How Can He Get The Egg Open?

Gloria · August 2003

Well, the husband has the lid firmly sealed on our large Egg. Is there a best way to get it open? I told him I thought he would just have to pry it open, but I wanted to be sure before he did that. And will the gasket have to be replaced? Thanks in advance for help with this problem.

Zip · August 2003

Gloria,[p]A couple different ways to do this and first takes patience and a thin putty knife. Just work the knife in between the two halves and work your way around. If the egg is empty and doesn't have a drip pan, pizza stone, plate setter, ect in it, you can add more charcoal from the top and fire it up. To get the grid out of the way, take a coat hanger and make a hook like you used to open up a locked car back in the day. Take the wire hook and go thru the chimney to lift the grid out of the way so the charcoal can get to the firebox. Then light the lump from the bottom and get up to about 500º - 700º and let it idle there and see if the gasket will release. [p]Once opened if you discover the gasket is savable, but separated from the ceramic reuse it. Just use a little "Elmer's White Glue" to glue it back down if you can get the two gaskets apart. Brute force should only be a last resort and could result in the ceramic coming apart in the front where the pin from the hinge straps go into the egg.[p]Ashley

mad max beyond eggdome · August 2003

Gloria,
just curious, how did it get stuck in the first place. .i want to make sure i avoid whatever problem you had.. . [p]thx

Gloria · August 2003

mad max beyond eggdome,
We had guests for dinner on Sunday and he had done a leg of lamb at 350. When he took it off and scurried inside with it, (our guests were REAL old, older than me, which is OLD) in his hurry, he forgot to do his post-cooking procedures. When he remembered, the Egg had gone up to 750 and had probably stayed there for sometime before he shut it down. And then, he didn't go back and check on it and today it is tighter than ****'s hatband. I had read of this happening to others on the Forum, but could not remember what caused theirs and how they solved the problem. Hope you never have this happen to you!

mad max beyond eggdome · August 2003

Gloria,
wow. .. i run mine up to 750 all the time, but i guess as i cool it and open it from time to time it prevents the phenomenon??. .. [p]thanks for the info. . .i will be careful.

Gretl · August 2003

Gloria,
Where are you from? My mother's family in Ohio uses the expression, "queer as ****'s hatband" to describe one exhibiting odd behavior. I assumed the hat owner was a relative, since the family tree on that side bears many nuts.
Just curious.
Oh yes, and back to the topic at hand...the felt gasket may have had some gook spilled on it which sealed it shut. I would use a putty knife gently and try to pry the lid open. Be prepared to replace the gasket...no big deal.
Cheers,
Gretl

Gloria · August 2003

Gretl,
I am from Atlanta, GA. and that saying has been around in our family for a long time and yep, we have some nuts hanging from our family tree too. Thanks for the hint about gunk on the gasket. Don't know if my husband has ever cleaned it off, probably not, but it makes a lot of sense to me, what with all the drippings that get on it.

maddaug · August 2003

Gloria,
Well the same thing happened to us last weekend. My husband decided to burn-up the lump. Egg got real hot and hours later Mr Eggs lips were sealed. The gasket was shot after prying open the lid. The egg sure was clean though. We replaced our gasket with the Rutland Gasket Kit. It seems to be what alot of the eggheads out there replace their gaskets with. Worked out well and hubby was glad it would be the last time he would need to replace the gasket too.

How Can He Get The Egg Open?

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