Shutting Down Egg with Food Inside - advice

My first try on steaks I shut it down last couple minutes - I had the top and bottom closed tight.  I burped it, but when I opened it BIG FLARE UP!  Scared me and I let the top drop.  I then opened the top, let the smoke come out for a few seconds, then burped it.  Worked great as it should!

well.  i'll say in my experience it depends what you are cooking.  i used to get really sooty fat on a ribeye, and chicken, when i tried to shut down and leave the food in there.  the fat drips, and lands on a dying fire.  the ft doesn't burn cleanly. like a candle wick just blown out, it smolders. incomplete combustion.

it's the same reason starter cubes can affect the taste if they snuff out and smoke badly.  and it's the  same reason putting food on too early can be a problem. unclean smoke.

a tenderloin doesn't have the same amount of fat, and that's less an issue.  but still, your fire is being choked, and that smoke (it still burns after the vents are shut) is the product of incomplete combustion. heavy with soot. worse if there's fat.

i didn't notice it until was at the point where i started to understand the differences between steaks themselves. heck, never knew tenderloin from strip or rib eye.  but after a while of cooking on the egg, things started to be clearer, and i could taste that less-than-desirable fatty soot from the 'dwell' period.

For the reasons Stike mentioned, I don't do it.  I'll leave the DW holes open and the bottom open an 1/8 - 1/4".  This doesn't add much additional heat as the settings would not hold more than 200-225*  I slide the bottom open 2" and count to 5 before opening the lid to reduce the chance of flash.

Thank you for the replies everyone.  It sounds like a lot may depend on whether there are still drippings from fat coming off the meat that may be hitting the lit charcoal.  I appreciate all the opinions.

Thanks

Brock

If there is not still fat coming off and hitting the charcoal, you have way overlooked your food

More important. Burp that egg. If you don't know why; you will soon.

So true. I ended up on the ground doing that exact same thing a few years ago. No harm no foul but I did have to invoke the 5 second rule off the patio for the dolt who wanted their steak well done >:)

Whoooooomp! I'll never forget that noise as long as I live.

ain't the air being hot that is the issue.  it's the starved fire. like a drowning man, it is choking and desperate for air.  if you provide it, the small fire will provide the spark for a ball of flame, as the pent up energy and heated air, smoke particles, etc. all develop into a flashover

i never snuff the egg with food in it anyway. but a flashover can happen under a few slightly different circumstances.

i think it's a soot issue, fwiw.  'smokey' can be too much or too little, but usually always 'good' at some point.  'soot' is always bad.

yeah. gotcha. these thingsare death traps!
)
watch for steam, too.  if you do a lot of veggies (we do), you can get a much worse burn if you get a facefull of steam.

Burp it with an oven mitt or welding gloves.........that is some hot air due to the lack of exhaust.

I had that happen once.  Had been shut down for a while and a guest wanted to see inside.  No fireball, but I did feel my hands starting to cook.

Seriously, open the vents first for a few seconds.  If there is a fire danger, you'll hear the woosh of air rushing in and know to wait a moment before burping the egg.