Green Egg Newbie

gary · December 2007

Tasting is believing. After tasting food on a Green Egg a few months ago, my wife and I decided it was time invest in one of our own. After getting the quick overview and operating procedures from a local dealer in St Augustine, I warmed up with burgers and sausages. Tonight, Christmas Eve, I decided to do a standing rib roast. Both nights, I had trouble with regulating the temp on the Green Egg. With that being said, I've only used it twice, but the instructions from a seasoned Egger (owner of the Green Egg dist. I bought it),said to load the charcol up to just above the bottom holes in the firebox, set the bottom vent to two fingers and the top vent closed with just the top rotation vent open 1/2 way. With those settings, I was able to get the Egg to only about 325, but no higher. [p]After messing with the vents, I found the bottom vent had to be open COMPLETELY, and the top vent, (not just the smaller slider vents holes), but the fill slider vent, 1/3 the way open. Seem like a dramatic or exessive change over his recommendations/what his experieice has told him over the years. Could there be something wrong with my Egg, creating this extreme change over the recommendations?
Any help or explaination is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Gary

Fidel · December 2007

Gary,[p]My guess would be that you either did not have enough lump in, or you have your firebox misaligned.[p]Looking in through the bottom vent, you should look straight through the hole in the bottom of the firebox. This allows for proper airflow.[p]I always put in enough lump to at least fill the firebox, and usually halfway up the fire ring. You just snuff it out when you're done and re-light it next time, so there is no waste, and you'll never risk running out.[p]For 350* I would open mine about 3/4" on the bottom and top petals fully opened. Not the sliding part, the rotating part. This is on a large egg.

ArvadaMan · December 2007

Gary,[p]I am guessing there is nothing wrong with your egg. You probably just need practice adjusting your vents. The only other issue might be that you may have had smaller pieces in the firebox which did not allow enough air flow through the lump. If you do not get enough air flow through the lump, the temperature will stay low and not rise.

Unknown · December 2007

Gary,[p]I'm an egg "Newbie" as well. My wife and I first heard about the egg a few weeks ago from some folks we met at a party. They (He) raved about it all night. My wife surprised me with a "large" egg on my birthday last week, and tonight is the first time I've a had a chance to put it together and cook anything.(We did baked potatoes and I finished cooking some par boiled ribs). I was amazed at how easily I could regulate the temperature. I found adjusting the temperaqture on the egg to be much quicker than with my big expensive Brinkman gas grill. I got the egg up to almost 600 degrees in no time at all. I'm sure that it would have gone all the way to 800 if I had let it. I got it to drop back to a "rib friendly" 250 degrees in about 15 minutes. As with you, I started by placed only enough lump charcoal to just cover the bottom holes in the firebox. My starting vent positions were roughly the same as your settings, and my egg got to 450 degrees within ten minutes of closing the lid. I would suspect that your problem is something very simple. Is the "U" shaped opening in the bottom of the firebox directly accross from the bottom vent?

gdenby · December 2007

Gary,[p]With the vents set as you described, that is about what I would expect. Its a good setting for many cooking session. Not too high, not too low.[p]Sometimes people say that the bottom vent is for adjusting to 10s of degrees, the top for 1's of degrees. With the bottom at just a crack, say 1/8", and the top just slits I expect about 250 at the dome. At 1" bottom, and the daisy holes just about 1/2 open, I expect 350. I can get 450 with the bottom open almost all the way, as well as the daisy vents open. 550 at least with the daisy top slid aside. With the daisy off and bottom wide open, the skys the limit.[p]Every fire differs a bit, but with experience you'll find you can get pretty close to what you want, when you want it.[p]I had one or two awful cooks at first, where I just could not get the temperature to settle down where I wanted it. Eventually I learned to adjust the vents just before the change became too rapid. Consider doing a few trial runs just playing with the vents, no cooking. For me, its a little like steering a canoe, where you must control the momentum carefully.[p]gdenby

disabled-Large Marge · December 2007

What about the small lump and temp? I've found my biggest problem is when re-using lump the fire grate holes at the bottom get plugged fairly easily with small embers. I use the ash tool to poke out embers to open up the airflow...any suggestions here? How often should I take the shop vac out and clean house? Or am I buying bad lump (using BGE coal now)

RajunCajun · December 2007

Gary,[p]I would check the alignment of your firebox. Sounds like you could also use a little more lump. With the bottom vent completely opened I would expect a higher temp.[p]Let us know how it turns out.[p]Merry Christmas.[p]Rajun

jwirlwind · December 2007

Gary,
Every time I load the Egg with lump, at put at least 5 pounds bringing it almost to the top of the fire ring. This will assure you have enough lump for any cook. Check the allignment of the fire box with the slider vent making sure it is aligned straight through. A lot of cooks don't even need the daisy. Keep practicing. You will me a master in a short while. [p]MC Jerry

Sigmore · December 2007

Tim,
Unbelievable!!!

Jeffersonian · December 2007

I concur with Large Marge. When I have lump with a good mix of sizes, I'm able to do wonders with the dome temp. OTOH, I just got a bag of lump that doesn't have anything bigger than a golf ball in it and I've had all kinds of trouble getting it over 550 degrees. I've had similar issues when re-using lump from a previous cook.

Unknown · December 2007

Gary,[p]I'm not sure what temp you were trying to attain or sustain, but it will take some hands on practice. One thing that has helped me is making sure to get a good even fire going before adding more lump and reducing temp for a low and slow. [p]Keep us posted,[p]Kevin

Green Egg Newbie

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