Starting a Fire in the Large BGE

Unknown

Just got an "F" in fire starting 101! Yesterday I bought a Large BGE and started my first lump charcoal fire with paper (I know - NEVER use paper - used the wife's hair dryer to blow out the ash. What a mess!). Spirits not dampened though. Use about four double handfuls of lump charcoal, which ignited okay, but I couldn't get the temperature down from 380 degrees to a recommended 220 degrees for a whole chicken. Took out some charcoal, then the fire went out. Finished the bird in the electric oven. Bottom line: I don't know how to build a proper fire in the BGE. Can someone tell me how? Pictures? There’s an idea – a series of pictures for the neophytes…

stike

Phil H,
bunch of good ways to light the egg. first off though, was the 380 temp during the lighting phase? the temp registered while flames are licking the thermo aren't really relevant. the temp will be artificially high if flames are present.[p]if the temp was high AFTER it was lit... well, rule #1 is to come up to temps, not down. start dialing down sooner, while you are below your target temp.[p]this is my method for starting fires, and i post it here a little wary that perhaps i've worn it ou its welcome... maybe once a week lately i've posted this.
[ul][li]something i learned a while ago...[/ul]

Unknown

Phil H,[p]I use the natural starter, 3 or 4 small pieces in the middle once they are ignited and burning well. I move them from the middle with my tongs to the outer edge, like a clock at 12-3-6-9 ... works well

BENTE

Phil H,
i'm sorry you had a problem
go to this site to help you start your lump
good luck
tb
[ul][li]click here[/ul]

citychicken

Phil H,
you might want to check out this video.[p]http://www.greenegggrilling.com/mainpage frameset.htm[p]kkep in mind that in this demo casey is lighting a mini egg. by the way, you probably want to use more lump than just a few handfuls in your large. [p]good luck & welcome to the bge world![p]btw if you haven't checked out the whiz's site, try it. it is great for a bge indoctrination.[p]http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramic.htm

BlueSmoke

Phil H,
Hold on a second - "recommended 220 degrees for a whole chicken". Recommended by who? It may just be me and my prejudices, but 220 sounds awful low. If it was recommended by the book accompanying your Egg, send in the warranty registration card and toss the book - times and temps are wildly inaccurate.[p]For recipes, see the recipe section above, or Wise One's books on Naked Whiz's website. For everything you want or need to know about (fill in a noun), browse Naked's website. That includes charcoal, fire-starting, ceramic cooking, cricket...[p]Welcome aboard and good luck,
Ken

fishlessman

<p />Phil H,
as a newbie, its best to fill the egg up halfway into the fire ring until you get the hang of how much lump is needed, some here always cook that way. i use a weedburner at home for my cooks, at camp i use sawdust parafin fire starter broken up into 2 or 3 golf ball sized pieces. last weekend i tried the method stike mentioned below because i was out of fire starter, it worked fine. mapp torches also work well, but ive burnt a few of those up, the weedburners last a lot longer but be aware that they cause a cloud of sparks when lighting, long sleeves, hat, and sunglasses recommended

citychicken

fishlessman,
geeze, is there any need for a bge when you have a weed burner? can you carmelize your creme brulee with that too? lol!

fishlessman

markkal123,
actually works well for an end sear when you dont have the time to finish things up properly. have thought about making the egg into a broiler thru the dome as well : ). it also burns weeds and lights the camp fire with out all the rigamarole of paper, cardboard, kindling etc.

ranger ray

fishlessman, i too, tried all of the other variants of fire starting.... the weed burner is the way to go!

RJH

BlueSmoke, I was reading through this thread wondering if anyone was going to point this out. Temp too low for chicken, and toss the book. Someone did point out that a few handfuls is not enough.

stike

fishlessman,
here's a stooopid question:
you use it to kill weeds? if so, does it leave the moss alone and just ignite the stuff sticking up, or is everything toast?[p]we have about 600 sf of brick pavers, and although the weeds (crab grass)can get kinda sh!tty, we like the moss.

fishlessman

stike,
moss grows very quick at my house so if you burn it, it grows back rather quickly. woo told me how to grow the stuff, take an old blender, add some rain or lake water and a good clump of moss and hit the blender on to a slurry, add it to a cooler full of rainwater and mix and pour where you want the moss to grow, then keep it wet, rainwater works best instead of the chlorinated stuff you got, i use the lake water. i think woo said buttermilk, but the rain water worked just as well for me. i burnt it last year and the moss is coming back in the area i burnt, but so are the weeds. next fall im going to burn once a week for a couple of weeks and see if that helps. i put gravel between the blue stone, i think clay would have been a better idea as the moss will grow on that and be more difficult for the crab grass.

stike

fishlessman,
we got moss, bruther. hoo yah.
when we moved in, i found old concrete pavers beneath the lawn after a year or so. yikes. the moss had knitted together and grass took hold too.[p]the buttermilk trick is great. i have had a good laugh though. a stone mason did a fireplace (inside) and the interior designer declared that to age the stone quickly, you brush it with buttermilk. i laughed my ass off on the way back to the office. didn't have the heart to tell him it was for OUTSIDE, to encourage moss. he'd been doing it for years.[p]hahahaha[p]looks like the weedburner may not be the ideal thing if we wanna keep the moss but lose the weeds... looking for a reason to buy one!

Unknown

Hi Fishlessman,[p]Thanks for your advice. Looking at all the replies, think I'll get both a burner and electric starter. The BGE is part of my hurricane preparedness plan, so I need a plan B for starting fires.[p]Fishless, huh? Bet you're on top of that game too. We catch a lot of very nice bream here in N. Florida - in the one-pound range - and the Shellcrakcers (Red Ear bream) are especially nice. Do you cook fish on your BGE? Would you use a plank?[p]Thanks again for your input. [p]Phil

Unknown

Hi BlueSmoke,[p]Thanks for your reply. Don't remember the source but the recipe calls for a 4-hour cook, with a breast internal temperature of 165 degrees. I finished the bird at 250 degrees in my oven and tested it two hours later. The temp was exactly 165 and I took the bird out. It was perfect, though the smoke flavor was not too noticeable. Plan to do a pork roast Friday – wish me luck. At least I know more about fire starting and temp control from all the nice folks on this forum.[p]Phil[p]

Unknown

Hi markkal123,[p]Thanks for the lead on the video – helps a lot. I was definitely taking the sissy approach – didn’t use near enough charcoal to get things going.[p]Also went to the NakedWhiz site and copied all the Eggfest books. What fantastic ideas for cooking![p]Thanks again for your help.[p]Phil

Unknown

Hi Stike,[p]The temp was after the fire had settled. I killed the process by trying to remove charcoal - my mistake. Next time I will regulate temp as the fire builds. Climbing the learning curve.[p]Thanks for your help.[p]Phil