new purchaser

Unknown

Mold or Mildew problems? I'm thinking about replacing my Weber gas grill with a BGE, but have a couple of questions that I would appreciate some help with. I'm relocating to Florida and have some concerns about the interior of the BGE molding or mildewing. Having lived in Florida before, this was a problem with the Weber. Because of the high Florida humidity, would there be problems if the grill went unused for several days. Also, being used to a gas grill, how long does it take to start a fire in the BGE and does it take special charcoal or staters. We have no distributors that are close to where I currently live and I noticed there are none in Florida.
Thanks Bob

Fireball

Bob Riederich,
Mold or mildew are not a problem. When you see some, fire up the egg to 500 to 600 degrees and burn it up. To prevent them do a high temperature cook every couple of days. To start the fireuse lump charcoal. Lump is 100% charcoal with no added binders. It should take about 10 to 15 minutes to get a fire started and a few more to get the egg up to cooking temps.
Fireball

Tim M

Bob Riederich,[p]
Anything with food left in it will mold or mildew in time if left to do so. My large Egg will show a sign of mold occasionally in the summer if it is very humid, but running the Egg upto 300-500 deg for 5-10 min is enough to kill anything in it. A prefered method to clean it after a few long cooks, is to fire it up and let it clean itself with high heat. Why waiste it - so doing pizza or searing steaks can be done and it cleans while it cooks. Let it heat to 500-700 deg and stay there for 10 min. Then add the steaks or pizza stone(s) and off you go. Very easy. The best way to avoid mold is to let the Egg "air out" after use and not close it up tightly and just leave it for days or slowly drop the temp before you close it up for the night after a cook. [p]Starting a fire takes 15 min with the use of a single starter (I use the Webber cubes that are available everywhere). Lump charcoal is also used but can be somewhat moe tricky to find but any Service Star or True Value can order it and many places carry or can order it for you. It is not the same as charcoal briqurettes and those are not used in the Egg since. Many here use electric starters or fireplace log chunks or chimney starters, etc. The Egg acts like a pot bellied stove in that if you get a tiny corner of charcoal burning, the natural air convection in the Egg with dome closed and vents open, it will soon be rising in temp nicely. [p]Link below has a "new user" page that might help explain with pictures. [p]Tim
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Tim M's BGE

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Earl

Bob Riederich,[p] I can't help with the mold part, as I have never had this problem in the 3years we have had it. My first look at the Egg was in a store called, Pinch-A-Penny or Pick-A-Penny.
It was located close to St Pete's Florida, I found one in Canada within hours of comming. Enjoy it.[p]Earl

Cajun

Bob Riederich,[p]Hiya and Welcome. I live in central Florida in the Orlando area. Pinch-a-penny and Barbeques Gallore both carry BGE here locally, but Pinch-a-Penny may be phasing them out. [p]What area of Florida are you moving to??[p]The mold problem will happen with any grill. I have used my BGE for about three months, only on weekends, and have had no problems. One thing I do though, is that when my lump, after a cook, is relatively low, I will open everything up and let the temps get up to 700 + degrees and burn all food stuff off the grill. This helps with the black buildup on the dome too. Turns it to a manageable powder. A little effort goes a long way here.[p]Good luck and you will definately enjoy the cooks on the BGE[p]Cajun