Door ? loosened a little over time

I'm sure that over time the door gasket gets compressed. Check and see if you need to replace it. CS customer service may have other suggestions.

What door gasket? There isn't any that I can see.

Cookshack smokers don't have a gasket. FE smokers have a gasket.

Alder wood is very mild. Is this the first time you've tried it?

My latch was a bit tighter and has worked itself in perfectly. On heavy smokes, I still get leakage above the door hinge...don't sweat the small stuff. Let the gook build and clean the door exterior and edge.

Happy smoking.

My 020 is at the lake, but I thought there was a small screw/bolt that held the two latch pieces together, maybe that has worked loose a little on yours?

No- my husband has used alder many times, but perhaps not for a turkey. Should the door edge be cleaned then (which s what we've done)? What about the smoker "L" where the door fits into? I've let the gook build up in the interior, but have cleaned the door inner and outer frame, and from reading posts I'm not sure that's best.

Cal- II actually thought I discovered the problem with the small screw at the latch having loosened, which it did, but tightening it doesn't seem to make the door hard to latch like it once. was.I tried that earlier before posting, but thanks- like you, I thought that might have been the answer.

Only thing I clean on the inside is change the foil every now and then and scrape the sides, top & door of any loose crud maybe once a year or so

The door edge should not be cleaned, so yes, let the gook build up there. The way it's designed is that over time the seasoning will build up from the smoke escaping. Basically they can't make the door to stay perfectly fit throughout the life of the unit, so it was designed that the smoke helps "seal" the little leaks.

But in the end, even a little smoke escaping isn't bad. It's a smoker and smoke will find an easy exit. I'd only worry if you get a large gap and heat is escaping.

I've got to the point where I don't even look at my smoker when its working. I just put the smoker fodder in, set the temp, and check when my notes tell me the smoker fodder is nearing perfection

And I used to be such a fuss-budget about such things as a little smoke leak here and there.