High Que Grate

Donwon9999

So I finally broke down and installed one of the High Que grates in the green egg.

I have read everything about them on this forum.  So I fired up the electric lighter and waited.  At the start, did not seem to make a difference, then ..  it started to warm up very quickly.  I had to slow things down as I was doing a 250 deg cook.  Then trying to speed things up due to lack of time, I opened the vents some more.  Then it started to heat up quickly again.  The fire becomes quite hot quickly.

So, in summary this thing works great.  It does exactly what is advertised.  My word of caution is that if you do buy one, keep an eye on your temperatures and the fire.  Things change much quicker than you are use to.

Overall an excellent product and wish I had bought this as one of my accessories.

Mattman3969

I experienced the same thing Don. Awesome once you get used to it.

FearlessTheEggNoob

What size egg that you felt you needed it?

tazcrash

I have mine on a large, before I had it I tried with the grate from a small weber smokey Joe. (warped the daylights out of it). 

Love the product, worth every cent IMHO. Lets me low & slow without the work of clogs, and I can get it up to searing temp very quick. 

When I get my small, or mini, that will be one of the first accessories bought.  

Charlie tuna

I can see how it would greatly increase the air reaction time to the operation of any egg, but i am used to the factory equipment now! :(

jlsm

Made a huge difference for me, particularly on the mini. I needed to do a complete clean after virtually every cook if I hoped to get the mini up to a high temp. No more. I consider it essential equipment. 

tazcrash

Charlie tuna said:

I can see how it would greatly increase the air reaction time to the operation of any egg, but i am used to the factory equipment now! :(

FWIW, very quick learning curve. There is another benefit: It makes you learn to pour your beverages faster.  

 

Charlie tuna

" It makes you learn to pour your beverages faster."  Then this is a bad thing !!  8-|

Skiddymarker

In a MBGE, great investment. No more wiggle rods for low and slows. 

Beaumonty

do you have a lot of smaller lumps falling through? 

 I clean my LGE every two or three cooks, because I happen to like the setting up process.  this would seem to make that moot but it also seems like I would be seeing a lot of lump in the bottom, below the grate.  I'm not a "stacker", I'm a "dumper" unless it's a long cook and then I'll cherry pick a large piece or two and then pour around it with small scrap lump on top.  I can see dumping in to that grate and a lot of lump going right through.

Maybe I'm exaggerating the space between the bars.

EvansEgger

Beaumonty said:

do you have a lot of smaller lumps falling through? 

 I clean my LGE every two or three cooks, because I happen to like the setting up process.  this would seem to make that moot but it also seems like I would be seeing a lot of lump in the bottom, below the grate.  I'm not a "stacker", I'm a "dumper" unless it's a long cook and then I'll cherry pick a large piece or two and then pour around it with small scrap lump on top.  I can see dumping in to that grate and a lot of lump going right through.

Maybe I'm exaggerating the space between the bars.

I have it for my large and I don't get a lot more lump falling through than the original one. BTW, I love my High Que. Great for low and slows or hot and fast cooks.

stlcharcoal

Beaumonty said:

do you have a lot of smaller lumps falling through? 

 I clean my LGE every two or three cooks, because I happen to like the setting up process.  this would seem to make that moot but it also seems like I would be seeing a lot of lump in the bottom, below the grate.  I'm not a "stacker", I'm a "dumper" unless it's a long cook and then I'll cherry pick a large piece or two and then pour around it with small scrap lump on top.  I can see dumping in to that grate and a lot of lump going right through.

Maybe I'm exaggerating the space between the bars.

That's why I made my fire grate out of 9-gauge expanded stainless steel.  The crosshatching prevents anything but the ash and fines from falling through.

On my XL, I used two Weber cooking grates sandwiched together, with the rotation 90 degree apart.  Tack weld it and you have a crosshatched fire grate for $18.  I would have rather made one in expanded stainless steel, but that would have been an expensive cut of metal with a lot of waste on the corners.

Chubbs

I have a high-que for my large. If you use your egg enough, the stock charcoal grate will eventually fold up like a pringle and larger lump pieces fall through that than the HQ. It is a great investment. I do not notice significant lump falling through. Egg lights and is up to temp way quicker which is a plus for week night cooks.  

carter422

I have trouble doing low and slow with my hique if I am using my ATC unit. Anything under 300 or so I prefer the stock grate above 300 my hique is awesome.

stlcharcoal

carter422 said:

I have trouble doing low and slow with my hique if I am using my ATC unit. Anything under 300 or so I prefer the stock grate above 300 my hique is awesome.

