Feet or no feet..... that is the question.

GeorgeS · March 2014

So I looked at a lot of other peoples tables while researching to build my Egg home. I saw many eggs directly on a piece of slate or tile of some kind and decided to do the same with mine. It's rests on landscaping stone that is nice and level. When I posted in the table section I recieved lots of positive feed back but a lot of people said that I should put my egg in a table nest and I'm not sure why. I also thought about using the egg feet if I really need to get it up off the stone but BGE doesn't make them any more, why? I feel like it gets better support if the whole bottom of the egg is resting on something. Please give me some input so I can figure if I need to change this up.

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Rockosteel · March 2014

Are you planning on cleaning it out with a wet/dry vac? The lip in front of your lower vent looks as if clean out will be an issue - might be a reason for use of a nest

mimauler · March 2014

I wouldn't change anything it's resting on stone which will not catch on fire. The only other reason I could think of would be to get an air circulation in there and doesn't seem to be any need for that. My opinion is leave it.

GeorgeS · March 2014

Rockosteel said:
Are you planning on cleaning it out with a wet/dry vac? The lip in front of your lower vent looks as if clean out will be an issue - might be a reason for use of a nest

That piece is temporary. I sealed the cracks of the stone with polymer sand and I haven't built the face frame yet. I needed something to keep the sand in place.

calracefan · March 2014

Air gap is your friend, the heat from your egg that is in direct contact will transfer to the stone, it can the transfer from the stone to surrounding wood. Some cooks are long ,I think it better to be safe than sorry !

mimauler · March 2014

I may be completely wrong but I would think it would take a very long time at a very hot temp for the stone to combust the wood.

GeorgeS · March 2014

calracefan said:
Air gap is your friend, the heat from your egg that is in direct contact will transfer to the stone, it can the transfer from the stone to surrounding wood. Some cooks are long ,I think it better to be safe than sorry !

I will have to do an experimental burn I think and check the wood
Under the stone after a really long burn. The stone is a little over 2" thick.

Does anyone know why BGE stopped making the feet? There are some other people making them. Are there any support issues with using the feet? There wouldn't be any support for the bottom of the egg if I used those.

lousubcap · March 2014

I use a nest but FWIW I am in the air-gap camp. You may not see the heat effects in the short-term but over time the wood will dry out and either the BGE loses the fight to gravity or a slow smoldering fire will start.

WRT feet-BGE went to some sort of stand to support the BGE in lieu of the feet. Ditch the feet and charge for the stand-more $$ for corporate-just an opinion...

Wolfpack · March 2014

I think @centex - his table caught on fire with a stone underneath. I would at a minimum use the egg feet- I would lean towards the little nest lifters. Not worth burning down the house.

GeorgeS · March 2014

Lousubcap are you saying the feet are ok they just found the table nest more profitable? I don't really want to raise the egg any as it's at the perfect height for me. The feet would be the better option for me if I need to make a change as long as it doesn't create an issue with support for the bottom of the egg.

DMW · March 2014

I wonder if the lack of support for the center of the Egg is the reason they went away from the feet and to the table nest. Just a theory, but perhaps they had issues with the base failing and it was because of lack of support for the center.

lousubcap · March 2014

@GeorgeS-the feet did fine for the history of the BGE until around two years ago, so I'm guessing they will do fine now. Hopefully some who use the feet for their BGE table setup will be along.

R2Egg2Q · March 2014

Here's a read about the effects on heat transferred from the Egg through a paver to the wood below: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/eggbase/eggbase.htm

Feet were never intended for XL Eggs. BGE did not provide them for XLs. I recall reading something about too much unsupported area potentially leading to damage to the Egg bottom.

Skiddymarker · March 2014

DMW said:

I wonder if the lack of support for the center of the Egg is the reason they went away from the feet and to the table nest. Just a theory, but perhaps they had issues with the base failing and it was because of lack of support for the center.

Don't think the issue with feet was lack of support in the center of the egg, the table best really only supports on the four contact points. Like many here, air gap is your friend. I'd get a gap in there - not today, but maybe next year. The table nest makes it ideal to rake ash out, a standard foil pan will slide right under.

