Do you cover your egg?

Unknown

Hello Everyone,

I just bought my first egg. I'm loving it so far but mine is outside on my deck in the elements. Do any of you cover your egg? I tried to buy a cover at my dealer and they didn't have any and even said most people don't cover them. I think it would be better to cover it but maybe I'm wrong. Also the book shows two kinds of covers, one with a vent and one without. Which is better?

Thanks for your help and I'm glad I'm finally an egghead!

PJG

"Sparky"

Hey man,welcome to the world of eggin. :woohoo: My parents used a non-vented cover,but it only lasted a year before falling apart.I bought them a vented cover and they have been using it for 2+ years and it still looks good.It is worth the extra bucks to get the vented one.They live in the Boston area and the weather is hard on covers.I have a roof over two of my eggs.My XL sits out in the weather for now.I don't plan on buying a cover for it.Hopefully I will put a roof over it someday though

Sundown

Had mine covered from day one. Your dealer is full of dog do-do "most people don't cover them". That lazy bugger just doesn't want to stock covers.

Unknown

Doug,

Thanks for getting right back to me. I think after hearing that I'll get the vented cover because I live in Maine and I don't want to have to buy a cover every year! Do you have the green damper thing for the top of your egg to put on after you use it to shut it down? (I think I remember seeing on in one of your pictures) Mine didn't come with one and I was wondering do you think it would help with cooling the lump quicker after you are done? Mine takes quite a while to cool off after a cook and sometimes steam/smoke leaks out of the top of the daisey so it seems if I could stop that air flow it would shut down quicker.

PJG

Unknown

Sundown,

I agree with you. I want to cover mine and I've been using a garbage bag for now until I can get my cover. It looks like the covers do not go to the ground though, do the lower legs of the nest rust since they are not covered by the cover? I know they have different sizes depending on if they are in a nest or in a table but even the nest ones look like some of the legs are still exposed.

PJG

gdenby

I thought that the green ceramic cap was considered a standard part, while the daisy wheel is offered as an option by some dealers. I consider the ceramic cap a must. It does shut the Egg down by itself faster than the daisy wheel by itself. Its good to put the daisy into the Egg on the grate as the Egg cools down with the ceramic top on. That way, some of the gunk on the daisy gets burnt away. Also, the daisy is just cast iron, and so slightly prone to rust.

A cover is a good thing if the Egg is likely to sit in percipitation for several days. The ceramic will absorb some moisture thru the glaze. The next time the Egg is heated, it will take a long time to come up to temperature. It may even ooze water drops.

I have 2 mediums. Contractor size trash bags work fine for me, and last at least half a year.

I keep mine covered maybe half the time. I live in the Lake Michigan shadow "cloud belt," with full sun only about 90 days/year. After a few years, my Eggs' nests are showing only the smallest bit of rust anywhere.

Fidel

I covered my large for the first 3+ years I owned it. For the past couple it has not been covered. The medium and mini I own have never been covered.

No problems with any of them. I can't tell any difference between the large. I am in the Atlanta area so we get a pretty fair share of heat, humidity, and (normally) rain.

If I were in a coastal area where rust might be more of a concern I might cover them.

Austin Smoker

I think it just depends on the kind of weather you have - in your case, Maine, I would think you would want to cover. I'm glad I have a cover, especially on morning like today where we had a brief (but not uncommon) hailstorm with golf ball size hail. While that won't damage the egg, something bigger could - I'd rather not take any chances.

Old Salt

I bought covers from Walmart to cover all my grills . They only cost about $8 and last a few years. I don't have a nest but it covers the complete egg.

RRP

mark me down in the "coverer" column. After all I paid good money for my 4 eggs and I'm not about to not protect them! I use BGE covers, which were made before the vented and they have held up well. OTOH in th winter months and early spring before the leaves shade my deck I use an inexpensive silver tarp from a big box store. They keep the snow off.

Mike in Abita

Being I work out of town, :( my egg stays covered from Monday morning to Friday when I get home. It stays uncovered and cooking from Friday to Sunday. :woohoo:

Jeffersonian

I've had mine for 7-8 years and have never covered it. The Egg itself looks fine and hasn't really weathered much at all, but the table it sits in is a lot worse for wear. I'm getting a new table in a couple of weeks, and I'll be covering it.

Morro Bay Rich

I keep my Eggs (large, small and mini) covered all the time except when I fire them up. I live 3 blocks from the Pacific Ocean. The sun here is pretty fierce and I have found the normal BGE cover lasts about 2 yrs. I bought one of the vented covers about 3 years ago for the large and it still looks new.

If your "dealer" can't get a vented cover, call Atlanta and order it from them. I had to do that for the new vented cover I just bought for my small.

While you are on the phone, tell them your dealer shorted you the ceramic cover. My money says they will probably send you one gratis. They are truly a class operation.

Krusty

I didn't cover mine for a while and I started to see a little bit of rust in the bands. I bought a cover at Menards for $8 that is made for a Weber type kettle grill. Does the job great. I now cover it most of the time, but I don't worry too much about it if I happen to forget.

Dr. Strangelove

Covered my large for the first year or so, haven't covered it since. I also have a mini that has never been covered. I've just moved to Athens Ga from Bradenton Fl on the gulf coast and never saw a need for a cover. I use mine pretty much every day so it got to be just too much of a pain to cover and uncover. I've got the normal (non-stainless) bands, the paint has faded a bit but that's about it. The nest looks pretty rough, but only the areas where ash coats it sometimes. To sum it up, cover them if it makes you feel good, but there's certainly no need in my opinion.

JET

RRP

Here's a picture I took at a nursey that was a former BGE dealer. Guess you can see what weather has done to abuse this abandoned BGE table.