First Cook Medium BGE!!

tksmoke

I decided I'd do salmon for the first cook on my new MBGE.  I had lots of time, so decided to play with the temp for about an hour before cooking.  I lit it with the Map gas weed torch like I'd light the XL - that was a mistake.  After 2 minutes it looked like it would be above 350 when I closed the dome.  I closed the dome, and shut the vents nearly all the way - it stopped at 375.  Wow - it comes up to temp scary fast.  No walking away to get a beer.  After closing it down as much as I thought I could, it stabilized at 250.  I drove it there for a while, playing with the vents to see what the effects would be.  It didn't take much - it reacts so much quicker than the XL.  I took it up to 350, and then back down again.  It's incredible to me that you can actually bring the temp down so easily. 

Time to cook - I threw on some brussels sprouts in foil, at 350 for about 20 minutes, while the alder chunks started smoking.  Then I put on the salmon.  This wasn't a real thick fillet - an inch at the thickest.  It brought the temp down dramatically - to about 300.  I needed to open up the bottom vent to bring it back up. to 350.  But all went well.  I turned the salmon over once because the temp was low, and it came out most excellent - just like it came off a BGE.  I seasoned it with Raging River and Swamp Venom, then added melted butter just before turning - It was very yummy.

Here's a question for MBGE owners - do you use the gasket material around the upper vent?  The DFMT is the same as the one on the XL, and if anything, the ceramic top seems larger than the XL's.  When I got it smoking, a lot of smoke came out the base of the DFMT.  I think it might benefit from having that gasket helping to seal the top.  It wasn't installed on my demo egg, but I'm sure they'll send me a chunk if I ask nice.  It seemed to shut down ok, even though the ceramic top is a very loose fit.  Opening the dome with the ceramic top in place makes me nervous - I'd guess the gasket would make that more secure too.  

Here's some pictures of the deflowering...

 

 

SGH

@tksmoke‌
Looks like a home run to me brother. Congratulations on the new egg. Enjoy my friend.

Skiddymarker

No, I do not have any gasket material on my DFMT. It seems to fit just fine. The rain cap is loose, but will not come off unless you really open it quickly. Suggest you put the gasket on the cap if you so choose. 

Great looking fish.... the egg still has that "new car" smell......

nealcr1

I put one oin mine. Noticed a big difference in shut down times and smoke escaping.

berndcrisp

Yes, I use gasket material on/in the green cap.

gdenby

The daisy will seal better as it gunks up. (I believe that is the official term.) In fact, if not cleaned once in awhile, it can seal itself closed and to the dome.

I too use a MAP Pro torch for starting. 3 spots for 1.5 min, tops if I don't want to rush to high temp.

r8rs4lf

My MBGE was put together by a dealer so the material was installed on the dome. Haven't had any problems so far and I've done a high temp pizza cook and a high temp burn for another reason.

I don't have the material on my XL. Don't really notice a difference besides the tighter fit.

As for the MBGE getting up to temp fast, it's scary huh? Especially coming from an XL like you. I seem to have a hard time with the lower cook temps. I just did a shoulder at 265* for about 8 hours but I used my DigiQ.

tksmoke

@r8rs4lf‌ - thanks. Keeping the temp at 250 was easy. The bottom vent open about 1/32" and the top just cracked. I kept it there for over 20 minutes before I started playing, and it was very stable. I have the High Que grate, and it might not be possible to get it below 250 without the standard grate and sealing the top vent with the gasket material. I was wondering what other MBGE owners did. It's all pretty academic, as I really don't need to go below 250 for what I typically do.