Has anyone perfected open-dome grilling?

bgebrent

Above advice is good.  Bottom vent closed or barely cracked. Haven’t tried fish’s approach but it sounds legit, just like his driving 

Theophan

@SonVolt: First, there's no tone of voice in these posts, and I hope it's clear I'm not trying to fight with you, and I agree with you that there's no one perfect way to cook anything.

Second, your steaks look great!  I wish you'd shared a photo of the finished steak cut, because a nice piece of medium-rare beef is one of my favorite types of food porn, but your steaks look terrific!

Third, though, still gotta disagree with you on this:

SonVolt said:

... thin cuts of meat like chicken yakitori, where with the dome down, the top-side would cook through before you ever had a chance to flip it...

It just depends on how hot the fire is.  Your principle would be right IF it's not a very hot fire.  But if the fire is hot enough that the food cooks very quickly, then the radiant energy of the fire is by far the main source of heat for the cook.  Again, when I sear steaks, for example, at 600°-650°, they're just not in the Egg long enough to "roast" at all!

I've never made yakitori, but I don't think even thinly sliced chicken on skewers cooks faster than shrimp, and here are shrimp with a nice sear on both sides, and with the dome closed:



I grill shrimp on a pretty hot fire because I like to get a sear, but I don't like dry, chewy, overcooked shrimp.  It just takes a hot fire.

nolaegghead

pgprescott said:

nolaegghead said:

SonVolt said:

Well the good news is that when you have to claim a warranty you can just lie and say you didn't pour water into the egg. 

Don't let Pete Prescott or Focker hear you say this or they will damn you to the lowest depths of hell as scum equivalent to Hitler and Mussolini.

Not quite. LOL.
 
Just a liar and a thief. People choose to lie all the time about warranty stuff I’m sure. Just don’t ask me to do it for you. Oh, IMO, it’s really unseemly to brag about it posthumously. 

Guys like carey just love it though. I guess. It’s the best! Awesome! You know. 

the guy told the truth to the dealer, and you berated him as a thief because the dealer replaced the plate setter...so maybe the dealer was the thief in your mind, but JFC, please for gods sake let someone else do the PR for dads store, man.

Focker

Lil' guy has latched on to the pant leg Pete. LOL
A quick kick will release. 

bgebrent

nolaegghead said:

pgprescott said:

nolaegghead said:

SonVolt said:

Well the good news is that when you have to claim a warranty you can just lie and say you didn't pour water into the egg. 

Don't let Pete Prescott or Focker hear you say this or they will damn you to the lowest depths of hell as scum equivalent to Hitler and Mussolini.

Not quite. LOL.
 
Just a liar and a thief. People choose to lie all the time about warranty stuff I’m sure. Just don’t ask me to do it for you. Oh, IMO, it’s really unseemly to brag about it posthumously. 

Guys like carey just love it though. I guess. It’s the best! Awesome! You know. 

the guy told the truth to the dealer, and you berated him as a thief because the dealer replaced the plate setter...so maybe the dealer was the thief in your mind, but JFC, please for gods sake let someone else do the PR for dads store, man.

Well, who is telling the truth and who has a hold of a pant leg?

theyolksonyou

bgebrent said:

nolaegghead said:

pgprescott said:

nolaegghead said:

SonVolt said:

Well the good news is that when you have to claim a warranty you can just lie and say you didn't pour water into the egg. 

Don't let Pete Prescott or Focker hear you say this or they will damn you to the lowest depths of hell as scum equivalent to Hitler and Mussolini.

Not quite. LOL.
 
Just a liar and a thief. People choose to lie all the time about warranty stuff I’m sure. Just don’t ask me to do it for you. Oh, IMO, it’s really unseemly to brag about it posthumously. 

Guys like carey just love it though. I guess. It’s the best! Awesome! You know. 

the guy told the truth to the dealer, and you berated him as a thief because the dealer replaced the plate setter...so maybe the dealer was the thief in your mind, but JFC, please for gods sake let someone else do the PR for dads store, man.

