Getting Frustrated

Driller

Again, I am new.  I have paid the price for being cheap and maybe not enough lump in the LBGE. 

But:
1.)  The vent holes are open
2.)  Lump is up to if not past the rim
3.)  Vents are wide open
4.)  3 "starter" blocks are use
5.)  30 minutes later the entire fire pit is aglow
6.)  Everything wide open and cannot get it over 420.

What in the world is wrong?

At 400 I had put the Daisy Wheel on wide open.  Nothing changed.  So.... I took off the wheel and left it wide open.  Got to 420..... big deal!!!  I am looking for 600 to sear the beegeebies out of my steak.  At this point I am looking longingly at my gas grill that will give me 500 with my cast iron griddle.

Any ideas?

berndcrisp

Have you calibrated the thermometer?

westernbbq

check dome thermo....sounds liken its reading way too low,

hoosier_egger

Is the fire box opening aligned with the bottom vent? Are u leaving the dome open during the initial lighting? Lump is up to the rim of what? The firebox? 

Begger

If you can't get near the dome with hands OR maybe even touch the wooden handle, your thermometer is way out.
When I'm doing pizza @600f, the darn thing gets REAL hot

nolaegghead

If you are searing a steak, close the bottom vent, light the top of the lump and leave the lid open.  The fire will stay on top, crawl around rather than dive down.  

blasting

Driller - you'll get it.  Just keep asking questions.  Pictures may help us zero in on what's going on.  The egg does have some limitations, but achieving high temps isn't one of them. 

I agree with the advice given above - in fact maybe consider a complete reset.  Calibrate thermometer, vacuum everything out, check ceramic alignment.  For oven temps (say 325 and up), I'd leave the daisy wheel off and manage temp from the bottom vent.  For searing, as nola suggested, leave dome open.  

Cashfan

When I can't get the temp to come up I will take a grate cleaner rod and stick it in the from the top down so a channel forms, ensuring air flow from the bottom. It seems like sometimes a large pile of lump hinders the flow. 

For temps 400+ I only control with the bottom damper, and the daisy wheel is off.

As said previously, make sure the thermometer is calibrated.

SciAggie

Much good advice has been given already. The egg is an airflow driven device. Since you are new, I agree to check if the opening in the firebox is aligned with the lower vent. Make sure the vent holes in the fire box are unobstructed. I’ve had my egg for a little over two years now and I’ve only had frouble getting temps up on two occasions. Both times I was using lump that was unusually small from over-handled bags. There wasn’t enough airflow in the egg. Remember also that it takes time to saturate the ceramics with heat -the higher the target temp, the longer it takes to saturate the egg with heat energy. 
One last thought - are you giving the egg time to heat up? Does the temp not go up, or is it just not at the temp you want in your desired time frame? As @nolaegghead said, for steaks just open the lid and let it get hot - no airflow issue then. 

bikesAndBBQ

I wonder if you are expecting to hit these high temperatures too quickly. When I do pizzas at 550-650, it takes a good 45 minutes to get to those temperatures. I may get there a little slower than most, but I would still say you have 30 minutes to get to high temperatures. Using the egg is not a fast/time efficient process. It is about enjoying the process of getting there. For quick cooks and sears (talking in total start to finish times), an egg really isn’t the correct tool. 

Hungry Joe

Does your egg sit out in the rain? I find that if it's been raining a lot and I don't use my egg the ceramics get wet and it does take longer to come up to high temperature.

I assume you did check your thermometer?

Theophan

First, you're right that if you can't easily get to 600°-700° searing temps, something's wrong, though as someone said above maybe it could take more than 30 minutes.  Certainly if it's been an hour and you're still in the 400°s, something's wrong, and as others have remarked, it's almost certainly airflow.

One more thing that hasn't been mentioned, yet, maybe because you said you're new, so we're assuming you have a relatively new Egg, is that sometimes air flow gets restricted from ash that has fallen through the little holes in the fire box, and built up between the outer wall of the Egg and the firebox.  If it's not a practically brand-new Egg, it might be worth while taking the fire ring and fire box out and cleaning out any ash in the Egg.  Then putting them back, being careful to keep the opening of the firebox aligned with the opening of the Egg.

Other than that, a few times I've had excessively small, fine lump restrict air flow by packing together in a mass without much air space between the chunks.  If you have a lot of quite small pieces maybe that's an issue.

If the top cap is off and the bottom vent is wide open, and you have lump filled up to the top of the fire box at least (preferably near the top of the fire ring), by gosh you should be able to get WAY above 600° with no problem at all.  If you try all of the things people have mentioned and it's still not working, post again!

Lmidkiff

If I’m doing a hot cook like that,I always make sure the old ash is removed and it’s 100% clean so no airflow is restricted. Since the BGE is an airflow device, as stated earlier, a dead calm day can also affect  performance. 

Ozzie_Isaac

Driller said:

Again, I am new.  I have paid the price for being cheap and maybe not enough lump in the LBGE. 

But:
1.)  The vent holes are open
2.)  Lump is up to if not past the rim
3.)  Vents are wide open
4.)  3 "starter" blocks are use
5.)  30 minutes later the entire fire pit is aglow
6.)  Everything wide open and cannot get it over 420.

What in the world is wrong?

At 400 I had put the Daisy Wheel on wide open.  Nothing changed.  So.... I took off the wheel and left it wide open.  Got to 420..... big deal!!!  I am looking for 600 to sear the beegeebies out of my steak.  At this point I am looking longingly at my gas grill that will give me 500 with my cast iron griddle.

Any ideas?

In your other temp thread on Oct24 you were getting temps over 650.  Has something changed?

