My offset smoker door warped after a 14 hour cook, almost ruined a brisket

Did a packer brisket overnight on my Horizon 20 inch offset last Saturday, and by the time I went to check it at 6am, the door had bowed out enough that smoke was pouring from the gap. Temp dropped from 250 to 190, and the bark stalled hard. I had to grab some high temp gasket tape from a welding shop in Reno at 8am, clamped the door with three C clamps, and finished the cook. Has anyone else fought a warped door after a long burn, or am I the only one who forgot to slacken the hinges before firing up?

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the_sarah12d ago

That whole “slacken the hinges before firing up” thing got me. I learned that one the hard way with my old Chargriller, except my door didn’t warp, the whole damn side panel started to peel open like a tin can. I had a pork butt about three hours in and ended up wrapping it in foil and throwing it in my gas grill just to finish, tasted like a campfire and regret. The Horizon is a way better smoker than that thing though, you probably just gotta check those bolts every couple cooks, especially if you run it hot and dirty like I do.