Well, who is telling the truth and who has a hold of a pant leg?

Wasted effort. 

bgebrent

theyolksonyou said:

bgebrent said:

nolaegghead said:

pgprescott said:

nolaegghead said:

SonVolt said:

Well the good news is that when you have to claim a warranty you can just lie and say you didn't pour water into the egg. 

Don't let Pete Prescott or Focker hear you say this or they will damn you to the lowest depths of hell as scum equivalent to Hitler and Mussolini.

Not quite. LOL.
 
Just a liar and a thief. People choose to lie all the time about warranty stuff I’m sure. Just don’t ask me to do it for you. Oh, IMO, it’s really unseemly to brag about it posthumously. 

Guys like carey just love it though. I guess. It’s the best! Awesome! You know. 

the guy told the truth to the dealer, and you berated him as a thief because the dealer replaced the plate setter...so maybe the dealer was the thief in your mind, but JFC, please for gods sake let someone else do the PR for dads store, man.

Well, who is telling the truth and who has a hold of a pant leg?

Wasted effort. 

Yup.

DMW

nolaegghead said:

  

The best equipment for grilling is an open top grill that has a lever to adjust the fire or grate height on the fly.  

I completely agree. I find the Hasty Bake to be an excellent grill because of this. You can adjust the firebox up/down, and it's easy to have a hot side/cool side. Occasionally Amazon offers a great deal on these.

nolaegghead

Focker said:

Lil' guy has latched on to the pant leg Pete. LOL
A quick kick will release. 

You two fellahs need to stand, facing each other.  Then simultaneously slap the person across from you in the face, and maybe dump some cold water over your heads, collectively.  Resist the urge to hug. Look at yourselves with the stupid "huahau" analogies and high school level "Mean Girls" mentality.  We're adults here.  Wake the F up. 

If the quad cities chamber of commerce learns you're turning the metropolitan area's reputation into Dork-ville, USA, they'll be devastated.  Think of all that marketing money wasted.

Iowa is not a land of mean dorks, folks.  It's decent people.  

westernbbq

SonVolt said:

westernbbq said:

Yes.  Ive done so...by closing the dome...,

Then you're grill-roasting, which isn't always the best way to grill something. 

Just havin some fun...i close dome to prevent flareups OR, what really works well is going indirect.   Soider with stone or platesetter and CI grate up top.  Get it to 600F or so and ny strips 45 seconds, rotate for cross hatch pattern, 45 secs more then rotate 45 seconds and perfect med rare is the result...

JohnInCarolina

nolaegghead said:

Focker said:

Lil' guy has latched on to the pant leg Pete. LOL
A quick kick will release. 

If the quad cities chamber of commerce learns you're turning the metropolitan area's reputation into Dork-ville, USA, they'll be devastated.  Think of all that marketing money wasted.

SonVolt

I have no idea what's going on here, but I like it.  There's nothing worse than the internet's bible thumping moral authority. 

SonVolt

Theophan said:

@SonVolt: First, there's no tone of voice in these posts, and I hope it's clear I'm not trying to fight with you, and I agree with you that there's no one perfect way to cook anything.

Second, your steaks look great!  I wish you'd shared a photo of the finished steak cut, because a nice piece of medium-rare beef is one of my favorite types of food porn, but your steaks look terrific!

Third, though, still gotta disagree with you on this:

SonVolt said:

... thin cuts of meat like chicken yakitori, where with the dome down, the top-side would cook through before you ever had a chance to flip it...

It just depends on how hot the fire is.  Your principle would be right IF it's not a very hot fire.  But if the fire is hot enough that the food cooks very quickly, then the radiant energy of the fire is by far the main source of heat for the cook.  Again, when I sear steaks, for example, at 600°-650°, they're just not in the Egg long enough to "roast" at all!

