1980s Egg

Oldgreenegg

I recently restored my husband's father's egg from the 1980s and would love some tips and tricks for tempature control. We smoked our first butt this weekend but couldn't get the tempature to drop below 300 - 350. We also have to use a grill tempature gauge because there is no hole to put the thermometer on the outside. 

WeberWho

How wide open were your vents? Were you using a heat deflector of some sort for the cook?

WeberWho

Welcome by the way!

GrillSgt

You can learn a lot from youtube. There is no one right way, whatever you find that works for you. 

NPHuskerFL

Ceramic drill bit or masonary bit and insert Tel-Tru or Smokeware thermometer. If you're not able to hold it below 300 to 350 I would say you're bringing in too much air.... Check your gasket and lid to base seal etc. 

GrillSgt

Sorry, forgot my manners. Welcome and cool looking egg you have there.

NPHuskerFL

^^^^ ditto...where are my manners!?
Welcome aboard. Happy egging. 

Oldgreenegg

@weberwho Thank you! We used the conveggtor and initially had the vents all the way open to let some of the smoke burn off then closed the daisy wheel to just have the holes slightly open, bottom vent to maybe 1/4th of the way open.

i think part of the problem was letting it get too hot, having to open it to constantly check the tempature (wireless thermometer may be the next purchase) combined with the cowboy hardwood lump. I've read it sucks and burns fast and hot. 

Oldgreenegg

@NPHuskerFL do you think drilling will crack it? I'm hesitant to do that given the age of the egg. 

Oldgreenegg

@GrillSgt thank you! They hand made them back in the day - I was excited to restore it for my husband's first Father's Day but ran into issues with the handle. I found a body shop to do a custom weld and had it done in time for the 4th. Lots of hours poured into what I thought would be a simple restoration. 

WeberWho

Once you get your temp around 225-250 start shutting down your vents. You don't want your top and lower vents open more than the size of a tooth pick. This will keep you around the 250 mark

NPHuskerFL

Oldgreenegg said:

@NPHuskerFL do you think drilling will crack it? I'm hesitant to do that given the age of the egg. 

Anything is possible but, with a good bit and sure hand I think you'll be fine. I'd do it.  

Theophan

Oldgreenegg said:

... i think part of the problem was letting it get too hot, ...

Welcome, and WAY COOL on the restored Egg!

And yeah, I agree with you, once all that ceramic gets hot, it takes a WHILE to cool down.  You always want to try not to let it get hotter than your target temperature for that reason.

Also, it might not be obvious just how little airflow it takes for a 250° cook.  It may seem like you're practically closing the vents.  Sometimes just a crack is enough, thickness of a quarter, sometimes a little more.

And, by the way, 250° is the lowest I ever go for cooking.  Lots of people have it in their heads that "real" low-and-slow barbecue has to be 225° or even 200°, but there's a really big difference between a stick burner, for example, with a fire that's actually burning healthily but only heating up an adjacent smoking chamber to 200°, and trying to smother a charcoal fire in a Big Green Egg so that it's only heating the Egg to 200°.  In my experience, the Egg just doesn't do well at 200° or 225°, and I just get better results and better smoke at 250°-275°.  Your mileage may vary, as they say.

FearlessTheEggNoob

Although it would probably be fine, i would hesitate to modify something with that much sentimental value.

RRP

Welcome aboard. Richard in FL has restored these oldies and maybe he will be coming along. SERIOUS word of caution though those old ones are terra-cotta and not the current day ceramic so yo really need to keep that baby under 350 TOPS!

Oldgreenegg

RRP said:

Welcome aboard. Richard in FL has restored these oldies and maybe he will be coming along. SERIOUS word of caution though those old ones are terra-cotta and not the current day ceramic so yo really need to keep that baby under 350 TOPS!

We only plan on using it for smoking for that reason. Amazed that it held up so well for so long and only needed basic hardware restoration. 

Oldgreenegg

FearlessTheEggNoob said:

Although it would probably be fine, i would hesitate to modify something with that much sentimental value.

My thought too plus the fear of cracking it. We'll try the wireless thermometer route first. 

HeavyG

Oldgreenegg said:

@NPHuskerFL do you think drilling will crack it? I'm hesitant to do that given the age of the egg. 

Not a chance in hell that I would risk drilling a hole for a dome thermometer.

If you just want a guide to help get the temp where you want it just poke a thermometer probe thru one of your daisy wheel holes. That's what I do on an old egg and my old Weber kettle and Smokey Mountain, none of which have dome thermos.

THEBuckeye

WeberWho said:

Once you get your temp around 225-250 start shutting down your vents. You don't want your top and lower vents open more than the size of a tooth pick. This will keep you around the 250 mark

Once you get to temp and have the patience to let the temp set-in, I go at 225-250  with bottom vent open only the depth of a quarter as in 1/8 of an inch. Same with Daisy Wheel - barely open. 

slovelad

Wonder if you could hit it with some high heat paint?

Oldgreenegg

slovelad said:

Wonder if you could hit it with some high heat paint?

I want too but my husband likes the look of the original. 

slovelad

Oldgreenegg said:

slovelad said:

Wonder if you could hit it with some high heat paint?

I want too but my husband likes the look of the original. 

Can't blame him there. Might look cool if you put a smokeware on to add a little bling. Im a big fan of the old and new combo 

NPHuskerFL

@HeavyG You skeered it'd break?  You don't strike me as that type. 

fishlessman

you could get a maverick with the probes and monitor it with that till you get an idea how hot the dome gets for low and slows, i used an egg for a few years monitoring temps by touching the dome, no gages. interesting the hinge on the left is the new style and it incorporates charwoodys band clips, he came up with that idea back late 90's early 2000 and bge finally went with his modification

td66snrf

@Oldgreenegg It appears to me what you have is an old Imperial Kamado. I used to have one that color.  Good cooker but I  wouldn't get it too hot. 

Oldgreenegg

td66snrf said:

@Oldgreenegg It appears to me what you have is an old Imperial Kamado. I used to have one that color.  Good cooker but I  wouldn't get it too hot. 

I took it with me to the big green egg store here in Atlanta and had the guys look at it to help me with parts. There were a few in the museum that looked similar to ours; not sure how to tell the difference.