Refurbishing an Oklahoma Joe smoker!
Posted on April 27th, 2009
Hello,
Recently I was given an Oklahoma Joe smoker by Jess’ Dad, Gary, who no longer used it. Gary told me he hadn’t used it in ten years and it was taking up space behind his barn. He saw firsthand the mash up of a smoker I was using and gave me his nice but neglected smoker.
My smoker, nicknamed Hoss, is shown below and it’s the one on the right. It is a combination Walmart Char Griller and a Charbroil smoker. I was on a very limited budget at the time so I bought the Char Griller without the firebox. I removed the firebox from the Charbroil smoker, nicknamed Little Joe, which is on the left and bolted it to the Char Griller which is on the right. Little Joe had been around for about a year, but the cooking chamber was too small to compete with. I added a heat baffle to fix the air flow in Hoss’ smoke chamber since the smoke stack was on the same side as the firebox! I have been using Hoss for a good two years now. Hoss holds a lot of food, 580″ across two racks of cooking area, but the OK Joe will be a step up!
When Gary told me about the OK Joe smoker, he was upfront that it had been sitting unused for ten years. In fact, his wife, Alice, wanted to turn it into a flower garden. He had bought a Fast Eddy from Cookshack a little after he bought the OK Joe and used it to compete for a while. Our team now uses that Fast Eddy in competitions, which Jess nicknamed Hooter. So I guess you can say Gary has unknowingly helped outfit our team. Here’s what Hooter looks like.
Gary had pity on me and probably the OK Joe too (I think the flower garden plan forced his hand) so he brought it over so it could have a good home. Here’s what the OK Joe smoker looked like pre-furb:
Now as you can see, it is in pretty good condition, except for the rust. It will hold heat better as it’s got 1/4 inch steel instead of the 3/16 inch stuff I’m used to on Hoss and the firebox is welded to the smoke chamber on the OK Joe as opposed to the bolts on Hoss that let out a lot of heat.
The smoker is an original Oklahoma Joe Longhorn before the rights to manufacture the smoker were sold. Now the smoker is made by Horizon Smokers if you are interested.
I dabble in home repair (usually holding the flashlight for more mechanically inclined family members) and I’ve never taken this much rust off of anything. I didn’t know where to begin, so I did what any tech support person would do, I went looking for answers on the internet.
So after a little searching I found some avenues to pursue: CLR and a wire brush, Krylon Rust Converter, Naval Jelly, and my Dad’s grinder.
I had CLR and a wire brush at home so I decided to give it a go. I spent a few hours working on it and I did not really remove much rust at all. I actually strained my shoulder while doing this, so I decided to go another route.
I was not familiar with rust removal products but the internet had some articles where they said chemicals were the way to go. I bought some Krylon Rust Converter at my local Westlake Ace Hardware, along with BBQ High Heat Paint. I sprayed the converter on the OK Joe and came back 24 hours later. It also did not do much to the rust. Some places where a little smoother, where the rust was trying to convert to primer, but overall I was disappointed.
I then went to the heavier chemical, Naval Jelly. Now, I did not use the chemicals inside the smoker. As disgusting as it sounds, the rendered animal fat creates a protective shield for the metal. A little vegetable oil and some paper towels cleared away the smoke and built up residue. However, I did use Naval Jelly on the outside of the OK Joe. I applied the jelly to the entire area on the outside of the smoker and left it on longer than the recommended time, which is 5 to 10 minutes. I left it on for 20 minutes, using a hose to spray the jelly off, per the instructions. A little of the rust came off, but not a lot. I was not going to give up, so I did what anyone else should, I called a pro for advice. I called my Dad.
He suggested the grinder after listening to the failed attempts. I picked up the grinder from him and attacked the smoker. I took me an hour to remove all the rust. I was astounded!
After washing and drying the smoker, I applied the High Heat Paint. It’s a semi gloss black and while it looked like all the other smokers in the world, I though it lacked flair. So I decided to make an homage to my Dad and paint it like a Harley.
I bought Very High Temp Paint at a local auto parts store, orange and white to go with the black body. I also bought some steel lid handles to replace the wooden ones that had succumbed to the elements. I was able to make some racing strips using painter’s masking tape and some newspaper. Here’s the finished product!
I then added some vegetable oil and rub to the inside of the smoker to season it. I’ll be firing it up in the next day or so to burn off the excess paint fumes and then I’ll be smoking brisket this weekend!
Happy cooking!
Jer
February 15th, 2010 at 7:57 am
There is an Oklamoma Joe smoker available in my area for $350. The seller says it retailed for $1200. It looks a lot like yours but the wheels are metal, no tires. I was really thinking about it and then came across your site. I think I’ll give that guy a call and find out what condition it’s in. Thanks for your article.
February 26th, 2010 at 3:31 pm
I just purchaced this same grill off of craigslist. Same wheels even. I also have VERY bad rust issues. Deep pitted rust. What kind of grinder and disks worked for u? THX
February 27th, 2010 at 1:05 pm
We used a 4 inch angle grinder with a wire wheel.
February 27th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
Did that paint hold up on firebox good? what brand did u use?
