Keeping the Temp????

John

OK.... I confess, I am no eggspert. I did smoke 30lbs. of pork butt last summer that earned a "not bad" from my Texan uncle. However I can't keep the heat. My boss has a pizza oven in his 3 season room and we enjoyed AWESOME steak. I tried to replicate on my BGE but could not keep the heat up. Fire always seems to "die" except for directly in front of the bottom vent opening. I do not fill the lump charcoal over the "ring of holes" for fear of plugging the air. What am I doing wrong? Is there suppose to be a small grate on the bottom that lifts the charcoal over the ring of holes? Mine charcoal sits on the bottom. Am I suppose to fill the charcoal up over the holes?? Please help, I would love to use the BGE for more than smoking but right not the ole' gas grill gets all the use.

fishlessman

John,
fill it past the holes up into the fire ring. it will maintain temps much longer that way, just make sure that you stir the ash out of older lump so that you get a good air flow

61chev

John, Do you mean you have no grate in the bottom of the fire box?

stike

fishlessman,
yep. fill 'er up.[p]if you have chunks bigger than others, you can put the biggest at the bottom. it'll help guarantee airflow. even that's not truly necessary, though. you can often just dump from the bag up to and above the bottom of the firering. ...just no chips or dust.

The Naked Whiz

John,
Don't worry about having lump above those holes. Fill the firebox up to the top and let the fire rip. In any problem involving getting temps up, it all boils down to either not enough air or not enough lump.[p]TNW

eggnerd

<p />John,[p]Are you indicating that you are missing the fire grate? (Highlighted above.)[p]If so that would be your problem problem.[p]EggNerd

John

61 CHEV,[p]I think that is my problem. Right now I can "poke through" the vent door to stir my fire. Seems as though I am missing the grate.

jake42

John,
By all means fill the fire box to the top. Don't worry about the holes.

BajaTom

EggNerd,
Good post. This will help all new eggers. I hope everyone got past all the controversy today all this site. I like your site. Tom

Unknown

jake42,[p]Is it okay to fill up beyond the firebox, i.e. half way up the fire-ring, or all the way to the top of fire ring?[p]Thanks,
Waruwaru

61chev

waruwaru, Filler up it will not go to waste just shutterdown when finished there will be plenty left over.
If you learn to control the temp with the same load every time it will make it alot easier
Gerry

Madhatter

John,
"I do not fill the lump charcoal over the "ring of holes" for fear of plugging the air. What am I doing wrong?" [p]You hit it on the head....Fill it to at least the fire ring...

Unknown

61 CHEV,
I wasn't worry about waste. I was just wondering if it is safe (for egg & me) to fill the egg with that much charcoal.
Thanks,
Waruwaru

Photo Egg

waruwaru,
I filled my XL so full I had to remove lump in order to add a couple chunks of wood and still put the plate setter in place legs up.

[p]
I thought for sure the fire would starve for air but all went perfect. Almost 30 hour burn with lump left over. I did take the advice of many in this site and load larger pieces on the bottom.
Loader Up,
Darian

Unknown

Wow, thanks for that pic. Now I know how much coal I can put in my egg. Thanks!