Two Eggs are better than one.

brentm

I was lucky enough to find a barely used Egg for sale locally for a good price.  

You see.  It all started out when my base cracked.  And I finally found my receipt and called my dealer to get a new base, ring, and firebox.  Yay.  Now I have them, but I have this crappy old dome.

So I told myself I'd find a dome.  Or I'd buy a new one.  Well, my bands were rusty, so I bought new bands when I picked up my warranty parts.

While hunting for an elusive dome, I find this nearly new Egg online.  I met the owner's son.  Great guy.  The price was right.  I didn't haggle.  The owner passed away unexpectedly while hunting (cardiac).  Still had the first bag of BGE brand of lump, in a faded bag with it.

So while I'm happy to have a new addition to the harem, it comes by way of unfortunate circumstances.

Eat drink and be merry my friends.  For tomorrow may never come.

WeberWho

Congrats on the second egg! I recommend a Stoker if you've ever heard of it. 

That's really sad to hear about the previous owner. I know you'll put that egg to good use.

brentm

Thanks @WeberWho - I appreciate that. 

I must say, I'm excited to try two pits on one Stoker.  That's something I've not done before.

Personal pizza night will be better.  I can do high and low temp cooks simultaneously.

It's just a shame Thanksgiving and Christmas are canceled.  I keep threatening my wife with giving away BBQ in the neighborhood just so I can practice and test blowers.

alaskanassasin

You got lucky and found a left and right hand model.

brentm

🤣 @alaskanassasin

RyanStl

If you read the unpopular bbq thread you will be proven wrong. BTW, I agree two is always better than one unless we are talking health issues.

brentm

RyanStl said:

If you read the unpopular bbq thread you will be proven wrong. BTW, I agree two is always better than one unless we are talking health issues.

But...the opinion is unpopular for a reason.

I think that is a viscous rumor started by small eggers.  🔥🔥 <---(two).  Over under. Roger roger. 

Killit_and_Grillit

You’ll love 2. It’s a great growing experience for sides, duel heat cooks, desserts, etc.

I did a few seasons with 2 Larges and a minimax when I was working from home. 

brentm

It was fun to go through the newer egg (year old?) and look at the improvements.

New bands - Obviously an improvement.  My first pizza cook seemed to relax the bands just like my old set, but maybe I didn't bend the band bolts enough?  I like the ability to adjust the bite.  But they don't open quite as wide as the original bands.

New Dome Thermometer - Big!  Completely functional.  Seems a little big for my eyes, but maybe they will adjust?

New fire ring - My old fire ring could be installed in either orientation.  The new one only fits in one direction.  Meh.

New fire box - less material than the old one.  Less prone to cracking???

New Eggmates - I'm glad I didn't pay retail on these.  Although completely functional, the blow molded plastic seems a little flimsy.  I do appreciate that they are not made of wood, for sanitary reasons.  But they just feel like a good item to find second hand.

New handle - I love the engraved (rather than screen printed) Big Green Egg logo.  I almost considered filling it in with some enamel paint before I clear coated it.   Which I think should be done at the factory.  Brown weathered and moldy handles are a turn off and the logo comes right off when you sand.  You can almost get an NSF-like surface with several coats of lacquer.

New Nest + Egg handler - This one must be a transitional model as the new models have the BGE logo down the side.  But I must say, I really like it.  Although a couple of the welds are showing a little corrosion already, these are well-built and sturdy.  And I appreciate the way it locks into the bands.

I need a kick-ash can and to find my charcoal grate that I like (not the charcoal basket) and another pizza stone.  I may just do my spider for the plate setter and get a CGS Woo.

Fun fun fun!!!!!

WeberWho

brentm said:

I may just do my spider for the plate setter and get a CGS Woo.

Fun fun fun!!!!!

+1 

I can't recall the last time I've used my plate setter over the spider/stone. Make sure to grab the drip tray with the stone if you go this route at CGS. 

brentm

As I typed my quick review - I thought more about the relaxing bands.

You guys may have already argued and settled the debate on relaxing bands, but someone double check my math.

If we know one inch of steel expands one thousandth of an inch for every 100 degrees in temperature.

(does quick math)

I quickly measured the bands on a large egg at 77"

77 * .001 = 0.077 of an inch for every 100 degrees.

I cook my pizzas at around 550.  So let's assume the steel is 500 degrees.  That would cause the steel to expand a whopping 0.385"

Are we really trying to take that slack up in the bands, cold, with the band bolts?

It seems the problem would be magnified as you increase your egg size.

brentm

WeberWho said:

I can't recall the last time I've used my plate setter over the spider/stone. Make sure to grab the drip tray with the stone if you go this route at CGS. 

Yeah it seems like a better solution than having three cooler spots around the cooking surface.  And I have two of the 17" stainless round pans from CGS.  I typically swap one out mid-cook to keep things fresh.

I stand my drip pan off my plate setter with my spider.  I'm thinking about two spiders, one upside down to accomplish the same.

The Woo obviously to get to the felt line.

brentm

brentm said:

I cook my pizzas at around 550.  So let's assume the steel is 500 degrees.  That would cause the steel to expand a whopping 0.385"

Are we really trying to take that slack up in the bands, cold, with the band bolts?

Eesh, I forgot the egg also expands as it is heated..

I'm really out of my element here.. but on the table of linear expansion coefficients.  Things made out of masonry and tile have about 1/2 of the expansion rate of steel.

That's still would be a shy 1/4" of slack created in thermal expansion around the bands (0.1925) just by turning it up to 550 degrees.

So everything is a spring...

Yeah, maybe cinching down the band bolts will create enough "spring" in the bands to cover the expansion due to heat.

alaskanassasin

I doubt your bands are reaching 500 degrees.

brentm

alaskanassasin said:

I doubt your bands are reaching 500 degrees.

Good point.  I'll have to measure the band temps on my next pizza cook.