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I have finally had the time to break in, season and install all of the LSS mods for my 1050 and today I finally had time to smoke something and I made some pulled pork.

Overall I'm very pleased with my 1050. I had about a 35-40 difference between the grill temp and my inkbird but it stayed consistent in terms of the gap. I burned B&B briquettes, temp control/consistency is excellent and had a nice amount of TBS all day. I wish I had just a bit more chunks in the hopper for a little more smoke flavor but that's my fault.

The pork butt was 8.5lbs after some trimming and I attempted my first turbo cook 275-315 F and sprayed it with apple juice and spiced rum every hour. It finished in 9h 20mins and I'm very happy with the bark, color, smoke ring and tenderness. I also used sofalaquer's finishing sauce for the first time ever and am never going back. All in all, I'm really happy!

My only complaint is the hopper hood leaks smoke. Anyone run into this and have a suggestion for a solve? My guess is a better gasket is in order...
Yes sir nice color and bark there ! Looks like a win on your initial voyage !
I sometimes have a smoke leak at the hopper but place a piece of foil between the hopper and lid, which could be causing my issue. Not really a bod concern for me. I may try it without this weekend to check.
Keith
 
so what is the consensus on the best hopper lid replacement gasket?

I replaced mine with lavalock but it was the 1/2" x 1/8". actually leaked worse so i added a layer of foil again. was thinking about ordering 3/4"x1/4". Thoughts?
 
so what is the consensus on the best hopper lid replacement gasket?

I replaced mine with lavalock but it was the 1/2" x 1/8". actually leaked worse so i added a layer of foil again. was thinking about ordering 3/4"x1/4". Thoughts?

did you replace just to mod or it wasn’t sealing after tightening down the latch? Just curious I havnt had a problem since I tightened up on the latch for mine. Every now and then I’ll scrub the door surface to break up the build up before it becomes an issue
 
did you replace just to mod or it wasn’t sealing after tightening down the latch? Just curious I havnt had a problem since I tightened up on the latch for mine. Every now and then I’ll scrub the door surface to break up the build up before it becomes an issue
Mine leaked from the get go and tightening the latch almost made it worse. Too much pressure on the front kind of raised the back. There is a sweet spot for latch tightness.
 
so what is the consensus on the best hopper lid replacement gasket?

I replaced mine with lavalock but it was the 1/2" x 1/8". actually leaked worse so i added a layer of foil again. was thinking about ordering 3/4"x1/4". Thoughts?
Most of the stories I've heard are that replacing the hopper lid gasket with a lava lock or similar end up making the hopper lid leak more. Because of these stories, I haven't tried it, though I do get a little leakage from the hopper lid.

I'm actually more interested in anyone who has put a gasket on the cook chamber lid of an 1050 or 800, and has had improvementsin performance. If so, which gasket and install pics would be appreciated.
 
I've been throwing some wood chunks (cherry, hickory or apple) in the hopper with the lump or briquettes and then some in the ash bin as well. I'm wondering how you all are doing it? If you just toss some in the ash bin before it is heated up and ash is falling? Or do you do it only after a few hours when there are more hot coals down there (but then for things like ribs, you don't get that early smoke on the ribs since they are basically only exposed for the first 3 hours) or do you throw them in the ash bin, hit them with a propane torch to get them started?

What is your way of adding in uncharred wood?

The way I'm doing it seems to give inconsistent results. I'm getting great smoke flavor sometimes and then none other times.
 
I usually load a layer(maybe 4-6 inches) of coal then add the cunks then more coal and repeat until full. I also add a few smaller chunks to the ash bin and they catch on their own.
 
I usually load a layer(maybe 4-6 inches) of coal then add the cunks then more coal and repeat until full. I also add a few smaller chunks to the ash bin and they catch on their own.
When do you add to the ash bin? Right away or after it has time to drop some hot coals down?
 
Add some right away and also every couple of hrs , when I think about it, during the cook to try to keep it rolling
 
agree with 912. you want at least 4-6 inches of coals before the first chunk otherwise the potential is there to start the cook with dirty smoke. I put a chunk on the grate in the ash bin from the beginning and get it started with a torch.
 
speaking of dirty smoke. something just crossed my mind after i saw the grate in the mod thread. Anybody have any thoughts on whether or not you would get more complete combustion and consistently cleaner smoke the closer to the coal grate the wood is in the ash pan? My brain feels like physics would dictate the air would have a higher temp and that there would be an increase in oxygen flow when the fan kicks on resulting in higher combustion temps and cleaner smoke.
 
My only complaint is the hopper hood leaks smoke. Anyone run into this and have a suggestion for a solve? My guess is a better gasket is in order...

Rip a a nice sheet of aluminum foil, fold it in half and use it as a barrier between the hopper and lid. Not only will it cut the creosote buildup on the lid, it also seals nicely.

No need for an external mod.
 
Rip a a nice sheet of aluminum foil, fold it in half and use it as a barrier between the hopper and lid. Not only will it cut the creosote buildup on the lid, it also seals nicely.

No need for an external mod.
I have the LSS mod for the hopper lid and after the first few smokes creosote build up started allowing a bit of smoke to leak between the mod and the rest of the hopper. I bought some 7/8" x 1/8 FireBlack and just installed it. Now I will have a seal between the hopper and the mod as well as the hopper lid and the mod. I'm thinking it should do the trick.

As a side note, cleaning off the creosote buildup from around the edge of the top of the hopper was nuts. I had to resort to some zippo lighter fluid and a scotch brite pad to get it off. I tried hot water, then soapy hot water, then some fairly strongly concentrated Simple green and none of it hardly touched it. The zippo fluid did the trick, but it evaporates pretty fast.
 
I have the LSS mod for the hopper lid and after the first few smokes creosote build up started allowing a bit of smoke to leak between the mod and the rest of the hopper. I bought some 7/8" x 1/8 FireBlack and just installed it. Now I will have a seal between the hopper and the mod as well as the hopper lid and the mod. I'm thinking it should do the trick.

As a side note, cleaning off the creosote buildup from around the edge of the top of the hopper was nuts. I had to resort to some zippo lighter fluid and a scotch brite pad to get it off. I tried hot water, then soapy hot water, then some fairly strongly concentrated Simple green and none of it hardly touched it. The zippo fluid did the trick, but it evaporates pretty fast.
What about a putty knife ?
 
Any recommendations on the best size drip pans to use on the 1050 with lss mods?
I believe the slip of paper that it ships with recommends any pan that is less than 2" tall/deep. I used some that are ~13 1/2 "x9 1/2"x1 7/8" under a pork butt that worked really well.
 
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