Well, seeing as this is your thread I suppose continuing on the off-topic tangent is ok
I've been taking the seasoning process VERY slow simply out of an overabundance of caution. The first fire was just kindling and only took stovetop up to about 150* yet there was some sizzling and obvious wet areas particularly around the door so I know it did some good. Door was a bit 'stuck' when stove had cooled down but not a big deal and seems to work fine, I think some cement or some such just got stuck in there.
Second was a larger pile of kindling and a bit higher temp and I saw some wet areas in back of the stove (inside) near where the metal slanted top ends - no sizzling this time though.
Third I put a couple small splits in there as well under the kindling (doing top-down fires each time with 1/4 super cedar as starter) and actually got up to cat temp so I engaged it and I swear I saw some secondary burn in there to boot. Max temp wasn't much over 300 I don't think so it really wasn't much of a burn as it was about done with the flames when I engaged the cat. Stayed warm for quite a while.
Fourth (this one) I put in 4 splits (small/medium) as well as slightly less kindling (just enough to get it going). This time it definitely got up to cat engaged and I did see the secondaries burn for a bit. Warm outside (about 50*) so not ideal temps for draft etc - flame went out in stove when less than 1/2 on air, but would flame up when I adjusted air up. Too dark to look for smoke outside but temps on stovetop indicate it was burning the cat. After down to coals I checked surface temp and the stones were reading 300+, out of curiosity I lifted the middle stone and checked the cooktop under with the IR gun and it read something like 450-500 so clearly it was good and hot in there.
As to the smell - each burn so far has had some smell - seems to be different with each one. It has not been unbearable and we have not opened any windows as a result. Then again - I haven't cranked up the heat yet either. I suspect that I'll get smell (as usual) every time I hit a new high temp so I'm prepared for more in the next few burns.
I'm not sure if I'm going to consider myself done with seasoning or not. I didn't see any moisture during this 4th burn or hear any sizzling so perhaps it is all done now - I'll inspect the inside of the box and make a decision later. Perhaps the weather will decide for me in the end as tonight's fire was enough to take the house up 3-4 degrees and the wife thought it was a bit warm - so enough for today!
