Some questions before I buy

alphabrace · May 2011

Hello, have not bought my large egg yet...still have some questions. Why can't regular charcol be used in an egg? Is the replacement gasket better than the original? If the egg gets to hot for what you want to cook, can you "turn it down"?
Thanks.

AZRP · May 2011

Regular charcoal produces too much ash and will choke off the oxygen to the fire. I've never replaced a gasket. You can turn it down but it takes a long time, its best to not allow it to go above your target temp. -RP

Mainegg · May 2011

Welcome

you can use reg charcoal but believe me when you try the Real charcoal you will not go back. Lump has lower ash as just a beginning point on why you do not want to use briquettes.
as far as gaskets... three of mine have hardly anything left on the rims it is mostly crude that is protecting them at this point. we have replaced a couple of the other ones but is not at the top of the list for us

and they do not seem to be failing like they did for awhile there so maybe things are better?
as far as tuning the temp if you over shoot it is not a huge deal. well 900 when you want 250 is LOL, you might do it once or twice when you start but you will get the hang of it fast. these are so easy to use and easy to learn it is not funny.

fishlessman · May 2011

if it gets too hot for too long a period the ceramic heats up and it takes a while to come back down, if it heats too hot for a short time the ceramic doesnt get as hot and you can get it back down in temp pretty quickly. the ceramic retains heat and is the main reason you dont need to burn as much lump during a cook. i use briquettes, some times, there is an off flavor in some from the binders and ash buildup wont let you get too long of a burn before the fire chokes itself off. briquettes produce alot of ash compared to lump

vidalia1 · May 2011

Regular charcoal has too many chemicals in it that effect the taste of the food plus it turns to ash quickly and clogs up the fire...

stike · May 2011

regular charcoal IS used in the egg. the man-made briquettes aren't.

regular briquettes make for too much ash. sure, you can use them, but it's like consciously picking something sub par to use, rather than the thing that performs best.

FSM-Meatball · May 2011

-Regular Charcoal Briquettes have too many chemicals that affect the taste.
-You NEVER want to use an acellerant in the egg (lighter fluid), it gets into the ceramic and can flavor your food for months.
-The flavor of real charcoal is so much better than Briqs.

-It is very difficult to "turn down" the Egg. That is part of what makes the Egg great, it retains heat very well. Its best to start your fire, open the vents up and as you get close to your temp (within 100 degrees) start closing the vents so you slowly glide into the final temp. You can then make fine adjustments. After about 5 months, I have finally figured out how to do it right. My first few cooks were wildly out of control.

gdenby · May 2011

In a pinch, briquettes can be used for shorter cooks. They leave so much ash compared to lump that after a few hours, the Egg's fire box holes become clogged.

I seem to burn a gasket once a year. Not much of a hassle, but I just bought Nomex replacements, and will see if it makes a lot of difference. Folks who have gone with the much more expensive Cotronix don't seem to ever have problems.

It is easy to raise the Egg's temperature, but as others have said, bringing it back down can take more time. If you heat one up to top temperature for a few minutes to sear some steaks, it will probably be 20 minutes after adjusting the vents to get the temperature down to roasting heat. If you have it up around 400 for an hour or two, expect an hour to bring the heat back to something like 250. In some cases, the temperature can come down quicker if a cold platesetter is placed into the Egg, because that will absorb quite a bit of heat, bu that is only useful if you need to add the extra ceramic for the following cooking.

Capt Frank · May 2011

One thing that no one else mentioned is that the lump is "reuseable." By that I mean when you are through cooking you shut down the egg, then when you want to use it again you just stir the used lump around a little to shake off what little ash there is, and re-light. Yes, natural lump is more money then briquettes, but when you factor in the minimal waste it is probably cheaper.
Also, Lump charcoal is available lots of places and many brands are the same {Royal Oak] as the BGE brand. For example, Kroger brand lump is RO, as is Publix "Greenwise" brand. Wally world sells RO in its own bag for about 0.60/lb I have never understood why BGE charges as much as they do for the green bag when good lump is readily available at lower prices.

bees · May 2011

I agree, it's one of the few complaints I have of the products they offer. I guess way back when there wasn't such a 'natural' charcoal usage movement.

benny · May 2011

the reason briquettes produce more "ash" is that they have a clay like filler/binder to make the briquettes. the end result is the same, as already pointed out, choking the fire, and cleanup.

People debate on the gaskets, i've replaced replaced mine with hightemp and it wroks great for me

p.s. buy your egg asap, the bbq season is upon us, you wont regret it!

misfit · May 2011

Between yesterday and today posts, do I hear Tweeve? If not , sorry for the reference.

Capt Frank · May 2011

I certainly hope not

Some questions before I buy

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