I'm on the MAPP!

Ron_L

I don't know why I didn't do this before! I bought a MAPP torch yesterday and used it to light Eggbert this evening. I hit the lump with the torch for a minute or so in three spots, waited a couple of minutes to make sure that it lit, set my vents and walked into the house to get the burgers ready. 20 minutes later the temp was 325 and slowly climbing. Much better than the struggles I had on my last cook using the BGE starters. Eggbert should be ready for some burgers in a few minutes!

FlaPoolman

The MAPP works great but if your really in a hurry try this. Goes from ambient to TRex in about 2 minutes. Anything non-chemical. The wife & dog run when I use this one.
Pat (toolman wannabe) poolman

Richard Fl

Welcome to the MAPP. I am posting this for the benefit of the newbies.

BGE, MAPP

I haven't seen much of a thread on lighting your lump with a MAPP gas torch recently, so I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents - what I've learned lighting lump exclusively with my MAPP gas torch.

First :
1 What part of the flame to use. An egger recently asked what was the hottest part of the flame he should use to light his lump. Well of course the hottest part is the tip of the hot blue flame, but you shouldn't lay that on your lump to start it. You should pull the torch back so the feather end of the flame is tickling your lump. This way, there is still plenty of heat to excite your carbon, and most importantly there is plenty of free oxygen being thrown at the carbon as well, as fresh air is being blasted onto your lump due to the velocity of the flame. If you use the tip of the hot blue flame, sure your lump will heat up and glow, but it really won't start burning until you move your torch away and allow fresh air to hit the spot you just heated up.
Second:
1 Where to direct your flame. Many times I don't refill the egg when I relight the fire. And I've found in this situation it's better not to stir the lump around before lighting. When the fire was last extinguished, the lump had set itself up for good burning, so I use that structure to relight it. I direct my flame through the channels that exist in the extinguished lump, and start the fire as deep in the lump as I can. You've probably noticed, that except for lava temp burns, the fire seeks downwards towards the grate. That's where the air is coming in, so when I relight a fire I light it deep in the lump.
Third:
1 Building (not reusing) a fire. First I stir around the lump, helping the ashes and small bits of charcoal fall through the bottom grate. I scoop out all the old lump, and put it in a bucket. I shake the bucket around, and if there are any larger pieces I put a couple in the bottom on the grate. Be careful if you used lump made of milled wood, such as Cowboy, because the milled pieces are flat and will lay over the holes and block the airflow through the bottom grate. In this case I do what I learned in Boy Scouts, I lay one piece lengthwise and lay the others leaning against it so it looks like a little campfire down there. I put in more fresh lump on that, and then I upend the bucket with the scooped-out lump into the egg. If there's still not enough (I usually fill to the middle of the fire ring) I'll lay on some more fresh lump to bring the level up to where I want it.
Fourth:
1 How many spots to light your lump. Well I go with the majority of eggers here. If I'm lighting for a low-and-slow, I pick one spot in the middle of the lump. Again, I direct the feather of the flame down through a channel to try to light as deep in the lump as I can. If I'm lighting for a quick cook, I'll light several spots the same way around the edges and also in the middle.
Fifth:
1 How long to leave your torch in one spot before moving to another. Well this certainly depends upon the brand of lump you are using. Lighter lump like Cowboy and BGE brand will take much less time than dense lump like Wicked Good Charcoal. For lighter lump, I'll hover for a count of 15-20 and for denser lump it's more like 40 to 50. But in any case using the feather end of the flame will light the lump faster than using the hot blue flame.
Sixth
1 I will sometimes use a little battery-powered fan to set up a draft right at the beginning. But don't walk away and forget it, especially on the large egg! I did that once, with a pizza stone inside, and when I came back the outside surface of the egg was smoking, and when I opened it up the pizza stone was glowing and had fused to the porcelain grid, and the felt gasket was fried all the way around. But the inside sure was clean!
2 So the next time you light up your egg (this evening, or tomorrow for many of you!) try a couple of these tips. And enjoy the fruits of your labor. For me, today, it's an injected beef brisket so big I had to scrunch it to fit inside my large egg and it still hits the sides!


Recipe Type
Equiptment/Toys

Recipe Source
Author: Chuckls' Lazy L & Big Green Egg online sandbox

Source: BGE Forum, Chuckls. 09/06/04

Rick's Tropical Delight

yeah, baby!



gentlemen, start your eggs!

Grandpas Grub

I'm with FlPoolman and Rick's Tropiocal Delight.

