood fire. Plan on a 4-6 hour burn time. Some say to keep the temps below 300* until the high-heat paint can cure somewhat. Also, toss a fatty or tenderloin on there at the 2 hour mark.... might as well have a snack for your efforts. Good luck and congrats on the new pit.

[Mule rider]

Or throw a couple of birds on it after a couple hours.

[GRailsback]

What size pit is it? Is it a backyard pit? If it is a bigger pit and tuned to cook even it should be delivered seasoned.

[BigBrizket]

What size pit is it? Is it a backyard pit? If it is a bigger pit and tuned to cook even it should be delivered seasoned.

I'm going to give tuning this pit a try on my own.

[GRailsback]

Spray the indsides down with peanut oil and fire it up.