Pls. Help Me Fix this Grill

[JGo37]

I picked up this unused KitchenAid almost free - so it's a challenge I'm committed to. I've put a gasket on the lid. I've put a cork landing pad up front for the gasket to make sure it seals up on top, which it does. I put in a firewall probe grommet and a Grainger thermometer opposite the charcoal basket I added, under the chimney. I put in a rectangular charcoal basket on the opposite side of the chimney to set it up for indirect smoking, with a decent amount of grate space. Plenty of room for a water reservoir. My problem is that I can't choke it to shut it down or stable the temp low.

If you look at the grate height handle, it's without gaskets or ? I sealed everything else up underneath. Anyone have ideas about how to take that grate handle out of the equation? Yes, I know the obvious - take it out and seal it on the lowest height. Maybe I'll have to?


Here's that handle slot nasty problem... I sealed up the ash pan completely. Don't tell me to get rid of it, I bought a cover...

[Mosca]

Why not try it like it is and see how well it holds temp, and how fast the burn is? You might have sealed it up enough so that you get both the good cook box and the adjustable grate.

[Henrik]

What he said :-)

[Jerod Broussard]

Grill looks great. You plan to smoke any or just grill?

Are those vinyl records? And who is playing baseball on TV?

[Steve R.]

Not sure about the records, but that is clearly the Cardinals and maybe the Royals.

[JGo37]

Boy Steve - you're clairvoyant. Or you caught the 'K' up in the right hand corner? Almost all smoking, but it does have that upper warmer tray - direct sear veggies. And yep - that's vinyl. I'm either going to get a Patio Pro for grilling, or a CL Weber Kettle - I've got a new cover left over. I'm working on getting 5 cookers, set up 'my way'.

[SMOG MAN]

Trim some flexible magnet material, add a little something for it to stick to if it's stainless that is non magnetic.

[Kevin Fuess]

foil tape

[JGo37]

Thank you - like the post just above, another product off my radar. With HD foil tape and a roll of magnetic tape, I can finish this cooker up!

[JGo37]

Exhaust Header Tape looks perfect - high heat tolerances. I've got this now!

[jgg85234]

How about throwing in a chunk of wood (something that produces a lot if smoke) and see if you can determine the leak point?

Best regards,
Jim

[JGo37]

It's not the leak point that concerns me, it's the air inlet - which is what that handle area becomes/is now.

[JimLinebarger]

A little more work, but a drafters brush/duster on either side with bristles facing each other. Would still be able to use the height adjuster without have to retape all the time and would stop most of the draft. Issue would be attaching them. Drafters brushes/dusters are flat and have finer bristles.

Maybe FlexSeal poured into flat pan? or some other high temp silicon.

[Troutman]

What I like best is the fact that it's in your living room

[JGo37]

Where do you clean up your cookers when the game is on?

[bten]

You could try to put a "flange" around the bar that goes through the slot, something that moves up and down with the bar, bigger than the slot. It would stop most of the air flow. I think I would make one out of aluminum foil and see how it works.

You might even be able to do it inside the grill.

[JGo37]

That was my first choice, and it was going to take two - one inside and one out - and I still couldn't figure it out.