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Dropped $260 on a "competition grade" offset smoker at a tent sale in Mesquite and the firebox door never sealed
I grabbed it last month at a tent sale near Mesquite thinking I was getting a steal on a pit that would hold temps like the guys on the circuit do, but that firebox door gap let air in all night and I fought 75 degree swings on a brisket I paid $80 for. Tried new gaskets and a latch kit for another $40 and it still leaks, so I'm out about $300 total and back on my old drum. Has anyone here actually fixed a warped firebox door or do I just cut my losses and sell it cheap?
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oliver1841mo ago
My buddy picked up a Horizon at a similar tent sale down in Fort Worth and had the exact same problem with the firebox door warping after a couple of hot cooks. He watched a few videos from a guy called Baby Back Maniac about straightening smoker doors and ended up taking a torch and a big pipe wrench to it, bending it back slow while checking the gap with a flashlight. It worked decent but honestly it was never perfect and he still had to run a bead of high temp silicone around the seam on long cooks. That said, he only paid $200 for his so he didn't mind the hassle, but at $300 in you're getting close to what a used Oklahoma Joe runs and those at least have parts you can swap. If the metal itself is warped and not just the latch, bending it is a pain and it can crack on you. If I were you I'd list it for $150 on Marketplace, be honest about the gap, and put that toward something with a better box.
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