Cooked the Gasket

Jersey Doug · May 2008

Yesterday's pizza cook with the 12" pizza stone up in the dome of the small...

...was too much for the gasket:

I worried about trapping all the heat under the pizza stone with a fairly small clearance around the perimeter, and it looks like I was right.

I'll be cooking at lower temps for a while until I replace the gasket. And I may have found the excuse for buying a large egg I was looking for.

--Doug

Windrider · May 2008

Every time I do a pizza or T-Rex steaks that happens to me. Finallly gave up and just live with a burnt gasket -- seem to still be able to control temperature pretty well for low and slow, so it ends up being more of a cosmetic problem. However, I do have an idea I'm pursing that may be attractive to fellow eggers. Will post after I've worked it out.
Nice looking pizza (yum)!

stike · May 2008

a main reason for the gasket is really to cushion the dome when it shuts, believe it or not. if it's already toasted, i say this is the BEST time to cook at high temps. hahaha

fear not. it should keep fairly decent temps, and i think if you can still go to higher temps. like you said, it was likely the platesetter deflecting the heat right to the gasket. searing steak shouldn't exacerbate the problem.

Grandpas Grub · May 2008

Thanks for posting the picture.

I have gone through several gaskets in my relative short time of eggin.

After installing the 3rd gasket on the large I had kept to the theory that some low temp burns would 'cure' the gasket. I had done 40 low temp (under 400°) cooks and then I again burnt the gasket much lile in your picture.

I was using a dutch oven and after the cook I began to wonder if the Cast Iron mass was just too close to the gasket and that is what took out the gasket.

Looking at both of your pictures and the location of the pizza stone, from here, it looks like you experienced the same situration and outcome. To much heat mass close the that gasket level.

At a later date I put the DFMT in on the grate closer to the gasket and got the egg up to 400°. After being at that temp for a half hour I read the temp through the dome. I don't remember the exact temps but this will be close enough. The ceramic above and below the gasket was +- 300° at the gasket was a little hotter but about the same.

The grid, if the IR thermometer could catch the grid read at 360° +-

The cast iron DFMT was 750° +-

As I was told a long time ago, if you can maintain low & slow temps don't worry about the gasket. I gave up and now I am in that camp. My gasket looks like it has been very well loved and I am still getting great food - so I don't worry about it.

I am going to install the Nomex gasket sometime.

You need no excuse to get another egg and you will love the large & don't forget the mini - that is more fun to use than I would have ever thought.

The only thing better than an egg is two & more eggs.

GG

Sorry it happened to you.

KC · May 2008

If you replace it with the Nomex gasket be careful not to stretch the Nomex (not even a little) when you install it. I installed the Nomex gasket on my large BGE a couple of months ago and I did not think I was stretching the gasket but the gasket has suffered the same fate as George from Seinfeld after he went swimming -- SHRINKAGE

:woohoo: ... Yep, it (the gasket) "shrunk" about a 1/2 inch since installation.

. So be careful and watch out for "shrinkage"

:laugh:

The good news is I have T-Rexed steaks and done pizzas several times and the gasket shows no signs of burning or scorching.

BeerMike · May 2008

In my opinion, the "main" reason for the gasket is NOT to "cushion the dome when it shuts." In my opinion, the "main" reason for the gasket is to seal the base and the dome to stop air leaks. If air leaks between the base and dome, it can be difficult to control the temp during those long cooks.

Just my opinion.

Cheers,

BeerMike

Old Salt · May 2008

BeerMike wrote:

In my opinion, the "main" reason for the gasket is NOT to "cushion the dome when it shuts." In my opinion, the "main" reason for the gasket is to seal the base and the dome to stop air leaks. If air leaks between the base and dome, it can be difficult to control the temp during those long cooks.

Just my opinion.

Cheers,

BeerMike

That's what I found to happen so I replaced my gasket. It's sealed good now. Throw some smoke wood in and you'll see how much leakage you have between the top and bottom.

Chubby · May 2008

You have mail!!

Evans

stike · May 2008

well. i was just referring to the manual. the manual states ""it protects your lid if you should drop it by accident"

of course it helps as a gasket, but you can cook without it. fishless only recently replaced his gasket after a couple years without it. if it does leak, all that it does is shift your damper settings. the vast majority of air will only still be drawn in thru the lower vent. air likely won't come in the gasketless gap, go down against the flow of the rest of the incoming air (from the lower vent), and then burn and rise again. if anything, the smoke might come out the gap. but still, closing the lower vent can handle that. you can control low temps with the top vent completely wide open. perhaps one or the other isn't truly the 'main' reason. but they sure are equal.

a dropped lid, ceramic-on-ceramic, is one of the things the gasket is intended to prevent. i'm recalling this from the printed manual, which i found a week or two ago lost in among the cookbooks.

BeerMike · May 2008

Well of course you can cook without a gasket. Why did fishless install a new gasket after 2 years if his BGE worked so well without one?

With a leaking gasket, try keeping your BGE at 170 degrees for a long period of time on a windy day. I don't think you could do it. I could not sustain low temps for long smoking sessions when my gasket was leaking. Once the leak was fixed, I could easily maintain 170 degrees.

If BGE owners "can control low temps with the top vent completely wide open," why did they invent the daisy wheel top? I take it you don't live where it's very windy. I don't use my daisy wheel unless I'm doing long, low temp cooks.

Cheers,

BeerMike

stike · May 2008

i'm not talking about 170 degrees. that's an extreme. you can easily hold 250 without a gasket unless you are a newbie.

the daisy helps with fine adjustment, and is not at all required to control temps. helps, but it is relatively new to the scene.

ask fishless why he put the gasket on. pretty he'll tell you it's because of the ceramic to ceramic contact if i remember correctly. that, or he had extra rutland left over. he always said he never had temp issues.

my point is, this guy can still cook at HIGH heat (which was his concern, not low temps) without a gasket.

usc1321 · May 2008

HA! :woohoo:
Sounds like this has stirred up something

:evil:
My large hasn't had a gasket for the last 9 months and have been cooking on it everyday since then. I can control temps easily down to about 220 dome with no gasket. You have to be careful closing the lid though, the gasket DOES provide cushion for the dome when closing. If your dome is properly aligned and installed correctly, the gasket doesn't do a whole lot for controlling temp. Just my 2 cents

BeerMike · May 2008

You're reading WAY too much into this discussion. There is no tone here and I didn't "jump on your ass." I just stated my opinion on the subject based on my experience. If it came across as being rude, I'm truly sorry.

I think we can agree that the "gasket of your Egg provides a seal between the two sections of your Egg and protects the lid if it is lowered too quickly." This is from my BGE Cookbook and Manual (Rev E 3/99, page 23).

May we someday meet, drink beer and Egg together!

Cheers,

BeerMike
Drink a frosty one in your honor!

stike · May 2008

sorry man. it's this farking internet thing. maybe the caps had me thinking you were shouting or something. jhahaha

frig. maybe i'm just antsy and looking for trouble where it ain't.
sorry, guy.

Cooked the Gasket

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