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1st time using - melted part of the gasket

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Justin
Justin Posts: 35
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Just got my large BGE and tried the TRex steaks. They turned out fantastic, except I melted part of the gasket. I lost about 6" from the dome part of the BGE. Guess I got the fire too hot.[p]How much will this matter? Is it worth replacing or should I just wait and see if it makes a difference?[p]Can't wait to make more things!
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  • egret
    egret Posts: 4,170
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    Justin,
    Need a little more info. Where is the breach? On the top gasket only, front, rear? Did you set the egg up? Did you, or whoever set the egg up, do a 'paper test' right after assembly? Is this the large BGE? Any chance of taking a photo of this?
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  • Justin
    Justin Posts: 35
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    egret,[p]Breach is on the front, top gasket only. Right next to the handle.[p]I set the Egg up. It's a large. What's a "Paper Test"?
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  • Flashback Bob
    Flashback Bob Posts: 519
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    Justin,
    You can cook hot stuff without the gazsket at 100%. It's the lower temp stuff that's more difficult. I fused my gasket in the first week, got a replacement within a few days but didn't get around to installing it for a few weeks. Everything cooked fine- just didn't have the same low temp control.
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  • Sigmore
    Sigmore Posts: 621
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    Justin, Did you cook the steaks with the dome open or closed?

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  • egret
    egret Posts: 4,170
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    Justin,
    If the gasket is completely gone in this area, I would replace that one section with a piece of new gasket material. If it's as small a section as you say you'll have a piece left on the roll of replacement gasket material long enough to replace the entire bottom and top gaskets sometime in the future. Make a square cut on each side of the burned area and scrape off the old material. Clean this with denatured alcohol (rubbing can be used), then put the new piece in. If you can't hold the temperature and want to cook before you do this, you can make several folds of aluminum foil to fill this area as a temporary measure. If you don't have any problem holding temps. on low and slow cooks it's not so imperitive to fix it immediately, but, I would certainly do it soon.
    The 'paper test' is done by taking a piece of paper (a dollar bill works well for this) and close the dome with the paper between the top and bottom gaskets. You should feel some resistance which indicates a good seal when you try to pull the paper out. Do this at several locations around the circumference. Normally, the rear of the egg, near the hinge area, will give you less resistance, but you should still get some.....And, normally, when a blowout occurs it's at the rear of the egg where the resistance is less. Just wondering if you had the dome closed when you did the TRex method!?
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  • Justin
    Justin Posts: 35
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    egret,[p]I did have the dome closed when I was searing the steaks. It was only open long enough for me to put them on and flip them. Temp might have been too high. The thermometer was at its highest, so it was somewhere north of 750 degrees.
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  • egret
    egret Posts: 4,170
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    Justin ,
    It's not necessary to go that high when searing. I shoot for 600-650 max. Actually, it has been shown that searing ain't all it's cracked up to be......not that it's not a good idea, but, instead of 'sealing' the meat, it just produces a good texture on the surface which we attribute to 'sealing' so to speak........
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  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    Justin ,
    If you do the paper test and find an area with no resistance, that area isn't completely closed. The narrow gap will allow the heat to get between shell and dome and toast your gasket. Having the dome misaligned can have the same effect.

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