Curing the gasket/glue & what else to do before using egg for first time?

Tier1Terrier

Can someone point me to the specific instructions on curing the gasket glue on a new egg?  I thought I saw somewhere that you bring it up to 350 or so about 3 times, but that's about all I recall.  How long do I hold it at 350 and how long do I have to let it cool down for, etc.  Any help is appreciated.

Also, besides curing the gasket glue, is there anything else I should do with my egg before I use it to cook for the first time?

Jstroke

Well first of all welcome to the club and the second thing is to get a hold of a guy are RP and order a gasket from him if you do a lot of high heat pizza cooks the original won't last anyway so it is easier just to have one from him on hand and as far as yours I would do one cook at around 350 but a better idea is to play with your temperatures and get to know your rig at the same time

swordsmn

If you can hold your temperature at 275  for 3-6 hours,  while all about you are losing theirs,  you'll be an egger my son......

swordsmn

Meh,  I bought a cyberQ - call me Caitlyn  I guess......

Darby_Crenshaw

not sure what cement you used.  if it is super77, then it's nothing more than rubber cement in spray form.  it doesn't need to cure, it's cured already.

you may want to be careful at higher heat initially simply because any overspray or drips may burn, and that will be undesirable smoke. nothing you want to have your food swimming in.  i would see how it smells at higher heat, and if there's any burn, let it go til clear before putting food on it.

otherwise, no need to wait.

from what i recall of the rutland cement, which is actually designed for steel, not ceramic (ceramic wicks the water out before it can cure properly), requires a lower temperature (250-ish?) fire to help it cure properly.  ...but thankfully everyone has come around now to ditching the rutland cement and using automotive gasket sealer/maker (permatex high heat silicone)

gdenby

By my recollection, BGE used to recommend 4 - 5 under 350F. Make those cooks where the dome is not open long. Early on, I left the dome open while tediously flipping burgers and getting flare-up, and the top gasket half fell away.

What's more important is making sure the seal is good. It is fairly common for the dome alignment to go out after the Egg is moved around, and sometimes the band bolts are a little too loose. An easy test is the so-called "dollar bill" test. A piece of paper, like a bill, should be held snugly everywhere around the rim when the dome is down. If not, the dome setting needs some adjustment.

One time, I replaced my gasket, and didn't cut it quite right. There was a gap about as wide as a matchstick between the ends. Within a week, the ends had burnt way about 1/4" from the hot exhaust gases passing thru the gap. The top gasket at that place was gone in another 2 weeks. Eventually, I had to cut away the crisped section, and plug it with short strips of gasket remnant I had.

swordsmn

Now  the mothership says  "just cook on it"  when I asked face to face a few mo's ago.    Not sure if they think their seals are better if thaey just wanna sell more gaskets  lol

henapple

People don't keep eggs under a certain temp at eggfest. I'd roll on

stemc33

Kinda like breaking in a new sports car. Only a few follow the recommendations, the rest drive it to the limits just to see what it can do. It's human nature. 

Begger

stemc33 said:

Kinda like breaking in a new sports car. Only a few follow the recommendations, the rest drive it to the limits just to see what it can do. It's human nature. 

The sports car saying is 'Drive it like you Stole it'.

For Eggs?    

fishlessman

its alot easier to remove the new gasket and install the rutland than to remove the burnt gasket and install the rutland just a heads up

RRP

fishlessman said:

its alot easier to remove the new gasket and install the rutland than to remove the burnt gasket and install the rutland just a heads up

I agree! You might be surprised how often experienced eggers do exactly that when they buy a new egg. I have not kept track, but it happens often.

Toxarch

I bought my first egg and bought a Rutland gasket from RRP. Figured it's easier to swap it now rather than later. 

SMITTYtheSMOKER

Food safe adhesive needs a bit of "babying" in the beginning. We recommend keeping the Egg under 400° for first 5 cooks to help cure the factory adhesive.  We don't see many gasket problems anymore.  Attempting to do the infamous "clean burn" is the culprit the majority of the time when it does happen.

Congrats on the new Egg.                                                                                                                                              

HofstraJet

Does the dollar bill test still work with a Rutland or is it no longer an effective test once the Rutland is installed and there is no upper gasket?

THEBuckeye

Pour a strong one! 

RRP

HofstraJet said:

Does the dollar bill test still work with a Rutland or is it no longer an effective test once the Rutland is installed and there is no upper gasket?

When applied in the manner I suggest then the Rutland is both wider and thicker and therefore only one gasket is needed. Yes the dollar bill test applies, however since the BGE is not capable of reaching the temperature of 2,200º at the gasket level any escaping heat and gas won't harm the Rutland anyway. If by chance you do experience smoke leakage then it means the planes of your dome and base are out of sync and that issue can be addressed.

DMshow

fishlessman said:

its alot easier to remove the new gasket and install the rutland than to remove the burnt gasket and install the rutland just a heads up

+1.  What great advice.  I wish I was privy to this information when I first got my egg.  Been using my large about once a week since purchased in April and the factory gasket is toast.  What a piece.  Some of the blame should be placed on the dealer for setting up the bands improperly and some on me for being a  naive noob and not doing my homework.  Ordered my Rutland from @RRP recently and I can't express enough what a pleasure it has been dealing with Ron!