How I Fixed my Big Green Egg Pizza Underbite Problem

torp

I love my egg!  I've had great success with "low and slow" cooks.  My only
issue has been dome "underbite" when making pizza at high temperature.

Folks here may be familiar with this problem because there are already several
discussion threads about this issue in this forum.  In a nutshell, when the
egg is very hot for a while, the weight of the open dome can cause the lower
band to slip down a little in the rear.  This creates a misalignment problem
(described as "underbite") and the dome needs to be realigned once things have
cooled down again.

This happens even after tightening the bands until the bolts bends.

I grew tired of having to realign the dome after every pizza cook.

I had an idea for permanently fixing the problem...      Here's a pic:



For those who are curious, I documented my procedure (with photos) and posted
it here:

    http://www.noid.net/bge/underbite/

- Tor

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Pretty sure you just voided your warranty...

THEBuckeye

Curious at what temp you cook your pizza's

DaveRichardson

Not on my egg!!!!  Sounds like it could be something included in future castings of eggs....

NonaScott

I guess some people just have a lot more money than me or love pizza more than I do. I would never void my warranty so I could cook a pizza for extended periods of time at 750 degrees, but that's just me.

KiterTodd

Thanks for sharing the process and pics. 

Looks like you did it as carefully as it could be done, and clearly stated the risks in the process.  Nice to see a little outside the box thinking to have the egg meet your high temp needs.

Did you try any non-invasive hacks before resorting to the drill?  I was wondering if putting a 2nd mini band in the back would do this.  Below the main band, and held tight around the circumference with a cable or something.

Toxarch

Thanks for the pics. You are a braver person than I am.

YukonRon

Bold as brass. Outside the box thinking. Glad it works for you.

RRP

Why am I the only doubting thomas here tonight? @torp posts his FIRST post ever with what appears to be a new egg and he claims he has baked many pizzas at 750  blah blah blah... And it still looks like that? Come on folks...

dougcrann

No thanks..

RRog17

Interesting. 

fishlessman

it was always my upper band that got loose, dome wanting to fallout. i just retightened when the egg was hot

tgs2401

Interesting. I wish BGE would incorporate a system that would hold the bands in alignment. Seems like they could cast the ceramics with an indent for the bands.

Hoster05

I checked my egg last night for this situation and it appears I have this condition as well. I however haven't had any issues with high temp cooks.  If I did I would go the warranty route before tapping a new screw into the grill, but that's just me....

torp

For the "pretty cool" commenters, thanks!

For the "no thanks" commenters, you are right!  I am not advocating that
everyone run out and drill holes in their egg.   I'm excited about what I
did and thought it might be of interest to others.  I made detailed
instructions in case someone else wanted to try it, but I have no
expectation that anyone would.

The "doubting thomas" commenter (@RRP ) makes a point that is well taken.  If
my notes imply that I've tested this much, that was unintentional.  I've
updated the document with a new "Caveat" section that tries to address this.

I agree with the comment made by @tgs2401; I also wish the egg's design
handled this use case inherently.  Unfortunately, I suspect fixing this is
pretty low on their priorities list.  I spoke with a nice support person at
BGE about my underbite issue and was told that "high temp" is not a supported
usage and that this problem is not considered to be a defect.  I respect that
in general, but I wanted to push the limits for my own egg.

RRP

torp said:

The "doubting thomas" commenter (@RRP ) makes a point that is well taken.  If
my notes imply that I've tested this much, that was unintentional.  I've
updated the document with a new "Caveat" section that tries to address this.

OK - I'm cool with that. You obviously take extremely good care of your egg as it appears brand new, but on further review I see the black inside. Me bad...