fried gasket after pizza

JohnB

Well, you can never have enough posts about gaskets!

I thought I was one of the lucky ones. I got my BGE last Dec. and was careful top break in the gasket per the dealer's instructions. I had read a lot of posts on this forum detailing the dreaded loose/falling-off gasket phenomenon. Anyway, my gasket seemed to be one of the ones that stuck.

Then pizzas.

Yesterday was the 4th time I cooked pizzas. We had company over and I cooked 8. My set-up:

plate setter legs up
cooking grid
BGE feet
pizza stone

I did this set up specifically to make sure the plate setter wasn't directing the heat at the gaskets.

Temp got a little above 700 at one point but was mostly in the 600 range.

This morning I looked at the gaskets and they're charred and split on the inside edges and at one point they're charred completely through.

I guess I can get a Nomex replacement but want to make sure these will stand up to the heat of my pizza set-up.

Any advice/input/tips would be great.

thanks!

Fidel

If they're just charred then you have no worries.

The much discussed "gasket issue" has to do more with failed adhesive where the gaskets just let go from the dome and/or base.

From the sounds of it yours seems to be due more to a slight misalignment of the dome - you have a small gap that allowed some flame to get at the gasket. The 700*+ temps probably didn't help much.

In my opinion, you have nothing to worry about - maybe adjust your bands to get a tighter seal. You can always replace it is you want, but it isn't all that necessary.

Sooner Egg

We've cooked many pizzas since purchasing the large and haven't had a gasket issue yet, I use the same setup as you but I don't go above 500, I preheat the stone for about 45 minutes at 500 and then cook at 500, so far no problem with the gasket

JohnB

I like to cook my pies at a high temp. I spent a couple weeks in Florence and fell in love with the pizzas!

JohnB

I've heard of the dollar bill test. Can you give me a little info on that? Also, wouldn't the spot where the gasket is "cooked" all the way through cause the seal to never be that tight?

thanks again for the input.

fishlessman

all you need to do is loosen the bands and reset it. black charred shiney gaskets work for a long time and leaking smoke doesnt seem to pose a problem. every smoker ive ever owned leaked smoke, its not that big a deal. mine leaks like a sieve, i have NO gaskets on my egg :laugh:

Sooner Egg

I never done mine higher than 500, any tips you have for cooking at higher temps would be greatly appreciated

JohnB

first -- I made my own pizza peel, which helps a lot in getting the pie on the stone when the Egg is that hot.

To get the Egg that hot I build the lump pile like you would for a low and slow -- big pieces on the bottom, then med. and finally the small.

Light the lump however you prefer and open up the bottom vent wide and take the chimney cap off. Once it hits 600 or so hold it there for about 20-30 minutes until the egg is pre-heated.

When you're building your pie on the peel make sure you put corn meal on the peel and shake the dough loose during each stage of the pizza building process to make sure it will slide easily off the peel onto the stone.

I should point out that the style of pizza I prefer does not have a ton of toppings/cheeses/sauce on it. If you like a more American style of pizza you're probably better off around 450-500.

Beanie-Bean

Sorry to hear about that, JohnB...same thing happened to me on XL. Kept it low for about 4 cooks, then did some pizza pies. Yup, the double-sided sticky tape gave in, and it basically came detached. Good thing is that the clean-up will be easy. I am awaiting an Nomex gasket to replace the tape/felt one that it shipped with.

I have just replaced the almost 2-yr old gasket on #1 (LBGE) and did a brisket this weekened. Everything held up well. I'll do a few more low-temp cooks then will do some steaks to test out the gasket durability. It seems that the pizza config (I do exactly the same thing you described, too) likes to put the heat right at the gastket, thereby causing adhesives to fail.

BTW, I'm using the recommended 3M Super 77 which I sprayed into a plastic cup so I didn't have to mask the cooker.

Good luck with your replacement, and let us know how it goes

Grandpas Grub

Corn meal on a preheated 600° - 700° pizza stone burns and one gets to deal with the smell/flavor.

There sure are a lot of different ways to cook pizza and all seem to taste good.

If folks like high temperature cooking they should get the pizza stone higher in the egg or be repaired to replace gasket and or do like fishlessman - no gasket.

I would think Nomex will hold up just fine however, the adhesive is a whole other issue.

Dome alignment is critical, I will put up a dollar bill test - how too in a few minutes.

GG

JohnB

thanks -- I get I should figure out a way to get the stone higher in the dome. I've got a couple fire bricks -- I guess that would raise it about 3 inches higher than the BGE feet.

popagar0

? would a raised grill help? it would keep the pizza stone 2 in higher.

Grandpas Grub

I use the raised grid but I don't go much higher than 500°-550°.

GG

Grandpas Grub

Bricks or anything would be fine. I would use 4 for stability though.

When cooking at such high heats with the adhesive we are using care has to be taken with furniture being close to the gasket area.

2 years ago I burned up the gasket on my large, first cook. My fault, I wanted to do a TRex Steak. I opened the dome and got a huge flashback and that took the gasket out.

I replaced with a new felt gasket and cooked 40 cooks below 400°. Thinking I had the gasket 'cured' I put in a huge cast iron dutch oven. I took the dome to 400° for the cook.

After about 40 minutes I opened the dome and the gasket was again gone. I grabbed the IR thermometer and the dutch oven by the gasket read 600°. I am guessing the radiant heat of the lump put more heat than I thought on the dutch oven. The dutch oven being only about 3/4" away from the gasket was just too much heat stress.

However, what I noticed was the gasket had failed very close to the same place both times.

Hence my comprehensive dollar bill test which I posted above.

I found a poor seal at the failure point.

I again replaced the gasket, did a dollar bill test with the bands off, then again with the bands on. I had a good seal. I didn't bother with a cure time I just began cooking. I like cooking high in the dome and most always use a raised grid. If I am doing a shorter timed cook I also put less lump in the egg.

I haven't had any problems for 2 years now.

With the exception of the bad run of adhesive, I am thinking a lot of these problems are how we use our eggs.

GG

FrankC

Hi JohnB,

The same thing happened to me on Friday. Similar set up as yours. The only difference is that my gasket was already a nomex. :(

I know many say the gasket's not essential, but my personal preference is to have a tight seal so I snuff out my lump after the cook.

I'm going to change over to the Rutland.

fishlessman

email ron first and see what one he currently prefers with rutland. ive used 2 types in the past, the one with the cement lasted years for me but some have had problems with the cement, you need to be able to read the experation code on the tube of cement. the other type i tried was a stickyback rutland, mine didnt last but i was cooking higher than 900 degrees, the sticky back failed when dome temps were at 900 for an hour or two cooking really high temp pizzas.

Grandpas Grub

Did the adhesive fail or the gasket?

GG