Lunch and mini question.

Car Wash Mike

<p />Had lunch at the wash today. A little RR sausage burger topped with mozzarella cheese.[p]Question on Ms. Short. Why can't I get temp up to 600-700 range? Got to 400 today which was fine but still looking to get that flame throwing, steak searing fire to take place.[p]My only guess is not enough lump.[p]CWM

WessB

Car Wash Mike,
I would offer..the same as all the other eggs....firebox vent aligned properly, ash cleared form grate, full load of lump and enough of it "fresh lump"...with these right you should have NO problem getting to 750°...another thing...do you have the steel grate in the bottom, it makes a big difference over the older ceramic one...HTH[p]Wess

Car Wash Mike

WessB,[p]Everything was done that way, except maybe not enough lump.[p]I do still use the old ceramic grate.[p]Thanks,[p]CWM

WessB

Car Wash Mike,
I would think even with the ceramic grate the temps would still be atainable, just would take much longer to achieve..the steel grate is well worth the cost, it increases air flow so much...either way fill it all the way to the TOP of the firebox, and again, since it only holds a couple of handfulls of lump, fresh lump will burn hotter than used lump.[p]Wess

Unknown

Car Wash Mike, As others have said, the lump should be fresh. I clean my mini out after every cook so I always start with fresh. I do steaks and burgers, searing method, quite often and never have any problem.

Car Wash Mike

Thanks Wess,[p]Gave it another try today and worked great, just wasn't adding enough lump.[p]CWM