Egg in nest on new composite deck

DynaGlide

So. .I've done a lot of reading on this topic. My new egg is in the nest on my new composite deck. I'm not worried about the deck except when I'm lighting the egg using my Looftlighter, or if I'm doing a high temp cook and I have the lid open. During these times I see sparks flying. I know there are 'fiber cement' grill mats, but if you read the reviews they will stain the composite if left out for a long period. Same thing for pretty much any other product I've seen. Luckily I have Wolf capped composite which is supposed to be a lot better at resisting fading. 

I'm toying with the idea of something that I lay down that fits around the base of my nest (think a big rectangle notched for the nest footprint) when I'm starting up the egg or when I'm doing a high temp cook that could stow away when not needed. Maybe I could make something out of plywood and staple something to it and add some hinges. Wouldn't be the prettiest but I don't know what else to do other than cross my fingers. Then again this isn't our forever home so I can't imagine a few stray embers over the years are going to affect us come selling time. I'm not big on the idea of something I leave down permanently. Even though I love this Looftlighter I'm considering switching to starter cubes since the majority of my cooks will be 450 and under and I don't see the cubes creating sparks like the Looftlighter does.

Open to ideas.

chadpsualum

I have a composite deck and I have a Looftlighter.  Unfortunately one of these sparks went rogue and landed on the deck melting a small spot.  I still use the Looftlighter but now I shut the lid as much as I can to try to keep the sparks in as much as possible.  It should be noted that I've had my Egg for 1 1/2 years and probably have ~150 cooks in and only once did I have this happen.

Jstroke

Ok, so here might be a couple options without a mat. Can you light it by dropping the looflighter down the smokehole with the grate out? Like a bucket down a well. just lift it out a bit once it makes contact with the lump so you dont melt the end of it.

Can you light it through the bottom draft door?

Just ideas as I see a matt or plywood becoming a PIA and still you arent going to catch all the flying sparks. Other than that I would revert to oil and paper towel or mapgas which you can adjust and might be easier to control.

Photo Egg

I say roll your nest/egg over a bit, lay down the matt, roll your egg back to your cooking spot and fire it up. When your done, reverse it and roll the matt back up and toss it to side till next time.

Jupiter Jim

Get an electric starter and your good to go.

Jeremiah

Be careful. In other words, as the others said watch your sparks, and egg during and after the cook. Mines on a wood deck and I'm nervous as hell about it. I light mine with a map torch but stay with it the whole time and even later after its all shut down I go out and check it several times. 

keepervodeflame

Hey Dynaglide, I share both your situation and your concerns. I have been cooking on a composite deck for about 9 years. I did cook in a nest at first but then switched to a compact table / cart shown in the pics below. I do not use a torch, electric starter, looft lighter, or anything like that due to the amount of sparks they produce.  I also don't use Cowboy charcoal because I find it extremely sparky. On top of concerns about the deck I live in the mountains of Arizona and have constant fire risk on my property,  so I need to be constantly vigilant and careful. I use the BGE fire starter cubes, let them get going with a micro torch and then shut the lid. The closed lid is your best friend.  I use the torch on the cubes not on the coal itself.  I use a cement fire mat under my gasser, and a fire resistant large door mat from lowes in front of what ever I am cooking on.  I don't feel I need to put a mat under the Egg cart,  the mat is for drips from cooking and transporting food. After your composite deck starts to dry out, stains are almost inevitable. Drop or splash anything with oil in it and you have a dark spot that won't go away.  Be really careful with grease in a dry hot drip pan, that just throws grease all over the place both inside your kamado and outside on your deck. That's mostly  why I use the door mat to catch the drips and drops. Use baking dishes to transport food to and from the grill.  If you foo top something you take a quick look and think good ,got past that one, my experience is a drip always hits the deck. If you are going to remove a grate or something like that you need to drape the area to catch drips. I never leave my grill during a cook. after I put on the snuff cap I stay with the grill until it drops below 200, and then check it later before I go to bed. I would recommend using a metal cart / table as it puts something under the base that will keep coals off the deck should you case split or crack. I haven't had even the slightest fire issue, but I am constantly aware of the possibility and try to be extremely careful. You are correct the mats will stain you deck, I just learn to live with it and leave them down in the same place in front of the gasser and then move it  to cover the area in front of the Egg cart when I use that. I only use one cube in the center and let my fire build slowly over probably an hour before I cook. 

