Door seal

[Archer]

I am new to this forum and the bradley smoker experience. Question I have is this, recieved my Bradley at Xmas, I went to season it and noticed a small amount of smoke leaking out top of door. Pressed on door and it stopped, didn't need much pressure at all. when I started it the temp was only like 11 degrees with a breeze, can I expect it to seal when it warms up outside? If not is it gonna even be an issue for smoking properly? I did call Bradley and they said even in that temp it shouldn't leak. Talked to Scheels where I bought it and the manager told me that is normal, he owns one and his does it also. Excited to start smoking some meat.

[Orion]

Welcome from British Columbia  Archer. Did you take a close look at the seal in the suspect area? Is it deformed or damaged?

I would not be too concerned about a wisp of smoke out the door. Little disappointed maybe however nothing to be concerned about in terms of smoking performance. I'd just get accustomed to using your new smoker and if it ever becomes a problem Bradley will fix you up. Just keep a record of having brought it to their attention in terms of who you spoke to and when.

I'm sure you will be quite happy once you start pulling your products out of the smoker and perhaps the seal will conform to the frame after a few heat cycles. Good luck.

[tskeeter]

Archer, welcome to the forum!

Sounds like your door seal got a little bit compressed or deformed in one area.  What you could try is to heat up the smoker (to warm up the door seal).  Then gently pull the door seal out, away from the door in the area where the smoke has been leaking.  This might relieve the compression enough that the door will seal completely.

There are probably several other ways you could warm up the seal in the target location.  Some options that come to mind are use the wife's hair dryer, or put a towel dampened with hot, hot water on the seal until it warms up a bit.

[Archer]

Thanks for your input, I try the hair dryer if it continues to leak.

[dave01]

welcome to the forum, I wouldn't worry about a small leak around the door