Smokeware Chimney Cap Question

CPARKTX

Very excited, I got a chimney cap for our anniversary, it replaces my broken DTMF. It appears to close tightly enough to choke out the fire without needing the ceramic cap, which would be very convenient....anyone using it that way?

hapster

Yep... Mine stays on, except for taking the top off for coming up to temp

Zmokin

I think most do, but with varying results.  Some swear it shuts down there unit as quick as the ceramic cap, others experience slower shut downs.  I believe mine shuts down a little slower, but I still use it to shut mine down instead of pulling out the ceramic cap.

badinfluence

Close the vent and close the egg. I have them on 7 eggs and seem to shut down faster.

RRP

+1 @badinfluence said...except I don't have 7 eggs! LOL

BTW I have never even once reverted to the ceramic or Miss Daisey! It's SS SmokeWare for me all the time! I assume you have followed some of the numerous threads about where to place the gasket that came with the cap? I advocate placing it inside the cap itself, not the egg and right under the 3 vent openings not down at the flared out base. IMO you get a better seal that way.

CPARKTX

@RRP‌ unfortunately in my excitement I already put the gasket on the Egg...but so I can thoroughly kick myself, what is the reasoning to go the other way?

RRP

CPARKTX said:

@RRP‌ unfortunately in my excitement I already put the gasket on the Egg...but so I can thoroughly kick myself, what is the reasoning to go the other way?

Well, right or wrong I am a believer in the burn out method of cleaning my eggs when they get gross. Also I don't try to limit my temperature nor the length of time so I let her rip. I've seen 1,000 degrees and that means that dome is hot! By having the gasket inside the SS cap it is out of harms way since I remove the SS altogether.

PNWFoodie

Nope. For me, the ceramic closes it down much faster than the SS. Clearly I am in the minority.

Thatgrimguy

PNWFoodie said:

Nope. For me, the ceramic closes it down much faster than the SS. Clearly I am in the minority.

Me too. No contest, the ceramic cap (with a nomex gasket) shut's down my egg with way more coal leftover compared to my SS cap.

badinfluence

Most of my eggs never had the gasket on the ceramic top. Thay is something fairly new.

minniemoh

I have mixed feelings for the Smokeware cap too. I put on two pork butts and had a stable temp for 2 hrs. I had planned on at least a 10-12 hour cook. By morning (4 hrs later), the temp had gone from 250 to 400 and I had my first turbo cook in the books by accident. Mine doesn't seal nearly as tight as the ceramic cap on shut down either. Overall, I think it works OK but I'm not getting rid of my daisy wheels and ceramic caps.

Judy Mayberry

I can settle this. @PNWFoodie and @Thatgrimguy are absolutely right--the SmokeWare cap does NOT shut down the Egg as efficiently as the ceramic cap. It's like Godzilla for lump.

I rarely use the Large Egg and only seem to use it for Turbo Ribs when the mood strikes me. I opened the Egg yesterday to get ready for another batch and found so little lump left...but I didn't really remember how much I started with last time, several weeks ago. So I filled it up to the fire ring and made Turbo Ribs...always 2 hours tops. 

Just for this forum, I just went out and looked at how much lump was left after last night's cook and leaving the SmokeWare cap on during shutdown. Just a piddling amount left in the bottom. But the bottom half of the firebowl was snow white!

From now on I'll use the ceramic cap to shut it down--once I figure out how to take off the hot SS cap.

SkinnyV

Had my issues with 2 different caps documented...it looks purdier though.

TN_Egger

@CPARKTX ... No worries with the gasket on the egg.  Easier to just throw the cap into the dishwasher now.

Dobie

In have the SW cap but I'm not thrilled with it. We get allot of rain in FL and I cook anyways so I like it for that reason. Not having to switch caps at shut down is convenient too but it eats more lump. I actually like the look of the daisy wheel better. Theres a market for a better mouse trap here.

dstearn

I will be testing my SW cap with a low and slow for ribs today to see how stable it is when cooking at 225 grate. As for shutting down the egg vs using the standard BGE Cap it seemed to work just as well for me.

