Gasket Info

[trikkyp]

Hello All.  I am considering adding a vent and gasket to my ECB.  I see a lot of good information on here about finding materials for and installing the vent, however I am having trouble finding info on the gaskets.  

Where should I go to find materials to properly install a gasket on my ECB?

Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks

 

[bobank03]

Welcome to the group! I bought my gasket from the local True Value Hardware store. Walked in and told them I needed a round stove gasket half or 3/4  inch thick and they took me right to them. I'm sure Ace must have them too. My store only had the half inch gaskets. I'm pretty sure you can get them at the big box home improvement stores too and online on amazon. 

Don't waste your time on the glue that comes with the gasket. It absolutely will not work. Go down to the adhesives department and but a squeeze tube of high heat rtv and save yourself some trouble. 

Couple of the guys have used rope with good results too, though I'd stay with cotton and no plastic or nylon in it. I don't have any experience with that so I can't really speak to it. 

After thinking about it, I think we have come to realize that you always run the dome vent wide open, so the weber vent really isn't needed unless you want to close the opening to the rain etc. If you store it in the garage you can probably not bother with the actual vent, just drill the holes. I keep mine outside, so the vent was sort of needed, though I do have a plastic el cheapo cover for it. 

 

[trikkyp]

Thanks for the info Bob!  So the vent position (closed vs.quarter open vs. fully open) will not affect the bbq temperature?  I guess it looks cool but if it does not serve a practical purpose aside from weather protection, then I will just drill a few holes in the lid and call it a day!

 

[bobank03]

I have read extensively on this and we have to remember that this is an exhaust vent and you can't use an exhaust vent to control temps as the smoke backs up inside the smoker and makes the food taste acrid. Best to run the top vent wide open and control temps near the bottom with holes in the charcoal pan, etc. 

Are you using the standard ECB (available in other names as well) or the gourmet model? The gourmet model would possibly beneft from venting the bottom with two or three of the adjustable vents.

The only other case for venting at the bottom would be if your removed the legs, set the pan of the ground and sat the ECB over the top of it. Then you could use adjustable vents to control the intake, which would probably make the ECB very efficient. Although another system comes to mind... 

 

[bobank03]

@Flash  has some very nice pictures of his old school ECB Brinkmann. Hoping he will catch the @ and post his pics here for us?

Just in case he doesn't catch up for a day or so here is  the picture in his album. It's priceless! He controlled the air by turning the concrete blocks. Ingenious! 

ECB.jpg

• bobank03
• Jul 28, 2014

 

[trikkyp]

Thats a pretty gritty lookin smoker! Love it. I am running the gormet electric brinkman with a Maverick et 732 to monitor temps. I am also considering a dampener to regulate the current flow.

 

[bobank03]

I have been considering buying a gourmet. I would think if you put three of the small weber vents on the bottom of that puppy you could dial that baby right in, but with the electric model, it must be a reasonable smoker already? I see them on Craigslist occasionally. 

 

[bobank03]

So what's your feelings of the electric vs the charcoal gourmet?

 

[trikkyp]

I have only tried smoking using electric.  I wouldn't mind trying charcoal at some point to see if there is a noticeable difference in the taste.  The biggest challenges that I have experienced with the electric are:

-Hard to control the temperature.  Usually it will hit around 220 - 240.  I have not been able to get anything lower on a consistent basis.  I read that using a dampener can help reduce the power of the heating unit and better control the temperature so I have been looking into investing in one.

-I initially had problems where the wood would burn too quickly.  I was able to remedy this by using soaked chunks as opposed to chips and making sure that the lava rocks were more thinly spread around the wood chunks.  My last smoke went for three hours without needing to add more wood.

-Like the charcoal model, the electric model ventilates the smoke from the opening in the lid.  I plan to seal the lid and drill some holes in the top of the lid to allow the smoke to better pass through the meats.  Especially the meats on the top rack!

Despite these challenges,  I am able to get pretty tasty results.  Plus, the thing is pretty easy to clean and maintain.  

 

[bobank03]

I think 220-240 is ok for most smokes anyway. Lot's of discussion on that all the time, but I usually run my smoker 230-260 and my food tastes fantastic and I've never gotten "bad" que out of it. I think you will find that sealing the gap around the lid and adding a vent to the top will allow the smoke to travel around the food on the top rack and then vent in a more natural manner at the top. My feeling (IMHO- I guess...) is that when you don't do that you lose good smoke and heat that travels right up the sidewalls of the smoker and right out at the lid. And then you tend to trap stale smoke in the dome of the smoker that has now way to flow easily from the smoker... 

Side note. Just got the AMNTS for pellet smoking and I plan to try cold smoking in the ECB this fall. 

 

[bobank03]

Hey TrikkyP and chance you can go to this thread, read through it and advise @terryit3  on the electric ECB, a similar model to yours. 

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...ob-question-about-loading-smoker#post_1215053

 

[trikkyp]

sure no prob

 

[trikkyp]

20140906_191609.jpg

• trikkyp
• Sep 6, 2014

Ok. I installed gasket and drilled some 3/8 holes in lid to vent. Should be all set to fire up some ribs tomorrow with the new setup. Now I can eat well while watching the Browns lose.!

 

[thinblueduke]

Looking good!  You might be able to get away with a few more holes if you detect a hint of bitterness.  Also, remember to get those ribs on by 8am if you're hoping to eat at halftime.

 

[trikkyp]

Thanks!! I have 2 more 3/8 inch holes on the opposite end. I'll be monitoring the temps pretty closely . If the temps seem abnormally high (or ribs come out more bitter) I may pound some more holes.

 

[thinblueduke]

In that case you should be fine.  Bitterness is probably a better indicator than temperature.  Have a good smoke, and go Browns!

 

[trikkyp]

20140907_082727.jpg

• trikkyp
• Sep 7, 2014

so I would say about 75% of the smoke is exiting through the lid vent and the temp is topping out around 235. Things are looking good.First time smoking with pecan so Im really excited to see how it turns out. This is such a great hobby!

 

[thinblueduke]

So how did it turn out?  Any pics?

BTW, a bit off-topic, but that Antonio Brown kick to the head of the Browns punter was one of the dirtiest moves I've seen in the NFL in a long time.

 

[trikkyp]

Had company over so unfortunately could not get picks.  I had two racks; 1 on bottom grate and 1 on top grate.  They were baby backs so I did 2-2-1.   The rack on the bottom grate turned out perfect.  The rack on the top grate however seemed a bit over done, especially on the ends.  I think I may have overdone the wood in the middle of the smoke.  I also got side tracked and ended up doing something more like 2.5 - 2- 1.  I also think I put too much mop on the rack before foiling which seemed to make the meat come right off the bone and lose any tug.  

All in all, they were very delicious and 75% of smoke was definitely venting out of the newly drilled lid holes.    The top rack definitely had a more bitter smoke flavor.

I think my lessons learned are 1, go easier on the smoke since a majority will now be passing through or around the meat (especially on top rack).    2. no more mop in foil.

Any other suggestions?   

The Steelers are a dirty team so it didn't surprise me.  Remember when Tomlin tried to trip Jacoby Jones last year?