Airflow is airflow (Is this true?)

anton

@johnkitchens, agreed, one of the best purchases for eggy, It made my life easier.
:-bd

RRP

My eggperience is there are many variables and I have to set my openings to what the conditions are for that day. In my case I always have a wind factor. Sometimes my vents are tight other times nearly wide open. What always makes me chuckle is when I read of someone going to all the effort to score his vent or even take a Dremel to the track so as to mark his temperature settings like a dial on a stove! If I drilled holes every time I wanted say 330 degrees my track would be riddled with holes! LOL

Little Steven

Newb!

stemc33

I might be over thinking this, but my vent settings are no where near consistent with every cook. Not even close. I do have different variances that @bigalsworth‌ mentioned like living on a hill and I live at a higher elevation than the majority. Wind plays a part sometimes and other times it has little effect. Meaning I've cooked in 0° weather with the wind at 20 mph and have had to open the vents wider and other days with similar conditions I've had to shut vents way down to slow the draft. Even though I have variances, most don't change like the hill or elevation never changes, so those shouldn't be an issue as far as consistency. Outside humidity In Wyoming does not vary much, inside egg humidity changes depending on the protein that is being cooked. I do fully understand the lump sizes and how it can impede airflow. I also understand arranging the lump perfectly will give more consistent results, but there is a lot of lump dumpers that report never having problems.

Bottom line is, I think there is more EggHeads that have problems or occasional problems controlling their egg than are admitting to it. I also have a hard time believing everyone takes time to stack a perfect pile of lump. If the egg was perfectly consistent, pit controllers would not be needed, especially if 20° in either direction doesn't make a difference in the cook. Am I wrong?

stemc33

@RRP‌, I think you get what I'm talking about. I'm glad I'm not crazy about having to use different vent settings.

anton

Points to @bigalsworth for using "snicklefritz" as a term to describe the "duff" at the end of a bag of lump.
)  :-bd

NPHuskerFL

stemc33 said:

@RRP‌, I think you get what I'm talking about. I'm glad I'm not crazy about having to use different vent settings.

Especially with the fluctuating wind and temp changes in the Sunshine State of Wyoming

Different conditions will require miniscule adjustments. This may be different from summer to winter, windy to calm, etc.

orbbq

gdenby said:

FWIW, most home ovens do not keep a specified temperature as steady as an Egg.

True this!  over christmas we did a prime rib in the oven, (didn't have the egg operational yet) but I threw in my i-grill just to test it out.  I was surpised the oven had ~20 degree swing at the grid beween it's heat cycle.  Was a very visible saw tooth effect on the igrill chart.  Way more variance than I ever would have expected.

stemc33

NPHuskerFL said:

show previous quotes

@RRP‌, I think you get what I'm talking about. I'm glad I'm not crazy about having to use different vent settings.

Especially with the fluctuating wind and temp changes in the Sunshine State of Wyoming Different conditions will require miniscule adjustments. This may be different from summer to winter, windy to calm, etc.

I hear ya @NPHuskerFL‌, I was just hoping I could get more consistency without building a special fire formation with lump. I really like the lift bag and dump method. OO has been a great improvement, but maybe I should consider a Hi-Que or the ash basket. @Little Steven‌ reports not having a problem with vent settings using the dump method and egging in extreme weather.

I'm also considering moving my egg. As it sits right now, the wind blows towards the bottom vent. where it's at now allows me to see the thermo from the kitchen window.

SGH

stemc33 said:

I often read about airflow is airflow in reference to temp control. Is this really true? What is optimum? 

 

Brother stem, im only going to address this part of the equation. Above you ask what is optimum. If the exact amount of air is used to achieve complete combustion, this is referred to as the "stoichiometric mixture". Depending on the fuel source, the ratio usually falls between 10:1 and 14:1 give or take a little. Now remember that these numbers are very heavily dependent on the type of fuel and how the fuel is actually used. Examples- Propane, natural gas wood etc,etc. Is the fuel burnt open in the atmosphere or under injected pressure. I have never averaged it out on my egg. However I have on Unit #1. Unit #1 being totally air tight, and the air intake being 100% controllable, it should yield very close numbers to the egg. If you run the stoichiometric formula, Unit #1 requires a 9:1 ration when running on lump alone. When wood is introduced as well, the ideal air/fuel ratio for complete combustion is then pushed upward to around 10.6:1, give or take a little. There is really a lot that influences the required air mixture. Far to much to write here. For different applications you have to start taking into account things like: does the combustion chamber run under positive, neutral or negative pressure? Is the draft forced, natural or induced? What is the exhaust velocity and rate? So in short, the answer to the question "is air flow airflow?" No it is not. If you want to prove to yourself, run you egg with plain charcoal and then plug your data into stoichiometric formula. Then run it again with lump and wood. The required air to fuel ratio ratio will certainly increase. I realize that the above is diving a little deeper than is required for general cooking on a smoker. However the numbers do not lie. Just thought that I would share.

