high temp sealer/caulk?

I'm wondering if using either a high temp caulk or epoxy to seal the area where the pot meets the bowl will aid in temp control and fuel conservation in the mini WSM?

Home depot sells a caulk good to 650 deg. and an epoxy good to 500. The description of the epoxy says " ideal for barbecue grills" among other things.

I think of trying a sealant every time I see smoke drifting out of the small gap between the IMUSA pot and the SJS bowl.

I guess the best way to do it would be to remove the pot and apply the sealant to the lip around the bowl where the pot rests.

After it dries completely, if a test smoke reveals it's not enough to seal the leak area, a second application could be applied.

What do you guys think? I mean besides I have too much time on my hands.

Has anyone here tried this or something similar?

Do you you think it's worth the effort?

OK guys, try to contain your excitement for heaven's sake.

I don't think that it is needed. My pots (I use the lid on the bottom of the pot set up) are sealed completely no air leakage there. Especially after multiple cooks the gunk that forms there keeps me from removing the pot from the base sometimes. Same goes for the lid. On the mini-za I tried using High temp RTV around the door that I made. I applied it to the door and let it cure per the instructions. Once the heat hit it it softened and left half on the door and half on the pot. So I removed it. I get almost no air leakage at all on that unit. In these photos you can see that there isn't anything coming out at the seams.





Notice no leakage at the door, with no sealant.



This junk and the lid lip helps form the only seal that you need.

In the four + years that I have been playing with my mini the one key element that helps the most with fuel efficiency is adding the charcoal basket. This contains the charcoal into a tighter configuration which leads to a more even uniform burn.

Case,

Your mini looks like something NASA put together. I'm not sure we can compare yours to mine.

I was thinking that by creating a solid, non-leaking seal where the tamale pot and the SJS kettle come together it would be easier to reduce or almost completely cut off the oxygen going to the coals.

And I think this would make temperature control easier.

No matter what you do with those vents, if there is a gap between the kettle and the pot, those coals are always going to be getting some oxygen.

This makes it harder to oxygen starve the coals making temperature control more difficult and also making it harder to save the coals for the next smoke.

Am I wrong about this?

Mickey M said:

Case,

Your mini looks like something NASA put together. I'm not sure we can compare yours to mine.

I was thinking that by creating a solid, non-leaking seal where the tamale pot and the SJS kettle come together it would be easier to reduce or almost completely cut off the oxygen going to the coals.

And I think this would make temperature control easier.

No matter what you do with those vents, if there is a gap between the kettle and the pot, those coals are always going to be getting some oxygen.

This makes it harder to oxygen starve the coals making temperature control more difficult and also making it harder to save the coals for the next smoke.

Am I wrong about this?

Click to expand...

Like I said I have Zero air leakage at the base. So I don't need any sealant. When I close the vents on my mini, the coals snuff out completely.