Eggcelsior

Judy Mayberry said:

I can settle this. @PNWFoodie and @Thatgrimguy are absolutely right--the SmokeWare cap does NOT shut down the Egg as efficiently as the ceramic cap. It's like Godzilla for lump.

I rarely use the Large Egg and only seem to use it for Turbo Ribs when the mood strikes me. I opened the Egg yesterday to get ready for another batch and found so little lump left...but I didn't really remember how much I started with last time, several weeks ago. So I filled it up to the fire ring and made Turbo Ribs...always 2 hours tops. 

Just for this forum, I just went out and looked at how much lump was left after last night's cook and leaving the SmokeWare cap on during shutdown. Just a piddling amount left in the bottom. But the bottom half of the firebowl was snow white!

From now on I'll use the ceramic cap to shut it down--once I figure out how to take off the hot SS cap.

I don't think you're settling anything. However,it seems that outliers are occuring more and more. I wonder if a production run was messed up somehow. Mine shuts the egg down faster by a considerable amount. With the ceramic cap, it took until the next day to cool. The SS cap takes a few hours tops. It seems that people that bought it a while ago have no issues, while newer purchasers are finding difficulties. Personally, I'd follow up with the manufacturer.

Thatgrimguy

Eggcelsior said:

I can settle this. @PNWFoodie and @Thatgrimguy are absolutely right--the SmokeWare cap does NOT shut down the Egg as efficiently as the ceramic cap. It's like Godzilla for lump.

I rarely use the Large Egg and only seem to use it for Turbo Ribs when the mood strikes me. I opened the Egg yesterday to get ready for another batch and found so little lump left...but I didn't really remember how much I started with last time, several weeks ago. So I filled it up to the fire ring and made Turbo Ribs...always 2 hours tops. 

Just for this forum, I just went out and looked at how much lump was left after last night's cook and leaving the SmokeWare cap on during shutdown. Just a piddling amount left in the bottom. But the bottom half of the firebowl was snow white!

From now on I'll use the ceramic cap to shut it down--once I figure out how to take off the hot SS cap.

I don't think you're settling anything. However,it seems that outliers are occuring more and more. I wonder if a production run was messed up somehow. Mine shuts the egg down faster by a considerable amount. With the ceramic cap, it took until the next day to cool. The SS cap takes a few hours tops. It seems that people that bought it a while ago have no issues, while newer purchasers are finding difficulties. Personally, I'd follow up with the manufacturer.

Do you have a gasket on your ceramic cap? There is no way for it to shut down faster if you have a full seal on the ceramic cap. There are holes in the smokeware where there are no holes in the ceramic. It's guaranteed to shut down better, the only question is how much better.

buzd504

I haven't noticed a significant difference (no gasket on the ceramic).

badinfluence

Thatgrimguy said:

Eggcelsior said:

Judy Mayberry said:

I can settle this. @PNWFoodie and @Thatgrimguy are absolutely right--the SmokeWare cap does NOT shut down the Egg as efficiently as the ceramic cap. It's like Godzilla for lump.

I rarely use the Large Egg and only seem to use it for Turbo Ribs when the mood strikes me. I opened the Egg yesterday to get ready for another batch and found so little lump left...but I didn't really remember how much I started with last time, several weeks ago. So I filled it up to the fire ring and made Turbo Ribs...always 2 hours tops. 

Just for this forum, I just went out and looked at how much lump was left after last night's cook and leaving the SmokeWare cap on during shutdown. Just a piddling amount left in the bottom. But the bottom half of the firebowl was snow white!

From now on I'll use the ceramic cap to shut it down--once I figure out how to take off the hot SS cap.

I don't think you're settling anything. However,it seems that outliers are occuring more and more. I wonder if a production run was messed up somehow. Mine shuts the egg down faster by a considerable amount. With the ceramic cap, it took until the next day to cool. The SS cap takes a few hours tops. It seems that people that bought it a while ago have no issues, while newer purchasers are finding difficulties. Personally, I'd follow up with the manufacturer.

