To seal or not to seal door

[Jersey Jimbo]

I have been reading about people who seal the door on their pellet smoker. I do see a good amount of smoke coming from the door. This has to be a heat loss too. Will adding a seal to have the door seal tighter be a good idea or not. Will it affect the smoker in any way, will it still get enough air or overheat. And why doesn't the companies put them on. They sell a door seal on Amazon for the smokers but does it work on a pellet smoker Any and all replies will be appreciated.

 

[unclebubbas bbq]

I have had my rectec for almost 5 years and never felt that I needed to add a gasket seal. There is some smoke that comes out but the unit keeps up with any loss there might be and my temps hold solid

 

[MartyBauer]

In a pellet smoker, it's all personal preference. It won't have any effect on the overall performance of the smoker. Unlike a charcoal or stick burner where the air leaks and air flow can affect the burn and temperature control.

 

[TNJAKE]

It won't cause a issue with the smoker if you seal it. I agree with unclebubbas bbq don't really see a point in going through the trouble. Pellet smokers are pretty efficient

 

[Jersey Jimbo]

thanks for the replies. I didn't think I needed it but there is no harm in asking. And with the blanket it holds the temps good, One less thing to think about.

 

[sandyut]

this comes up on the recteq foram all the time.... I cant see any purpose to it. works fine without - why bother messing with whats working fine.

 

[ostrichsak]

I did on my new Recteq only for aesthetic reasons. It's stainless and I didn't want the patina look on my shiny new stainless. That's the only reason though. Added bonus is that it "feels" better when you close it and it has like a high-end German luxury car door shutting type satisfaction. I didn't bother with other smokers because they weren't stainless so I really didn't care. If you think you'll get some sort of performance gain.... don't bother. Waste of time and money.

 

[Winterrider]

I did on my new Recteq only for aesthetic reasons. It's stainless and I didn't want the patina look on my shiny new stainless. That's the only reason though. Added bonus is that it "feels" better when you close it and it has like a high-end German luxury car door shutting type satisfaction. I didn't bother with other smokers because they weren't stainless so I really didn't care. If you think you'll get some sort of performance gain.... don't bother. Waste of time and money.

That was my reasoning for doing it also.
Without :

Lot of hard scrubbing but bar keepers friend finely cut it.

 

[ostrichsak]

That was my reasoning for doing it also.
Without :
View attachment 486674
Lot of hard scrubbing but bar keepers friend finely cut it.

Bingo. I was glad I noticed it right after the initial burn-in because it was easier to clean. $20 and 10-minutes worth of time later I'm all good w/o having to worry about that again. I get that most who own these like the patina but it's just not for me. Pro tip: like the underside of your hopper lid with the left-over gasket material and it will also feel like a high-end luxury German car door whenever you close it.

 

[Bytor]

Same here for my RT. I'm not a clean buff, just ask my wife..., but I do like the look of nice shiny stainless. My leakage under the lid wasn't all that bad, but was just enough to notice after every few cooks. IMO, it was $15-20 well spent. In no way is it going to have any impact on cooking though and it does make lid closing softer, FWTW.....

 

[Fueling Around]

I have a Masterbuilt pooper.
Didn't care about door leaks last summer. Welder blanket I throw over the top this winter says there is leakage.
Got a gasket kit to put on this year when it warms up.

Next up is to modify the exhaust

 

[K9BIGDOG]

I would recommend NOT sealing a pellet smoker/grill. These things are basically convection ovens and they use a fan to circulate the hot air through them. You won't be losing any significant heat or smoke around the lid or door and the gaps there are needed to maintain proper airflow through the cooking chamber. Most, if not all of the manufacturers will also tell you not to do this. Remember, it's the thin, blue smoke that you mostly can't see that's working it's magic for inside for you.