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Medium egg question

cobrastrike
cobrastrike Posts: 28
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
proud owner of a medium egg but I have experienced some problems with doing long cooks (i.e. boston butts). I usually have to bend a coat hanger and stick it up through the draft door to unclog the ash from the bottom grate holes when I notice my temp starting to fall. I've talked to several people who have large eggs and they never have this problem. I've seen the BBQ Guru Turbo Grate advertised and I was wondering if this might be a good investment for me. Thanks!

Comments

  • Bob-O
    Bob-O Posts: 211
    I have a medium and have experienced your problem. I have learned that if you put your largest lump at the bottom, followed by the medium size and then the small it will work just fine. This process is described on thehttp://nakedwhiz.com/ site. if you have not done so, bookmark this site.
  • I just recently got a MED to add to the collection. Compared to my XL the firegrate on the MED looks like a toy. I could see where you would have problems. Either sort the lump like Bob-O suggested or you might want to get some all thread rod and raise the fire grate slightly using some nuts and washers. This will create a little passage for the air to circulate around the fire grate.

    As far as the Digi-Q goes. It is worth every penny I paid for it. Nothing like going to sleep knowing you have a 99.999% chance of a successful overnight cook. Very few things feel quite as good, as a good nights sleep.
  • jeffinsgf
    jeffinsgf Posts: 1,259
    Either on the NW site or in the archives here there were some pictures of Mediums where folks were using various methods to lift the grate a little to increase air flow. Most of them were done with a few thick washers. Looked like a good idea to me. Whole lot cheaper than the TurboGrate. You might start with that and see if it solves your issue. Bob-O is right that building with the larger lump on the bottom will help. Long cooks take a very full fire box on the Medium, too. Don't use a whole bunch of used lump for a long cook, and be sure to clean all the ash out as you are laying the fire.
  • I'll certainly give that a try.
    What's the longest cook you've done on the medium? I've cooked some butts for around 12 hours with a little lump left over. At one point, I had to stoke the fire to get the temp back up again (due to holes being clogged I suppose). Someone had once recommended that I light from the bottom up as opposed to lighting on the top (so the fire would burn up). Any experience with this?
  • Cory430
    Cory430 Posts: 1,073
    I have a Medium and a large and since I am too lazy to sort my lump; I have to clean out the holes on both of them about 8-10hrs into any longer cook. It ain't a big deal, only takes a minute.

    With the medium loaded to the gills with RO or Cowboy lump, I have cooked for about 17hrs on it. Probably could have gone longer but the butts were done :)

    I light my fires from the top on all my cooks. There might be a better way, but it works fine for me. I feel as though you get a longer burn lighting from the top exactly because the fire wants to burn upwards and therefore takes longer to burn up all your lump. Course I could be wrong, I havent ever tried it the other way around.
  • Broc
    Broc Posts: 1,398
    My longest cook on my Medium...

    20 hours --

    ~ Broc
  • Broc
    Broc Posts: 1,398
    Yes -- definitely raise the fire grate using three 4" bolts, some washers and nuts. Giving 1/4" clearance all ray round really aids the air flow.

    ~ B
  • I have also gone about 20 hours on a single load of lump. That is loaded to the top of the fire ring with larger pieces on the bottom. I recently cooked on a large and couldn't believe how much lump it holds. Made me feel my medium is economical.
  • jeffinsgf
    jeffinsgf Posts: 1,259
    "Enonomical" is an eggcellent way to put it. I've had my Medium for 10 years and my large for about 5 months. I use them both about equally. I have more "gear" for my large, so it gets used if I need to do two layers or need a raised grid. But, I always feel that I'm using more lump than necessary, even though the reality probably is that there's little difference. I own a VW New Beetle and a Jeep Grand Cherokee. I always feel better about myself when I'm driving the Beetle. But, when there's heavy hauling to do, the Jeep is ready for action.

    Guess what I need to do is get in the shop and make some more stuff for the medium.