DMW

SGH said:

show previous quotes

stemc33 said:

I often read about airflow is airflow in reference to temp control. Is this really true? What is optimum? 

 

Brother stem, im only going to address this part of the equation. Above you ask what is optimum. If the exact amount of air is used to achieve complete combustion, this is referred to as the "stoichiometric mixture". Depending on the fuel source, the ratio usually falls between 10:1 and 14:1 give or take a little. Now remember that these numbers are very heavily dependent on the type of fuel and how the fuel is actually used. Examples- Propane, natural gas wood etc,etc. Is the fuel burnt open in the atmosphere or under injected pressure. I have never averaged it out on my egg. However I have on Unit #1. Unit #1 being totally air tight, and the air intake being 100% controllable, it should yield very close numbers to the egg. If you run the stoichiometric formula, Unit #1 requires a 9:1 ration when running on lump alone. When wood is introduced as well, the ideal air/fuel ratio for complete combustion is then pushed upward to around 10.6:1, give or take a little. There is really a lot that influences the required air mixture. Far to much to write here. For different applications you have to start taking into account things like: does the combustion chamber run under positive, neutral or negative pressure? Is the draft forced, natural or induced? What is the exhaust velocity and rate? So in short, the answer to the question "is air flow airflow?" No it is not. If you want to prove to yourself, run you egg with plain charcoal and then plug your data into stoichiometric formula. Then run it again with lump and wood. The required air to fuel ratio ratio will certainly increase. I realize that the above is diving a little deeper than is required for general cooking on a smoker. However the numbers do not lie. Just thought that I would share.

Too many words...

theyolksonyou

Post this during the day

DMW said:

show previous quotes

SGH said:

stemc33 said:

I often read about airflow is airflow in reference to temp control. Is this really true? What is optimum? 

 

Brother stem, im only going to address this part of the equation. Above you ask what is optimum. If the exact amount of air is used to achieve complete combustion, this is referred to as the "stoichiometric mixture". Depending on the fuel source, the ratio usually falls between 10:1 and 14:1 give or take a little. Now remember that these numbers are very heavily dependent on the type of fuel and how the fuel is actually used. Examples- Propane, natural gas wood etc,etc. Is the fuel burnt open in the atmosphere or under injected pressure. I have never averaged it out on my egg. However I have on Unit #1. Unit #1 being totally air tight, and the air intake being 100% controllable, it should yield very close numbers to the egg. If you run the stoichiometric formula, Unit #1 requires a 9:1 ration when running on lump alone. When wood is introduced as well, the ideal air/fuel ratio for complete combustion is then pushed upward to around 10.6:1, give or take a little. There is really a lot that influences the required air mixture. Far to much to write here. For different applications you have to start taking into account things like: does the combustion chamber run under positive, neutral or negative pressure? Is the draft forced, natural or induced? What is the exhaust velocity and rate? So in short, the answer to the question "is air flow airflow?" No it is not. If you want to prove to yourself, run you egg with plain charcoal and then plug your data into stoichiometric formula. Then run it again with lump and wood. The required air to fuel ratio ratio will certainly increase. I realize that the above is diving a little deeper than is required for general cooking on a smoker. However the numbers do not lie. Just thought that I would share.

Too many words...

Skiddymarker

Short answer, if every piece of lump were the same, like a briquette, there might be some logic to it. When you dump or place lump in the firebox it is never the same. The airflow is different. For each cook it should be consistent, but cook to cook it will vary, sometimes a whole bunch and sometimes not so much. 

SGH

DMW said:

show previous quotes

SGH said

Too many words...

Brother D, I kept it as short as I could due to time constraints. 

NPHuskerFL

@stemc33 last few cooks whether they were hot & fast or L&S I stirred the lump to to clear the grate and firebox holes and then dumped in more lump. Didn't have any issues. I snake in thru the lower vent and shop vac it out when need be. No need to do much more. So long as airflow isn't being restricted it'll be A ok.