Hmmmm crack maybe..... with pics

Jeffroe189

So last night I did some pizza on the egg. I was cooking them around 600-650 when I noticed that there was a lot of smoke coming from the bottom of my large egg. I got down and looked under the egg and saw a lot of black gunk seeping threw the ceramic right where the nest crosses under the egg. I was smoking a good bit but I could not tell if there was a crack of if it was just the black grease smoking.

What are your thoughts? I have not had time to check the egg today while it is cool. Do cracks seem to be more noticable when the egg is cool?

Has anyone else had black grease seep threw the ceramic and smoke like that?


Thanks for all the help. Jeff

Gator_Man

I have never had that happen but after my eggs sit through the winter in NC the first time I fire them up water seeps out of the glaze for quite some time until they are dry again. Might be a crack, better clean out the inside and take a good look! At 600 temp and the bottom let's go what a disaster that would be. Good Luck!

Jeffroe189

Thanks Gator_man. I will clean it out tonight and take a look. That would be a nightmare if the bottom fell off during a cook. lol

 I should add that my egg lives in my garage. It has never been left outside.

saluki2007

Have you ever attempted a "clean burn"?  Could just be a bunch of gunk built up over the years.

Jeremiah

Take the guts out, vacuum it and pour some water in it. If it's got a crack the water will surely seep through.

Gator_Man

Jeffroe189 said:

Thanks Gator_man. I will clean it out tonight and take a look. That would be a nightmare if the bottom fell off during a cook. lol

 I should add that my egg lives in my garage. It has never been left outside.

They stay in an old shed during the winter and outside in summer, we are at 3000' and in a damp wooded are very humid some summers and if they are not used much they will weep the moisture when fired up. I have 2 LG, 1 Med there so I just rotate using them and all is good. BGE can handle the weather for sure. G M

yumdinger

I often get smoke coming from the bottom of my egg as well and have been meaning to ask about it on the forum.  Mine sits on ceramic feet atop an 18" fire brick.  I have a 1" gap between the fire bring and base of egg.  I have been wondering where it comes from .  I have cleaned it but have not been able to find a crack.  I stopped short of putting water in it however.  Maybe next clean out.

Jeffroe189

Gator_Man said:

Jeffroe189 said:

Thanks Gator_man. I will clean it out tonight and take a look. That would be a nightmare if the bottom fell off during a cook. lol

 I should add that my egg lives in my garage. It has never been left outside.

They stay in an old shed during the winter and outside in summer, we are at 3000' and in a damp wooded are very humid some summers and if they are not used much they will weep the moisture when fired up. I have 2 LG, 1 Med there so I just rotate using them and all is good. BGE can handle the weather for sure. G M


Where abouts a you live. I moved from Brevard about 5 years ago. It was very hot and humid up there. The pisgah forest in brevard get enought rain fall some years to be considered a temperate rain forest. Sounds like you maybe from the same area.

Jeffroe189

well I got the egg cleaned out this afternoon before I did some blackened chicken with dizzy pigs new bayou-ish rub. Anyway I could not find any cracks on the inside or outside. I guess what was smoking was the black grease that was seeping through the bottom. I did find it weird that there was only a really small black spot on the inside but a much bigger spot not he bottom. Where is this black crap coming from?

Terrebandit

That is weird.

GATABITES

Its a sign to continue to cook on that bad boy. 

DMW

Just put a drip pan underneath your egg. :-\"

Zmokin

Jeremiah said:

Take the guts out, vacuum it and pour some water in it. If it's got a crack the water will surely seep through.

Um, is that really recommended to put water in the egg.  I'm not sure how pourous the egg is, but if water got trapped inside the egg material and then later was heated past the boiling point, I think the pressure could cause it to crack, maybe even explosively.  I remember sitting around a campfire once when a rock "exploded" that was part of our fire ring.  OK, it didn't explode, it cracked in half with enough force that one of the halves shot about 2 feet from being a part of the fire ring to being smack in my lap where I was sitting cross-legged.  I think the other half shot into the middle of the fire.  It scared the bejesus out of me and taught me not to use river rocks for a fire ring, even though the rock was dry and not currently covered by water when I was building my fire ring.  The chunk that landed in my lap was probably about the size of 1/4 of a bowling ball.

Miked125

I get grease/smoked that drips down the back from the daisy wheel. Congrats on the good news.