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

Takes a long time to get up to temp

Options
chad408
chad408 Posts: 140
edited May 2012 in EggHead Forum
I have notices that it takes my egg a long time to get up to temp. Some people say their egg is ready and no time and take mine like 30 mins to get to 300 it seems like. I cleaned the whole thing out before I started my last cook and still took forever. Not sure what i am doing wrong. I light it with a heat gun which get the coals going really fast and then close the lid. Am i doing everything right.
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • Shiff
    Shiff Posts: 1,835
    Options
    Do you open the bottom vent all the way when it is starting?
    Large BGE
    Barry, Lancaster, PA
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,341
    Options
    Another of those "everyone has an opinion topics" and whatever works since the BGE is so flexible-my experience: a.  If I'm doing a high temp cook I will light in two or three places at the bottom of the lump load-then load the lump up to the height of the rest.  I go with the bottom vent around full open and the dome up until I see a good (subjective here) amount of lump burning (probably around 10 mins +/-) then shut the dome and start with DFMT wide open.  As temp comes up set the vents, don't really time it but it works...For low&slow-I light in one spot around bottom center of the lump then add more lump as above.  Dome and vents as above-once I see about an orange sized amount of lump fully involved shut dome and set the DFMT and lower vent. 
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
    Options
    Another of those "everyone has an opinion topics" and whatever works since the BGE is so flexible-my experience: a.  If I'm doing a high temp cook I will light in two or three places at the bottom of the lump load-then load the lump up to the height of the rest.  I go with the bottom vent around full open and the dome up until I see a good (subjective here) amount of lump burning (probably around 10 mins +/-) then shut the dome and start with DFMT wide open.  As temp comes up set the vents, don't really time it but it works...For low&slow-I light in one spot around bottom center of the lump then add more lump as above.  Dome and vents as above-once I see about an orange sized amount of lump fully involved shut dome and set the DFMT and lower vent. 
    +1. Leave the dome open until it gets going


    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Cowdogs
    Cowdogs Posts: 491
    Options
    +2 Dome open for 10 minutes.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • pswarren
    pswarren Posts: 98
    Options
    + 3 on that one ^^^^
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • twlangan
    twlangan Posts: 307
    Options
    There was a post made here within the last week where the Egger said the amount of lump he used had an effect on how quickly his Egg came up to temp. He said that loading the firebox full of lump will restrict air flow and cause slower temp rise. It made sense to me and I plan to test the concept. Just been too busy the last few days to use my Egg to try it out.

    Give the idea a try - if you are planning shorter, medium to high temp cooks, use less lump to see if you can get it up to temp quicker.

    You could also have gotten a bag of lump that contained a lot of small pieces that pack tighter in your fire box, restricting air flow. Next time you load it, hand pick larger pieces to fill the bottom of the fire box and dump smaller pieces on top.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • brentsee
    brentsee Posts: 99
    Options
    There was a post made here within the last week where the Egger said the amount of lump he used had an effect on how quickly his Egg came up to temp. He said that loading the firebox full of lump will restrict air flow and cause slower temp rise. It made sense to me and I plan to test the concept. Just been too busy the last few days to use my Egg to try it out.

    Give the idea a try - if you are planning shorter, medium to high temp cooks, use less lump to see if you can get it up to temp quicker.

    You could also have gotten a bag of lump that contained a lot of small pieces that pack tighter in your fire box, restricting air flow. Next time you load it, hand pick larger pieces to fill the bottom of the fire box and dump smaller pieces on top.



    +1

    I learnt from that too, and it works

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
    Options
    Box full of lump is not an issue. Box full of small lump is harder to get going for sure.
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • njl
    njl Posts: 1,123
    Options
    +2 Dome open for 10 minutes.
    I always figured with the vents open and dome closed, I'd be keeping as much of the generated heat in the egg.  I'll have to try dome open next time.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Cowdogs
    Cowdogs Posts: 491
    Options
    +2 Dome open for 10 minutes.
    I always figured with the vents open and dome closed, I'd be keeping as much of the generated heat in the egg.  I'll have to try dome open next time.


    I see what you are saying.  But as amazing as the egg is, you can't have it both ways ... meaning you can't have fuel effienciency and fast temp changes. 
    If time is important, then you need to get a big fire going before you start perserving heat.  I close dome sooner (4-5 minutes) for a low and slow cook, but if I am looking for 400+ temps then I want to get a lot of coals lit quickly. 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • docbipe
    docbipe Posts: 28
    Options
    I see a lot of the egg liking 'trees' for a quick and long lasting cook. Small stuff has to burn a long time to get good air flow for rising temps.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories