Pro Q sealing the stackers and lid

[splbound]

Sealing tape arrived and finally got around to sealing up the stackers.

Put the tape on the flat part underside the lid and stackers.

Also did the smartfire cake tin adapter.

Ran out before I could do the doors.

Went though two rolls, and ordered a third one to finish off the doors (ProQ Excel 20 v4)

Feels very sealed now when all clamped together. Only the next cook will tell its effectiveness.

[sotv]

Sealed my Frontier the same way, did the job fine and it became a lot more stable in heat retention and smoke retention. In your other thread you mention leaky hinges, I would imagine as your's is still new and hasn't had many cooks yet. You will find over time smoke residue etc will start to form around them and help seal them. Mine is 4 years old and small amounts of smoke still come from the door latches mainly, otherwise sealing the doors and edges should be more than adequate.

Very difficult to 100% seal any machine and smoke will always find a way to get out from somewhere that you don't expect, but the job you have done, should help you out massively.

[splbound]

Thanks Sotv. With your advice I think I will finish sealing around the doors and leave it at that.

I did read through your informative post of your experience with the proq and sealing it. This promted me to seal mine.

On the other hand maybe I should have gone with the Frontier if I wanted it to be more efficient. Am now thinking of an egg for the smaller cooks.

[sotv]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing 😀 I had the same dilemma with my Smokefire really wanted the bigger EX6, but glad I went with the EX4 in the end, majority of my cooks are for 2 people and on the few occasions in the year I would expect to cook for a group of people (in normal circumstances) the EX4 will probably cope and I have the frontier as back up if not.

Less fuel to heat it up and maintain when cooking small pieces of meat

 

[splbound]

😀 Yes was bbq blind thinking 2 6kg briskets loaded up in it when buying. I needed an upgrade to my little weber grill as well so two birds with one stone. The rotisserie add on also interests me.

Am already eyeing up a small to medium kamado/egg for next year or even a masterbuilt 560?

Thinking kamado/egg as it has less moving parts to go wrong and will work with the smartfire.

Masterbuilt 560? maybe should wait for it's next iteration for any existing issues to be designed out.

Or even some diy thing so I can cook over wood... well if the wife lets me.

 

[rawce]

Thanks for the photo. Very useful I think I’ll give this a crack as mine tends to settle at 90 - 95degC, so hopefully the extra sealing will push it up over 100degC. I might also go down the sand route for better temperature control, but use a foil tray of water to keep some moisture in there.

[Wade]

Hi Rawce

If you are struggling to get the smoker up to temperature there are several things that could be affecting it.

• Check the quality of your fuel. If you are using only lump charcoal then add some good quality briquettes in with it. They burn hotter and will help raise the temperature. If you are only using briquettes then check their quality as not all briquettes are created equal.
• Remove the water from the water pan and partially fill with sand. Despite popular belief the water does little to help keep the meat moist in normal cooks. Also one of the products of burning the fuel is water vapour. The main role of the water pan is as a heat deflector and heat stabiliser. There is no harm in putting water in the bowl as it acts as a good thermal mass, however it takes a lot of energy to boil water and so will be constantly working to reduce the effective cooking temperature in the smoker. The moistness of the meat is more down to maintaining a stable cooking temperature, basting/mopping periodically, and foiling during the latter parts of the cook.
• Ensure that your top vents are fully open. Temperate is not only controlled by the bottom vents. These bullet smokers are designed to be used with the top vents fully open. Some think that by partially closing the top vent they are "keeping the heat in" but this isn't the case. By closing the top vents you are restricting the air flow through the smoker which, in turn, reduces the air flow over the coals - making them burn cooler.

Cheers, Wade

[rawce]

Hi Wade, I use the ProQ coco squares which seem to last well now I’ve used the minion stack approach and start from the centre. See the other posts I note you’ve just commented on. I’ve had sand sat in my Amazon basket for a while now, though I was half thinking to get hold of 3/4 heat bricks and wrap them in foil to make it easier to clean up. I was also thinking of getting the smaller ProQ water pan so it acts as less of a heat deflector, but it wouldn’t be able to sit it on the brackets in the Frontier and I don’t want to start welding. I guess the benefit of sand is I can adjust the thermal mass to get the temperature to what I want. I might look at a tray to sit over it to capture fat.

Useful info regarding the water and moisture thanks, it makes me less worried about swapping out from a water pan now.

[Wade]

6 minutes ago, rawce said:

I might look at a tray to sit over it to capture fat.

Useful info regarding the water and moisture thanks, it makes me less worried about swapping out from a water pan now.

You may find that making a disposable "tray" from tinfoil is easier as it is less effort to throw it away after the cook than to try to clean burned-on fat from a reusable tray. I like to make cleaning up as stress free as possible 🍹

[rawce]

Fair point, I can worry about a longer term solution further down the line!

[Paul C]

On 5/26/2020 at 12:30 PM, splbound said:

Sealing tape arrived and finally got around to sealing up the stackers.

 

Hi there

 

Can you tell me which tape you used? I put 3mm fire rope on mine but it's really too thick so I'd like to use something else.

 

Thanks

[splbound]

9 hours ago, Paul C said:

Can you tell me which tape you used? I put 3mm fire rope on mine but it's really too thick so I'd like to use something else

Used the felt seal not the rope. The felt seal has a bit more give to it. Can't find where I got it from again but its like this stuff
https://www.amazon.co.uk/TIANTIAN-2Rolls-Smoker-Gasket-Grill/dp/B089GRFST9

Pretty tight fit when I originally clamped the stackers down.
The thing should self seal itself after more use so the sealing tape probably only helps in the first few smokes.

[Paul C]

I've never seen that stuff before, thanks for that.

 

You're right, even after only three uses the inside of the smoker is gumming up so maybe I should just peel the rope off and let nature do the rest.

[Icefever]

44 minutes ago, Paul C said:

I've never seen that stuff before, thanks for that.

 

You're right, even after only three uses the inside of the smoker is gumming up so maybe I should just peel the rope off and let nature do the rest.

It doesn't hurt to use some sort of sealing tape...I've done my offset and the doors of my ProQ, the stackers are ok on my frontier but then it's a few years old now

 

Ice.