680 and gasket tape

Mrmagu28

Member
Messages
5
Grill(s) owned
  1. RT-680
I wanted to put gasket tape around my 680 so the smoke only escapes from the smoke stack. Will this change the cooking process at all??
Thanks
 
I cook on a 680 for the past few years. I do not have gasket tape mod done on my pit, so I am not a good person to respond. I really like the amount of smoke on most things I cook, so happy without the gasket to this point. I know others have gone the gasket route and have been happy.
 
On mine smoke is pouring out of the bottom and top of the lid. Is it supposed to come out a lot from the lid or the smoke stack?
 
I sealed my 700 and I noticed it ran hotter so I reduced the feed rate so to me that meant it was running more efficiently. Once the feed rate was reduced she has been rock solid in temps ever since. I think it has done great!
 
I sealed my 700 and I noticed it ran hotter so I reduced the feed rate so to me that meant it was running more efficiently. Once the feed rate was reduced she has been rock solid in temps ever since. I think it has done great!
Great info, thanks
 
I sealed my 700 and I noticed it ran hotter so I reduced the feed rate so to me that meant it was running more efficiently. Once the feed rate was reduced she has been rock solid in temps ever since. I think it has done great!
I’m still trying to understand the dynamics of changing the feed rate to maintain temperature. Doesn’t setting the target temp cause the feed rate to vary so that the actual temp equals the target temp? If there is an article somewhere that explains this, I’d appreciate the link.

BTW, I sealed my Bull before the first cook, have now cooked a pork loin, reverse seared pork chops, and did a 10 hour cook with a brisket and the actual temps have not varied more than a couple of degrees from the target temps as long as the lid was kept closed (factory feed rate).
 
I’m still trying to understand the dynamics of changing the feed rate to maintain temperature. Doesn’t setting the target temp cause the feed rate to vary so that the actual temp equals the target temp? If there is an article somewhere that explains this, I’d appreciate the link.

BTW, I sealed my Bull before the first cook, have now cooked a pork loin, reverse seared pork chops, and did a 10 hour cook with a brisket and the actual temps have not varied more than a couple of degrees from the target temps as long as the lid was kept closed (factory feed rate).
In the low setting it is 180 degrees....which my pit did great before I sealed it. After the seal when put on, when set to low....the lowest temp I could get was in the 220 range this was after an hour of waiting for things to settle down. It was early in the morning in the shade so hot sun not affecting it. I lowered the feed rate to 3.5 and she settled right down to 180 and stayed put. To me it seemed that sealing the lid allowed it to work more efficiently so for me it was a plus.
 
I’m still trying to understand the dynamics of changing the feed rate to maintain temperature. Doesn’t setting the target temp cause the feed rate to vary so that the actual temp equals the target temp? If there is an article somewhere that explains this, I’d appreciate the link.

BTW, I sealed my Bull before the first cook, have now cooked a pork loin, reverse seared pork chops, and did a 10 hour cook with a brisket and the actual temps have not varied more than a couple of degrees from the target temps as long as the lid was kept closed (factory feed rate).

Second comment first. Many have not done the lid seal thing and found much the same conditions you describe re; temp not varying. Not to say the lid seal thing is a waste of time, but it probably had nothing to do with stable temps observed based on the experience of others.

I'm not aware of any article on the subject, though there may be one, most of the commentary here is experience based. Think about the fueling, for this discussion, as two elements; rate and amount. The percentage reference that most keep making is the rate. The amount is essentially fixed based on the auger construction. There might be some variation based on pellet size and head pressure in the bin as it feeds to the auger but those are likely minimal in variance. In my experience, having only used two different brands of pellets, both blends of wood species, it that the temperatures produced by a given volume of pellet can differ. Likely a matter of some species of wood burning hotter than others. My suspicion is that hickory burns hotter than the fruit woods. This generally shows up more in the low temp cooks than high. Last night I tried to do a cook on the Lo setting, looking to maintain 180ish, but I ended up with temps running 225 for the most part. That was at the OE setting of 6.5 percent. Dropping the feed rate to 3.5 got it down closer to the 180 range. This was with the hotter burning of the two types of pellets I have. With the other pellets I expect 180 steady would probably be easier.
 
Second what Bob said but a little more simplistically. As speculated yes the controller will do all it can to hold the temp. However since all units have to work everywhere, there is a default feed rate set that is not really ideal for hotter temps. The minimum feed rate is the slowest possible feed the controller will go to. In colder areas that rate needs to be higher than hotter areas as to keep the fire lite. If the unit is set to 200 and its really hot out the minimum may give it so much fuel (pellets) that is can only get down to 250. So in these cases you would lower your min feed rate until you get to your desired temp or you reach absolute min of what the controller will do. Theoretically there should be no harm in just setting it as low as possible.

Think of it like keeping the fire in the fireplace strong and hot. You have to continually add wood at a minimum rate in order to keep the fire burning hot. If you slow down the amount of wood you add the fire dies down. Your firepot is no different.
 

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