Normal air leak?


 

Dustin_G

TVWBB Member
I'm still pretty new to the WSM (18"), only used it a handful of times now, but I'm not new to smoking. Yesterday I put half a rack of ribs on at 12:30 in the afternoon, and it held pretty rock steady temp around 230-240 (only one bottom vent open ~1/8", top vent open about the same), I didn't have to mess with it except closing the lower vent just a bit as the temps tried to rise along with the ambient outside temp. I took 'em off at 6:30ish. Closed the vents all the way, ate dinner, watched some TV, went to bed.

This morning around 8am I was going to go put the cover on the smoker and found it was still warm, the dome temp was reading 150*F. Temps outside were in the 70's. Obviously the fire never went out and was still getting a little air. The vents were all closed, and the door was closed. Couldn't see any smoke exiting the cooker anywhere.

The door is far from being perfectly sealed, but shutting the vents and leaving it alone has always put the fire out, though it does always take longer to cool off than I'd expect. For example my Kettle shuts down and cools off much faster, even when cooking at much higher temps. I can shut down a 400* cook and an two hours later it's cool enough to put the cover back on. I've been kicking around the idea of putting a gasket on the door to seal it up better.

Looking around the seam between the middle section and bottom I noticed the middle section wasn't sitting *exactly* perfect, but it was off such a small amount I didn't notice anything until taking that close look, the cooking grates were still level enough that I didn't notice anything was off yesterday. I never saw smoke coming out of that seam, yesterday or this morning.

I adjusted the middle section a bit so it sat perfectly, and an hour later the dome temp was down to 120ish.

So, my question for you more experienced WSM owners, does having the middle section not sitting EXACTLY perfectly give you similar results when trying to shut the thing down? Will installing a gasket on the door make it less reliant on being *exactly* perfect, and put the fire out and let it cool down faster?

FYI the ribs were good. So was the chicken we cooked on the rotisserie on the kettle.

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I cannot help with your question but that bird and the ribs look BEAUTIFUL! What rub was on the ribs?
 
I cannot help with your question but that bird and the ribs look BEAUTIFUL! What rub was on the ribs?

Thanks! That's Hardcore Carnivore Red on the ribs. It's good, but next time I think I'll either go a little lighter or maybe sauce the ribs with something sweet to balance out the peppery rub a bit. I really like their Black rub too, it's great on chicken or beef!
 
Delicious looking Ribs and Bird !

It doesn't take much of a leak to keep some coals hot. Probably a combination of a small leak that allows fresh air in and a small leak that vents hot air out. Only the later will have smoke showing.
 
Your food looks delicious. Is that wild rice along with your vegetables? For some reason, that stuff is perfect with broccoli!

Anyway, my 22" (only 3 cooks so far) is the same way with the middle cooking section; it doesn't sit *perfectly* on the bottom part, but it's good enough, you know? Some spots are tighter fitting than others. As for the door, it's a lost cause. I think the both of us might benefit from eventually investing in a Cajun Bandit door to help seal it up a little better.

Also, just like you, my first two cooks shut down fairly easily, but this last one... I had to leave it outside all night and wait until the morning to clean it and transport it into my garage.
 
I have a lot of gasket material left over from the last time I changed the gasket on my Egg, so last night I went ahead and put a gasket on the door. It's a 1" wide felt gasket (Smokeware brand), I cut it in half to better fit the door.

Took the door apart, cleaned the edge with a green scotch pad. Cut my pieces. I bent the metal tab on the latch a bit to get more clearance since the gasket is pretty thick.
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All put back together.
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And on the WSM. Looks to be pretty dang air tight, certainly a lot better than before! Closing the latch is kinda tough, it's a tight fit. I don't really use the door though, so I don't plan on opening/closing it often.
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My 08 WSM has never been perfect, but it works just fine for me. I have handles on the mid-section and when I place it down, I rotate it like a screw till it tightens.
Same with my lid. The more you use it, the less noticeable are the leaks.:wsm:

Tim
 
The smokers are not designed to be airtight but after a few years of use the grease and carbon 10 to build up and seal them up pretty good
 
The smokers are not designed to be airtight but after a few years of use the grease and carbon 10 to build up and seal them up pretty good

They're not *manufactured* air tight, because doing so would cost a lot more money. But if you can make it more air tight, that's a good thing as far making temperature control easier and making it more fuel efficient.

UPDATE: Did a test run last night, got it up to around 260*F for about half an hour, then shut down all the vents. Fire went out immediately, and it cooled down much faster than before, so, I'm happy.
 
As for the door, it's a lost cause. I think the both of us might benefit from eventually investing in a Cajun Bandit door to help seal it up a little better.

All three of us. First cook yesterday on mine and good grief mine leaks. I will try to bend it and make better but not sure I can.
 
The gasket works GREAT and is a whole lot cheaper than the Cajun Bandit door. But, mine fits so tightly that it's hard to open/close, so I'm just leaving it closed. Smoked some ribs Monday, and noticed I need to adjust my 'normal' vent settings a bit, had to open them up more to get the same temp, I assume it's because the door is sealed so much better now.

The ribs turned out dang good!! First time doing the 2-2-1 method (I usually don't bother with wrapping or saucing, doing a 'dry' version instead), and they were the best ribs I've cooked yet. Will do again.

A full slab just barely fits on the 18" haha. This is just before wrapping them.

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And done. They were soooo good!

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