Failure to Get to High Temperature

jharv · August 2008

I had my first Egg failure this weekend. After using my new Egg 6 times, all low and slow, with great success, I decided to cook some steaks on it rather than my Weber. I used lump and two startres. Fire seem to start fine but I copuld not get the dome temp past 500 (I was trying to get to 650). I kept the lid closed and the dampers fully open for about an hour before declaring failure. Any thoughts about what I did wrong?

Beanie-Bean · August 2008

Hmm...a few notes:

1. Did you use fresh lump or re-use some old lump? New lump burns hotter. Also helps if you fill up the firebox. I am pretty fussy about also cleaning out the cooker very well inside and out before lighting what will be a high temp fire.

2. Are the bottom vent and the gap on the firebox aligned? Usually airflow plays a big part in getting the cookers up to searing temps.

3. How long did the fire burn before you shut the lid?

4. Did you have the metal top off? When trying to get to high temps, I leave the top off, and open the lower vent all the way.

Hope this helps.

Fidel · August 2008

Remove the daisy wheel - leave the top chimney completely wide open.

How much lump was in the egg?

Is the opening in the firebox properly aligned with the lower vent opening?

stike · August 2008

plenty of lump, and lose the daisy

Big'un · August 2008

You did nothing wrong other than to not realize that you're grate was clogged by small pieces of lump. It happens to all of us. To correct this, just get a coathanger and bend the end 90 degrees and make a wiggle stick. Access the bottom of the grate through the bottom vent, stick your wiggle stick into the holes of the grate and wiggle the coat hanger. Do this for all of the holes until you clear the obstruction. Keep in mind that the temp will jump immediately. And if anything is on the grill it will get toasted by the jet blast of the new airway.Haha. BTW, stacking your lump will prevent some of this. HTH. Enjoy!
Big'un

jharv · August 2008

Thanks for the tips from everybody. What is the best way to clean the Egg between uses?

Ike Witt · August 2008

Are you getting a good hot bed of coals and flames coming up through the grate before you close the lid?

When I see the coals and the flames i am hot enough to sear ( which is all i want to do )so i dont bother to close the lid just to see 650 on the needle. After searing I remove the steaks to rest, then close the lid,
I see the temp then, but start to close it down immed to get down to 400. I learned the trick from thrideye posted in a comment about burning out gaskets.
works for me.

good luck

allen

Beanie-Bean · August 2008

jharv,

I sweep out all the lump/ash into a turkey fryer basket (the one with lots of holes in it) and shake all the ash and small bits out, like Shotgun Fred does. Look for his videos on YouTube under "Turbo Grate" and you'll see what I'm talking about.

After that, I reload with new lump first (biggest pieces strategically stacked close to the grate and side vents) and then just pour the old lump on top. I'm usually working with some gloves and a dust mask, because that ash/lump dust combination could be pretty nasty. My wife thinks I'm crazy, by the way

Egg-on-Medford · August 2008

is that called T rexing? How long do you rest before returning to grill?

Big'un · August 2008

I'm assuming that you are serious so I will answer seriously. No really!

TRex is a method of cooking steaks. You need to have a steak at least 2inches thick. You start by getting the egg very(lava) hot and cook the steak on boths sides for 90 sec - 2min per side. After placing the steak on the lava hot grill and then flipping it onto an unused part of the grill, you remove the steak for about 20 mins to allow the steak muscle to relax. Meanwhile, during the 20 min rest time, allow the egg to cool down to about 400F. Finish cooking the steak until done using your preferred temp(135F for me). HTH.
Big'un

Morro Bay Rich · August 2008

How many times do we have to answer this question?

Doesn't anyone remember high school?

Heat = fuel + air

If the heat is low than one of the things on the other side of the equation is low. Either increase the air flow of add more fuel!!!

Egg-on-Medford · August 2008

Thanks. New around here, so I needed the details. Similar to my infrared gasser, but they don't say to rest the meat. The ceramic burner cools down quickly. Still learning that contraption, too, as it gets pretty hot (supposedly over 1000*F grate on high). Haven't found a thermometer that goes that high to check yet.

Brisketman · July 2010

Ok, it must be newbie disease. I've had a blast cooking flank steak, ribs, spatchcock chicken on my new BGE. But tonight was nothing to brag about. I wanted to throw a couple of pizzas on the stone and pull out nice crisp crust NYC slice ' pie.

No matter what I did, I could not get the temp to hold above 430.

I cleaned out the ash before the cook
I added fresh lump to the moderate sized pile of left over lump.
All the air holes were open, unobstructed.
I used Cowboy Lump ( not my favorite, but that's what was available).
Lit the bad boy in two spots, left the top open and got a good bed of coals.

I started out using the plate setter and put the pizza stone on top. I waited about 15 min, but in retrospect should have waited 30 to 45min for all the stone work to heat up.

Put the 'za on and impatiently watched the therm climb up to 400 and park.

Recalling HEAT= Fuel + Air I got out a blowdryer and "helped" the fire climb up to 550 dome temp. As soon as I stopped with the hair dryer, the temp would fall back to low 400s. I was using the metal top, with the grate wide open, and the bottom grate was also wide open.

So, I'm guessing that 1. I should remove the iron top and let the chimney sit wide open. 2. Does anyone have trouble getting Cowboy lump to burn hot? I'm ordering some "Dragon Breath" lump. 3. Do you use the plate setter for pizza? I did a second pie by removing the plate setter and putting the pizza stone directly on the metal grate. The Therm. indicated 370, but the pizza cooked crisp in about 15 min.

Thanks for any help you can give on getting my egg up to fusion temp.

Yooperman · July 2010

While this is an old post I have no doubt others have had the same problem. I am a newbie also and have had similiar issues to those discussed here. Everyone else may know this but I had to learn it the hard way - if you want lots of heat you can't have the screen closed. The inlet vent must be wide open. Apparently the screen restricts the air flow enough to be a serious factor.

Brisketman · July 2010

Amen to that - the dog gone little screen door has a significant impact.

But I had all the sliding doors open and I thought that with a blowdryer cramming air into the bottom of the egg that I should have a blast furnace effect. Which leaves me thinking that the problem is the fuel, not the air flow.

I've choked the egg now about 5 times after a cook and consistently find ALOT of moisture on my cast iron cooking grate and on the iron daisy wheel (I store this inside the egg after cooking) so I'm thinking that the times I cooked direct, must have dripped enough moisture onto the lumps that haven't burned that it can not produce the volume of BTUs that I'd expect.

I'll clean out the entire firebox, ditch all the old charcoal, strategically lay big pieces on the sides and over the CI grate. Then I'll fire it up and leave the lid open until I get a really good bed of coal glowing / flaming. Is there anything else I should do? :blink:

Failure to Get to High Temperature

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