Botch

If your "entire fire pit is aglow" just grill your steak, shut her down, pull the thermometer when cool and toss it.  It's broken.
Firecraft is having a sale right now, get yourself a new thermo and calibrate it first to make sure.  

pgprescott

Lump burns at @ 1300 F. Just saying. 

Driller

I calibrated the thermometer.

Driller

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Driller said:

Again, I am new.  I have paid the price for being cheap and maybe not enough lump in the LBGE. 

But:
1.)  The vent holes are open
2.)  Lump is up to if not past the rim
3.)  Vents are wide open
4.)  3 "starter" blocks are use
5.)  30 minutes later the entire fire pit is aglow
6.)  Everything wide open and cannot get it over 420.

What in the world is wrong?

At 400 I had put the Daisy Wheel on wide open.  Nothing changed.  So.... I took off the wheel and left it wide open.  Got to 420..... big deal!!!  I am looking for 600 to sear the beegeebies out of my steak.  At this point I am looking longingly at my gas grill that will give me 500 with my cast iron griddle.

Any ideas?

In your other temp thread on Oct24 you were getting temps over 650.  Has something changed?

I have no clue.  

Driller

Theophan said:

First, you're right that if you can't easily get to 600°-700° searing temps, something's wrong, though as someone said above maybe it could take more than 30 minutes.  Certainly if it's been an hour and you're still in the 400°s, something's wrong, and as others have remarked, it's almost certainly airflow.

One more thing that hasn't been mentioned, yet, maybe because you said you're new, so we're assuming you have a relatively new Egg, is that sometimes air flow gets restricted from ash that has fallen through the little holes in the fire box, and built up between the outer wall of the Egg and the firebox.  If it's not a practically brand-new Egg, it might be worth while taking the fire ring and fire box out and cleaning out any ash in the Egg.  Then putting them back, being careful to keep the opening of the firebox aligned with the opening of the Egg.

Other than that, a few times I've had excessively small, fine lump restrict air flow by packing together in a mass without much air space between the chunks.  If you have a lot of quite small pieces maybe that's an issue.

If the top cap is off and the bottom vent is wide open, and you have lump filled up to the top of the fire box at least (preferably near the top of the fire ring), by gosh you should be able to get WAY above 600° with no problem at all.  If you try all of the things people have mentioned and it's still not working, post again!

That, the accumulation of small pieces of lump, could be it.  I'll try mixing it up a bit better and I'll also check your other idea.  Thanks

Driller

Lmidkiff said:

If I’m doing a hot cook like that,I always make sure the old ash is removed and it’s 100% clean so no airflow is restricted. Since the BGE is an airflow device, as stated earlier, a dead calm day can also affect  performance. 

I would think this is the one (if there is only one) thing I had not given thought.  I had a couple of longer cooks, successful I might add, so there was quite a bit of smaller lump at the bottom of the firebox to which I only added fresh lump and did not stir it up.

Thanks

Driller

Thank you everyone for the helpful suggestions.

jabam

Is it possible your lump got moisture in it? I say this because it happened to me. 

I left bag bag out under gazebo, while it was raining, bag did not get wet, so I thought nothing of it. But it would not burn right. 

Changed out the lump and everything was fine. 

tjv

nolaegghead said:

If you are searing a steak, close the bottom vent, light the top of the lump and leave the lid open.  The fire will stay on top, crawl around rather than dive down.  

the man speaks volumes on this one...........

if the "pit is aglow", then it's either crap/wet/used/not enough lump or your thermometer is off. 

t

Photo Egg

Driller said:

Lmidkiff said:

If I’m doing a hot cook like that,I always make sure the old ash is removed and it’s 100% clean so no airflow is restricted. Since the BGE is an airflow device, as stated earlier, a dead calm day can also affect  performance. 

so there was quite a bit of smaller lump at the bottom of the firebox to which I only added fresh lump and did not stir it up.

Thanks

There is your answer, not enough airflow. Lots of smaller pieces on the bottom not letting enough air through your lump to stoke a hot fire.
You can make a wiggle rod to stick through the lower vent and poke air holes through the lump. Yes, it really works. Images from google search.

Carolina Q

Try the Wiggle Rod. You can make one or buy one from Thirdeye (the originator)...
http://www.thirdeyeq.com/products---pricing.html

Easiest test is to bend a coat hanger as pictured above and see what happens. Not very substantial so you'll want a heavier gauge, but it should tell you if clogged fire grate holes are the problem.

As for "being cheap and not enough lump", you can fill ip the the top of the fire ring if you want. When you shut down, the fire will go out and whatever lump wasn't used will still be there for the next cook. Just stir it up, let the ash fall thru to the bottom and relight. Clean out the ash every 3-4 cooks.

tjv

Photo Egg said:

so what do suppose he as in that egg holding the lump.  check the slider, looks like the egg is a goin'..................................that's pre lump basket days.......lol

t

Photo Egg

tjv said:

Photo Egg said:

so what do suppose he as in that egg holding the lump.  check the slider, looks like the egg is a goin'..................................that's pre lump basket days.......lol

t

Funny, hope his demo is an extra lump grate.lol

GrillSgt

Kick ash basket. 

BikerBob

Hey the thermometer can wrap.  That will give a real reverse sear. You filled to the rim-of what? The other thing is ash mixed with the small pieces on the grate blocking airflow or else as suggested pull the firebox and clean all the ash out of the bottom.

JohnInCarolina

GrillSgt said:

Kick ash basket. 

Or... a high Q grate and $60 left over for MEAT.  

Driller

Beat the hell out of the remaining lump and was surprised at the amount of as that was there.  Got it cleaned up as best as it could without removing everything and it certainly did perform at high temp on the next cook.  Thank you everyone.