February 27th, 2010 at 11:52 pm
I used VHT Flat Black and it’s held up pretty good.
http://www.vhtpaint.com/flameproof.html
May 1st, 2010 at 7:29 am
Thanks, I have an Oklahoma Joe thats a bit worse, my hinges on the Box are rusted shut. I hope to use your techniques here and do a restore similar, I might try the jelly on the slip hinges. Maybe a torch might do the trick, much like removing and old rusted bolt with heat.
May 1st, 2010 at 2:25 pm
Did you have to grind the whole thing or just the firebox…i recently inherited this exact smoker and was so happy to find your sight…i was also wondering about the handles…did you get them at a store or somewhere online?
May 2nd, 2010 at 12:12 pm
I used the grinder on the firebox first, then hit bad spots around the smoker. I got my handles from kck.com.
http://www.kck.com/bbq_pit_spring_handle_barbecue_grill_smoker_wood_stove.html
May 26th, 2010 at 9:46 am
Just a little tip for keeping it as rust free as possible, spray cooking oil. You can buy it at Sam’s Club or Costco very cheaply and spray the entrie out side after each use. Also try and keep it covered or indie during wet weather. Ive had my BBQ over 10 years and is a champ!
June 7th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
I have an Ok Joe 36″ gas smoker, over 10 years old, bought it new at the fair years ago,tried it 5 or 6 times, the water pan would boil over putting out the fire, contacted the maker, he sent me a water pan with a lid, tried that a couple times still no success, started to put it in garage sale todat but I cleaned it up and I am wondering if there is any way I could put a different burner in it that doesn’t heat so fast on the lowest setting (the one in it is home made, 30″X2″ with small drilled holes came with it, I think it is just to much fire for the smoker. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
June 12th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Awesome information. I got my OK Joe (exact same model) from a neighbor who had hardly used it and was tired of looking at it on his deck. He said he would take $75 for it if i would haul it off but I insisted on giving him $80. I was planning on doing the whole refurb thing too. Another quick way to remove the rust is to use a sand blaster if you have one available. That will remove any and all rust and leave a clean surface that just needs to be wiped down before painting.
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:21 pm
A sandblaster is the definitely the easiest method of removing heavy rust scale. It’ll take it right down to the bare metal so don’t over do it. For those not fortunate enough to own a sandblaster, I suggest a 4″ grinder with a metal brush, I prefer a cup brush. After going over the surface to remove the heavy rust scale, apply “Ospho”, available from Ace Hardware or an auto body shop supplier. Basically, it’s phosphoric acid, that converts rusty metal to a primer type paintable surface. Follow the instructions on the can. Don’t over do it on the application, just a light coat will do it. The metal is supposed to turn black where the rust was, so don’t panic. It ain’t magic, just better living thru chemistry. On automotive application, you can paint right over the primed surface. On a smoker/grill, I’d start a small fire and warm things up to around 250 degrees for about an hour to dry it out and temper the primer a bit. Again, don’t over do it on the fire. Let the grill cool and apply several light coats of a good high temperature paint by VHT, Krylon, etc. You may see a few pits under the paint where the deep rust was, but it should preserve the appearance and usefulness of the grill. Please realize, you will have to touch things up about once a year to maintain the surface.
Inside the grill, I’d temper/blacken the inside of the grill like you would a cast iron pot. Apply a light coat of vegatable oil to the inner surface, then fire up the grill til it turns black….like it’s supposed to. Repeat this several times til the grill builds up a nice protective coat. This is a protective coating that should continue to build up and preserve the inside. Don’t wash it down with water, just let it temper after each use.
August 2nd, 2010 at 8:32 pm
A friend just gave me this same smoker because they are moving out of state and did not want to move it. It had not been used in a while, but it was being stored under cover, so it is in great shape. I just finished pressure washing everything tonight and I am trying to decide how far I want to take the “restoration”. Do you know what the square tube at the bottom, inside wall of the firebox is for? Also, mine came with an extra piece of expanded metal that has two hook-like arms attached on one side…they don’t look like supports, as they cannot be rotated out to attach to anything. Any ideas?
August 3rd, 2010 at 6:10 am
The square tube is for inserting a rod for propane fire. I can’t find a picture of it online, but it looks like a long metal rectangle with holes on the top (connected to a propane tank)so the propane can be used to either start a fire or be used as the heat source. Gary gave me the rod and a propane tank. He never used it and neither did I. The square in this smoker is actually filled with some hard material I can’t remove, so I never used it.
I’ve not heard of the expanded metal with hooks. Anyone else?
August 22nd, 2010 at 3:19 pm
Recently my father passed away. He left to us his smokin joe pit that i am wanting to restore. it is a trailer model (firebox, woodbox, smoker box, etc.) the inside looks great but I don’t even know where to start on the outside. I went to the local hardware store and just got funny looks…cause I am a woman. Where do I start with the restoration?
August 23rd, 2010 at 4:31 pm
olcowpoke. . . Thanks for all the information. I cleaned out all the inside of the smoker. Now do I paint it or will the temper/blacken take care of that. I guess paint on the inside wouldn’t be a good thing eh? So lost, help a woman out. Thank you.