First WSM - Seal it?


 
J

John - WeberMaster

New member
My 22 WSM should be here on Monday. Should I seal the WSM before my first cook?
Thanks
John

BTW: This site is amazing!
BTW2: I am a webmaster so the name comes from that. I am near clueless when it comes to grilling and smoking food. If I cook you a steak on a grill, you will get what you want as long as you want it well done.
 
I would first do some high heat cooks on it first. I did some chicken cooks on mine first and found it really didn't need much in the way of sealing. I think that's a great way to season while not letting a perfectly good fire be wasted.
 
John, there is no need to season the wsm. Some people find it helpful to do a test run to get used to controlling the temp though. I'd start with something easy like chicken and go from there. The recipes on this site are extremely well detailed and easy for beginners.
 
The door on my 14.5 is nearly airtight after using it several times and I didn't do anything to it. I have noticed some that needed to be bent.
 
I thought about sealing my WSM while it was still brand new, but once I assembled it I loaded it with charcoal and gave it a test run.
I was able to control the temperature and kill the fire by closing the vents.
I never got around to sealing it.
If you think you really want to seal it I would think the adhesives would stick to the metal best while still factory fresh.
 
If I got a new WSM, any size, I would cook on it a few times first before deciding to seal it or not. That said, I haven't sealed any of my WSM's as they have gunked up enough to seal themselves pretty good!!
 
John - WeberMaster said:
My 22 WSM should be here on Monday. Should I seal the WSM before my first cook?
Thanks
John

BTW: This site is amazing!
BTW2: I am a webmaster so the name comes from that. I am near clueless when it comes to grilling and smoking food. If I cook you a steak on a grill, you will get what you want as long as you want it well done.
Click to expand...

First-time poster here, but thought I'd chime in.

I have a WSM 18.5 and when I first brought it home and fired her up, there were issues with smoke escaping from the bottom and door seams. After several uses, the escaping smoke decreased somewhat, but was still present. This made it more challenging for me to steadily control temps.

Recently, I ordered and installed the Cajun Bandit door/latch and nomex gaskets on the lower and door seams... Wow, what a difference. No smoke escapes and she holds a steady temperature with very little adjustments made.

I highly recommend these mods.
 
TOM BAUER said:
If I got a new WSM, any size, I would cook on it a few times first before deciding to seal it or not. That said, I haven't sealed any of my WSM's as they have gunked up enough to seal themselves pretty good!!
Click to expand...

I agree with the idea that you should use stock before you mod anything as you might not need to do anything... however... If you are Going to add a gasket, the easiest time to apply is before its cooked on as there will be no smoke or grease on the smoker that could adversely affect the application of adhesive gasket. Its a catch 22.

I've heard people say a few good cooks and your smoker will seal up on its own. i am sure they are correct.

I used a nomex gasket on mine for a few reasons: the main reason i did so was to aid my temp controller that i already had (pitmaster IQ 110). The more airtight the smoker is, the better the pitmaster works. It was inexpensive and was sold by local company so it shipped fast. I am happy i did it. If i wasnt using an ATC i might not have sealed it.

If you like to tinker and mod, do it.
If you don't, don't.
 
I bought my 18 WSM used and never had a chance to seal it up before installing gasket. I used mine for about 6 months with out sealing it. Temp control was good and I did lose smoke around the door and lid but as long as temps were steady I didn't care. Overall I was happy with the WSM performance. After reading people talk about the gasket kit I decided to try it out. When I bought my 18 WSM it was 2 years old and I had smoked on it every weekend for 6 months so it was good and gunked up. I used an oven cleaner, a plastic paint scraper and a ton of paper towels to get all the gunked up grease off the lip of the middle section. That was the hardest part and required a lot of patience to get perfectly clean. You have to make sure that lip is factory clean to apply the adhesive and gasket. I applied the gasket around the lid and around the outside of the factory door. Once installed I lost no smoke around those seals. I was overall happy about the performance of the cooker prior to installing the gasket but after the gasket was installed it was perfect. I had a hard time with real low temps prior to gasket. The temp always wants to settle at 275+. It was a challenge to maintain 225 degrees for hours and hours. With the WSM sealed I have been able to hit and maintain 225 with ease. The gasket kit was the best mod I have ever done. I have not bought a Cajun bandit door. The gasket and the factory door work great for me.

With that being said you will get tons of people on this site that have had amazing results without the gasket kit. If it were me I would give it a few cooks before deciding to install the gasket kit. No sense in spending the money if you don't need it but the downside to waiting is having to reclean the cooker in you decide to install the kit.
 
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