Rust protection on a side smoker

[a1bigtuna]

New here (started today) and am seeing a bit of rust on my smoker, not much but a bit surprised as I put wax on the outside surface when it was new, just a few months ago. Since I have read about seasoning the metal with cooking oil and heating the metal up. My question is should I remove the wax I still have on the metal and then use oil to season it? Or, just oil where rust shows? And, if removal is the ticket, what to use to do that. Thanks for any advice in advance.

 

[KClandcruiser]

What kind of wax did you use to coat it? I'm assuming the wax will just melt off once the firebox gets hot enough, then you could rub with vegetable oil or go the burn on route with boiled linseed oil

 

[BBQscott]

Welcome to the forum friend! Lots of great info and. Community here. What type of smoker do you have? I know most of the cheaper models, the paint ends up burning off. You also have to be careful with your first cook, you need to start a small fire and slowly heat up your paint to help it set in. Once the rust starts, your best bet is to sand it off repaint with high temp paint.

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

I would just oil the outside while you have your pit fired up. On the firebox even spray canola oil will do a good job seasoning because it get so hot. You don't have many options on the inside but I clean my ash out and oil it after every cook. It will burn off the inside when you start a fire.