First time use of Party

[jmallit]

Hi All,

Just got my Party yesterday and I am going to start the process tonight of getting it lite to clear out the oils and start to get it seasoned. I have been reading on there the past couple of days to try to get an idea of how to get this thing ready to smoke and had a few questions. This is my first charcoal smoker so I am a rookie trying to get my bearings. Here is what I am planning to do tonight after work any advise is very much appreciated.

1. Start a fire with the lump charcoal only, no wood, to get the smoker up to 300 degrees. Let is chill at this temp for an hour and then pull the fire and let it cool.
Q. I have the removable water pan and heat diverter. Do I do this step with the pan and diverter in or out?
2. Coat the inside with peanut oil and Pam
3. Light the fire again and let is go for 90 minutes and it should be ready to go!
Q. Do I let it get to 300 again or do I try to keep it at the normal cooking temp of 225-250? Same question as above with the pan and diverter?

Thanks in advance for all of the help. Also is there a how to for how to fill the fire box? I am sure that everyone does it their own way but a beginners guide to building a fire would be a great help for someone coming from a gas smoker. Also when building the fire does the wood go directly on the coals or is it suspended above the coals? In my gas smoker I have a pan that holds the water and the wood and the flame heats the pan then starts the wood smoking.

I have a cover for my Party but is there any issue smoking in the rain and worrying about damaging the cooker? I live in sunny Seattle so smoking in the rain will be a frequent issue. I have a easy up that I can use to smoke under but don't want to smoke myself out.

Thanks,
Joe

[Old Dave]

Leave the heat diverter and the water pan in the cooker for both steps when you season the unit.

I would take it to about 300 degrees again and hold for about an hour for the second step and then let it cool down.

There are no tricks to loading the firebox and yes, the smoke wood chunks goes right on top of the charcoal.

The cooker is not waterproof so when it is not under fire, it should be covered. They do cook great in the rain, snow, cold and wind.

Good luck with your new cooker and we do like pictures on this forum to see what you are cooking.

[jmallit]

Thanks Dave.

Got the thing seasoned and I am smoking two racks of ribs. One baby back and one spare. I will post pictures soon, I am too busy watching temps. Is it weird that I can stand in silence just staring at the smoker and the smoke flowing?

[sfisch]

You have yourself a great unit, no need to stand and stare at the temp gauge,it'll settle in, get a girly magazine or something else

Scott

[RickC]

Your doing good. Dave gives excellent advice. If we don't see pics it didn't happen I see you have made through the hardest first lesson, LEAVE THE DAMN DOOR SHUT.

[bcppbbq]

Using Party for the 1st time today, wierd looking at the firebox. For a long cook the coal is pilled high just having a hard time squeezing in the wood. Might try wood enriched coal next time.

[RickC]

Using Party for the 1st time today, wierd looking at the firebox. For a long cook the coal is pilled high just having a hard time squeezing in the wood. Might try wood enriched coal next time.

Leave room for the wood chunks, you don't need that much charcoal. Put about 4 chunks of wood in for each load of charcoal. You will be surprised when you are cooking at 225-230 at how long you coals will last. You should be able to a least go 6-8 hours per load. I didn't go back and search, do you have the commercial fire box or the standard one? If you have the commercial grate you don't have quite the capacity as the normal fire grate, but it will still run several hours and is very easy to reload, so it's not an issue.