Just brought home a CS Smokette yesterday and am seasoning it now. About 45 minutes into the session it exploded! Well, there appears to be no damage, but it made a hell of a racket and billowed smoke out the vent hole and door seals. I've seen others here comment on something like this but what would cause this? My two theories are
1) A build up of combustable gases from the heated wood finally getting to the flash point.
or
2) A metal panel buckling from the heating expansion.
I was using the provided wood from CS. I would rate the power of the explosion almost the equivalent of a M-80 fire cracker. It was quite strong. If it were to happen when I'm just unlatching the door, I think the potential for an injury is real. Kind of spooky.
Aside from that...
I've had an offset firebox home built for over two years and managed to host quite a few neighborhood gatherings with good results. But as anyone with real woodburners can attest, they can be a chore (of love) to tend for 10 hrs, especially while throwing back a good supply of beer. It's tough during the last few hours when the crital stage of finishing the 'Q conflicts with a rather low beer supply
The Cookshack Smokette appears from the outside to be very well built and should prove to be quite functional. I'm eager to get it producing some good food and am really looking forward to taking a load off the usual smoker tending I've come to know.
This looks like a great place and I'm glad I found it!
Gerry P
I'm a kid at heart and kind of like firecrackers 
