New EGG owner can't keep temperature low??

mdoseck · November 2011

Lifetime Weber grill fan...

Wanted a Green Egg forever and justified XL one this weekend to smoke the Steelhead trout we just caught.

Tried ti dial back the heat to 200-225 but kept raising to 300-325. Shut all vents and it went out.

Fish turned out OK but obviously overcooked.

What am I doing wrong? How can I keep the heat low for prolonged periods of time?

Thanks,

Mike

Ham and Egg · November 2011

Hi Mike - the egg heats up fast, so don't walk away when you get it lit, very hard to bring it back down.

I have a Large egg, and find that to keep it at 200, I shut the vents almost to slivers, top and bottom. The trick is mastering the airflow...the more air, the hotter it gets.

You need to experiment to find the best, but once you get it (and it doesn't take long), you'll find temp control very reliable.

Good luck! How did you do the steelhead?

stike · November 2011

please don't take this as anything other than what it is: an oversimplification.

if it was too high when you had it open, and it went out when you had it shut, then you literally need to be in between those two settings. it's not possible for your egg to be snuffed out simply when the vents are 'almost' closed. closed? yeah, it will go out.

the other issue is hinted at when you say "dial back". never go above your temp. it does no good to get the dome temp up if you want to be at a lower temp. your ceramics will heat up, and the egg will do what you bought it to do: hold temps steady.

ribmaster · November 2011

You got to get ahead of it, Shut it down 30 or 40 degrees before your temp. It will rise and stablize. then adjust to you exact temp. And remember close is good enough. If you get it hot it is gonna stay hot due to the ceramic mass. A 1/4" inch gap at the bottom and sliver at the top will hold a temp.

paulheels · November 2011

Make sure you calibrate your temp gauge. Also I would suggest getting a good temp gauge that will take grate level temps.

There is a 25-50 degree temp dif in the gauge on the dome than the grate temp. That threw me for a loop until I figured out how mine differed.

Hungry Joe · November 2011

It won't take you long to realize how different the ceramics of the egg
are then your "metal kettle". Other then that there is not much I
can add that hasn't been posted already.

onedbguru · November 2011

I, too, have an XL. For low/slow I typically use 1/2 a weber chimney starter full of lump, get it hot, pour it in a pile near the back of the firebox, add additional charcoal to cover it, set the lower vent to ~1/4 inch and petals barely open and let it stablize at ~250 - or whatever.. as others have stated, come up to temp, don't try to bring it down - it will frustrate you to death...

tamany01 · May 2019

I know this is an old post, but probably the best advice I've gotten since I bought my egg. For two years I struggled to bring down the temp to do a low and slow. I fought with it and got so disgusted that I couldn't do it that I put the egg away for a year. I read this thread before I started my egg this morning and I have been maintaining low and slow for 2 hours!!! I am so thrilled!!! Thank you very much for recommending to start it slow rather than having to bring the temp down!!!

OshawaDave · May 2019

FWIW, I set my vent bottom to one "screen" width showing...….just a sliver and the dials wheel the same in order to maintain 225 -250 on my large Egg.

New EGG owner can't keep temperature low??

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