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burned my face !

Carnivor T
Carnivor T Posts: 53
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I tought burping my egg would prevent flashback...
did not seem to work. cooking at 300F dome burped my egg and opened slowly... fire popped and burned my hair, eyebrows. My wife looked at me and started to laugh. Will wear protective eyewear next time. Anybody knows a safe fullproof method.

Thanks

JF

Comments

  • East Cobb Eggy
    East Cobb Eggy Posts: 1,162
    Really, at 300 degrees??

    What type of lump were you using?

    Was it at a much higher temperature prior?

    Got pics of the burnt hair and eyebrows?? Would love to see. ;)

    Greg
  • anytime you have been working at high temps, then choked back the vents. .. along with burping, what you should do is this, just before opening your egg, open your bottom and top vents wide open for about 30 seconds. ..as you see that you have good 'chimney effect' going, i.e. good air flowing through your egg, then go ahead and open it up .. .should keep you from having that flashback. .. .
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    Sorry, but you must be shorter than me. Worst I've done is my chin.

    Steve :lol:

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Carnivor T
    Carnivor T Posts: 53
    Greg,

    Will pass on the picture of what I look like...

    I filled the firebox to the max using MapleLeaf `Feuille d'Érable` I guess I was holding the fire back and to much air got in the egg... flame appeared like a pop! Scary stuff ! temp rised in no time to 450 after closing the dome.

    I will bring my protective eyewear mfrom work next times I cook !!!

    JF
  • Carnivor T
    Carnivor T Posts: 53
    Thanks Max,

    Getting a good airflow prior to openiing sounds like hte solution.

    regards,

    JF
  • East Cobb Eggy
    East Cobb Eggy Posts: 1,162
    Well, sorry to hear about your experience.

    I would say that it is pretty rare to have that type of flashback at 300.

    Hopefully, it will not happen again.

    Greg
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    sounds like you had lots of fresh lump under a relatively low fire. when you open the top, the superheated air gets a nice dose of oxygen, and all the dust from the lump below finally finds a way to ignite.

    when you get flashback on those "low" temp cooks, you'll often find you can open the egg five six times in a row and still get the flashback. not a flashback so much as a flashover i guess.

    happens also when you add a lot of new lump to an already burning fire.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • ViennaJack
    ViennaJack Posts: 357
    For what it's worth, I've had one at about 350. The Egg was just cleaned and full with lump to the top of the fire ring and the vents were wide open, and it was smoking pretty good, definitely an unstable fire that was oxygen starved. Got the WHOOSH when I opened up and a nice fireball that surprised me and a guest.

    The key here was that the fire was unstable and oxygen starved. I've popped the lid without burping on some very hot fires (>550) but the fire had reached equilibrium with heat, airflow and fuel consumption.

    I've gotten in the habit if peering down the top vent before opening. If I don't see flames, I open very slowly and watch for signs that the fire is pulling air in rapidly.
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    HA.
    knew it.

    filled to the max, but at a low temp, means that you have a ton of VOCs (the faintly 'petro' 'fuely' smell in a bag of lump), and plenty of dust providing flashpoints.

    theenvironment is at a temp where the VOCs and dust would burn if it could, but it has no spare oxygen (being airtight, and all the O2 is being consumed by your fire). when you open the top, the VOCs and dust can combust with the oxygen, and everything is primed with 400 degree air and 1200 degree lump to ignite it all.

    FOOM. i bet you had it happen over and over, right?
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • blown 87
    blown 87 Posts: 50
    Trust me, after the second time, you WILL be very careful with fresh lump and low temps.
    I feel your pain. :laugh: :laugh:
  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
    I don't recommend burping as I believe it will damage the gasket. Like Max said, open the vents, get the airflow going so that the flammable gases in the cooker can burn off, then slowly open the dome.
    The Naked Whiz