Adding gasket to used WSM

[Killa J]

My WSM leaks smoke all over the place. And that’s probably why I get about half the cook time I read that other people get. How can I clean it to add gasket to the door and the lip where the lid sits? It’s got all the funk that normally builds up in a smoker.

 

[sandro]

I applied a gasket on my 22 a couple years ago; I scraped the chud off with a plastic blade, cleaned the rim with a degreaser, and applied the gasket after it had dried

 

[West River BBQ]

I'm interested to see what others have to say. I have a leaky door, even with an aftermarket product. They said the door needs to bend to conform to the smoker, but I think a gasket is the solution.

 

[Killa J]

I'm interested to see what others have to say. I have a leaky door, even with an aftermarket product. They said the door needs to bend to conform to the smoker, but I think a gasket is the solution.

I have the aftermarket one too, I could not bend it to match the curve. But I can’t find where I put the original one, think I probably tossed it.

 

[snadamo]

I have applied the gasket to the top ring for the lid as well as the OEM door. Significant decrease in leakage and probably (although not proven) fuel consumption.

I scraped and degreased as others have mentioned. I'd recommend it.

 

[Killa J]

Any particular degreaser? I think I have Simple Green, but I don’t know if that’s good to use on a cooker.

 

[snadamo]

Any particular degreaser? I think I have Simple Green, but I don’t know if that’s good to use on a cooker.

The wife got some environmentally friendly stuff. I will see if I can find the bottle.

EDIT: Mean Green Super strength. Non-toxic not sure about environmentally friendly. THIS STUFF WOKRS though.

Mean Green Super Strength

 

[Nuco59]

If it's well used and sooted /gunked up properly, I can't imagine it losing enough smoke and heat to give you half the burn time of another fella. But maybe it does.

OTOH, I might take their burn claims with a grain of salt. People will fib about a lot of things, Bowling average, golf handicap, the size of the fish that got away....etc.

 

[Dustin Dorsey]

I used simple green on mine. It will definitely help. I've gotten some super long burn times, but it's usually in the the summer and no water in the pan, and running at 225. The newer formulation of KBB (that's probably been around for years now) doesn't last as long as the older stuff.

 

[wbratt1]

Not sure about what time you're getting, but I've used my two 22.5" WSMs for years with no gaskets or aftermarket door. I typically get around 10 hours at 225F to 250F with a full load of Kingsford professional briquets with some wood chunks. I started with an 18.5" WSM ~ 12 years ago and used to get 12+ hours on that one.

 

[SlowmotionQue]

Clean it up and take the time to apply new gasket material. Acetone works to clean the old adhesive off. Clean as much of the old adhesive off as you can after you remove the old gasket material. Even if you have a non stock door.

As for the door opening, this should go without saying, but attach the gasket material to the barrel of the smoker as opposed to the door itself. I would not waste a lot of time attempting to bend, say, a Cajun Bandit door, or even the stock door.

If it's a Cajun Bandit door well then make sure that the latch is adjusted to give good clamping force.

Below is my heavily modified 22in WSM. Gasket material everywhere that I can put it, it's nearly as tight as the Kamado Joe which stands behind it.

Cajn bandit door, gasket material attached around the door opening, Southco latch clamped down tight, but not too tight.

At the bottom portion of the door opening in the barrel of the WSM, put your gasket material on the inside and along the bottom edge of the opening.

At the lid, place the gasket material at the top edge of the mid section.