Weber Kettle gasket mod

[Davescprktl]

What do you guys think of a gasket mod for the Weber Kettle.  I a kit on Amazon for about $20 + shipping.  Got good reviews.  May help with smoking and temp control.  The gasket appears to only be on the bottom not the lid.

[austin87]

If you think your kettle isn't sealing right I would try a bear hug on the lid and/or bowl. I don't think it's necessary but probably wouldn't hurt.

Light a small pile of charcoal and throw a wood chunk on top. See where the smokes comes out between the lid and the bowl to see if you are leaking. Go from there.

[Harleysmoker]

Not needed and a waste of money. If the kettle lid and bowl are not out of round and leaks a little bit of smoke you are not cooking on it enough. After you use it awhile and it gets a seasoning built up it won't leak as much.

[MeatAndPotatos]

Unless its venting so much that you can't get temps low, I wouldn't expect it to help with fluctuation. Any leak is gonna be like a tiny fixed vent, and shouldn't cause swings.

[MacEggs]

Yup, don't waste your money ... All great advice.

Honestly, temperature control is highly over-rated in a kettle ... Just practice, and enjoy the food.
I find that taking note of how much charcoal one uses plus intake settings are more important to the end product.

[Davescprktl]

Unless its venting so much that you can't get temps low, I wouldn't expect it to help with fluctuation. Any leak is gonna be like a tiny fixed vent, and shouldn't cause swings.

Still learning to control temps on my kettle.  I had a Big Green Egg Lg.  It had a great seal and was easy to control temps.  I realized this when the seal went bad and temps were hard to control.  Maybe that is just the way kettles are.  There is probally some leakage in most of them.  I will conquer this issue and adjust.  I like a challenge.

[LaTuFu]

I had a really hard time controlling temps on my kettle when I first got it. Now that I have been using it pretty regularly, it has seasoned up well. Temp control is steady Eddie now.

[OoPEZoO]

I put a gasket kit on my 22.5" WSM when it was new.  It probably wasn't needed, but I did it anyway and a few years later I'm still happy with the results.  As far as doing it on a kettle......not a chance.  I wouldn't waste the time or the money. 

[swamprb]

The folks at BBQSmokerSupply.com are legit and very easy to deal with.

[TD]

Try this with chips making smoke in the kettle. For a given setting on the upper damper, say 1/2 open for instance, close the lower damper till smoke just quits seeping out the the seam between the lid and the bowl. I like to run my lower damper to allow just a tad more flow than the upper damper flow will allow, so that I get smoke seepage at the seam. Does this  fill the area under the lid with heat and smoke? I like to think so. If I sealed a kettle lid I would leave a small section open so I could do this anyway. I think wind blowing cold air in at the seam would be the biggest culprit, but the kettles don't leak enough at the seam to worry about that. My Chargriller is another story however. It has 1/4 inch gaps at both ends. Adjusting the dampers for smoke seepage at the lid bottom works the same, but even it smokes fine in warm calmer weather. The kettle blows it out of the water on efficiency for charcoal usage to produce a set temp for the same duration however. Just my opinion.