What am I doing wrong with this egg?

robla103 · May 2014

I have had my Large egg for over a year and my experience has been hit and miss with grilling and smoking.

What's crazy is I have a friend who's egg is about 2 years old and I cook on it all the time with him and I do not experience the same performance on mine. It's like my egg is a lemon.

I suspect my major issue is airflow, but I ensure my pit is cleaned of all ash, I know i'm using dry royal oak charcoal. I use a looflighter to light the pit in several spots. My gasket is in good condition, I never see any smoke leak out, and the dollar test provides plenty of drag all around the pit. I also calibrated my temp gauge in boiling water recently. So i'm wondering if its the fire ring, fire box, or draft door that's causing my issues.

An example was I did a pork butt the other day I got the pit up to 320, put the plate setting in, and the temp dropped down to about 160 took 30 mins for it to get back up to smoking temps and the meat was not even on. I also used a full firebox of lump and after 12 hours of smoking most of the lump was burnt to ash I had hardly any left over.

Another issue recently was with burgers, temp gauge said about 500, and when i opened the pit i see a faint glow but no real flames, the burgers came out looking grey and no grill marks. I used fresh ground meat so its not the food quality.

On my friends pit when we grill he has a nice flame that chars the food and he gets good smoke output. On mine I hardly have any smoke when grilling, on my weber kettle I get more smoke lately.

I really love the egg, and I'm by no means bashing it, maybe its operator error and I would love any tips and tricks to maybe figure out what I'm doing wrong.

Thanks everyone.

SoCalTim · May 2014

Just a thought. Maybe you could invite your friend over to let him cook on your BGE, see what heppens.

lousubcap · May 2014

First up-welcome aboard (I will refrain from the enjoy the journey piece until you get running right.)

You are likely going down the right path with addressing air-flow since it sounds like everything else you have checked. When you mention clean pit-have you removed the fire ring and fire box and cleaned behind them? At the risk of the obvious, is the fire box opening aligned with the screen opening?

Your described temperature behavior when loading the platesetter is not unusual, although many will recommend catching your low&slow temp on the way up to the cook temp.

With your burger temperature drill-not too out-of-the-ordinary since when you initially light the lump on a direct cook, the dome thermo will see the radiant heat from the lump and start to climb quite quickly. Then things start to slow down as the mass of ceramic has to come up to temp as well. Rushing a hot and fast cook with the ceramics still relatively cool will impact the cook.

With good air-flow and dry lump lit, you should get a flaming fire going (size of fire depends on time with high air-flow) regardless of whether low&slow or hot and fast as the final objective. Make sure your screen holes are clear. And check your dome thermo one more time.

Thanks about the eggstent of info I can offer. You know it can work and it will.

BigGreenBamaGriller · May 2014

One of your issues can be remedied pretty easily, which @lousubcap eluded to. When you plan to do a low and slow, put the plate setter in once you get the fire going well. If you wait until the egg warms up, the "cold" plate setter will absorb a lot of that heat; causing the issue you mentioned.

xiphoid007 · May 2014

+1 on checking around the base of the firebox. You can amass quite a bit of ash there.

Also, what firegrate do you have? I switched to the hique and have much less problems with air flow and dropping temps.

Also, make sure your dome thermo is calibrated. You can knock it out of whack if you get too hot on a high temp cook. You can use boiling water as a standard (depending on your elevation) to calibrate.

Also make sure when you cook big hunks o critter that the thermo isn't stabbing your food. That will throw off temps biggtime as well.

saluki2007 · May 2014

The first thing I would check is to make sure your fire box opening is aligned with the bottom vent.

Little Steven · May 2014

Also, are you using the same amount of lump as your friend? 12 hours is not a good run. Could it be that he is filling to the top of the fire ring and you are not? That would explain the 500* and no grill marks because your lump is further away from the meat.

robla103 · May 2014

Thanks for the fast feedback. When I clean out the egg i take all the parts out, put the shop vac to suck up all the ashes. When i put the fire box back i make sure the slit lines up dead center of the draft door.

I'm also using the cast iron firegrate that came with the egg. I put the bevel side down. On mine the firegrate never really sits snug on the fire ring. No matter what position and how i turn it sometimes it will tilt when I rack the coals ash can build up under neath or else creep off so much the lump starts falling down.

