How To Coat Your Offset Smoker with Linseed Oil 

Very nice! I use linseed oil on tools I forge, but I usually just rub my offset down with brisket fat cap trimmings. After I finish smoking, and while the vessel is still hot, just rub the fat on it. Keeps it beautiful and black. It, too, will polymerize to provide a protective coating.

Great to see another vid JD. thanks for this one. I’ve been wondering about oil and other offset maintenance questions for awhile now.

That pit looks sooooo good :) Thanks for the video as I've wondered if there was anything special involved in the finish.

Great stuff...cannot wait for my 1975 to arrive!!!

Good video. Welcome back.

JD, wow what an awesome looking smoker and it functions as a bbq making beast. Super cool man.

The smoker looks awesome, Thanks for the video

I keep watching this video just to see the 1969 model I have on order. So damn excited to finally get it. Can’t wait!

Man I love your videos! I’d love to get ideas from you about my smoker. I have a 20” Horizon Marshall which is a lot like the Yoder you did the mod video on. I’ve been thinking about the same mods for mine. My question is what height did you make the exhaust. And what the inside diameter?

I have a 50 gallon commercial offset that came powder finished and painted. Lots of rust on it. What do you think is the best course of action? I'm planning to sand/wire wheel the rust away and then season with linseed as you did here. Thoughts? And how can I strip the paint? Thank you! Glad to see the videos rolling out again.

keep these vids coming!!!! please

Just got my 1957. What a beauty of a beast it is. My neighbours and the delivery guys had a laugh that it is the smallest one you make. Took 4 of us to get it off the pallet so I could bolt the castors on. I guess I’ll need to get one of these torches. Regarding the firebox- wouldn’t it get hot enough from a cook to set the oil if I coated it with linseed before firing it up? I can see that the main cooking chamber might not get hot enough, but thinking the firebox would, and maybe it would make sense to do the firebox more frequently while cooking?

Question JD, my current pit has the old school paint, of corse the fire box the paint burns off, would this technique work instead of repainting the area over and over again?

Love the smokers. They look really good. I feel unnecessarily compelled to make a clarification as no one asked and I'm sure no one cares. I trust its an expression at this point, but there is no actual moisture in the steel. The moisture you're seeing is a byproduct of the combustion process of the torch. I've never tried it but the interwebs say you can watch the back side of the metal being heated and it should not display any moisture condensation.

Can I give my Old County the patina look ? And I can’t wait to coat it with linseed oil, I love your channel, and thank you so much for all the awesome info!

Great video!👈👍👋

JD, I would like to see more on the fluid dynamics studies, and how the positioning of the fire within the fire box effects the cook please.

what happens if you apply it on cold steel?? or while fire is going on the firebox????

I’ve been using this exact oil on my smoker for a long time! Works great! I leave it outside in the rain and zero rust. Every 4 or 5 times I smoke something, I put another light coat on while the smoker is nice and hot

Hey my friends where do I go to get the prices on the BBQ Pits. Thanks

would you recommend linseed oil for a cheaper offset like a oklahoma joe pit?

Could you do the reverse and apply the linseed oil after cleaning and then hit it with the torch?

How often do you estimate this will have to be reapplied over time? If the grill is kept under a covered deck.

Can I put linseed oil in a pump jug and mist cooker and fire box??

Great video! But I'm a little confused about the kinds of linseed oil - at 2:32 you should a yellow can of boiled linseed oil but call it "pure, raw", and then at 2:37 you show a blue can that is ALSO labeled boiled and you say we should use boiled instead of the other kind. But the other kind was boiled too. What am I missing? Thanks for any help you can give.

So when preparing the surface, does mill scale need to be removed or can this be done over it?

Great video. I applied this same technique to a pit I just finished. A day later the outside is a little sticky.. is that normal? Maybe I applied too much oil, or the outside wasn't hot enough? I didn't have a thermometer so the heat was just guesswork when I was applying but I used the same method. Thanks!

That moisture you are seeing on the steel when you heat it with the propane burner is a byproduct of the combustion of the propane. You get a lot of carbon monoxide too. There is not anywhere near that amount of water IN the steel and the water that is there from the atmosphere is on the surface of the metal. At first the propane flame is adding water to the surface of the steel. Once you get the steel hot enough the water will burn off or at least a lot of it will burn off. But don't suggest you are able to extract water from steel.

