So I found this guy on CL for a pretty good price. Pit is made out of heavy steel pipe and is built to last. Only thing is that it is unfinished and still smells like a welding shop. Gotta season and paint it....

My current plan is to:

1. Clean/wash inside & out using bucket of soapy water. Dry using a shop towel and Texas 100+ heat.
2. Coat interior with cooking oil in a small spray bottle
3. Burn oak/hickory mix for a few hours in firebox
4. Make sure existing green coating on firebox can take heat, else remove
5. Grind/sand exterior rough spots
6. Spray exterior rust areas with Rust Inhibitor
7. Spray light coats of 2000F paint on exterior of firebox and bottom of main chamber exterior
8. Paint all exterior surface with 1200F black pit paint
9. Repeat interior seasoning process

Am I missing anything? Also, is there anything I can use to prep or clean metal prior to the painting?

Any and all advice appreciated. I will post photos after I'm done painting.

That is probably powder coating on the firebox. It will burn off.

Is it a regular flow or reverse? The 2nd stack is confusing.

Regular flow. The stack on firebox side will be plugged with foil when smoking.

Why is it even there?

I bet that pup is some kind of heavy. What did you have to give for it?

Because the guy built it that way and I wasn't going to pay him to take it off.

As for his reason to add it, let's just say Starr County isn't known for its BBQ heritage and the fabricator may have only recently entered the country. Area is more of a direct heat to fajitas type of cooking. He didn't seem to talk much about smoking BBQ. He builds pits in his spare time for cash. Heavy heavy duty pits.

Fair enough

Hey, you know a guy. Just saying...

Price was $450 on CL

Have him take it off and then beat him with it. Tell him that's the best payment he'll ever receive.

Firebox is oil field pipe with that green epoxy paint on it, that stuff is a PITA to remove. Grinder and a mask is about you're only choice, even if you try to burn it off you'll still need to grind off the left over burnt crap.

I wouldn't bother with a rust inhibitor. Those are going to just burn off anyway. Take a wire wheel and clean any surface rust bloom off down to bare metal, then paint with your high heat paint. I'd just use the 2000 degree paint everywhere personally.

The green on the fire pit looks like a zinc oxide primer to me, should be very durable at high temps if it is. Do what you talked about - get a good fire going for a while in there to burn off anything you don't want first. Don't even bother with seasoning until you have the exterior done. Let the fire clean the interior for you. I'd also put fire directly in the large portion as well to burn off anything in there before going to the seasoning stage.

The smokestack attachments are really low (to me). I don't know if it makes any difference at all, but usually they are connected higher.

If they were connected higher, you could add a baffle plate inside and have a reverse flow smoker by closing the stack opposite the firebox.

As far as painting, my offset has looked about like that for 25 years. I know some of you guys want your stuff to look good, but to me it is just not worth it because it all burns off pretty fast anyway. I would put a nice board or flat expanded metal on it, and call it done.

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The smokestack attachments are really low (to me). I don't know if it makes any difference at all, but usually they are connected higher.

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Bringing the exhaust down to grate level with water heater/clothes dryer exhaust piping is one of Aaron Franklin's top hacks for a commercial built smoker to get the smoke on the meat instead of above it.

I am a huge Aaron Franklin fan and follower. I would not tell him he's wrong. I think he's the best in the business in terms of having an understanding of the whole process.

However, when you lift the lid to check your BBQ, on a smoker that size, it seems to be totally full of smoke. I could see maybe on a huge restaurant pit that somehow there is heavier smoke going through along the ceiling of the pit without ever touching the meat. I was suggesting converting the pit to a reverse flow smoker, and with the current exhaust location, I am not sure if you have enough room vertically if you added baffle plate.

I have never actually tasted Aaron Franklins brisket, but I have seen a pretty good improvement in my own brisket from following his advice. If I ever got to taste the Franklin brisket, I would probably bow to Aaron and apologize for ever doubting him about anything BBQ.

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Is it a regular flow or reverse? The 2nd stack is confusing.

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It could be set up in a hybrid setup.
I've built a smoker with tuning plates that can be closed up for either reverse flow or regular operation. But, I've actually had nice results running both stacks open when keeping the tuning plates tight on the firebox side and then cracking the firebox side smoke stack partially. That said, this one doesn't appear to have dampening capabilities on the stacks.

the green stuff peels right off once you get it hot, at least on the firebox. any on the cooking side can be a PITA to remove.

First thing is, thats the only pit I've ever seen with the stack in the right place. Most are at the top far above the grate and dont let the heat fill it up before it escapes. So he did good there. When seasoning I would build the fire all the way from the firebox to the other end. This allows for uniform heat on all portions of the metal not just the firebox itself. Get it hot as you can and call it good. Looks like a pretty sound setup. There are also options for high heat paint that all the pitmakers use. Just and option cause the way it is, it is gonna rust quickly.

Got it done throughout the day yesterday. Only things left to paint are the spokes & wheels. Probably going to go with a bed liner type spray or rubber spray (with the hopes that it might be a little tougher than regular paint)

Photo After sanding and washing



Photo After 4.5 coats of rustoleum (1 quart)





Finished at about 6 PM yesterday. Should I wait the 24 hours for it to dry (as stated on paint can) before my next round of seasoning? Or should I get a fire going to help aid in the paint curing process? Worried fire might damage the paint if it isn't dry...

I assume that it was high temp paint. And yes you need to let it dry before you crank it up.