Also does your temp gauge climb in temp rapidly? I'll light the lump with the lid open, draft door wide open, and no dual function top for about 10 mins, when I close the lid and leave the draft door about half to 1/3 open the temp gauge slowly rises to about 270 and then will slowly creep up to 400-500ish. On some of the videos on youtube and on here its like the guage moves rather quickly when its hot.

jhl192 · May 2014

You are heading down the right path with the advice so far. Airflow and QTY of lump. The only other thought that has not yet been mentioned is lump size. The smaller the size pieces the less airflow. It will still burn well but take longer. Patience and the knowledge that since you have no cracks or gaps, this can be remedied. Keep us updated as to your progress.

robla103 · May 2014

On my draft door if I slide the screen all the way to the left and I open the door to the right if I go to far it will actually slip past the screen door. I have to physically push the screen slide back and slide the stainless cover on top of it to re seat on the track.

Not sure if others have that issue I cant see how this would affect performance, but I'm trying to rule out everything.

LPcreation · May 2014

robla103 said:

" When i put the fire box back i make sure the slit lines up dead center of the draft door. "

Do you literally mean "slits"? Unless we have different versions of the egg/firebox, those "slits" should be 1 big opening.

henapple · May 2014

It's probably the Royal Oak. .. >:)

grill4us · May 2014

I'm kinda new here, so I probably should not add my 2 cents, but I don't light the lump in several spots. I use a single fire starter, place it in the middle of the lump, and light it. I've had good results with that.

Mattman3969 · May 2014

LPcreation said:

robla103 said:

" When i put the fire box back i make sure the slit lines up dead center of the draft door. "

Do you literally mean "slits"? Unless we have different versions of the egg/firebox, those "slits" should be 1 big opening.

I think he is talking about the " control" slit that is in the newer firebox to keep it from breaking. It allows for expansion.

Cookinbob · May 2014

I have an XL, not a large, so a different animal, but I think I see a couple of points here. I agree with BigGreeenBamaGriller, once you light the fire, put the plate setter and grid in place and let everything come up to temp. When the smoke is clear, put the meat on. I would not worry about putting meat on before the egg is to temp either as long as there is no white smoke.

If doing a low and slow, I would start the fire in 1-2 places, and catch it on the way up. If cooking direct or at higher temps, start in more places.

If you want a raging fire to sear, leave the lid open. That will cure any air flow issues, but wear your gloves.

You are concerned about the amount of lump burned in 12 hours at 320. The higher the temp, the faster the lump burns. Again, I do not have a large, but 12 hours at 320 may be pretty normal. I would expect it to go much longer or have much more lump left at 225.

buzd504 · May 2014

robla103 said:

On my draft door if I slide the screen all the way to the left and I open the door to the right if I go to far it will actually slip past the screen door. I have to physically push the screen slide back and slide the stainless cover on top of it to re seat on the track.

Mine does that without causing an issue.

How much lump are you loading? It sounds like you need to fill it up.

ElCapitan · May 2014

Everyone covered most aspects I think. I did see where you said you were at 500 degrees and looked and didn't see a fire. Have you calibrated your thermometer? That much of a mismatch makes me wonder if you have a dependable measurement.

KenfromMI · May 2014

Lousubcap, had to laugh at your obvious comment. I was so excited when I got my egg home (partial build at store so I could lift it easier) I threw it together, cooked on it about 6 times, slid the door open to see how much ash lump produces and no hole. I was like hmmm, WTF. Dissasembled, covered in charcoal ash etc and realized there was a cut out in the fire box LOL. Worked great regardless. It now sits properly.

robla103 · May 2014

Here's an update from a burger cook lastnight. The burgers came out decent, not excellent.

I put the temp gauge in boiling water and confirmed it was reading correctly

I cleaned out the egg and filled it up with a new bag of royal oak all the way up to bottom of the fire ring. .

I was cooking around 400-430 degrees and I noticed something new that I have never seen. I had smoke coming out the top, and it was also coming out the draft door screen. At one point it was in sync it would blow out the top, suck in and blow out the bottom. It randomly would blow out the top and bottom during the whole cook. It's not like it was a hurricane outside and the wind was blowing maybe 10mph.

