Gasket decision - going nekid?

loco_engr said:

IMHO . . . going nekid on my Lrg, I didn't get a good seal . . . noticed smoke escaping 
New gasket is in route and I'm hoping that'll seal dome & base

It should especially if you follow the enclosed directions! If you still have an issue then that means the planes of your dome and base are out of whack. Correcting that issue isn’t all that hard to do. You know how to reach me, Dan!

I haven’t had a gasket for years.  Put the new bands on and can hold reasonably low temps just fine.  

alaskanassasin said:

I should add that it is a bit breezy where I live.

Why don’t people out there plant more trees?  I’ve never understood that.  

/kidding 

The last couple times I have replaced gaskets I have only replaced the top gasket on the dome.
Gives enough seal that I can easily hold low and slow and gives some impact cushion.
No drippings to worry about on lower gasket and it’s easy to loosen just the upper band and remove dome for easy gasket change if needed.

buzzvol said:

My lower OME felt came off completely from a frost a bit ago.  With the current band setting, there is a significant gap - so I need to either strip the top felt and adjust the bands or adjust the bands now with the top felt in place until it wears  out.  Thoughts?

i also recommend a rutland on the bottom for all those reasons above.  if a beer-swilling neighbor drops the lid a little too fast, i feel better with the padding of the rutland gasket there.  

i recently did the gasket on an egg that was in the process of lighting up.  that was dumb, don't do that. oh and permatex stains clothes orange.

PigBeanUs said:

The original reason (stated in the old user manual literature) for the felt gasket was actually just to keep the ceramic rims from slamming together.

People obviously found it made the egg air tight, which allowed superior control for smoking. 

So no. You don’t *need* it. 

But I have used another forum member’s BGE which had no gasket. They don’t complain about control either. 

But I did find that my habit of just filling the egg to the top with charcoal meant my charcoal was all burned the next day when I opened it again. 

I got so irritated with the felt that I put my rutland on (with their factory cement). One of the early adopters. Might have even been among the first to decide on it at the same time independently. 

The rutland cement is designed for non-absorbing surfaces (steel stoves). It fails when used on ceramic. 

I tore it off and adhered the same gasket (which still had the rutland cement in it) with permatex. Pretty sure it is the first egg with it. And it is still stuck firm. 

You could also use nomex or a ceramic braided gasket (like rutland, only ceramic fiber not glass)

no one has approved it for use around food. 

I used it on the bottom rim only (i.e. the gasket is never above the food as it would be on the upper dome), and it is greasy and soot filled now. Don’t imagine there’s friable fibers floating around

 Did you invent permatex too or just pick it up at western auto?

Here is my pat explanation when asked:

There are several reasons that I suggest that the Rutland gasket only be applied to the base and NEVER to the dome.

First is a matter of ease since gravity will make it easy to position the gasket into the adhesive, whereas without removing the dome from the band it would be difficult to apply to the dome.

Secondly, if you do remove the dome many people have trouble repositioning it back into the band and then messing with the tightening and adjustments necessary.

Thirdly, if the gasket were to start to fail then being on the bottom there is far better chance that you will notice the deterioration every time you raised your dome – whereas if it were applied to the underside of the dome, you would not be so apt to notice the problem until it had gotten much worst and most likely beyond salvage.

And lastly, one last reason the gasket goes on the bottom edge is that it protects the egg from tools and other things that invariably hit the edge with a resounding clunk!

But, in the end - it’s YOUR gasket so apply it any way you want to!