Opinions on Cajun Bandit door for WSM?

[mcgolden]

I just order a 22 WSM and was thinking of ordering the SS door from Cajun Bandit?  Anyone had any experience with this and if so, what are your thoughts.  Also, I see they sell a separate latch or you can use the original.  Not sure what the advantage to the new latch would be.

Thanks.

[mike.stavlund]

CONGRATS ON YOUR NEW 22WSM!!  I've only cooked on one once (thanks, @WNC !!) and it was a dream.

I know a lot of folks rave about the CB doors, but I just don't see the need.  Perhaps because I don't do cold smoking or other more challenging cooks-- I just use my smoker for 225-275 smoking, with the occassional  snake-fueled 180 cook for smoking peppers.

In my experience, the most important part of getting a tight seal is having a good layer of seasoning in your cooker. In my case, I bought a used 18WSM that had plenty of cooks on it (my mouth was watering the whole way home from the CL pickup), but it was still hard for me to control temps-- they would rise up to 300 if I didn't keep a close eye on things.  But after many more months of smoking, my cooker gunked up and cooled down and it's been a dream to cook on ever since.

Too, under the influence of Aaron Franklin, I've changed up my way of smoking.  Instead of loading the WSM up with tons of charcoal and then choking it down for a very long cook, I'm now using much smaller fires with a lot more airflow.  And again in my experience the product is tastier than it has ever been.  When I do overnight cooks I kind of split the difference between small and large fires, but I still have no need for a very tight seal in my smoker-- quite the contrary, in fact. 

[terrymo]

I have one on my WSM and it looks cool, but other than that there is no real advantage over the factory door. With the thicker CB door, the aftermarket latch works a little better. The thin Weber door is easier to reshape if you have gaps between the door and the body of the WSM.  I would use the WSM for a while and decide if you want to modify it after that. I would spend the money to add a third cooking grate before I spent it on a new door.  Don't get wrapped around the axle about a few smoke leaks. The top and bottom vents will more than compensate for any small leaks.

[CharliefromLI]

Too, under the influence of Aaron Franklin, I've changed up my way of smoking.  Instead of loading the WSM up with tons of charcoal and then choking it down for a very long cook, I'm now using much smaller fires with a lot more airflow.  And again in my experience the product is tastier than it has ever been.  When I do overnight cooks I kind of split the difference between small and large fires, but I still have no need for a very tight seal in my smoker-- quite the contrary, in fact.

Mike, what's your preferred method for this? Less lit coal to start or less total coal and more reloads?

[kendoll]

Too, under the influence of Aaron Franklin, I've changed up my way of smoking.  Instead of loading the WSM up with tons of charcoal and then choking it down for a very long cook, I'm now using much smaller fires with a lot more airflow.  And again in my experience the product is tastier than it has ever been.  When I do overnight cooks I kind of split the difference between small and large fires, but I still have no need for a very tight seal in my smoker-- quite the contrary, in fact.

Mike, what's your preferred method for this? Less lit coal to start or less total coal and more reloads?

Interested in hearing more about this too.

[Troy]

i think on the 22 the door is worth the upgrade. The 18, maybe not so much.
I've seen some OEM doors that fit GREAT without leakage, and I've seen others that are practically worthless.

it also depends on how often you smoke, how bad your door fits, and how often you're dealing with wind.

i'm not so much worried about smoke leaking out, but air coming in via the midsection can severely alter how the heat is distributed through the cooker

[MartyG]

I upgraded my 18, and am very happy. For me it was not so much the leakage but the fiddle-factor. With the OEM door I often had to mess with getting it back in the opening just right, and it always felt like I lost more heat than necessary with that gaping hole open. I don't think I was ever able to get it in right the first or even the second time. It was not damaged or bent, just didn't have the positive feel of the CB. The CB door is consistently quick-off/quick-on without blinking an eye. Often in the dark too, which makes a big difference in winter when I'm too lazy to grab a headlight.

My two cents. YMMV. IMHO. yaddayadda

[swamprb]

A lot of props for the SS door, but the Weber latch sometimes has a habit of failing when reassembling it. That's where the Southco latches come in handy.

On occasion the threaded brass ferrule pressed into the plastic handle will get overtightened and come loose. Figure you are losing a couple threads due to the thickness of the Cajun Bandit door from the aluminum POS stock door. Just an FYI if you stick with the stock latch. Don't over torque it.

I have had them fail on both of my 22" WSM's, both times at a competition and I'm not the only one that has had this happen. There are door latch mods that you can find on the bullet site should it ever happen.

Congrats on the new cooker!

[mike.stavlund]

Wow, I think I might be getting talked into a CB door for my 18WSM!!  Thanks for the input.

@CharliefromLI and @kendoll   I am just getting started with this shift, so I'm not sure I have much expertise to share.  But in general, I'm using lump or Stubbs for a cleaner fire, and less charcoal on the whole with more reloads as well as minor stirs and reshuffling.  I used to fear opening the door to do so, but with a lesser amount of charcoal inside I find that the whole setup is much more stable, and the adjustments every hour or two don't really affect things much.  I will load up a bit more on overnight cooks, so I can get a bit more sleep...  I wake up every three hours or so now, whereas I used to sleep longer but with more worry. 

I'm also trying to let the whole smoker come up to temp before adding the food.  I wait until the smokey smoke has passed and I'm into the thin blue smoke with a good draft.  Again this used to cause huge temp spikes when I'd lift the lid to add the meat, but with less coals in a tighter cooker it works out really well. 

[mcgolden]

Seems like there's good feedback on both sides, which makes it very hard to decide.  I think I'll try it out as is for a bit and see how it goes.  I think eventually I'll probably go with the CB door, just because I can't help myself, but for now I'll hold off (maybe). 

[toolhead]

I have 2 wsms and considered the bandit door but passed for now.  The wsm doors works fine ..it will seal after a handful of good smokes.  After you know how to air vent adjust your wsm any leakage can be accounted for by reducing the amount of air vent openings...but if you got money to burn...its probably a nifty upgrade.  Im considering the cajun ortisserie as a next accessory.

[kendoll]

I picked up a CB door when I was in the US but have yet to fit it. Was going to do it this weekend and try out the CyberQ I picked up too.

Haven't used my 22" WSM more than a couple of times so not sure how much of a difference I would notice.

[Lemans]

I have 2 22s and have a gaskets installed works fine

[MikeRocksTheRed]

My WSM came with the CB SS door, but the weber handle on it.  The handle broke the first time I used it.  I ordered the CB door latch and it works a lot easier than the way the weber latch is designed.  I just ordered it from Amazon.  It's isn't something CB makes theirselves.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002DHHDEY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1