How snug does the side door need to be?


 
W

WillBurd

New member
First time using the 18.5" and tried some boneless chicken breasts following the recipe from the website. They came out quite tasty but I never got the temp down below 310-315 degrees even with the vents closed 3/4.

I can't swear to the accuracy of the dome thermometer but it does occur to me if the .5" a gap in the side door it could be pulling in more oxygen and keeping the fire hotter than it should be. :confused:
 
Yes that little gap will let more air in at first.
Keep cooking on it and it will seal up.
OBTW welcome to the forum!

Tim
 
Sorry just reread your OP ( senior moment )
.5" is a half an inch and is not a little gap.:)

Tim
 
Gently bend the door until it fits as good as you can get it to fit. It will never be air tight, but it needs to be snug. The fact that you were at 310 with the vents closed 3/4 isn't too bad. When I cook, I hit around 250-275 with one vent open less than half and the other vents completely closed. The real test is getting it air tight enough so that when you shut all the vents, the fire goes out. When I shut down, my thermometer hits it's lowest temp in about an hour. When I open it up the next day, there are coals there (everything didn't continue to burn). If you can get to that point, it's tight enough. A lot of people with a door/air problem will not have any coals the next day even after shutting down all the vents.

Note: Be careful and always assume the coals can reignite. Use a metal can for disposal or wait a few days to make very sure the coals are out before throwing in the trash. Personally, I dump my coals in a metal can and only put them in a garbage bag the day I set the garbage out. I don't want coals in my garbage can which I store inside my garage.
 
I just re-bent my door after my last cook, I've had my wsm a year now, I am doing ribs right now and it is very very windy with gusts over 30mph, even with the wind I am holding temps at 260, I thought the door fit good before but that little tweek seamed to make a big difference.
 
Same as everyone above. There are some tips on this site for making gaskets, alternate doors and other mods you can do if you want. Mine is now bent to perfection and pretty gunked up so I am happy. Also a new cooker will go a little hotter until it gets some residue to tighten everything up and the inside is stops being shiny and starts getting pretty!

Enjoy and welcome to the site!
 
Thanks for the tips, after everything cooled down I took off the door and reformed it which took care of the gap.


One more question, does using foil in the pan instead of water result in higher temps or doesn't it make any difference?
 
WillBurd said:
Thanks for the tips, after everything cooled down I took off the door and reformed it which took care of the gap.


One more question, does using foil in the pan instead of water result in higher temps or doesn't it make any difference?
Click to expand...

Yes it does if you want it to. Water is a heat sink, an empty foiled pan is a heat deflector. Proper vent management and catching temps on the way up, can keep a foiled pan below 250ish.

Tim
 
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