Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

Proper use of the daisy wheel

2»

Comments

  • Mighty_Quinn
    Mighty_Quinn Posts: 1,878
    I'm in the no daisy wheel over 300 camp....
  • You're no daisy at all.

    A muslim, a socialist and an illegal immigrant walk into a bar 

    Blogging: Never before have so many with so little to say said so much to so few.

  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    i'm in the 'no lower vent ever' camp.

    :)>-
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Hillbilly-Hightech
    Hillbilly-Hightech Posts: 966
    edited April 2012
    I use both for maintaining my temps, but I 100% agree that you only need one.  The only reason I use both is because that is how I learned, and so it's more of a habit now...

    If I need to adjust the temp up or down, depending on how much adjustment I need, I might adjust more on the top vs the bottom, or more on the bottom vs the top - for me, I don't think I subscribe to a "you need the bottom vent to be set at XX and the Daisy Wheel to be set at YY to achieve ZZ temp" - to me, it's more of a "I know it when I see it" type of thing... by "feel" and EGG-sperience. 

    There are soooo many variables at any given time - "food based" (the type of food, the size / density of the food, the initial temp of the food when you put it on the Egg), "fuel based" (type of lump, how many large pieces vs small, used vs new, whether it's gotten damp or not), "environment based" (how much wind, dry vs rain, cold vs hot, humidity, pressure, altitude) that I don't think you really can give a definitive setup for everyone - it's more of a guide. 

    One of the beautiful things I've noticed and that I love about the Egg, is that the Egg is superb at holding temps, even high ones, w/ what I would consider very small vent openings. 

    There are times, when the wind & other environmental factors are just right, that the Egg is in what I call the "zone" - I can set the bottom vent to only be open, at most, 1/8" to 1/4" and the Daisy Wheel can be shut except for the slightest opening on those little "micro-adjuster" slits, and the Egg will be happily chugging along at say, 400* or so.  Then I can go out an hour later & it's still there, same temp, happily doin' its thing... It's truly amazing!!  :x

    Lastly, in terms of "top vs bottom" - one way that I think of it that's worked for me is to think of it like a car engine - there needs to be proper intake and proper exhaust.  If your air filter is dirty / clogged, you won't get proper intake, and if someone sticks a banana in your tailpipe, you won't get proper exhaust.  Both of those have to work in concert in order to achieve optimal engine performance, so I think of the lower vent as the intake, and the daisy wheel as the exhaust, and it works for me - I have no problems maintaining "low & slow" vs "lava"...

    HTH,
    Rob
    Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup... Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee
  • NightwingXP
    NightwingXP Posts: 448
    I know that air is a fluid. But my explanations have a way of generating 'debate'. Last time i typed that air was a fluid, i received a lecture.

    I am given to generalizations now. Let the engineers hash it out. I'm a conceptualist.
    And a wise one at that! Good emphasis stike!!
    Only 3 things in life matter. Family, Steelers and my BGE!!
  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
    The truth is that only one of the controls is controlling the temp, the one that is letting the least amount of air pass.  If you are cooking something that requires opening the dome a lot then the bottom vent should be the controller.  When I'm cooking indirect at say 350, I leave the bottom vent all the way open and control with the daisy.  -RP
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    well said
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • I sure am glad I swallowed my pride and asked the question. There have been really good exchanges here.
    I finally took the plunge and bought my large Big Green Easter Egg from Roswell Hardware in Roswell, GA 03/31/2012
  • OMG Eggs
    OMG Eggs Posts: 118
    I only use the daisy wheel for 300 degrees or less.  You don't really need it for temps over 300 degrees.

    Same here.  It was liberating when I realized this.
  • Smoker_Guru
    Smoker_Guru Posts: 372
    I sure am glad I swallowed my pride and asked the question. There have been really good exchanges here.


    Rich, I'm really glad you asked the question too. I've pick up some realy good tips from this post also. Thanks,

    Scott

  • I've always used this as a guide.

    http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/746823/x/p1

    I never knew that existed. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
    I finally took the plunge and bought my large Big Green Easter Egg from Roswell Hardware in Roswell, GA 03/31/2012
  • yzzi
    yzzi Posts: 1,843
    I stumbled across a little kink in the hose theory by accident this weekend. While I believe stikes statement is mostly correct and I found that keeping the daisy wheel off actually lets air in the top. I was doing a short smoke and could see smoke coming out from the top as well as smoke circulating back inside. The top chimney is pretty wide so it will allow air some space to flow back in at the same time if your bottom vent is closed most of the way (mine was about a 1/4 inch open at the time I noticed this) . Put the daisy wheel on half covered and temp dropped 75 degrees or so since less air was coming in from the top.
    Dunedin, FL
  • MrCookingNurse
    MrCookingNurse Posts: 4,665
    I'm still a brand new egger but have just not used the daisy wheel yet. Just the bottom vent. Can make it sit anywhere from 300-500 with ease.

    I'm gonna use it tho. Just haven't had the need


    _______________________________________________

    XLBGE