You must have a leak somewhere. If you have the temp controller set below 300f, it shouldn't even be kicking on. I can maintain 200-225 grid level temps with a replacement grate no problem. The lower draft door is closed except for the adapter, and the daisy wheel is closed to about a toothpick width.

What kind of temp controller? Does it have a big enough opening that the egg is just drawing air through it without the help of the fan?

WokOnMedium

I love the Hi Que on my Large.  Pulled the trigger once I lost 4 butts due to clog in an overnight cook.  Now I dump lump for overnighters instead of stacking and I haven't used my Guru in ages.

Slightly larger pieces get through, but I sleep with confidence and save myself a ton of time.  For me the little extra that makes it through is worth it in time alone.

Eggcelsior

WokOnMedium said:

I love the Hi Que on my Large.  Pulled the trigger once I lost 4 butts due to clog in an overnight cook.  Now I dump lump for overnighters instead of stacking and I haven't used my Guru in ages.

Slightly larger pieces get through, but I sleep with confidence and save myself a ton of time.  For me the little extra that makes it through is worth it in time alone.

This is precisely why I bought the hi-que for my medium.

Now I need to get one for the large, the medium one just chills on a shelf, along with my other medium stuff.

Firemedic183

Eggcelsior said:

WokOnMedium said:

I love the Hi Que on my Large.  Pulled the trigger once I lost 4 butts due to clog in an overnight cook.  Now I dump lump for overnighters instead of stacking and I haven't used my Guru in ages.

Slightly larger pieces get through, but I sleep with confidence and save myself a ton of time.  For me the little extra that makes it through is worth it in time alone.

This is precisely why I bought the hi-que for my medium.

Now I need to get one for the large, the medium one just chills on a shelf, along with my other medium stuff.

Would you be interested in selling your medium HiQue??

jaydub58

I have High-Que on both my Large and Mini.

Great!

BillPinNC

carter422 said:

I have trouble doing low and slow with my hique if I am using my ATC unit. Anything under 300 or so I prefer the stock grate above 300 my hique is awesome.

I have the High-Que on my large and medium...they work great. I use the Stoker on my large I can maintain 235 at grate...been using this combination for a couple of years no problem at all. I have not tried the stoker on my medium yet. If you can't maintain low temps with the High-Que I would suspect a leak however I ran mine without a gasket for a year and was able to maintain the low temps...maybe the controller is at fault? Regards, Bill

adowling61

Any idea if they are going to make one for the XL?

Scottborasjr

I put a high-que in my Large, and my Medium, and my Small.  Wouldn't go back, doubt any of the "larger" pieces that fall through the grate will actually affect the temp all that much.  Just my opinion.

stlcharcoal

adowling61 said:

Any idea if they are going to make one for the XL?

If they did, it would be very expensive.  It's three times the metal of a large grate.

I ran the numbers for my expanded stainless steel ones--I would have to charge close to $100 to cover everything and ship it.  There's enough wasted metal to make a Large grate--unfortunately it's in couple dozen pieces.

When customers inquire, I just tell them to go to Home Depot and get an 18" Weber cooking grate for $8.97.  Mine has made it two years so far.

Deckhand

The forge temps. possible with the High Que can lead to embarrassing  fantasies... "Under a spreading chestnut tree, the village smithy stands... The muscles of his brawny arms are strong as iron bands"  ... "Coming, Dear... "  

carter422

stlcharcoal said:

I have trouble doing low and slow with my hique if I am using my ATC unit. Anything under 300 or so I prefer the stock grate above 300 my hique is awesome.

You must have a leak somewhere. If you have the temp controller set below 300f, it shouldn't even be kicking on. I can maintain 200-225 grid level temps with a replacement grate no problem. The lower draft door is closed except for the adapter, and the daisy wheel is closed to about a toothpick width. What kind of temp controller? Does it have a big enough opening that the egg is just drawing air through it without the help of the fan?

I use the Pitmaster IQE110.  I think my trouble is more a gasket issue than a grate problem.  I have a rutland coming from RRP.

Sgt93

It did wonders for my small egg. Great product.