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Franken Egg
Zippylip
Posts: 4,768
Some time ago I embarked on a mission to build a second large egg out of unsightly, chipped, cracked, broken, & otherwise defective, unwanted & discarded parts of old eggs. Several different eggs contributed to this build. My thought was that I could at least make a run at assembling them into a usable smoker. I picked up some JB Weld & got to work:
The box.
Problem: obliterated after years of abusive pizza cooks:
Butter up all surfaces:
Smash it all together with some weight:
All done & ready for action:
The ring.
Problem: broken in 2 nearly equal pieces, very difficult to remove from the egg:
JB welded together:
The dome.
Problem: defective glazing, chunks just randomly popped out (rescued from the trash from a buddy of mine):
The hinge/bands.
Problem: Poolman thought he was a metallurgist & fabricator :laugh: (seriously, thanks to poolman, I got a slightly defective but useable system – dude, have you gotten my emails???):
Couple new nuts & bolts:
Didn’t want to stay open without help initially:
The base:
Problem: Massive crack that went down the back & almost half way to the center of the bottom, you could see light through it. Painted over it with JB weld, thought being if I could stop the air flow through the crack, it may stop or slow additional cracking:
Inside:
Outside:
Everything assembled inside the egg:
The Table.
Problem: didn’t really have a problem other than it had to be retrofitted to fit the large. I originally built this table for the mini. After I built the hut, the mini now sits on the stone table & this old wooden table has become basically extra prep space. I figured I could modify it & sink the new old egg in it:
Popped out the paver I sunk in the top:
Cut the hole out to 22 inches in diameter:
After lowering the bottom shelf about 3 inches, I slid that puppy in:
Rear view (had to notch out the rear fascia board to make room for the hinge):
All of a sudden the dome wanted to stay open without wooden plank assist:
Given all the cracks & breaks & JB Weld in this thing, it will live out its days as a dedicated smoker & low temp griller. I’m thinking nothing in excess of 300 degrees. Accordingly, for her maiden voyage, she will cook a batch of hot wings ala nature boy, my new (for about a year) preferred method. Anywhere from 250 – 300 raised direct for one hour, flip, one more hour, remove. By far the best wings I’ve ever made are using this format. We’ll do that next weekend
The box.
Problem: obliterated after years of abusive pizza cooks:
Butter up all surfaces:
Smash it all together with some weight:
All done & ready for action:
The ring.
Problem: broken in 2 nearly equal pieces, very difficult to remove from the egg:
JB welded together:
The dome.
Problem: defective glazing, chunks just randomly popped out (rescued from the trash from a buddy of mine):
The hinge/bands.
Problem: Poolman thought he was a metallurgist & fabricator :laugh: (seriously, thanks to poolman, I got a slightly defective but useable system – dude, have you gotten my emails???):
Couple new nuts & bolts:
Didn’t want to stay open without help initially:
The base:
Problem: Massive crack that went down the back & almost half way to the center of the bottom, you could see light through it. Painted over it with JB weld, thought being if I could stop the air flow through the crack, it may stop or slow additional cracking:
Inside:
Outside:
Everything assembled inside the egg:
The Table.
Problem: didn’t really have a problem other than it had to be retrofitted to fit the large. I originally built this table for the mini. After I built the hut, the mini now sits on the stone table & this old wooden table has become basically extra prep space. I figured I could modify it & sink the new old egg in it:
Popped out the paver I sunk in the top:
Cut the hole out to 22 inches in diameter:
After lowering the bottom shelf about 3 inches, I slid that puppy in:
Rear view (had to notch out the rear fascia board to make room for the hinge):
All of a sudden the dome wanted to stay open without wooden plank assist:
Given all the cracks & breaks & JB Weld in this thing, it will live out its days as a dedicated smoker & low temp griller. I’m thinking nothing in excess of 300 degrees. Accordingly, for her maiden voyage, she will cook a batch of hot wings ala nature boy, my new (for about a year) preferred method. Anywhere from 250 – 300 raised direct for one hour, flip, one more hour, remove. By far the best wings I’ve ever made are using this format. We’ll do that next weekend
happy in the hut
West Chester Pennsylvania
West Chester Pennsylvania
Comments
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Those are warranty parts sir! You must cease and desist from using that egg immediately
Steve
Caledon, ON
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Nice job Marc! I'll stop by for some wings. :woohoo:
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Great job on the multi fixes. He!! I bet that egg will last a very long time. Have a great wing cook. Tim
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Hey that looks like a fun project...egg rescue/rehab by Dr. Frankinstine... "It's ALIVE!" :laugh:
Nice work Marc, my hat's off to ya. :cheer: I would jump at the chance for a rescue but an egg sighting is noneggsistant let alone a discarded egg.
Now there could be the slightest chance the epoxy gets cooked in the firebox part so you might want to con-cider a firebucket liner for the lump to burn in. Just sayin.
Have fun! -
Clay, where can I get one of those, I thought the same thing. I have a feeling this thing may cave in on itself in short order. Someone suggested building an expanded metal fire box ala UDS, but I have no metal fabrication skills or tools. That bucket looks like the ticket though.
