WSM Lid Hinge options

[Charles Astorino]

I have the unknown BBQ hinge and love it. It works really well. It’s not spring loaded so you need to lift it straight up before lowering it to close, but I got used to that very quickly. I don’t know anything about the Hunsaker. But any hinge is better than no hinge.

I also have the unknown bbq hinge I did a miner mod to it you can eather lift it or just pull a pin like the one that came with the hinge and easy close no back pain any more.

 

[Charles Astorino]

I've seen the seal on my 22" kettle change over time. Using the hinge it no longer sits flat as it did when I installed the hinge. Probably because the metal is thin and easy too deform, and grill temperatures are high. If I pull the pin out it'll sit flat otherwise all kinds of smoke comes out of it when I put the lid down while grilling. Notice while grilling it doesn't matter to me so I haven't worried about it.

My intuition says the hunsaker hinge is superior because of this it doesn't need to be pinned to work. It's basically a guide that holds the lid up when you want it up but it's free-floating at least up and down when you lower it

On my wsm where seal is important.... I'm still not convinced to hinge is a good thing to put there. That and i also need to access the back side to spritz food evenly etc. And having a lid there simply interferes. Just a hook to hang the lid on is sufficient.

It sounds like the lid part of the hinge is not installed correctly I install lots of these when friends install them like you did and I also have a Hunstaker hing Im not using on my wsms but it a grate idea but slappy build im working on improving it. As for what do about the center barrel safety I use the Cajun Bandit barrel locks their worth it on a windy day and you lose a 70.00 brisket to your bull dogs.

 

[Charles Astorino]

I use a slide-aside rather than a hinge, and yes, the offset weight of the lid does increase the risk that the barrel could tilt into the bowl with sufficient provocation. I was looking at a getting a latch of some kind to connect the barrel and bowl but that clip would be easier. I suppose any introduced sealing problem at the bottom of the door could be dealt with.

go to Cajun Bandit.com look at their wsm barrel locks you wont regret it they've got everything you need for bbq kettles , wsm and more