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Can't Open Egg

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Ribhead
Ribhead Posts: 123
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
OK - I live in Michigan (cold-snowy-windy-cold). My gasket went south after a high cook recently, so I do not have a gasket for my cooks. Seems like a few people on this forum have never replaced their gasket and everything works fine! Anyway..I do plan to replace in the Spring with a Nomax - here is my problem in the meantime.

Everytime I go to use the egg - it is sealed shut - it will not budge - This thing is stuck shut! I have been gently prying it with a screwdriver, but over the weekend - I took a small chunk out of the ceramic!

So...not sure whats causing this? food - weather - no gasket! but I do not want to hurt the egg any further!

Any hints on what to do until Spring - I really want to wait to replace until the weather is not below zero!

Thanks
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Comments

  • Bacchus
    Bacchus Posts: 6,019
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    Heating the egg can help. Some people drop a starter cube down the chimney.
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  • Bonehead
    Bonehead Posts: 113
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    I have never had to deal with that (I live in Florida) but my understanding is you have to slide a fire starter in through the bottom vent.
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  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
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    I live in Northern Indiana, so I get pretty much the same weather.

    Get a cover for your Egg. I'm cheap, I use a 55 gallon contractor trash bag. Keeps the ice from sealing the Egg shut.

    The gasket can get wet, and freeze together, too, so lack of gasket is prob'ly not the problem.

    My way of opening the Egg if I've left it uncovered is to run my weed burner around the rim, and/or open the bottom vent and blast some flame in there.

    I've read that tossing a lit starter cube in the bottom can also unfreeze an Egg.
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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,893
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    ice man...simple ice...

    just remove your cap and drop a lighted cube or two down or shove a cube or two in the vent at bottom and light. Even a 100 watt light bulb down into the dome works - sorry to hear about the chip but that warning is posted so often here you'd think everybody would know not to it that - and no, that is not a warranty claim.
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
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  • Sooner Egg
    Sooner Egg Posts: 578
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    toss a lit started cube in from the top next time, see if that helps
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  • CBBQ
    CBBQ Posts: 610
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    My XL does that on occasion from rain that freezes. What I do after a cook is line the gasket area of the egg(all the way around) with some aluminum foil folded down on the outside and then close it. The foil will keep the bottom and top seperated. When you open it the foil will be stuck to the bottom or top. But it will open.
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  • Mr. & Mrs Potatohead
    Mr. & Mrs Potatohead Posts: 2,037
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    Here in Minnesota....
    Mine will do that, WAY too often.
    I use heat, which seems to be the best!
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  • Ribhead
    Ribhead Posts: 123
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    I do have a BGE cover and it still gets stuck!

    So...if I stick a few lite cubes down the top! any idea how long it will take to get it unstuck?

    Seems like it would take awhile!
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  • CBBQ
    CBBQ Posts: 610
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    Is there any exposed glue from when you fried your gasket? Maybe you're reheating the glue and it's sticking the top and bottom back together after each cook. The other thing is that if it isn't sealing properly you could be getting condensation from the cook and then it's freezing.
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  • Ribhead
    Ribhead Posts: 123
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    CBBQ - I think this may be the issue as it does not seem to be frozen! Guess I need to work on it in the cold weather and at least clean the areas!
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  • CBBQ
    CBBQ Posts: 610
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    If you can't find exactly where it's sticking try the foil thing. The foil will stick to the top or bottom where the problem is. Good luck.
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  • Ribhead
    Ribhead Posts: 123
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    Done - thks
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  • TheDirtyBurger
    TheDirtyBurger Posts: 846
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    Ribhead
    I have a bag of flat toothpicks I keep with all of my egg stuff. Whenever I am done I put about about 5 around the diameter for the egg on the bottom lip. Close it and the toothpicks prevent sticking. I live in Chicago and have a cover and it will still get stuck, so now I use toothpicks. Works fine everytime
    tim
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  • Bluedot
    Bluedot Posts: 82
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    Do like I do. Roll the BGE back into the climate controlled garage when finished with a cook.
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  • BullyC
    BullyC Posts: 142
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    HI Ribhead

    I learned my lesson hard way too, I did not use cover,
    and the rain got on nomex gasket and with cold weather,
    slightly froze, I was able to get loose without damaging gasket, Bought a BGE cover and have never had a
    problem since. If Gasket stays dry, then should not freeze. Before you put your new nomex on in spring,
    do a burnout bigtime, let it go till thermometer is buried, say at least 45 minutes to a hour. by doing this
    you not only cleaned egg, but more important all the previous glue will have melted, and very little cleaning
    is left to do on both rims of dome. Otherwise your scraping, gently, You found out that ceramic chips,
    so less scraping means less chance of ceramic chipping.
    I was spending a good hour of lightly scraping before
    I discovered this technique before changing a gasket.
    Good luck BullyC
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