Model 2 arrived today!

[kujobie]

Perfect!  Heavy duty packaging.  Everything looks good.  Ready to season it tomorrow and smoke some ribs on Sunday.  One thing concerned me a little.  The door takes quite a bit of force to close and latch.  It starts to have resistance on the hinge side when the door is still 1 1/2 or 2 inches before closing and when closed seems to put some stress on the hinges and latches.  I assume it will stretch and relax a little after some use and I can't really complain about a tight seal, but is this normal?  Anyways, thanks for prompt delivery and what looks to be a well made product.

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[Rob Babcock]

My #3 is like that , too.  I think it has to be pretty tight to keep from letting all the smoke flow out the door.

[old sarge]

Another thing about the tightness:  restricting the flow of air pretty much guarantees you get smoke and not flame.

[kujobie]

OK, cool.  Seasoning the smoker now, on hour three as I type and looking/smelling good.  I had a small amount of smoke come through the top corners of the door during the first half hour when it was "belching" a few times as others mentioned, but other than that, it's a good seal.  Just seasoned 4 racks of St. Louis ribs so ready to go in the morning. 

[swthorpe]

I guess this is normal.  I noticed a bit of smoke every time I used the #2 around the doors, but it ends within the first 30 minutes or so.

[Alphax]

Mine is super tight too.. normal.

I just hope the welds hold

[kujobie]

That's what worries me, that the welds will hold.  Finally doing my second smoke tomorrow and it seems a little looser now.  Just prepped it with foil and got 4 more racks of St. Louis ribs rubbed and resting in the fridge ready to go tomorrow.  Happy Memorial Day everyone.

[Rob Babcock]

I seriously doubt the welds will fail!