Cookinbob · March 2014

I did the table nest over ceramic tiles. You should be fine temp wise though, especially if your stone is 2" thick.

Clean out can be an issue though as @skiddymarker said. Though I can easily get the pan in on mine, I usually remove the grate and clean out with a dustpan. To my way of thinking the ash tool is a pain in the A**

GeorgeS · March 2014

I haven't had any issues with ash clean out. I use my fireplace shovel and it fits right through the hole. I might just turn my nest into a table nest. Maybe I could just cut off the legs. I was going to use like 6 of the large terra cotta pot feet. So does the table nest give more base support than the feet would?

Duranhler · March 2014

FWIW - My XL in the nest, contacts only on the leg contact points. The center support does not contact the center of the egg.

GeorgeS · March 2014

Duranhler said:
FWIW - My XL in the nest, contacts only on the leg contact points. The center support does not contact the center of the egg.

Just checked and verified the same thing. The egg only rests on about 1-1/2" of the nest frame. There is no contact in the middle of the nest so I see no reason why I couldn't use the terra cotta pot rests I was planning to use.

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Zmokin · March 2014

I would recommend the use of the nest or the feet if you still have them. I don't think there is a need to support from the center, in fact supporting in just the center would be more likely to cause the egg to crack, the weight of the egg is transferred to the outer edges of the bottom, not the center unless that is the only point of contact.

henapple · March 2014

Stone conducts heat. I've seen post here of the wood underneath scorched.

calracefan · March 2014

mimauler said:

I may be completely wrong but I would think it would take a very long time at a very hot temp for the stone to combust the wood.

Do you really want to take the chance ? There have been posts in the past of burnt tables , most of which sit close to their home.

EggHeadinFlorida · March 2014

I had a piece of tile under my XL and after about 10 cooks I heard a loud POP.. Well, the tile cracked in about 4 pieces from the heat. After that, I spent the $25 and got the nest for her. Life is much better with airflow under the BGE.

GeorgeS · March 2014

I installed six of these under the egg today.

HDmstng · March 2014

Not sure what the size of the feet are, but the surface area of the nest that comes in contact with the bottom of the egg looks to be much greater. That bigger area will better distribute the pressure.

GeorgeS · March 2014

HDmstng said:
Not sure what the size of the feet are, but the surface area of the nest that comes in contact with the bottom of the egg looks to be much greater. That bigger area will better distribute the pressure.

Check up a little on the post. I put up a picture of the nest base. The egg is only in contact with the nest in four spots and it's a little over 1" x 1-1/2" at each spot. The pot feet are 1" x 1-3/4". They are actually about a 1/4" longer. I also used 6 of them which should give me better support than the nest.

Tigers34 · March 2014

I am resting my large egg on top of 3 fire bricks that sit on top of a stone paver. It seems to allow good air flow.

Carolina Q · March 2014

George, I would be at least as concerned about the wood surrounding the egg as about the underside. Eggs get very hot - especially in an enclosed space. Yours appears to be on a deck which I assume is attached to your house. Sure would be a shame...

I used to have mine on a small wood deck attached to my house. After seeing a few photos of what can happen, I moved it to a patio (pavers on the ground). For example...

Lit's table

LS's house

Poolman's table

Fish's table (2" thick)

lowercase bill's mini

And then there's the roof (pic from a post by Hotrodden)

Not trying to be an alarmist, though I guess it seems that way. Just want folks to think about this stuff! Ask Steve how much fun he had with his insurance company.

Be safe!

GeorgeS · March 2014

I installed some feet yesterday. I am definitely not looking to talk with the insurance man any time soon. Those are very scary pictures! The fire stack is pretty crazy!! How hot was the grill pumping I wonder? I also had the grill up at 550-600 two weeks ago for about 2.5 hours cooking pizza and dogs. I checked both the wood walls and the ceiling and nothing was hot enough to be concerned about. The walls weren't even warm, the ceiling was warm but not hot at all.

Feet or no feet..... that is the question.

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