Should I seal my Rec Tec grill? Answered!

No. It compresses where needed and seals in after heating... Works great. Plus it's pretty affordable if it ever needsreplaced.
 
I've been thinking of sealing my Bull for the same reasons mentioned in the previous posts. However, at some point in time I would think the seal will need to be replaced and I imagine it could be a nightmare to remove the existing seal after several years of use. Has anyone replaced an existing seal that can comment on this?
 
My seal is still going strong, but if I decided to replace it, it would be simple. I would just peel off as much as I could by hand, and with a paint scraper. I would then use Goo-Off to remove the sticky stuff.
 
Question: My Bull is in route to me...I also order Lava Lock and intend to seal my new Bull, should I do the burn in first then seal the lid? Should I do the burn in and then 1 cook then so the seal? Thoughts?
Thanks in advance,
Big T
 
Well if you seal it first you won't have to clean it as much before adding the seal .(technically) itll only have factory "residue" on it.
 
Mike said:
I've seen a lot of people ask whether or not they should seal their Rec Tec grills and I wanted to share with you the answer to that question.

View attachment 13

First, what do I mean by sealing your grill? I'm referring to the felt or rope material some people have installed on their Rec Tec lids.

The idea is to prevent smoke of "leaking" out the edges of the lid. It's also said that sealing the lid helps retain some heat and thus decreasing your pellet usage. Another benefit of sealing the lid is that it keeps the surrounding areas around the lid cleaner and clear of the patina that comes with cooking on the grill.

All the benefits sounded pretty good and really the idea of keeping the outside cleaner really sounded good to me as I'd prefer to keep the grill looking as good (new) as possible. So I ordered me a roll of the Fireblack 3/4"x15' gasket.

Should I seal the Rec Tec lid?


The Fireblack arrived today, and right before I went to install it I gave Rec Tec Support a call. I told the support rep what I had and was planning on doing and that I my mean reasoning in doing it was to keep my Rec Tec Bull cleaner.

He response was that of course the grill was mine and I could do what I wanted to do to it. He also said that it would NOT void my warranty, but then he told me their recommendation. The Rec Tec support rep said they suggest not sealing the lids.

The reasoning being that the lids where actually designed to breath a bit.

Lastly he did say, that since I was wanting to keep the grill cleaner that I could install the seal on the top part of the lid to help reduce the leaking from there which would in turn keep that area cleaner. But again they do not recommend sealing all the way around.

Notice they didn't mention that your Rec Tec grill would blow up into a million pieces if I sealed it. Nor did they even deny any of the said benefits from above. Just that they don't recommend it and that the lid was designed to help the grill breath.

So really the answer is up to you. If you do seal it, then you're still going to be covered under warranty and maybe you will enjoy some of the benefits above.

For me, I haven't sealed the door yet. In fact I've only used two tiny pieces of the gasket on my lid stops to help protect the lid when I'm opening it.

View attachment 14

I'm still debating on sealing the top of my lid, but for now I don't foresee myself sealing the entire door as I've seen other do. I'm already several cooks into my new Rec Tec Bull without a seal and I'll admit - the grill is working perfectly fine for me.

So are you running your Rec Tec with or without a seal?
Click to expand...
I sealed mine about a month ago. All is going well.no problems. I do get a fair mount of smoke out of the chute where the grease catcher is. Don’t know if I had that before. I has kept my bull cleaner. I’m happy with the decision. ??
 
Just think of it this way. If the smoke is coming out of the drip chute more, so is the heat, which means there is good heat flowing down at the grate level and not out of the lid's top and edges without a seal. No question these Rec Tec need good airflow, and there is plenty still with the remaining openings i.e. smoke stack and drip chute IMHO, and the tasty foods.
 
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Grilltreats said:
Just think of it this way. If the smoke is coming out of the drip chute more, so is the heat, which means there is good heat flowing down at the great level and not out of the lid's top and edges without a seal. No question these Rec Tec need good airflow, and there is plenty still with the remaining openings i.e. smoke stack and drip chute IMHO, and the tasty foods.
Click to expand...
Go for it. Keeps the smoker clean. No down side. ??
 
The RecTec rep's statement "...is designed to breathe..." sounds rediculous. The lid is designed to close. The stack is designed to exhaust, and the air inlet/fan is designed to intake air. Everything else that allows air in or out is an uncontrolled leak. Those of us that have used electronic draft controllers on charcoal and wood bbqs, know that a well sealed pit ensures consistent control of temperatures by the electronic controlled fan.

There should also be small benefits from sealing the lid. It should allow the pit to burn less fuel for the same temperature. This should then produce smoke to slightly higher temperatures and produce more smoke in cold weather.
 
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I gasketed my door primarily to limit the smoke staining around the perimeter. I have not noticed any significant change in grill performance or pellet mileage. These controls seem to manage pretty well if your weather is reasonable.

The most significant improvement I found was how the door feels while closing. It's padded a little bit, so it feels like the fit and finish is where it should be. No metal to metal clang. It be crazy to believe, but damn, it makes that door feel sexy.
 
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sweetride95 said:
I gasketed my door primarily to limit the smoke staining around the perimeter. I have not noticed any significant change in grill performance or pellet mileage. These controls seem to manage pretty well if your weather is reasonable.
Click to expand...
Ditto. I used the extra gasket material and did my hopper edges, maybe keeps out moisture? ??
 
Rectec should just start selling a LavaLock or other brand seal in a size and material they have tested and approved, to help customers who want to keep their bbq cleaner. That would help customers that arent' sure what to do/what to buy. Just another "accessory" in their line.
 
sweetride95 said:
I gasketed my door primarily to limit the smoke staining around the perimeter. I have not noticed any significant change in grill performance or pellet mileage. These controls seem to manage pretty well if your weather is reasonable.

The most significant improvement I found was how the door feels while closing. It's padded a little bit, so it feels like the fit and finish is where it should be. No metal to metal clang. It be crazy to believe, but damn, it makes that door feel sexy.
Click to expand...

It does feel so much better lol
 
sweetride95 said:
I gasketed my door primarily to limit the smoke staining around the perimeter. I have not noticed any significant change in grill performance or pellet mileage. These controls seem to manage pretty well if your weather is reasonable.

The most significant improvement I found was how the door feels while closing. It's padded a little bit, so it feels like the fit and finish is where it should be. No metal to metal clang. It be crazy to believe, but damn, it makes that door feel sexy.
Click to expand...


This is why wives are jealous of our bbqs.
 
As others have stated, I don't believe that the lid was "designed to help it breath".. I feel like that's the explanation companies give ( not only RecTec but Traeger and other companies) when they don't want to admit to saving costs during manufacturing the barrel and end caps. If they added more material to the top and bottom to even it out- it would cost more.

MAYBE at extreme high temps it benefits from having a leaking door But I don't see how that can be when the air is being pushed out and not sucked in... There's also a probe window that can be utilized for extra airflow that has a higher surface area than the sides of the doors.
 

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