British BBQ Society Forums

I have new smoker and I have noticed there are gaps around the doors to the fire area and the level above it, is this ok or do I need to seal them somehow?

Do a few cooks with it first, as it seasons it may seal up the gaps a bit if not then there's ways of sealing.

Thanks, what you you recommend to use if needed?

There a couple of ways, RTV sealant or Adhesive bbq gasket. A search on ebay for either will yield results.

What smoker do you have? Some are meant to have gaps, for example the cheapo brinkmann smokers, which have gaps instead of a top vent.

I have this one, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Saey-Home-Garde ... BBQ+smoker the gaps are around the doors and it does have a top vent

This is a great post about mods to a similar smoker to yours. http://home.comcast.net/~day_trippr/smoker_mods.htm
Search on ebay for nomex gasket, you should get various returns for adhesive foam gasket you can stick round doors etc. From the US but shipping isn't too bad.

Yeah get it sealed then - if it's got a vent it doesn't need any gaps.

Though, with that said, they might not be doing any damage - give it a couple of cooks before you mod it in any way, so you get to know it.

Thanks for the tips, I'm going to fire it up once this nasty weather has passed and see where the smoke is escaping from and go from there

Do remember that you need some exhaust or the stale smoke will make your food taste nasty.