I know some people complain about royal oak but, I been having issues getting the green egg lump at my local dealer so I gave up on them and get royal oak instead.

jhl192 · May 2014

Very strange. Its hard to mess with the laws of nature. Fire needs oxygen, fuel/lump and a spark to burn; and hot air rises. The solution is in one of those two statements. Are you sure you don't live in the Bermuda Triangle?

buzd504 · May 2014

robla103 said:

I know some people complain about royal oak but, I been having issues getting the green egg lump at my local dealer so I gave up on them and get royal oak instead.

Royal Oak makes BGE lump, so they're the same thing.

robla103 · May 2014

jhl192 said:

Very strange. Its hard to mess with the laws of nature. Fire needs oxygen, fuel/lump and a spark to burn; and hot air rises. The solution is in one of those two statements. Are you sure you don't live in the Bermuda Triangle?

Haha well put, I think my Egg is possessed

bbqlearner · May 2014

Maybe it will help if you post some pics so we can help decipher the issues? I've never had problem with RO grilling burgers so not sure what's going on with the egg. Sounds like airflow problem - have you ever tried leaving one side of the egg not filled with charcoal to help with airflow?

Philly35 · May 2014

Make sure the opening of the firebox is in line with the draft door.

Little Steven · May 2014

robla103 said:

Here's an update from a burger cook lastnight. The burgers came out decent, not excellent.

I put the temp gauge in boiling water and confirmed it was reading correctly

I cleaned out the egg and filled it up with a new bag of royal oak all the way up to bottom of the fire ring. .

I was cooking around 400-430 degrees and I noticed something new that I have never seen. I had smoke coming out the top, and it was also coming out the draft door screen. At one point it was in sync it would blow out the top, suck in and blow out the bottom. It randomly would blow out the top and bottom during the whole cook. It's not like it was a hurricane outside and the wind was blowing maybe 10mph.

I know some people complain about royal oak but, I been having issues getting the green egg lump at my local dealer so I gave up on them and get royal oak instead.

You are saying "bottom of the fire ring" go to the top of the fire ring. It isn't wasted lump.

Canugghead · May 2014

robla103 said:
... I use a looflighter ...
... Another issue recently was with burgers, temp gauge said about 500, and when i opened the pit i see a faint glow but no real flames ..

Based on the two clues quoted, here's my two cents ...

From experience I know that if Looftlighter is "touching" the lumps for prolonged period, I end up with super hot fire underneath and relatively unlit lumps on top, so the fire is literally buried ... if you peek through the lower vent you'll probably see red hot glow, but flame is barely visible from the top. In other words, the unlit lumps on top is choking the inferno underneath. Adding a significant layer of fresh lumps over the fire without stirring will have the same effect. By the time the fire struggled to register the dome thermometer reading desired, you've wasted a lot of lump already, that would explain why you ran out of lump after 12 hours even at 250'ish.

Try this next time .... light a small amount of lumps in a chimney starter, or a coffee/metal can, pour the lit lumps over the unlit lumps in the egg (spread out for high temp cook; in one or two small piles for low and slow)....

Hope this helps, please keep us updated!

robla103 · July 2014

For those who care I figured I would post an update. My egg works awesome now, I did the following things so not sure if it did anything or the Egg God's finally shined down on me.

I installed some Egg mates, so I took off the bands and the Dome lid and I figured Id start from scratch. I moved the egg bottom a little bit over in the Nest so the Draft door was slightly more center. I also found that the 4 draft door screws were very loose. A few turns and they are nice and tight. When my Egg was acting up I noticed a small under bite on the front. The Mothership said as long as smoke does not escape don't worry about the top and bottom lining up perfectly.

However, I was able to get the dome and base to line up properly where I have no noticeable under or over bite.

I notice now I have tons of lump left over between cooks. I suspect when I was having issues my fire was more smoldering than burning clean.

Thanks guys for all the support and encouragement to keep trying.

mshump · July 2014

That is great news !! Now enjoy some awesome cooks !!

lousubcap · July 2014

Most eggcellent-thanks for taking the time for the update.

llrickman · July 2014

I know this sounds crazy but my dad had the same problem with his LBGE after talking to the distributor a few times they told him he had the fire grate upside down and for some reason it was restricting airflow.

He turned it over and has not had a problem in 4 or 5 years since

i told him i dont think it would matter which way it was put in but the distributor told him it did and it seemed to fix his problem and he always uses Ozark Oak

JerseyTex · July 2014

A photo of the fire great would be a big help.

What am I doing wrong with this egg?

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