What Went Wrong/Ready to Freecycle Egg Update

kim · January 2005

Hi! In December you all were kind of enough to post suggestions to help me figure out why I can't cook a decent meal on my egg.[p]I have continued trying with chickens. I have done two spatchcocked chickens with the Montreal rub and they were wonderful. I have done 3 whole chickens in the 4-6 pound range. The first two chickens both caught fire thank god I didn't have my polder in. Almost lost my eyebrows in the flames. With the 3rd chicken I spent one and a half hours just trying to get the temp to 350 degrees. Then I spent 3 hours trying to maintain it once I put the chicken on. I could not control the temperature no matter what. FInally I threw the chicken out, it was only up to 140 degrees in the breast after all that time so I cooked a frozen pizza instead (not on the BGE).[p]I have read lots of the links here and there such as the naked whiz site - there is a LOT of information to take in and its a little overwhelming. I don't have any of the extras, just the medium egg and a daisy wheel (if that's even what its called) I don't have a platesetter. I just am setting the chickens right on the rack. When I have cooked the whole chickens I have been using an olive oil & herb rub and a drip pan but I have to assume the olive oil is what's causing them to catch fire (brilliant deduction I know).[p]I am continuing to burn through lump charcoal at a rapid pace. Is this because of everything catching fire? Is this a cleaning issue? I don't really know what or how to clean the EGG exactly. My husband has shop vacc'd it occasionally. [p]If anyone has any suggestions I would appreciate them. I was really impressed with the spatchcocked chickens. And, it was really fun telling people "I'm going to spatchcock a chicken tonight".....[p]TIA, even though I have had this dang BGE since the late 90s I will remain a NEWBIE forever. [p]Kimberly

mad max beyond eggdome · January 2005

Kim,
hang in there kiddo. . .don't give up!! .. .but it sounds like you'd really like to get past basic grilling and into more indirect stuff, and to do that, it really helps to have the right tools. .. .either plate setter or firebricks with extra grid or grid extender. . .i would strongly advise making the minor investment and calling down to atlanta, give them a credit card number and spending less than 50 total dollars (including shipping), ordering a plate setter for that medium of yours. . .[p]then you can set throw away drip pans on, prop up a couple of beer butt birds or prime rib, and life will be some much easier, and less frustrating. . .. [p]1 1/2 hours to get your egg to 350 tells me that either your firebox was clogged up, or you had a bunch of lump 'chips' in there or something else restricting airflow. . .is the hole in the firebox lined up properly with the vent hole in the egg bottom?? . . . someone recently posted a couple of good fire lighting tips . .. light your lump and leave the dome open for a few minutes to insure your lump is well lit without the dome temp going way up. . .and to achieve a steady 350, once the lump is well lit, leave bottom vent wide open and top vent closed with just the daisy part open so that all the little holes are wide open. . .your egg should hold really steady then at 350 degrees. .. [p]finally, without plate setter or grid extender, try your beer can chickens this way. .. get a large throw away aluminum pan. . .put some water in the bottom on the cooking grid. .. get another grid (a bakers rack, or anything that will fit in egg, and put the beer can chickens on top of it. ...that should put a stop to your volcano activity. ...at 325 - 350 dome temp and 4 pound chicken should then take right at 1 1/2 hour to be done. .[p]keep on keepin on. ...and remember, if everything was great, it would all be average :-)

Banker John · January 2005

Kim,
The most difficult part of my learning curve when cooking on the egg was to learn the vent opening settings (both top & bottom). I have found that to control temperature, this is critical, along with allowing the ceramics to properly come to temperature as well.[p]Of course, one would never know what temperature the egg is at if one does not have a dome thermometer. If you do not have one, make this your first investment. My medium was lacking a dome thermometer when I picked mine up and I feel contributed to my early frustrations.[p]Do you have the daisy wheel slide top vent?[p]I have found that the bottom vent is a gross control of temp while the top vent is a fine control of temp. Of course, how I do it may not be how others do it, so try and find your own perfection; that is the fun of it![p]For low & slow cooks, I find that a bottom vent opening about the width of a credit card (1/16") will provide for temps in the 195-220 range, depending on the top vent opening. To cook in the 300-400 range, I open the bottom vent about 3/4" and to do pizza, I open the bottom about 1.75". Of course, I have a medium and from what I have seen from posts over the years, these setting will get you close, but each grill will have its own unique properties and settings.[p]If you don't have some of the gadgets, here is a list in order of what, IMO, are the most important gadgets (what I use most often.[p]Dome Thermometer
Ash Tool
Grill Gloves
Raised Grid (post with questions if you do not know what this is)
Plate Setter
Aluminum pie plates for drip pans
Polder Thermometer
Instant Read Thermometer
Pizza Stone
Pizza Peel
Pizza Screens
Pizza Stone[p]As for burning lump rapidly, this is a relative term. Rapidly, compared to what? How long do you pre-heat the egg before cooking, do you shut off all air supply immediately after pulling food to snuff out the fire? Are your temp adjustments being made with primarily the bottom vent which can overoxygenate the fire and burn more lump? etc...[p]I have found that spatchcocked chicken does better in my medium on a raised grid. There is less burning of the underside nearest the fire. I also preheat the egg for a good 30 minutes and stabilize at 360 before beginning to cook the chicken. I add a chunk each of hickory & apple just prior to putting the chicken on the grill.[p]Banker John

SSN686 · January 2005

Kim,[p]Sorry to hear about your troubles with the Egg! Where are you located? Maybe there is an EggHead close by (hint to forum members) who would be willing to offer some pointers in person![p]As Max said, "Don't give up"![p]Have a GREAT day!
Jay

