Starting the fire

Mattman3969 · June 2015

I use the Rutlands too. I'll cut it into 4 piece and light in 4 places. Once the flame from the starter is gone I'll shut the dome and wait for the heat.

EggNorth · June 2015

setdahook said:

I mist be the only cheap egger left and go with veg oil soaked napkins just 1 to start up and running by 2nd beer

Same here!

Rusty412 · June 2015

I use a paper towel that is dampened with cooking oil, folded lengthwise. This lights multiple coals across a 10 inch strip. Leave the dome open for 10 minutes or so, until the igniter is completely consumed. I take my ash tool and spread my lit coals around as I want them and set my vent openings. Wait for clear smoke and put your meat on!

njl · June 2015

It all depends on how hard your lump is to get lit, airflow, and how hot you want.

BTW...when you get tired of buying starter cubes, paper towels soaked with bacon fat (i.e. the paper towel you put on a plate to drain your fresh cooked bacon) work just fine as fire starters. I keep a bag of them folded up in the fridge...take one out and use as needed to light the egg.

eggo · June 2015

I use an electric starter while the Weber chimney is starting. Just a little head start for the chimney

mtbguy · June 2015

I use the rutland ones. They work just the same as BGE.

YukonRon · June 2015

Shave off a couple of slivers of C4, things get hot in a hurry. We used that in the service, got things rocking in no time. But since we do not have access to that, I use a chimney from webber. Never has failed.

Steve753 · June 2015

I use the Weber fire starting cubes. They work well, and are inexpensive (24 cubes for around $3.30). For a low and slow, I use two of them buried in the charcoal, wait about ten minutes after lighting, and close the dome. They work very well.

dougcrann · June 2015

Weedburner..even for low & slow...just use it for less time. Mesquite I use does spark quite a bit with the weed burner....will be going back to the chimney and cubes til we are thru the summer...

chadpsualum · June 2015

I use the Looft Lighter. Since it's all I have used I don't have any useful info for comparison but I usually get the lump hot enough in 60-90 seconds (per spot). Once the coals are hot and starting to burn, I'll re-arrange lump, leave the bottom vent wide open and shut the lid with the top wide open. I'll leave it there until I just get to my target. Then I'll shut the bottom vent to where I want it, put the daisy wheel on and give an initial adjustment and wait to see where I line out. Fine tune from there. Usually in 20-25 minutes I can be at whatever temp I'm shooting for.

Rosco902 · June 2015

This is all very interesting. I've used the BGE cubes, and am now onto the weber cubes. I like them better. Seem to burn easier/quicker. I lit then closed the lid. I was worried the temp would get too high if you left the lid open for too long at the start.

So here is a question, how do you stop a rising temp when you've all but closed off the vents?? Did a reverse sear last evening on a steak. Wanted to keep my temp at 275ish. I had maybe a 1/4" on the bottom vent, and maybe somewhat the same for the daisy wheel openings. Yet it still got up to 320ish when I was ready to bump it anyway for the sear.

Suggestions?

SmokingPiney · June 2015

@Rosco902: How hot did you let the fire get before closing the dome and when did you start closing the vents?

I close the dome for low temp cooks right after I get a good light......about 5 minutes or so, and I'll leave the daisy wheel off until I see a good climb in temperature. I then put the daisy wheel on and leave it open until I'm within about 50 degrees of target. Then I'll close the bottom vent a bit to slow the heat-up down.

I usually lead the temperature and start closing the bottom draft a bump at a time when I'm within about 25 degrees of target temp for a slow cook. I keep tweaking it and the daisy wheel until it hits target temp and stabilizes.

I'll admit I'm an Egg newbie, but I've never had an overshoot doing this and I can keep the temp stabilized. Maybe the more experienced Eggers here have a better method.

Rosco902 · June 2015

Honestly, I usually light the cubes, open both vents all the way and close the dome. I havent done any low/slow cooks so usually I start closing things off once they hit 250-300ish, depending on what I'm cooking.

SmokingPiney · June 2015

If I'm shooting for 275, I'll start slowly closing off a bit at a time around 225 - 235 and let it come up slowly so I can stabilize at 275.

xiphoid007 · June 2015

Just because it hasn't been said yet, our at least I haven't read it, you can also throw one starter cube underneath the firebox works great too. As said above, fire burns up. This works great for low and slow as you get a nice gentle fire going. You can also use the oil soaked paper towel like this as well.

Smokeysmokerson · June 2015

Rosco902 said:

Honestly, I usually light the cubes, open both vents all the way and close the dome. I havent done any low/slow cooks so usually I start closing things off once they hit 250-300ish, depending on what I'm cooking.

You haven't done any low and slow cooks? Crank it up!

tisoypops · June 2015

@Rosco902, if you're aiming for 275, try only 1/8" open on bottom vent. Just barely open at all and adjust the daisy wheel from there

Starting the fire

Comments

Categories