I've never made yakitori, but I don't think even thinly sliced chicken on skewers cooks faster than shrimp, and here are shrimp with a nice sear on both sides, and with the dome closed:



I grill shrimp on a pretty hot fire because I like to get a sear, but I don't like dry, chewy, overcooked shrimp.  It just takes a hot fire.

I need more shrimp in my life. Living 6 hours from the coast doesn't help matters. 

GrillSgt

GoldenQ

For the XL look at the CGS smaller metal charcoal rings to hold the charcoal.  The one without solid sides gets it for me and leave bottom vent barely open

SonVolt

GoldenQ said:

For the XL look at the CGS smaller metal charcoal rings to hold the charcoal.  The one without solid sides gets it for me and leave bottom vent barely open

I'm thinking this may be my best option. Do you use briquettes or still stick with lump?

fishlessman

have you tried the closed bottom vent yet.  makes wok cooking simple, the heat doesnt flare up at all, should work fine for what you want.  if you use briquettes dont put them in the fire box, they over ash and clog the heat flow. with briquettes the 2 grids i mentioned work well, you can leave an area open with no briquettes the same way you would with a kettle and ash buildup is not a problem

SonVolt

fishlessman said:

have you tried the closed bottom vent yet.  makes wok cooking simple, the heat doesnt flare up at all, should work fine for what you want.  if you use briquettes dont put them in the fire box, they over ash and clog the heat flow. with briquettes the 2 grids i mentioned work well, you can leave an area open with no briquettes the same way you would with a kettle and ash buildup is not a problem

I haven't had a chance to try again, but will definitely give the closed bottom vent a shot first.  I prefer not to use briquettes if at all possible since the amount of ash would be a pain to deal with. 

buzzvol

I am not going to say "perfected", especially among this crowd, but I have grilled several times in the last week with closed bottom vent and opened dome.  Sausages and brats, burgers and tonight top sirloin and squash.
This just doesn't seem like rocket surgery.

SmokeyPitt

I didn't read the entire thread so this may have been sais already, but one simple solution for direct grilling is to use a smaller amount of lump. Only fill it up about 1/2 way and then you can get all the lump burning and there is some distance between the food and the flames.

Mickey

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Last brisket I cooked gave up a gallon of liquid.

My eggs are so modded out that I don't think 1/4 cup of water is going to be the end of my warranty. I have a kick ash basket, a Smokeware cap, adjustable rigs, spiders, etc. Pretty sure most of us are out of compliance in some way or another. 


Fortunately I have never abused it and my dealer (who sold me half this stuff anyway) is a good one and has taken care of my legitimate claims no questions asked. I will go years with cracked rings and boxes etc so I'm not lined up for freebies every time something starts to go bad. I follow the spirit of the warranty and BGE has certainly done the same.  

Too many Eggfests where they toss water on them so the demos can be loaded. This with the distributor standing next to them. Lots of this to load Eggs in the back of those waiting cars and trucks. 

blind99

Lot of ways to skin a cat. BGE just ain’t the best geometry for open grilling but it works. 

One more wrinkle, with warranty voiding aftermarket gear. 

Last night I setup up three levels on the AR, direct. Wings on the bottom, cornbread in a CI skillet in the middle, and onions and corn on top. After the wings and cornbread were done, middle level came out and I grilled chicken tenders and finished the corn and onions direct with the lid open. Top grid pushed back, like a warming shelf, as stuff finished. 

PSC

my $0.02

Bottom vent closed, let the charcoal consume until it is all white, less flare ups and a more stable temp

SciAggie

That’s why I have this:

SonVolt

SciAggie said:

That’s why I have this:

Building something like that is on my bucket list... complete Argentinian style grill made of brick. 

tgs2401

Close the bottom vent and raise the grid so your protein is farther away from the heat. I use three fire bricks around the edges of the fire ring which raises my grid to the felt line.