DaveRichardson

I guess I'm just simple.....  I've got an old mason jar with some small papertowels soaked in veggie oil that I'll light with a lighter and drop into the lump.  I'm not having to stand in a firestorm for 2 minutes.  I've already had a small fire on the wooden deck recently from a smoldering %ucker getting out during a pizza cook.

And electronic things will eventually crap out.  I can buy another cheapo BBQ lighter from wally world for $1 and the papertowels and veggie oil combo is cheap and easy.

On big cooks for family events or a catering gig, I'll use Grandad's old zippo from WWII just so there is some history going into it.  Zippos are great for windy conditions and once that papertowel gets going, its a great little starter!  Drop that sucker in and place a couple of pieces of lump around it and on top to make sure they get going good.

YukonRon

DaveRichardson said:

I guess I'm just simple.....  I've got an old mason jar with some small papertowels soaked in veggie oil that I'll light with a lighter and drop into the lump.  I'm not having to stand in a firestorm for 2 minutes.  I've already had a small fire on the wooden deck recently from a smoldering %ucker getting out during a pizza cook.

And electronic things will eventually crap out.  I can buy another cheapo BBQ lighter from wally world for $1 and the papertowels and veggie oil combo is cheap and easy.

On big cooks for family events or a catering gig, I'll use Grandad's old zippo from WWII just so there is some history going into it.  Zippos are great for windy conditions and once that papertowel gets going, its a great little starter!  Drop that sucker in and place a couple of pieces of lump around it and on top to make sure they get going good.

This is something I have done forever, and it is 100% effective, 100% of the time. Whenever my folks see this, they get a mason jar and cheep paper towels.

Mickey

16 year old composite deck and over 10 years of Eggs. I only use weed burners on the two Larges and Mini-Max, use a Mapp on Mini. No problems, no near problems. 

DynaGlide

All great input and suggestions. Mickey your composite looks different than mine, like its the old style with wood fibers. Mine is like PVC and melts easily. Sorry for not addressing everyones comments individually but they're all great ideas and I will probably end up with a little bit of everyones. 

Photo Egg

DynaGlide said:

All great input and suggestions. Mickey your composite looks different than mine, like its the old style with wood fibers. Mine is like PVC and melts easily. Sorry for not addressing everyones comments individually but they're all great ideas and I will probably end up with a little bit of everyones. 

Mickey has burn holes/marks in his decking...when he said "no problems" he means he does not care.lol

Mickey

Just went out and checked. Could not find a burn mark but lots of stains. I have had lots of flying embers. Darian (@PhotoEgg) are you thinking of the screw holes? Just no burn holes. I love the stuff and Darian is correct in that I just don't care if it had burn holes  

KiterTodd

There was an earlier thread on this topic and I ended up using the HardieBacker cement board recommended.  It doesn't look bad, cuts easily and it's $10 at the hardware store.  You can lift it up after each cook if you want, but if you have a grilling spot and the gill is always going to be there anyway, why stress about it?

The board is already a light tan color so doesn't look bad on my deck, but I suppose you could paint it if you wanted it to match.  

Anyway, that's what worked for me after looking online for any available options and finding them all to be expensive and not promising any more than mild protection.  

DuckDogDr

Not to hijack threads but anyone have any issues with warping or sagging?

KiterTodd

DuckDogDr said:

Not to hijack threads but anyone have any issues with warping or sagging?

Both nuts are sagging lower than they used to.
I have not noticed any warpage.