Banker John · January 2005

mad max beyond eggdome,
It's funny you say bottom wide open and only daisy slots open for 350. On my medium, this would end up heating the egg to about 430-450. I guess each grill is unique. [p]Plus, I have found that by leaving the bottom wide open and only using the top to adjust the temp, for me the egg is more difficult to control... not that there is any right way to do it.[p]I cannot sate there is any 'right way' in using our grills - only that for me, a wring way is to not use my grill at all![p]Banker John

mad max beyond eggdome · January 2005

Banker John,
thanks for responding on this one. .i should have said that these vent settings work really well on the large. .. i can't vouch for the dynamics of a medium, so i might have misspoken here. . ..i had never tried these setting in the two years i've owned a large until recently when someone else posted this. . ..but on a large, to get a steady 350 dome temp, it actually works quite well, and if the temps start going over 350, you simply start tightening down the bottom vent to maintain temps. . .but last night i was cooking a pot roast style brisket and these settings held rock steady for 4 hours. . .[p]and you are so right. . .there is absolutely no 'one' right way for anything. .. you just have to keep sperimenting till you figure out what works best. . .i'm even finding that with 2 large eggs now, that each have their own particular quirks. . .[p]thanks again for helping clarify this. ..[p]max

fishlessman · January 2005

mad max beyond eggdome,
after replacing the lower section of the egg last year i had to relearn the lower draft settings.for 225 the lower draft needs to be about 1 inch open with the daisy holes half closed. with the older setup 1/16 would hold temps at 225.with this new settup, i dont believe that the temp will rise as high or as quickly for searing, but it still will get up over 800. for the low end ive had it stabilize down near 135, something that i couldnt do before. the only differance that i can see is that the slide is mounted more to the left in relation to the opening.

The Virginian · January 2005

Kim,
A lot of good advice below. I would only add a suggestion that you attend one of the annual Eggfests if there is one given in your region of the country (they are in Atlanta, Waldorf MD, Texas, Florida, and maybe one or two other places). There you can ask a lot of questions and see how other people do it, all in a very fun and supportive atmosphere. [p]Brett

Bobby-Q · January 2005

mad max beyond eggdome,
I used the backer family technique also, but on mine for some reason it is a perfect, stable 400°. I actually prefer that for most things that are not low and slow, but I had to learn to cook at super high temps in the culinary biz.[p]So maybe that setting actually taps into each person's minds and determines the perfect non low and slow temp for each individual user.[p]Wouldn't surprise me coming from them Backer folks.

Mark Backer · January 2005

Bobby-Q,[p]Good call, Bobby-q. When eggsellent shook your hand, she got a minute dna sample from a laser skin scraping, and then, thru some complex centrifugal efforts, she was able to ascertain your ICT: Ideal Cooking Temperature. [p]Seriously, I think doing the WAO bottom vent and daisy only top on every egg would be a good way to establish a temperature baseline. Thus, adjustments from there would be easier and, dare I say, more predictable.[p]oh, and by the way, eggsellent was a little disturbed to find out that you liked show tunes, slow walks in the rain and bobby flay cookbooks. [p]Heee...

Eggsellent · January 2005

Bobby-Q,
Isn't that the coolest trick? I wish we could take credit for it - but I think it was JSlot who shared that bit of egg wisdom with us. One of these days we'll have something worth while to contribute - until then Backer will continue to amuze us with his OT posts and blather.[p]Heeeeeeeeee.

Bobby-Q · January 2005

Eggsellent,
The cult just wouldn't be the same without you 2...lmao.

kim · January 2005

mad max beyond eggdome,
Thank you!
I have just been piling in big pieces of lump charcoal up to the top of the firebox and then sticking the lighter in the middle of the pile. Once it's lit I close the lid. I think there must be some type of airflow issue so I will just clean the whole egg out before I cook again. I have a whole chicken in my fridge just begging to catch fire so I am going to try following your directions and see what happens. [p]I live in Atlanta, I will just head on down to Clairmont and get a platesetter soon. I was using clay pot "feet" (gardening) to raise my grid and its kind of tippy....[p]Kimberly

kim · January 2005

Banker John,
Yes, I do have a dome thermometer. I have even checked it for accuracy and it's accurate. Yes, my daisy wheel is a slide vent. I just randomly open it/slide the wheel around. I have no idea what I am doing. [p]At Christmas we burned through all of our charcoal while trying to cook a 14 pound chicken. I am starting to think that my issue is airflow and that I need to clean the BGE (hopefully without breaking something - this is BGE#2). [p]I make sure the temp is steady for about 15 minutes before putting food on. I do close the vents immediately after taking the food off.[p]I have been using clay pot "feet" (gardening) to raise my grid. However its pretty tippy and its probably the reason olive oil is splashing down and catching fire.[p]After the last spate of problems I quit even using wood chips and just want to figure out basic cooking. My husband is so frustrated with the BGE that he has thrown his hands up and handed it over to me. Every once in awhile food is so amazing that I just can't let it go....[p]Thanks for the list of rec'd gadgets. And thanks again all.
Kim

Mark Backer · January 2005

Kim,[p]where abouts in atlanta? Eggsellent and I are in suwanee. While not cagey veterans like natureboy, max, the whiz, bobby-q and many many others, we are decent at it and would be glad to help. [p]You can email me if you want at my profile address, or not at all if you don't want. [p]Some might say that is the wisest path.[p]LOL

What Went Wrong/Ready to Freecycle Egg Update

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