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Pizza Party Semi Fail

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Meathead1974
Meathead1974 Posts: 69
in EggHead Forum

Hi Everyone.

I hosted a make your own pizza night using my LBGE.  The day started early when I went to prep my egg around 1:00 and I discovered my egg frozen shut.  I unfroze it with some starter cubes and a hairdryer.  When I was able to get it open my stock gasket became separated somewhat on a small portion of the egg.  Not having time to do anything about it, I just patted it down and figured I'd make do.  When cooking I didn't notice any heat escaping so I figured that was fine.

We had about 10 people show up and I fired the egg up and brought it to 600.  It took a long time and while we had about 10 pizzas to cook.  The temp fluctuated between 550 and 600 for the first 7.  Then the temp started to decline and I couldn't keep it over 500 and for the last pizza it got down to about 400 despite me having both the bottom vent open and pulling the daisy wheel off.

I need to go out and clean up but I'm not sure what happened unless the air holes in the firebox got clogged.  It was "chilly" out around 20 degrees but nothing the egg shouldn't be able to handle for 10 pizzas right?  The good news was that all the guests got some nice pizzas.....me on the other hand, not so much.

Any ideas / suggestions are appreciated.

Fort Mill, SC
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Comments

  • Boileregger
    Boileregger Posts: 614
    edited January 2015
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    How much lump was left? Doing that many pizzas at that temp you probably ran out of fuel or at least not enough to hold that temp. The egg can hold those temps but it burns a lot of charcoal to do so.
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  • Chubbs
    Chubbs Posts: 6,929
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    Has nothing to do with gasket. I haven't had a gasket for 3 years. How ling was egg running at 550-600? Like above it was likely a fuel issue. I would have had that thing filled up to top of fire ring for that many pizzas at that temp. How much lump you use?
    Columbia, SC --- LBGE 2011 -- MINI BGE 2013
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  • Meathead1974
    Meathead1974 Posts: 69
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    I need to go check what was left. I filled it just below the top. It always looks too full to me. I will post what I had left...
    Fort Mill, SC
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  • Black_Badger
    Black_Badger Posts: 1,182
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    I'm with @Chubbs here, I'm guessing you ran out of lump, or that the lit lump extinguished without lighting the (likely small) remainder. Sometimes a quick stor can solve that later problem, but it's not always convenient to do mid-cook.

    Strongly consider replacing the original gasket with a Rutland. @RRP can likely help you out there.

    All in all those pizzas look great, so I'd say this was mostly a big success (at least from what I can see).


    Cheers -
    B_B
    Finally back in the Badger State!

    Middleton, WI
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  • Tinyfish
    Tinyfish Posts: 1,755
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    Are you using the stock charcoal grate? Maybe the air holes got plugged up with ash. A stir mid way or go through the bottom vent with your wiggle rod. Better yet you can up grade the OEM grate with an aftermarket one. Depending on what size Egg you have you have some choices. High Que, Fish Bones and even some Weber charcoal grates.
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  • SkinnyV
    SkinnyV Posts: 3,404
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    Another tip for a pizza party , I did one and had dual pizzas going one on the egg one in the oven.
    I made 8 large pizzas fairly quickly , had a few in the warming drawer then started feeding once 4 were ready and finished the rest. Worked out great.
    Seattle, WA
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  • Meathead1974
    Meathead1974 Posts: 69
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    After cleaning up, that's what it was....I ran out of lump. So when y'all say fill up the firebox should I go higher than the first section like up towards the grooves where the platesetter sits?
    Fort Mill, SC
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  • Ladeback69
    Ladeback69 Posts: 4,482
    edited January 2015
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    You can take it all the way up to the top of the fire ring which sits on top of the fire box. If you did legs down you should have a lot of room for lump. I always load it up, it can be used later. That's why you had troubles. Same goes for L&S cooks
    XL, WSM, Coleman Road Trip Gas Grill

    Kansas City, Mo.
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  • Black_Badger
    Black_Badger Posts: 1,182
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    Yep, it happens to all (well, many) of us when we get started with these silly (awesome) things!

    You can fill the fire box up almost all the way to the grid. If you're using a Woo or spider you'll obviously need to use less.

    Cheers -
    B_B
    Finally back in the Badger State!

    Middleton, WI
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  • Boileregger
    Boileregger Posts: 614
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    That's what I thought. Just be careful when you're that hot with the egg that full. I seem to have more flashbacks when I have a higher load of lump. Always burp.
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  • Jerald
    Jerald Posts: 46
    edited January 2015
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    Well.....Guess what we are making tonight?   I can only take credit for putting it on the grill.  My wife is a Magician in the kitchen.   

    Does three count as a Party?  We (the family) sure do have fun with this.


    To keep to temp for several pizzas - We use a lot of coal... fill er up.  I use a DigiQ to stoke the fire and keep to temp.  I never raise the top until it is time to take off.  This is probably not safe, but I leave the top daisy wheel off and use a flash light to look inside until the edges turn the color I want, and then I take it off quickly and add the next pizza.

    Also, if you use a thinner crust, it cooks quicker. 
    Bub - Flower Mound, Texas.  
     
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