Hola Grillers from East to West!
I hate to admit it but this summer is flying by! I am hoping as always that you are all enjoying serious deck time and grilling up storms of new food creations on your kamado of choice! I apologize as always about my delay getting my next post up on the blog but I have been as most of you would guess, rocking many a deck and grilling as much as possible myself. Now that the first Grateful Griller Production has been completed for Kamado Joe down in the USA I have had a bit more time on my hands to cook. For any of you interested in seeing those video's just go to Kamado Joe's official site and click on video's or check them out on You Tube by searching Kamado Joe Video's and voila! You will be able to see what's been keeping me pretty busy of late as I continue my kamado crusade around the globe! Links to my FaceBook page and blog will be up asap!
So, today I thought it would be a good day after enjoying a wonderful meal off my neighbors BGE last night to get the message out there to you all and to a few companies, namely BGE and Primo that this gasket scenario/issue has gone on way too long and I'm hoping that it can be fixed in the near future because after all, when a customer wants to put down lots of hard earned cash for a quality kamado the last thing they should have to experience is "gassing a gasket" in the first few days cooking and or grilling on their new kamado! For all of you new comers to this cooking medium the gaskets I refer to are the felt like, fire retardant strips that essentially seal the lids of these kamado's to the bases and also act as a cushion between the lids and bases. They don't look all that important but trust me friends, you need one in order to properly cook and I personally am not happy and have not been happy for a few years now with the gaskets that come with BGE or Primo units and I wish both companies would either produce a better adhesive backing to these felt gaskets or improve the quality control and application process at the time of production.
Now, it is a fact and true that sometimes people can get distracted or lazy and fire their kamado's up to 800 degrees when they are new and just out of the box ( not a good idea) and BANG! You have successfully "gassed your gasket"! Then, there are the times, where the gasket has simply peeled of the unit itself and the cookers have only been fired to 300 degrees which I have also witnessed with my very own eyes but honestly not that often. Not cool at all as far as I'm concerned! It is also a fact that both BGE and Primo recommend breaking your new cooker in by not exceeding 400-450 degrees for the first 3-5 cook outs in order for that gasket and adhesive backing to really adhere to the ceramic surface. I will also point out that both these companies have been pretty good at taking care of their customers needs if they are new to this type of cooker and in most cases have replaced the first one free of charge but after that it'll cost you approx. $25 to replace them every time, OUCH!
My issue after selling these cookers for the last few years is that the bottom line here is that the adhesive backing on these particular models produced by BGE and Primo are sub standard and can or should be improved asap. I also got a great tip from the Canadian distributor for BGE about a year ago that when applying a new gasket one should invest in a substance called Permatex first. It is sold at most big box hardware stores, costs about $8 a tube and by carefully applying this red like substance to the rim of your cooker and then applying the new gasket on top of it it will adhere far better than anything else and you should be good to go for many years to come. I also want to caution everyone that uses this Permatex product to where a latex glove when applying it and store it in a cool dry place away from the children. For the record, it works really well but its the fact that this shouldn't be necessary which pisses me off when this amount of money is being spent but then I get grilling and realize how great the food is and all my youthful angst goes away! LOL! Please also take note that this Permatex product can be used on any kamado styled ceramic cooker.
To date and with all the testing I have done I have been really happy with GrillDome's product and Kamado Joe's not to mention Saffire Kamado who have all done a good job at not only providing a thicker gasket material but it would seem as if there's a contact cement of sorts that keeps their gaskets on and so far so good in the testing department. The other thing I want to point out is that with round kamado cookers specifically BGE who sell their plate setter accessory in order to convert your cooker into an in-direct oven its specifically causing issues with blown gaskets because when the BGE is fired past 500 degrees for interest sake, the very hot internal air travels up the side gaps of the cooker and around the plate setter and has tendency to melt or burn the gasket in three specific places which I have also witnessed a number of times. In my humble opinion the BGE plate setter may need some altering to prevent this from happening but on the other hand at lower and slower temps this device has worked flawlessly for me for years. Whatever happens we will all have to wait and see!
Well, with this mid morning sun starting to intensify, I think I had better get outside and get prepped for yet another day in grilling paradise with "K" and I'm thinking fish will be nice with a freezing cold glass of rose on the deck later today! Until next time my grilling friends I thought these words were fitting and they come from Francis Mallmann, and the book "Seven Fires".
"When it comes time to sit down and eat, it doesn't matter to me how people dress or speak, how they look or sound or even smell. They're all beautiful if they share one simple quality: respect for the meal, the moment and one another- those who cook, those who serve, and those who eat. Such people are always welcome at my table."
Feed the fire........
GG
