JohnJacoby
New member
I got a 14.5 Smokey Mountain for Christmas, and after a half dozen cooks I decided to try adding a gasket. I realize a lot of people have found that theirs seal up just fine with use, but mine was bugging me with inconsistent temps and burning through charcoal. I needed to fiddle with the vents every hour or so, and a full basket of charcoal barely lasted past six hours, using Kingsford and Stubbs lit donut style. This was both with and without water in the pan and meat on both grates.
I spent about 12 bucks on a self-adhesive Big Green Egg gray felt gasket, and what a difference. I did the door, top of the middle section, top of the bottom section, and thermometer. The very next cook the temp stayed really steady at 215 for six hours with no adjustments to the vents, and when it started to drop a bit I opened the bottom vents just a touch and the temps stayed good for another couple of hours until my cook was over. This was with no water in the pan. I closed the vents and there was far more unburnt charcoal and less ash than ever before. This was on a pretty cool windy day too.
My guess is that some fraction of Weber smokers are just enough out of true to leak air despite gunk buildup from multiple cooks, and mine was one of them. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to bend things to solve it without driving myself crazy causing new distortions somewhere else, and it was time for a cheap easy fix.
My only question is how long is this gasket likely to last? Do they typically get grungy every dozen cooks and need replacing, or is it a rare event to replace them?
I spent about 12 bucks on a self-adhesive Big Green Egg gray felt gasket, and what a difference. I did the door, top of the middle section, top of the bottom section, and thermometer. The very next cook the temp stayed really steady at 215 for six hours with no adjustments to the vents, and when it started to drop a bit I opened the bottom vents just a touch and the temps stayed good for another couple of hours until my cook was over. This was with no water in the pan. I closed the vents and there was far more unburnt charcoal and less ash than ever before. This was on a pretty cool windy day too.
My guess is that some fraction of Weber smokers are just enough out of true to leak air despite gunk buildup from multiple cooks, and mine was one of them. I knew there was no way I was going to be able to bend things to solve it without driving myself crazy causing new distortions somewhere else, and it was time for a cheap easy fix.
My only question is how long is this gasket likely to last? Do they typically get grungy every dozen cooks and need replacing, or is it a rare event to replace them?