Another thought I had was to keep the box filled with lump, & keep low/slow fires in the center... usually following a low/slow, the lump is burned from the top down in the center & the outer edges are intact, that may prolong its life. I'd rather have that bucket in therehappy in the hut
West Chester Pennsylvania -
hey man, that turned out great. what was the deal with poolman's hinge? i didn't see the problem
did you carve out the crack in the base a bit (vee groove)? or did you just apply the jbweld on top of the crack (bridging it)?ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante -
well, I just slopped it on, didn't think about carving out the crack with anything (& don't have any tools that would do that); I suppose that was a mistake as I have since read an entire Kamodo restoration process where that was done. I figure if the crack continues to travel I will have to figure out how to do that, of course it'll be harder now that I assed it all up with JB Weld :laugh: :ermm:happy in the hut
West Chester Pennsylvania -
Nice job on the rebuild Marc! Enjoy.Molly
Colorado Springs
"Loney Queen"
"Respect your fellow human being, treat them fairly, disagree with them honestly, enjoy their friendship, explore your thoughts about one another candidly, work together for a common goal and help one another achieve it."
Bill Bradley; American hall of fame basketball player, Rhodes scholar, former U.S. Senator from New Jersey
LBGE, MBGE, SBGE , MiniBGE and a Mini Mini BGE -
Nice work Marc. I presume the egg is officially named Franken - maybe we're related. :huh:
And Zippy was overseeing the whole process as seen in the penultimate photo. -
Dude...sell it on craigslist..LOL..the band is yours whenever you want it...and I finally made celebrity status...I got a mention in a forum superstars signature with over 17000 posts..woo hoo I am somebody..man I'm gonna sleep good tonight..
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Hey Zip, the 2 vertical pieces that connect the upper and lower bands are the only thing I modified :laugh: If you fix that it's good as new :laugh:
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I noticed that :laugh: ; I couldn't get it to open when I first put it on, had to muscle it open but it wouldn't go all the way up. I played around with the bolt positioning on the vertical plates & found a good spot to tighten them eventually. Is that a Sparky handle on there?happy in the hut
West Chester Pennsylvania -
did you get my email? The current band is working, but it is making some scary sounds, like the springs are under tremendous tension going up & down. If you have tikifest again this year perhaps I'll pick up the band if you still have it thenhappy in the hut
West Chester Pennsylvania -
Yes thats a Sparky special,, dude does good work on wood just a horrible electrician :laugh:
Just kidding Sparks
If you look at those 2 small pieces you will see where I made the hole longer when all I really needed to do was just remove the springs before tightening the band. So now I'm not allowed to play with power tools around the eggs or the car -
Funny how you keep reading my posts
And thanks for referring to me as a forum superstar. It means a lot coming from you, because I can remember when you were a superstar here too.ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante -
Yes I did get your e mail..I didn't respond because it was a given that it's your if you want it.
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The bucket is an inexpensive stainless salad mixing bowl. I drilled the holes and added a bail for easy lifting in and out. The lumpbucket makes cleaning old lump out a snap as well. This would definitely reduce heat and stress to the epoxy no matter which way the fire goes.
Measure the inside of your firebox(top and bottom width, height to firering)and go find a mixing bowl to fit inside those dimensions. Target, Shop Co, Goodwill, BedBathBeyond, those kind of places could have a close fit. And you do want a close fit so you will have room for plenty of lump for the low-n-slows.
A drill and a 1/2" bit can do the job. Smaller holes just mean a few more holes to make up for larger holes.
Expanded metal won't do it, you gotta have a bucket and holes in the bottom where the source of air is.
Happiness is a good rock solid fire...
Good luck, wish I lived down the street from you, I got the tools and beer to get'er done. -
Well...and I say this very loosely " my friend" that is where you are sadly and grossly mistaken...I have never been, nore considered myself a "superstar" don't care to be, never strived to be and most certainly never wanted to be a superstar...I'm a redneck backyard cooker that believes in a good product and tries to help others learn to enjoy what I enjoy...I don't come on this forum posting under fake names like you and your friends do....and I always call it like I see it....if I'm wrong I apologize...bad advice does noone any good...and since you didn't want to resolve this man to man we are left here airing our differences on a public forum...no love lost..get off my ass..
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very crafty and creative. Plus the price was right!Large and Small BGE * www.quelfood.com
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Zip,
Nice job, man. If you will ever need to 'v' it out, a Dremmel tool would handle the job and is a very handy tool to have around. -
cant tell from the pic of the band, is the handle bracket welded or bolted on. welded was the old original mexican bands, mine used to break springs, bge eventually sent me a new replacement band, lots of problems with those bandsfukahwee maineyou can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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Great project Zip
I will be giving that wing method a try
Shane -
Are those Kingsford briquets in the back ground???
Good work on the egg Marc -
On advice from the master fabricator himself (that’d be Clay Q), I ordered a 12 quart stainless steel salad bowl & drilled some holes in it (only the bottom, on his advice). Purpose is to act as a heat barrier between the burning lump & the compromised box, as well as for convenience:
Didn’t buy a new grate, rather, borrowed the grid from the mini, fits beautifully:
Popped the bucket in:
Some lump:
This is where it got weird. We haven’t had a drop of rain in weeks, it’s been hot & nasty though. When I went out to fire this thing up to do the test burn, I noticed some dark clouds rolling in but didn’t think much of it. As I lit the chimney, it got really dark & the wind started blowing strong. A few minutes later when the chimney was smoking away, so was the storm. As I was dumping the lit lump into the Franken Egg, it was a full-on storm complete with lightening, high wind, & rain. It is most certainly ALIVE :ohmy: :ohmy: :ohmy:
Anyway, after dumping in the lit lump, it took about 5 minutes to reach 250, I dialed the lower damper to about ¼ inch & she held 250 on the dot for over an hour. I then opened the door to about a 1/2 inch bringing the temp up to 300 & held it steady for a while then shut it down. Tomorrow I will assess the condition of all the welds, in addition to the salad bowl.
Saturday, we cookhappy in the hut
West Chester Pennsylvania
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