Small BGE Temp Issues

Cajun Griller · February 2010

Do any other Small BGE owners ave problems getting really high (+500F) temps on their small eggs? I can load it and my large with the same coals, clean all vents, open wide open, remove daisy wheel, and while the large will "go nuclear" (+700F) the small will always get stuck in the 400f-450f range. It is fine for cooking, but cant get a real good high temp sear....

Celtic Wolf · February 2010

Some smalls seem to have this problem, others don't. Neither of mine have this issue.

Couple things to check. Make sure the firebox opening is lined up with the bottom vent, make sure the holes in the fire grate are not blocked and keep the metal top off..

Sooner Egg · February 2010

have never had a problem getting to 500 and above on my small....leave the cap off, bottom vent wide open and make sure all openings inside are not blocked

Unknown · February 2010

I have that problem with my small. I think that it has to do with the fact that there is a sigificat gap between the wall of the egg and the firebox and fire ring. I have been using a wiggle rod on all of my small cooks and this has seemed to help some. About 550 is the hottest I have hit. I have found that since the food is closer to the lump in the small I don't need it to go much hotter than that.

Cajun Griller · February 2010

Thanks CW! I have done all of those things. It really is frustrating. Have you heard anything from the MotherShip on this issue? Thanks again. :(

Cajun Griller · February 2010

Thanks Rooster, I use my wiggle stick also. Like I said, I cooks fine. I just can't get the same "sear" as with my large. Actually considering selling small and replacing with another large...

surveyor · February 2010

My small just the opposite heats up so fast and high I really have to watch it close.

ibanda · February 2010

Most of the time with both vents wide open mine will hit 650° in 10 minutes. If the egg and/or the lump is damp and hasn't been used in a while it is harder to get going.

The Naked Whiz · February 2010

Can you tell us if there is a gap between the cooker wall and the edge of the firebox and the firering? In other words, is the diameter of the firebox and the firering significantly smaller than that of the cooker? If so, air can come up the outside of the firebox instead of up through the fire itself, thus reducing the amount of air directly feeding the fire. If so, someone else posted that they put (I think) a rolled up log of foil in to fill that gap.

BigGreenDon · February 2010

I made a quick, cheap, reversible mod to my XL which completely fixed a similar problem. It would probably be worth a try...

See the link:

http://www.eggheadforum.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=816140&catid=1

I got a few rude replies from a few naysayers and others that said the idea was not new. I just know what worked for me and reported the same.

Thanks,
Don

TheDirtyBurger · February 2010

Cajun
When did you buy your small? Maybe there was a slight change in the firebox/ring design that is having an impact on airflow.

Bacchus · February 2010

I had this issue when I first started using my small. What I discovered was the most elementary thing possible.
The small BGE is proportionately the same as a Large, I think. It is at least "approx" the same Proportionately. Anyway, point is despite the proportinate equality, it holds alot less lump. While this is an obvious fact, the thing to consider is that the size fire required to reach a certain temperature is the same size, not proportionately smaller. The bottom line, at least for me and my Small, is that a really HOT temp requires a FULL+ load of lump, fully engulved. And it's not going to go hours at 450 like a large will. It consumes lump at the same rate as a Large with a smaller lump capacity. IMO, of course.

Unknown · February 2010

I will have to try the tinfoil filler idea. Some with the save problem on the medium were using a vent pipe through the opening to get the air into the fire box. I have not tried this yet but that will be experiment #2.

Cajun Griller · February 2010

I bought it brand new about a year ago. It's te craziest thing how differently it acts compared to the large under the same conditions...

Grandpas Grub · February 2010

Heat = fuel plus oxygen.

The following is long and a little history. Nevertheless, it very well may resolve your issues.

Make sure you have a good enough load of lump. If you are wanting a high temperature burn make sure you light in several places and light the lump below the surface of the lump about 1 to 1.5 inches.

When looking at the lump if you have a wide surface burn and still can't reach the temperatures you want you will need to look at the air flow coming into the lump, that is through the vent, through the fire box and up into the lump.

Contrary to popular belief smaller pieces of lump will generate more heat than larger pieces of lump, that is as long as those small pieces still allow adequately air flow up through the lump. However, the length of the burn will be less than using larger pieces of lump. The more heated lump surface area exposed to oxygen the hotter the flame. Think of throwing sawdust into a burning fire, and the resulting flame up. The sawdust 'explosion' is due to all the surface area of the wood.

Back to the egg. A wiggle rod is your friend here and it is important that air can pass up through the lump.

If you have tried all this then the following may help you. My medium seems to have an undersized fire box and fire ring. I have a 2" gap between the fire ring and egg wall. I can put my had up to almost my mid palm between the fire ring and egg wall.

That much undersized fire box & ring allows air to flow up the outside of the fire box & ring and flow back down into the lump from the top.

On my medium I changed the high temperature range from 450° - 500° to above 750° and the the time to light my medium from 30 to 40 minutes to light down to 7 to 11 minutes.

Here are several methods and all work well for me.
My first success in getting improvement was a couple of years ago using a aluminum foil rolled to a rope and placed behind the fire.

This 'block' forces the air into the lump and allows a very fast light and the ability to reach significantly higher temperatures very quickly.

My next progression of this theory was to build a tunnel into the fire box.

In this picture I use foil to block the air path around the tunnel, that foil seal isn't necessary. There was no noticeable difference in lighting time.

This method provides a very fast start up time.

Member Clay Q has gone further and built a permanent tunnel made out of foil. This is essentially a foil block just inside the egg lower vent blocking any air from going around the fire box. All air passage will be forced into the fire box and up through the lump. I hope Clay will will post his method as he is working on a more equalized burn of the lump.

As soon as the weather warms up some I am going to try out Clay's setup. I have detailed times and temperatures from lighting my problem medium to the highest temperature the lump will produce. It will be interesting to me to record the differences.

Any of these methods should get you better performance.

GG

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker · February 2010

how often do you use it?

i have noticed that if it sits for a while it gets damp, and that takes a LONG time to drive off. used regularly, with nice fresh light lump (like cowboy) the thing should be at 650+ in fifteen minutes.

if used every now and then, it will take a while, especially if you are reusing lump that was in it while it sat unused

Rooster K · February 2010

I am going to have to give the vent pipe a try that on my small I tried the foil gasket tonight and I was able to get it to 500 much faster but in the same time my large would have gone 1000 plus.

WessB · February 2010

With due respect given...I got, and have had for many years....one of the stubborn ones, my small will get to 650° but it takes a LONG time to get there...I cook steaks regularly on my small, and my preferred 550° usually takes me 45 minutes to an hour to get the small happy...not complainin bout it..just learned, thats the way it is...got a good friend who can hit a stabalized 550 in 20 to 30 minutes..just plain dont happen on mine..

Small BGE Temp Issues

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