Temp variations

NotabuttDave

I have a large, use RO and point the egg to the north.

I've made great burgers several times, for the 2 of us.

Lately, I had to make 6 or more at once.

I let the egg burn for an hour or more, and let the temp. settle down to 600* - 700*.

The temperature across the grill is not consistent. Last week, some of the RO towards the outside of the egg did not light, while the center was burnt down.

The burgers in the center of the grill were perfect, while the outside row were a little rare.

Whats up?

How do I achieve consistent temp. across the grill and create burger nirvana for all my guests?

vidalia1

I light my BGE's in 4 places...noon, 3, 6 & 9 positions...even cooking in all areas...that's just me...

FearlessGrill

Had you cleaned out all the ash (including from under the firebox) recently? It may be that some of the airflow on one side was restricted, causing that side not to catch as well. I've had that happen from time to time.

-John

NC-CDN

Light the egg in more places. If you EGG has a cold side, light it on that side. On the very outside edges you may not get the same direct heat that you do from the center or other areas right about the coals. Just plain fact. Move the burgers or cook them a bit longer. Cook in the moment.

Grandpas Grub

 
Interesting heat range for cooking the burgers.

Stabilizing an egg and holding the temperature at 600° - 700° is going to use a good amount of lump. Center burndown should be expected. 'Just letting the lump burn' will probably not result in an even heat distribution over the entire grid surface.

It has already been mentioned to light in more places across the lump bed. With your requirements I would load the lump high in the firebox/fire ring. Light in a minimum of 5 places, center then a distance of 60 to 70 percent out from the center of the lump bed to the fire ring wall. Light deeper into the lump bed and use a starter that is going to light the lump fast. I suggest using a weed burner, 6 spots with a good MAPP torch or light left and right of center using paper towel & oil. The quickest and best lighting method in this case will be a weed burner.

Light with any of the above methods you should be at your target temperature and holding in about 10 - 15 minutes. Run your hand over the grid surface to find any noticeable cool spots. Use your ash toll to move some burning lump to those cool areas. Don't mix the lump heavily or you will have a temperature drop and have a slower heat climb.

At this temperature your burgers are going to cook fast. If you continue to have cool spots then rotate your grid several times during the cook or change the location of the burgers during the cook.

Another option is to load the lump lower into the firebox. Load just above the holes in the firebox and light in 5 to 6 places as above. This method will, or should, get to temperature fast. Put the grid at normal level or even raised grid. With the lump to grid distance you should have a more even heat distribution across the grid surface.

Here is a low lump level cook. Small pieces of used lump from previous cooks. The flame is due to leaving the dome opening when taking pictures.





GG

cookingdude555

Why not cook the burgers based on internal temp, and pull them at desired doneness individually? For all of gassers faults, an even heat across the entire grid of a quality gas grill is something that makes cooking many burgers at once nice. So for the egg, I cook burgers based on the internal temp of the meat. Some are done sooner than others, but they all have that nice egg cooked flavor.