First Egg Fail

GrillinSailor

I've had about 14 burns in the Egg so far and have had nothing but great results until last night.  I couldn't get the temp up.

I made a Spatchcock Chicken for the first time.  Brined for 3 hours in salt water and apple cider vinegar, rubbed with olive oil and then McCormick Applewood rub. I used the ash tool to first stir the used lump and open the air hole in the bottom grate.  I then used the ash tool to pull as much of the bottom ashes out of the egg as I could. I built a medium sized pile of BGE lump and then  put on the plate setter covered in tin foil and used disposable drip pan on that.  I put the grid on top of the up turned plate setter feet. The chicken went on the grid with a potato and sweet potato at the edges.

Temp got to 325,  I opened the grill to turn the potatoes at 45 min, the temp went down to 275. I opened again at an hour 15 min and the temp went to 190 and wouldn't rise above that.

I finally pulled the food off and finished in a 400 degree oven.  It was moist and tender and well cooked, but bland.  The rub had a real kick to it when you tasted it out of the bottle, but after the cook, it seemed very mild and didn't add near enough flavor.

I've made stuffed burgers to lobster tails to lamb loin chops to filet and salmon and trout. Everything has gone well and I've had temps over 600 degrees.

I'm pretty sure I had good airflow, though there was no wind. Could the plate setter in tin foil and the drip pan have been the problem?

Until now, I thought the Egg was so forgiving it was fool proof.

Any advice or comments - even ones about me being too big a fool for fool proof are welcome. Thanks in advance!

Grillin Sailor
 

GrillinSailor

nolaegghead

Sounds to me like a classic air flow problem.  Remove the lump and fire grate and remove all the ash.  Put some fresh lump in (bigger lump on the bottom and smaller stuff on top).  You can put your old lump on that pile.  Light the top.

If you have a large or medium BGE, consider the High-que grate.

jhl192

Did you open  up the bottom vent as the temperature started dropping.  Usually you can compensate for reduced airflow with a wider vent opening.

NPHuskerFL

I don't have an ash tool. I use a shop vacuum and ALWAYS wait at least 24 hrs to vac out after a big cook as coals can stay hot for a very long time. BGE and other Komodo style grills/cookers are based on airflow. No airflow no heat. Fire triangle is all you need to know. Remove or reduce one of the elements of that triangle and this makes less or no fire. Gotta be an airflow issue of some sort considering it sounds like you had fire and plenty of lump.

grege345

Also agree on the airflow. Make sure you check those holes in the firebox. Little rectangle pieces of coal like to sneak in. Also with 14 burns under your belt you may have little ant hills of ash behind your firebox. Only way you'll know is if you pull grate, fire ring then firebox. You'd be surprised what sneaks back there. As @nolaegghead mentioned hi que grate won't hurt. I've had one for a while and love it

xiphoid007

Agree. Definitely airflow. Take all the guts out and you'll be shocked how much ash is are and the sides of the firebox.

Also, I never do anything but fill the egg charcoal. Less fuel = less heat. See the fire triangle above. After an hour your fire may have been burning out as well. The egg is so efficient with charcoal, I fill it for every cook, and just stir heavily and clear all air holes each new cook, and fill again.

caliking

Good tips already given, but one thing to check - could your Daisy wheel have swung closed and choked out your fire when you opened the lid?

caliking

henapple said:

I use Ozark Oak Lump which leaves no ash. The last time I cleaned my firebox was during the Nixon administration.

Chuck Norris' lump doesn't leave any ash... must be double O.

cortguitarman

Good pout @caliking‌ that daisy is the nemesis of many new egg owners.

henapple

I use Ozark Oak Lump which leaves no ash. The last time I cleaned my firebox was during the Nixon administration.

DMW

If it was Daisy not staying where you left her, here's how to set it next time.
http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramicfaq.htm#dwsetting

GrillinSailor

thanks all! I'll let you know what happens after a complete cleaning and my next burn! GrillinSailor

Philly35

I had the same problem yesterday. It was a bit breezy and I always leave the lid up till the flames go out. Using a starter cube. I think what happened is the wind blew the cube out before it was done burning and the coals weren't going quite enough yet. It took a long time to get going.

Ladeback69

I did bone in chicken breast and drumsticks last night and the same setup you had, but I used my new dual thermometer. I'm glad I did because the great temp was about 100° differance from the grate and the dome. I kept the grate around 350 and the chicken was down in an hour. The dome was around 450° to 475°.

Little Steven

OK, I've been considering this situation for five beers. Can you define a medium sized pile of lump?

Mattman3969

+ 1 on LS question. Did you still have plenty of fuel when the fire started dying?

ElCapitan

Okay, by your description, it sounds like you lit the starter cubes and immediately put the place setter on?  Am I reading that correctly?  I'm just wondering if putting the placesetter on too soon stifled, (wait for it) the airflow at start up?

ShadowNick

The plate setter needs a good amount of time to heat up and stabilize. Whenever I'm doing an indirect I make sure the platesetter has been in atleast 30 minutes and temp stabilized before I put food on.