Burned gasket....is it a problem?

The Bean

I need some direction here from some of you veterans..... I've got a spot on my lower and upper gasket about 1" long that is burned down to nothing. There are several other spots that aren't "fluffy" anymore, but there's still gasket at them.

My questions are: 1)why/how does that happen? (2) will a 1" gap of no gasket be a problem i.e. should I replace it?

Thanks in advance for your help everyone!

SMITTYtheSMOKER

Keep cooking.

If you find you are unable to hold a heat down to 250 degrees it's time to replace your gasket.

It's how a gasket performs not how it looks.

The Bean

Thanks Smitty! It still gets down to and stays at 250, so it sounds like I'm good!

fishlessman

my gaskets have been burnt completely off for years, it says made in mexico under it as it went over the years i reset the dome to get a better seal, now i have no gasket and holding temps isnt a problem. the problem is burning lump that burns quickly, you will lose to much shutting it down if you dont use a hard slow burning lump. if you start seeing bigger gaps reseat it and keep lessening the gap until you have problems. once that gasket shrinks and becomes a burnt mess (thats actually a good thing) you can cook along time, its the gaskets that stick together that you have the biggest problem with, not seeing that problem as much lately so your probably good to go. there are options to install better gaskets once yours is gone

Little Steven

The Bean,

Spilled sauce or grease can get in the gasket and cause small areas to burn.

Steve