Seal on the kamado bbq

Buzabbq · Post by **Buzabbq** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 5:18 pm

I was in BBQs Galore having a look at the Kamado bbqs. I am researching leak solutions for my Kettle.
The seal on the Kamado between the body and lid seems to be felt.
How is it heat resistant ?

Muppet · Post by **Muppet** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 6:38 pm

It looks like felt but holds up, I cook on my kamado a LOT and after a year of abuse it's still fine... After many high temp pizza cooks too.

Buzabbq · Post by **Buzabbq** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 6:55 pm

I have been looking at the Nomex stuff, but expensive and if felt works why not go the lease costly route.

Muppet wrote:It looks like felt but holds up, I cook on my kamado a LOT and after a year of abuse it's still fine... After many high temp pizza cooks too.

Muppet · Post by **Muppet** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 7:01 pm

Depends what you intend to do with it, how hot etc etc. There are guys around here who would have been there done that. Should be along to share there experiences.

chrisg · Post by **chrisg** » Sat Sep 19, 2015 7:06 pm

Google is your friend - this what you mean?

http://www.bbqgaskets.com/contact_4.html

Cheers

Gumb · Post by **Gumb** » Sun Sep 20, 2015 12:48 am

The BBqs galore seal is fine although it doesn't last anywhere near as long as the nomex gasket does. I need to get one because I have gave a slight gap on one side of the lid so the felt, being thicker seals that well. The nomex, being thin, lets some smoke out when the inside is pressurised when the fan from the controller starts up, although it still cooks fine. I find 12 - 18 months is about the life of the felt gasket.

Buzabbq · Post by **Buzabbq** » Sun Sep 20, 2015 3:52 pm

Thanks for the info guys. Will have to experiment with some felt and see how it goes.

Hogsy · Post by **Hogsy** » Sun Sep 20, 2015 4:20 pm

Why do you want to seal up a kettle? There not meant to be air tight

Gumb · Post by **Gumb** » Sun Sep 20, 2015 4:25 pm

Mine puts a bit of heat out the side and the edge of side table gets too hot. Plus, the heat and smoke should be going out the top vent rather than the gap in the lid. If too much heat gets in that gap, the seal itself starts to burn out too. It's a bit different to a Weber kettle which does leak some and doesn't have a seal.

chrisg · Post by **chrisg** » Sun Sep 20, 2015 6:56 pm

The real bottom line is actually what the felt is made of because "felt" is not a single material at all but a term for a very ancient way of producing a non-woven very dense material from fibres.

The old natural fibres, cotton and wool when felted have pretty good heat tolerance but if you used a modern fibre like an aramid you would have something an order of magnitude more heat resistant but it would still look and feel pretty much like the felt we might know from kindergarten. Contrariwise if you used nylon - not so good

(Aramid is basically the fibre component of kevlar aka bullet proof jackets when set in resin - it is also used to protect fibre optic cables, can attest when not set in resin it is very soft wool-like stuff

)

Cheers

Buzabbq · Post by **Buzabbq** » Sun Sep 20, 2015 7:07 pm

Hogsy wrote:Why do you want to seal up a kettle? There not meant to be air tight

The kettle I have is a Aldi Black pearl and leaks to the point that I can't control the temp using the two vents.

Muppet · Post by **Muppet** » Sun Sep 20, 2015 7:26 pm

How are you setting the fuel up? I have possible the loosest kettle in existence, a 10yo outdoor chef that has spent a while banging around in my ute going bush/beach. Using a snake it self regulates itself. Kettles don't really work like Kamados, it's better off controlling fuel lit then leaving the vents for fine adjustments. 3 bead snake will get me 225F to 250F. If I half light a full chimney and dump it in one place (indirect) it's around 300F to 350F consistently. A fully lit chimney goes 400f to 450f then will slowly taper down. This is just me but it's how I go about most of my kettle cooks. Hope that helps

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Hogsy · Post by **Hogsy** » Sun Sep 20, 2015 7:41 pm

buzzawak wrote:
Hogsy wrote:Why do you want to seal up a kettle? There not meant to be air tight
The kettle I have is a Aldi Black pearl and leaks to the point that I can't control the temp using the two vents.

Well there's your problem!
Spend your money on a 2nd hand Weber kettle, by the time you buy and stuff around with gaskets you could be cooking on a Weber.....

Buzabbq · Post by **Buzabbq** » Sun Sep 20, 2015 7:50 pm

Here in Newcastle a good used Weber are hard to come by. I had been looking for one for a few months then Aldi had their upright smoker on sale but I missed out and got the consolation prize of the Pearl with Pizza ring. For the price its not bad.

Hogsy wrote:
buzzawak wrote:
Hogsy wrote:Why do you want to seal up a kettle? There not meant to be air tight
The kettle I have is a Aldi Black pearl and leaks to the point that I can't control the temp using the two vents.
Well there's your problem!
Spend your money on a 2nd hand Weber kettle, by the time you buy and stuff around with gaskets you could be cooking on a Weber.....

urbangriller · Post by **urbangriller** » Mon Sep 21, 2015 10:15 am

buzzawak wrote:Here in Newcastle a good used Weber are hard to come by. I had been looking for one for a few months then Aldi had their upright smoker on sale but I missed out and got the consolation prize of the Pearl with Pizza ring. For the price its not bad.

I thought that was a Black Pearl! want to take some pics so us who don't have an Aldi can get a look inside one?

Chris

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