Just joined the BGE family

Master_of_meat

I finally purchased myself a BGE. My father has had one for over 20 years and I cook on the one at my job almost weekly so in not new to egg cooking. I had a friend give me a knock off green egg about 4 years ago but it wasn't the same high quality of a real BGE. I built a table and bought a large BGE lighting it off for the first time Sunday. I had a really hard time keeping the temp below 300 as I was cooking split chicken breast with the plate setter in. My question to you Pros, what would cause my fire to burn so dang hot? my vents were all but closed (1/8" open at most). I never got the egg really hot and trying to bring temp down so that wasn't my issue. I was using the rest of a open bag of some cheap lump charcole that I used for grilling in my old fake egg. I also noticed that I don't put near as much charcole in the egg as others do at work, they fill it up with BGE charcole and I try and keep just enough in there to cover the holes in the liner. Thanks for the info guys. 

StillH2OEgger

Welcome aboard. Go ahead and fill it up with charcoal. There's no disadvantage that I'm aware of loading it up. Assuming the top vent was also not wide open you must have an air leak somewhere to be running so hot, assuming you closed the vents in time as it was coming to temp or didn't have the lid open too much.

Master_of_meat

Top and bottom vent were cracked 1/8". The egg at work cooks much different than this one. I was thinking that maybe the one at work has less air flow due to the amount of cooked on soot all in it. I didn't see smoke dumping out of anywhere but the top so I dont think there's an air leak big enough to cause it to burn hot. Also if I close the vents all the way the fire goes out. 

bhedges1987

Possible you let your fire get to hot at the beginning. You'll dial in on your new egg the temps it likes to run at. 

lousubcap

Thermo(s) calibrated??  If so, then it's all about air-flow once you have the lump ignited.  Too hot means to much burning lump-but those event settings shouldn't support 300*F on the dome.  Something doesn't fit here.  FWIW-
Edit welcome aboard and continue to enjoy the journey.

Theophan

Close the dome on a dollar bill and try to pull it out, and do that again and again, all around the Egg.  I'm guessing you have a big air leak at the gasket somewhere.  This will tell you where.

If there's resistance to pulling it out, and it's the same all the way around, I'm wrong.  It still seems almost certain that you have too much air flow somehow.

And fill the charcoal up to the top of the fire box.  Too little charcoal isn't causing this problem, but it will cause other problems in the future.

northGAcock

Congrats on putting both feet in the water. Look forward to many pictures.

THEBuckeye

"Catch" the temp on the way up. Won't take long to dial in your temps like you're turning on the oven. 

bluebird66

Welcome!

Master_of_meat

Thanks guys. This forum looks like a great tool for information for a great group of people. Other forums I'm in has very disrespectful people and this looks to be the exact opposite!

bgebrent

Welcome 

Jstroke

Well, first of welcome aboard the crazy train. Congrats on the new egg. Now for some real rules. 

Do do not ask for advice on buying crazy expensive accessories or second or third eggs. We are professional wallet moths. On the other hand eggs are social extraverts that require other eggs in order to stay happy. They also require a lama/Shepard, which is flat and is better suited to other activities like pancakes or large piles of hash browns. You will need in very short order approximately twice as much in your grocery budget and a freezer. OR NOT, as eating out will quickly become pretty mediocre and that budget can be siphoned into things like the meat budget. Do not plan an outdoor kitchen yet. It will quickly be too small. You should start looking for space under beds and behind the couch for winter storage of lump. You will need a shrink, a home equity loan of open and revolving credit and and wall map with push pins for butchers. Mark these now in Google maps. Get a Costco and Sams membership. Start getting an idea of what Lipitor does. Buy some bigger pants or join a gym or both--now ahead of time. Most importantly order a thermapen. If you have other hobbies expect to do them less. If you don't know your neighbors yet, you will soon. Whether or not you want to.

In all fairness this is a great bunch of people who will gladly and honestly answer almost any question related to anything you can possibly imagine in life that you will run into. Plan on making real friends with real people face to face and don't be surprised at the lengths to which people come to your aid when you least expect it. Most of all have fun, post the victories and the miserable failures with equal passion. And remember that we love sexy pictures of food no matter how simple you think they look. 

Master_of_meat

Someone say sexy food pictures!

Jstroke

Yeah baby, now that is sexy

yljkt

Master_of_meat said:

Someone say sexy food pictures!

Drops Mic....walks away....

johnmitchell

Welcome... Your pic of the steaks is.... pure magic... Have a great weekend.. 

YukonRon

Nice cook. Delicious looking ribeyes. All 8 get 5 stars.

THEBuckeye

Rule #1

NO FORKS! 

mrs_story

Theophan said:

And fill the charcoal up to the top of the fire box.  Too little charcoal isn't causing this problem, but it will cause other problems in the future.

Sorry to hijack this thread, but I was wondering what problems it could cause.  When I found out we were receiving a BGE, I started looking online at how-to videos.  I noticed folks were really loading up on the charcoal.  My husband tends to put far less in when he's cooking.  I've reminded him that it won't just burn off and be wasted if we shut everything down when we're done, but for whatever reason he still doesn't put much in.