Yeah. I get it. Logical and sensible.
But my oldest son's a wheat farmer Spring through Fall, and collision repair/painter in the winter.
Painting the SS center section doesn't seem necessary or maybe even sensible, but I'd rather pick an aluminum tamale steamer at double the expense and paint it for this planned GIFT to my wife's brother, over a SS center section that I can't paint. JUST on this build.
All this "don't need to paint an SS smoker" advice is perfectly fine for the next one, and the next after that and so on. (Ha! I'm not even sure the proposed pot will even fit yet!) But I have a habit of making modded smokers and giving them to my family and friends, and this little jewel is the first of what will likely be several. I've done 6 or 7 FrankenBrinkmanns based on the Gourmet Charcoal Smoker.
But this first one's going to get painted. If SS won't paint very well, I'll choose aluminum for Serial Number 001.
Based on this thread, I'll probably not paint another one, if SS works but is tough to get to hold decoration.