I know this post was from years ago but it was very useful. I have some areas of my smoker are still tacky after 2-3 months of applying the BLO. How can I get rid of the tackiness? Just use a pear burner and get it hot again?

If there are imperfections that done look the best, have streaks or run marks, tacky thick areas, is there a way to strip it off and reapply? Or what would you suggest?

Is there anyway we can substitute the torch by heating the smoker via the fire pit?

would there be any reason you couldnt do this WHILE you were seasoning the inside? thus saving having to torch...

Hey there, was wondering! Can you start a fire in your smoker and get it going it hot and then apply the linseed oil all over the smoker is there a way to do it that way? Thanks

How often should that process be done.

My smoker is made of rusted tank with some pitting, after wire brushing will linseed still adhere to metal that’s not brand new?

How tall are you? Is that 1969 behind you shorter than normal? Looks small next to you? Serious question, I’m looking to buy this or the 1975

How often do you have to repeat the oiling process?

Why did you choose a 1969 as your personal pit over the larger 1975 ? I'm debating between the two, myself.

I have a question do you put anything on the inside or what can I put on the inside thanks.

Jd, hello my friend, this process we need made when recive The Babe by primitive pits?

Is there any reason not to just get the whole pit cranked up to temp normally to do this? I know you'd be getting it pretty high to get the outer surface to temp, but it seems more efficient than using a weedburner.

Is it safe to use boiled linseed oil to coat the interior surfaces of the smoker?

Any reason I could not do this over my painted pit? Starting to see some rust in it

So what is the desired state of the surface before applying the oil? It doesn’t look like bare steel, but is it paint?

I’m assuming you can do this to a powder coat finish as well?

is this something you still recommend doin when you first get your workhorse pit?

Is there a warranty on either finish? The raw with oil or the powder coating?

When is the next video????

How often do you need to reapply

Metal does not have moisture in it, the propane does and it condensates on the steel untl the steel reaches approximately 200°F.

Same process for cast iron pan?

I really like the look of you smokers, but man, please make a video about the performance. I want to spend my money with you, but idk if it works (especially the babe). Does it hold temp, and cook even, etc.... please!!!

Do you own Primitive Pits the company?

I have an old country Pecos. Can I do a dry run get the temp up to °425 and apply the oil that way? These things rust like a mofo and I tried olive oil spray on the outside, it came out sticky. I'll power wash the outside with soap and water before doing so. But, I really don't want to strip the paint off, if I don't have to. It's not rusted right now. I want to do this as a preventative.

instead of using a torch can't you just run your pit very hot and apply the oil?

Why not use raw linseed oil?

Boiled linseed oil is hella dangerous lol, will just get raw linseed oil. Just need to oil coat my wood handles of my swords machetes axes spears

Man I hate to be the chemist buzzkill but I’d highly recommend you go back to using raw linseed oil. Boiled linseed oil has metallic driers (today they use cobalt but used lead in the past). Cobalt fumes are actually very toxic and pose the greatest threat to someone inhaling them all day. A short exposure under outdoor conditions might not be a big deal but just knowing the children of cobalt miners have some of the most horrific birth defects-if the miner lives long enough to reproduce-should give us pause. I actually love cobalt and collect it’s various color configurations when mixed with glass. We use it in all the batteries and cell phones in the world and it’s a major component in magnets and guitar pickups. They used it in hip replacements until people started suffering from cobalt poisoning. Not light reading for the squeamish.

Moisture “coming out”? When you burn C₃H₈ (propane) a chemical process occurs, C3H8 combines with 5 O2 for a complete burn and produces 3 CO2 + 4 H2O. The water vapour present in the products of combustion hits the cold metal, cold relative to the flame, and condenses into a liquid which is then heated by the flame and evaporated. Also, The “boiled linseed oil” you can buy in most stores is actually mostly raw linseed oil, but with plasticizers, hardeners, and heavy metals added to make it act like true boiled oil, without the time and effort it takes to actually boil it; in other words, it’s cheap and it is also toxic to consume in quantity until it is dried/ cured

Linseed oil I put that s&#t on everything.

Please don't play that music!!!

Why have such a long loud intro???????????