Newbie and regulating heat

that bottom vent can be closed about 75 percent more, top daisy almost shut. we used to shoot for 220 dome and the bottom vent was open the thickness of a credit card

Its the airflow to the lump that determines the temperature. 2 exceptions. Some fires burn straight down in a column and die when they hit the bottom grate, leaving plenty of lump along the sides. The other is if there is only a tiny amount left to burn.

For low cooks, 250 and lower, its not uncommon top have both the top and bottom closed to mere cracks. And in some cases, the gasket seal isn't quite tight, in which case it can be impossible to extinguish the fire.

amount of lump really has no effect on the temp, unless it gets going too hot and then it will take a while to throttle back.

if your temp is too high, it's always because your vents are too open.  even when you think they aren't.

250 for me is a sliver of the lower vent, much less than a quarter inch

I'm making note to share this with my husband.  He did a pretty good job at maintaining the ~250 this weekend, but this has good information that could be helpful in the future. 

Thanks, everyone!

BYS1981 said:

 . . . for whatever reason the mods are against sticky threads.

?  Sticky threads? 

josefsj said:

... I love the idea of not opening the vents up wide open at first, let the coal heat up with minimal airflow at first.  Makes sense as getting the temp up higher makes it more difficult to bring back down...

Depending on what you mean, I might encourage you to modify that a bit.

• Yes, you want to avoid overshooting the temp, because the BGE takes a long time to cool down.
• But no, you wouldn't want to light the fire and immediately cut the vent down to only open a tiny bit.  I usually light the fire, open the bottom vent full (including the screen), take the top vent off completely, and then keep an eye on the temp.  When it starts approaching my target temp, THEN I close the vents down to what I'm guessing the final setting will be, and I keep watching the temp until it's settled down and stable.

I've had a couple of instances when I didn't quite get the lump going well enough, and mostly closed vents choked the small fire. Even had to re-ignite a few times.

My work flow is usually get 3 spots going, leave the bottom open, and the daisy off. Go inside and start the prep, or whatever. Wait 10 min, go back out and adjust the vents as appropriate to the situation. Fresh lump, lots of wood, set the vents to produce about 300 F. and expect to adjust again as the smoke clears. Used lump, and/or long prep, or forgot an ingredient and need to run to the store, set to 250.

Theophan said:

Darby_Crenshaw said:

if i am running on yesterday's lump, and don't need to burn anything off, i just set vents for 250 and walk away after lighting it.

it really takes me no longer this way, and i can go inside and prep the food.  when i come out, the BGE is pegged at 250

Amazing.  I admit I've never tried it, so what do I know, but it just seemed obvious that the fire would grow more quickly if there were plenty of air available.  What's obvious ain't always what's true, though...

think about a stable 250 fire.  one that is steady for a couple hours.

it is as big as it is ever going to get. and it was never bigger than it is now. when it was getting as large as it needed to be to hold 250, it was growing and drawing more and more air as it needed, but still never as much as when it hit 250, right?

and when it got to a point where the narrow slot limited the air, the fire stopped growing.

which means it couldn't have been at a point where it could have grown any faster than it did. the lower vent being narrowed to 250 from the very beginning wasn't restricting any incoming air flow until the fire was at full size.

which means until the fire is choked by the narrow opening, the growing (not yet 250 fire) is already drawing as much as it can.  it can't use any more.

fire starter materials, which throw a lot of flame early but then die off, well, you might want the vents more open for that.  but my napkin/oil burns off quick.  i shut the dome and set vents and head inside.

i do the same for 350-400

I've owned my egg since February and been cooking on kamados for 3 years. One thing you might want to try if you have a chance is to make a chart for target temps. Say 250,300,350,400,450,500 and above. Start at the lowest temp and work your way up. When lighting I personally use a torch. For low and slow I get a spot about the size of a softball or so glowing in the center. Put indirect piece in. At this time vents are wide open. When you know you are lit good enough shut the dome and cut lower vent down to half closed. After a few minutes temp will climb and you can close lower vent some more. I usually go half the amount the vent is open. When nearing target temp; say 50 degrees under you shut down even more. Finally you should be at your temp. At this point you can start closing the petals in the daisy wheel to about half open. And dial down a little more to fine adjust! Big adjustments made to the lower vent and small with the daisy wheel. When I'm at 250 degrees my lower vent setting is like above. Not much more than a credit card. And lastly don't chase the temp around. If it's close its fine. Make small adjustments and wait a while! Play around and you will get the hang of it!