Do you have a gasket on your ceramic cap? There is no way for it to shut down faster if you have a full seal on the ceramic cap. There are holes in the smokeware where there are no holes in the ceramic. It's guaranteed to shut down better, the only question is how much better.

Agreed. You didn't settle a thing. Like I said I have them on 7 of my 10 eggs (don't make them to fit the other 3) and it does shut my eggs down just as fast as before.

Again my eggs do NOT have the gasket on the egg or the ceramic top so that might make a difference.

Thatgrimguy

Yes, a gasket on the ceramic top makes a HUGE difference. You would be amazed how much lump you can save with a nomex on your ceramic top and a rutland on the main gasket. I can shut down with as much lump as I started with it seems.

hapster

My cap shuts it down fine enough for me... YMMV

It did fine yesterday holding 225 all day for my ribs, the key was that I started with only one spot of fire, right in the middle instead of my normal 2 or 3 spots.

Between the two caps, I don't think the amount of possible additional charcoal lost is worth worrying about...

Judy Mayberry

I have a snug gasket on the ceramic cap. The amount of lump lost letting it shut down using the SmokeWare top is close to the whole firebowl of lump. I only cooked at 350° for 2 hours at most, and should have had a LOT of lump left.

RRP

Eggcelsior said:

 It seems that people that bought it a while ago have no issues, while newer purchasers are finding difficulties.

BINGO - I think you have something there! There is essentially no "slop" in the tolerance between my two pieces and then the gasket further assures a snug fit over my dome and snuffs my fires at ease.

badinfluence

RRP said:

Eggcelsior said:

 It seems that people that bought it a while ago have no issues, while newer purchasers are finding difficulties.

BINGO - I think you have something there! There is essentially no "slop" in the tolerance between my two pieces and then the gasket further assures a snug fit over my dome and snuffs my fires at ease.

I think there might be something to this as well.

SkinnyV

My newest one is a few months old. It pulls the same stuff as the old... Very slow shutdown.

Bottom line buy and try, if it does not work great for shutdowns it still works for cooks and rainy days. Did I mention its purdier.

Zmokin

Eggcelsior said:

I can settle this. @PNWFoodie and @Thatgrimguy are absolutely right--the SmokeWare cap does NOT shut down the Egg as efficiently as the ceramic cap. It's like Godzilla for lump.

I rarely use the Large Egg and only seem to use it for Turbo Ribs when the mood strikes me. I opened the Egg yesterday to get ready for another batch and found so little lump left...but I didn't really remember how much I started with last time, several weeks ago. So I filled it up to the fire ring and made Turbo Ribs...always 2 hours tops. 

Just for this forum, I just went out and looked at how much lump was left after last night's cook and leaving the SmokeWare cap on during shutdown. Just a piddling amount left in the bottom. But the bottom half of the firebowl was snow white!

From now on I'll use the ceramic cap to shut it down--once I figure out how to take off the hot SS cap.

I don't think you're settling anything. However,it seems that outliers are occuring more and more. I wonder if a production run was messed up somehow. Mine shuts the egg down faster by a considerable amount. With the ceramic cap, it took until the next day to cool. The SS cap takes a few hours tops. It seems that people that bought it a while ago have no issues, while newer purchasers are finding difficulties. Personally, I'd follow up with the manufacturer.

I think there may be some Eggs or caps, that aren't as flat as they should be, so they allow air leakage.  Any leakage is allowing more oxygen to enter the chamber prolonging the time for shut down.  If you have a ceramic cap and egg top that make a nice  fairly air tight seal, then the inherent gaps in the SS cap will allow more leakage.  If your Egg and ceramic cap don't seal well, then a tight fitting SS cap could shut down quicker.  But there are 2 more parts to this equation.  How tight is the fit on the bottom door and how tight is your seal between Egg top & bottom.