need help with the medium size green egg

rogerdm

I have had the green egg for 3 years now and once in a while it will heat up to 700 degrees, However, most times I am lucky to get 300 degrees???

I clean the bottom out ......I think that my charcoal, kept in its original bag may absorb moisture?? Any thoughts, suggestions...Thank you

Big_Green_Craig

I just recently purchased a Medium. I have zero issues with it. Make sure your fire is aligned correctly. Try fresh charcoal. I keep my charcoal in a plastic, waterproof tub. Maybe yours is damp.

Skiddymarker

MBGE owner as well, although I think all sizes will bury the thermo needle if you ask them to. Low fire is one of two things, restricted air flow or bad fuel. 

As noted already, make sure your fire box is aligned correctly (when you look in the lower vent), you should be able to see the fire grate and all the way to the back of the fire box. Also, make sure the air holes in the fire box are open and that ash has not filled the space between the firebox and the base. Assuming your spark screen is not gummed up, that looks after airflow. 

Try a small bag of lump, right from the store, fill your egg to just below the top of the fire ring, start it at the top front and see how she responds. If it heats up, your lump was wet/damp. Find a new dry storage area, which depending on where you live, might be in the garage or the house. 

I

KSwoll

My neighbor recently had problems getting his fire above 400. He asked me to take a look to see what the issue might be. When we took the platesetter out he had very little coal in the fire box. He wasn't filling up the firebox all the way and was running out of fuel. I advised him to keep the firebox full and top it off when he eggs again.

jhl192

I will assume you have no trouble lighting the lump. That leaves fuel and air as the only other components to a good fire. As for fuel, your lump could be damp. I would do as suggested below and put it in a plastics tub or garbage can. Air flow is what I suspect is the problem. I would get a High-Queue grate. That has far less steel to block the air flow. Be sure you vacuum or scoop out the ash. Lastly, try to use more medium and larger pieces. Too many small pieces can limit air flow and inhibit higher temperatures. Good luck! The medium rocks. The High-Queue has helped a grate deal!

badinfluence

Im going to go with air flow also. Even if the lump was damp it does not take long to dry it when its lit. I use the med. eggs more then any others i have and have never had a problem with getting them to temp. One other thought is are you sure the temp gauge itself is accurate?

tjv

- ok to keep the lump in the bag in the garage.  want to keep lump dry.

- light the lump in multiple spots to bring the entire firebox up and burning at the same time, try 3.6.9.12 and center on lighting

- keep the dome closed while the lump is coming up to temp.  want the lump to draw air thru the bottom slider vent.  this will have the lump burn down into the firebox.  open slider and daisy wide open

- don't put anything in the egg to block airflow..no platesetter

last resort, try filling the gap between the fire ring and egg wall.  on the medium this can be a large gap and may mess with airflow on high temp cooks.  

t

bettysnephew

I had an issue with that 2 yr ago on my XL.  It turned out that the back of the screen had gotten creosoted plugging up the airflow.  I had done several low and slows with some particularly fatty butts and I think that was the cause.  I removed the screen and used a torch on it from a distance and everything was good after that.  The holes in that screen are very fine.

plumbfir01

sell it to me

)

timekpr1

750 in 5 minutes or less.  I have never tried this.  Mine gets up to temp quickly.  I do use a lump ring.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPsRJCJTf0M

tksmoke

+1 on the High Que grate.  Getting up to temp is never an issue with the High Que in the medium.  It makes it so easy - just dump in the lump and away you go.  Of course, the lump you are using may be an issue as well.  Get some fresh lump - even Royal Oak will be fine - it is almost universally available in North America through Home Depot and Wal*Mart.  Personally, I use Fogo, available through Amazon. 

@tjv - if I lit my medium like that, it would be at 1200 degrees almost instantaneously.  It is incredible how fast the medium comes up to temp with good airflow and good lump.  Fire = fuel + air + ignition source.  Using the MAPP torch, there is never any question of the ignition source...  Just sayin... 

timekpr1

Ah - the good old fire triangle.  Add chemical chain reaction and you have the fire tetrahedron.

Ditto on time to heat.  I have a large and medium.  I have not used my large in a year.  The medium is faster to heat and a perfect size for two people.

tjv

tksmoke said:

@tjv - if I lit my medium like that, it would be at 1200 degrees almost instantaneously.  It is incredible how fast the medium comes up to temp with good airflow and good lump.  Fire = fuel + air + ignition source.  Using the MAPP torch, there is never any question of the ignition source...  Just sayin... 

my first egg was a medium and I use a map torch.  For me on high temp grilling cooks, the typical goal is to get an even plume of heat off the lump so the entire cooking grid above is at constant temps. Best way I found to do that is get the entire box coming up to temp evenly.  Keeping the dome temp at your target temp and not 1200 degrees comes down to one's ability to control fire.......again, for high temp grilling only

spread the iginition area around the box for an even burn = more even temps above across the grid

I am not interested in how fast I can get the temp to my target temp.  I am interested in getting to my target temp AND having a clean burn....

t

fishlessman

tjv said:

- ok to keep the lump in the bag in the garage.  want to keep lump dry.

- light the lump in multiple spots to bring the entire firebox up and burning at the same time, try 3.6.9.12 and center on lighting

- keep the dome closed while the lump is coming up to temp.  want the lump to draw air thru the bottom slider vent.  this will have the lump burn down into the firebox.  open slider and daisy wide open

- don't put anything in the egg to block airflow..no platesetter

last resort, try filling the gap between the fire ring and egg wall.  on the medium this can be a large gap and may mess with airflow on high temp cooks.  

t

i think it was grandpas grub that had to pack that gap with foil to get the temps up, the air was bypassing the box and lump at stsartup

tcampbell

I have small ,med, large ,xl and mini.The mini and medium get high heat and faster than any of the others.My small is the slowest especially when using plate setter.

timekpr1

Would getting the dome temp to 750 degrees in under 5 minutes burn off the VOC's faster even though the grate temp is only 300?

Cymbaline65

timekpr1 said:

Would getting the dome temp to 750 degrees in under 5 minutes burn off the VOC's faster even though the grate temp is only 300?

I use a 3' piece of double-walled stove pipe just like the video. Sometimes (but rarely) I light the coals on the gasser side burner (only if in a real hurry.)

The method does indeed work. When you remove the pipe, the temp will drop 100-150 degrees but will stabilize quickly. The VOCs do seem to burn off quickly too. I use this approach when I want to do pizza.

rogerdm

One odd thing I have experienced is with the assumption that my charcoal got damp,...I made a fire with dry wood.....There you go 650 in no time at all and maintained....thoughts now please. Thanks...