Abe's 48" insulated cabinet smoker seasoning, first cook and thoughts

[Untraceable]

get a bunch of wood chunks going with the guru on and close up the exhaust and see where smoke it leaking. You must have an unseen air leak going on. the smoke with pressure from the guru should point them out

[lencav]

Definitely had more lit charcoal than 10. I'm taking notes!!. I will also add another leg to the maze. Thanks again for the replies and tips.

[SmokinGuitarPlayer]

The seal / sealing of the smoker issue ... I have been working with Kevin to get this done right. He just did not realize that the Guru unit works on pressure and that the seal was critical. I use nomex gasket material around the guru adapter to fix the seal and aluminum just as pictured on this thread to seal the second air input and it's working great. I also made sure the nomex door gasket had no small voids where air can escape/enter and I've added clamp toggle latches to the doors to make an even better seal. He has been putting 2 x slam latches on the door. I change that to one slam latch and 2 toggle clamps. That way I can shut the door with my elboe while holding things and then come back when my hands are free to hit the toggle clamps. it is working perfectly.

[SmokinGuitarPlayer]

TO: pjtexas1 and others . Note on your avatar , your Abe's smoker ... has 2 slam latches on the top door... .my mod is to move one of them to the center ...so you can close or open it with one hand ..then I add clamp/toggle latches to the corners to really make a good seal ... we are testing this now for future model changes.

[FatCoyote]

Very nice..... great lookin' pit too.

[pjtexas1]

Originally Posted by SmokinGuitarPlayer

TO: pjtexas1 and others . Note on your avatar , your Abe's smoker ... has 2 slam latches on the top door... .my mod is to move one of them to the center ...so you can close or open it with one hand ..then I add clamp/toggle latches to the corners to really make a good seal ... we are testing this now for future model changes.

That's a great idea. I think Indybbq got his with 2 clamp latches. Hopefully he will let us know how they worked out. Mine had a small leak in the upper corner of the door but it sealed itself after a few cooks. It will leak a tiny bit every now and then but a spray of Pam fixes it. My target temp is 300 and it locks in at 306-309. With 1 intake uncovered it will hold at 325, 2 uncovered 360. Intake covers of some kind are a necessity.

[Indybbq]

Mine does have the two clamp latches. Kevin found they hold the door closed tighter as SmokinGuitarPlayer pointed out. I was having some leakage on the door but once I added some gasket that Kevin had given me to the door (originally just had it on the body of the smoker) it sealed it up completely and now runs airtight.

I did a short chicken cook yesterday with no water in the pan and it did run hot but I was just using it for a couple hours. I think using the water pan and using less charcoal as previously mentioned helps. I haven't played with a maze yet but plan to soon.

[SmokinGuitarPlayer]

here's pics of my mod to the Abe's Smoker door / latch system .. .One Slam Latch in the center for easy "elboe" slamming .. .NOTE I have now done this to the charcoal box and that seems to help also...

[Baptized in Smoke]

I'm glad that I rediscovered this thread. I am definitely going to have to make some modifications to my 60" smoker. Hopefully I can get it to draw properly, sealed tight etc. Haven't been able to rely on Kevin to provide support or provide me with items still missing from my order after 2+ month and numerous failed promises.

[pjtexas1]

Originally Posted by Baptized in Smoke

I'm glad that I rediscovered this thread. I am definitely going to have to make some modifications to my 60" smoker. Hopefully I can get it to draw properly, sealed tight etc. Haven't been able to rely on Kevin to provide support or provide me with items still missing from my order after 2+ month and numerous failed promises.

Let us know what you need help with. We have your back even if Kevin doesn't.

[gadgetdad]

Sweet. Congrats!

[Baptized in Smoke]

I definitely like the look of the clamp latches..... I've been fighting with some leaking around the upper right as well and haven't been able to get it sealed exactly tight. Looking at Grainger website, and they look fairly reasonably priced. Will be stopping by the local grainger store tomorrow to see if they have them in stock.

[pjtexas1]

Originally Posted by Baptized in Smoke

I definitely like the look of the clamp latches..... I've been fighting with some leaking around the upper right as well and haven't been able to get it sealed exactly tight. Looking at Grainger website, and they look fairly reasonably priced. Will be stopping by the local grainger store tomorrow to see if they have them in stock.

If you have time we would appreciate some detailed instructions with pics.

[Indybbq]

The clamp latches work well. Mine is completely air tight with two clamps and gasket on the door and body.

[pjtexas1]

I was about to go out and get a pair of clamp latches today but I really wasn't too excited about leaving holes in the door and body of the smoker. I decided to have a closer look at the stock latches. I noticed that the bottom latch and the top latch adjustment screws were not drilled in the same location. I swapped them around and now the door shuts much tighter than before. The door hinges must be off just a tiny bit because looking at the white gaskets this corner is the only place that leaks. All the other gaskets are still perfectly white.

Now I don't have to spray the gaskets with Pam every other cook to keep them from leaking. It was a small leak in the upper corner of the door where the latch is located. It was really getting annoying.