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Can't increase temp.

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in EggHead Forum
New Medium Green Egg. Cooked for first time lastnight. Cooked Salmon(in pan) for about 30 minutes @300. Salmon was thick steaks and took a little longer to cook. Afterwards I placed 3 large Onions in foil to cook @300. I went to check the temp about 30 inutes later and it had droped to 250. I opened top and bottom up and came back to check temp about 10 minuted later. Still @ 250. Swung Daisy top to the side(full open stack) and opened bottom all the way. 10 more minutes still @250. Coals still glowing and I notied some unburt coal on the edges. Used long rod and nudged the good coals from the edges toward the center hot coals. Still wide open top & bottom. 10 minutes later still 250. Alltogether almost 3 hours total time from start to when I removed the onions(time includes warmup and cooking of Salmon). How will I be able to smoke anything like this. Why would temp not increase. Still had unburt coals left.
???
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Comments

  • gdenbygdenby Posts: 3,605
    Lee Russell,[p]Make sure your bottom vent, and the opening in the fire pot are lined up. With the bottom wide open, daisy on, but with sliding lid to side, and a straight air path, you should hit 550 in no more than thirty minutes. Only exception I know to that is if the Egg has been sitting in the rain for a few days. It will absorb a fair amount of moisture. Until that is cooked out, it will be hard to get above 450.[p]gdenby

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  • mollysharkmollyshark Posts: 1,519
    Lee Russell,[p]Generally, if you can't get higher temps, the air holes are clogged up with ash. If it has been as wet by you as it is here, the ash can turn into some solid mud. See if you can clear those out if that is a problem. If this is your FIRST cook, you shouldn't have quite this much problem. Usually the new ones take off. And gdenby is correct, you need to make sure your vents are lined up. How much lump do you have in there? Did you fill it to top of firebox or just a couple handfuls?[p]mShark
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  • Trek660Trek660 Posts: 14
    Yes , this was my first cook. Everything in alignment.
    When I originally started the coals the temp went to about 400 or higher pretty darn quick. I was able to stabilize at 300 to cook the salmon. That is why i was concerned about the drop in temp after first 30 minutes of cooking. The Salmon cooked fine at 300. I removed the Salmon and placed the onions on. Checked back after a few minutes and it had stabilzed at 300. Checked back after about 30 minutes and it has droped to 250. Could never get the temp back up . Center of coals were glowing.Somes coals on edge were not getting hot so I moved them closer in. They never got going again. Never got temp back up. Strange. I could see no blocking of airflow. Seemed to have HoSpots. One onion got done and the other 2 did not. Uneven temp in an Egg??
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  • BigTBigT Posts: 385
    mollyshark,[p]My medium seems much more prone to 'choking' on too much lump- i.e same relative level in Lg, Mini or Med, the Medium will always trail to temp. [p]Nothing a coathanger and a blowdryer hasn't fixed...just somewhat puzzling.[p]Big T

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  • Trek660Trek660 Posts: 14
    I don't think I had too much lump. Used Green Egg lump coal. Original level was even with holes so i don't think that should have been to much. Can't see where anything was restricting airflow especially since it really took off to begin with and then held steady for 30 minutes or so. Then just went cold never to recover. Must be something blocking somewhere though. Just can't see it.
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  • HaggisHaggis Posts: 998
    Lee Russell,[p]Problems are usually not enough airflow and/or too little lump. Some of the BGE literature wrongly suggests that you only need a small amount of lump and since you say you are a new user, this might be worth considering - you should fill it up at least above the holes in the side of the firebox and I'd suggest even higher. Anything that isn't used can be re-used the next time as long as you close the vents and lid when you are finished so it smothers.[p]Airflow is affected by the alignment of the firebox (per other comments) but also by using too much small lump that chokes the holes in the grate and firebox and fills all the little spaces between the larger pieces. Use a mix of sizes and as the lump burns to smaller size, add some larger stuff to keep a blend.
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  • ab ovoab ovo Posts: 67
    Lee Russell,[p]I had the same problem when I started using the Egg. It turned out I did not put a sufficient amount of lump in. Try adding more lump next time and see if the issue is fixed. Also, make sure that the firebox is properly aligned with the bottom vent. You should be able to open the bottom vent and see all the way to the other side.
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  • Trek660Trek660 Posts: 14
    Thanks, That is probably the problem. Everything is in proper alignment as fire as the firebox and bottom vent. I can't think of anythig else. I did use very little lump coal. I 'll be sure to add more the next time I cook. Also, one other question. How would I go about adding more coal if needed during a long smoke. Looks like I would have to remove food and grill to add coal.
    Thanks for your help. Great Forum. Glad to be a member.
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