Flame Thrower up to temp with clear smoke in about 15 to 25 seconds.

At least for winter time.

GG

Eggtucky

I see/hear a lot about lighting the BGE on here...from day 1 I have had no problems..my dealer recommended these and keeps them in stock...anyone ever try them?


I use 3 spread around the firebox for a low n slow start...4-5 for a medium cook start and like 6 spread around the firebox when I plan to go 500+. Stick a match to the cellophane cover until lit and jus let em burn till they burn out..never ANY problems gettin a fire goin and usually only use 1 or 2 matches...just thought I'd share.. :blink:

Rick's Tropical Delight

really? mine isn't quite that fast, but it sure is fun!

be careful out there, kids

stike

hate to say it, but that's an eternity.
once i tried that oil and paper napkin thing, i never looked back.

sounds like you stood there holding it for three minutes, and then waited 20 minutes just to top 325!

light the paper, toss them in, put some lump over it, and in 15 minutes, i hit 700+.

that weedburner, though, now THAT is fast.

Grandpas Grub

I have the exact sam3e as Rick.

I can put the burner into the large, 8 to 10 seconds in 3 spots (9, 3 & 6 oclock) so that would be from 24 to 30 seconds and when I closethe dome there is no white smoke and the thermometer will settle down to about 300°.

It is an extremely fast light.

Kent

Luvs to shoot clay

Do you need a big bottle of gas to go with the weed burners?

Grandpas Grub

There are a lot of ways to light the eggs.

The fire starters (what you are using) are good but slower. Spring, Summer & Fall I will use the same as stike or MAPP. Winter here is too darn cold and I am usually in snow.

The weed burner gets things going fast.

I think it was stike that suggested getting some self starting fire logs and slice off a hunk. Use that instead of the cubes. A whole log sells for 3 to 6 bucks and would last forever.

GG

FlaPoolman

Yes Use the old bottles from the now retired gasser. Guessing 1 bottle will last 1 1/2 to 2 years. Except when I scare the neighbors :evil:
Pat

Eggtucky

ohhh..but playin w/the fire is HALF the fun!!..if I wanted fast fire I'd use a gasser!!!...I usually drink at least 3-4 beers during the slow light! :blink: :blink:

Grandpas Grub

Since I don't use my grill any more, I have a nice 5 gal tank. I also have a 2.5 gal tank that I can use if I want something lighter weight.

GG

Grandpas Grub

LOL They do make noise. I thought it would use more propane than it does.

GG

Grandpas Grub

Even when it is 12° out by the egg?

GG

FlaPoolman

LOL When I hit the turbo trigger it sounds just like one of the rockets going off down here. Wife still gets that worried look when I take it out. Light at specific spots???
Dont have that choice with this one. Only use it for hot cooks as it lights the top of all lump real fast. Never timed it but think got Pizza temp in 3-4 min. with clean smoke.
Pat

Grandpas Grub

I was a little surprised the first time I pull the trubo trigger.

What surprised me the most as there was no white smoke.

It was really cold the other day when I was lighting. So I decided to heat up the cement patio a little.

Pulled the trigger and pointed down at the cement. I let it heat the cement for 30 to 45 seconds or so. There was a nice radiant heat coming up, just toasty. There also was an odd smell too. By rubber boots were smoldering.

The wife comes out and looks at me, the boots, rolls her eyes and says you are on fire. I said I am fine as I steped into the snow. All in a night of eggin.

Kent

Grandpas Grub

I also noticed today I have a little bit of damage to my non egg cheap plastic egg table cover.

GG

Ron_L

stike wrote:

hate to say it, but that's an eternity.
once i tried that oil and paper napkin thing, i never looked back.

sounds like you stood there holding it for three minutes, and then waited 20 minutes just to top 325!

light the paper, toss them in, put some lump over it, and in 15 minutes, i hit 700+.

that weedburner, though, now THAT is fast.

Well... It was a lot faster than using the BGE starter cubes. I had also set the top and bottom to my normal positions for 350 since i didn't want it to run away.

I'll try the oily napkin thing. Do you put in a base of lump, then the lit napkin and then more lump?

Ron_L

Oh yeah... Here's my burger...



Angus burger, habanero jack cheese, sweet onion, tomato, guacamole, bacon, lettuce and some mayo.

Grandpas Grub

Looks great. Hope it tastes as good as it looks.

GG

DonS

Kent,
Be careful with that torch concrete tends to explode when you overheat it. The moisture in it expands and you can get a pretty violent explosion.

Don

Grandpas Grub

Don,

Thank you, I found that out, it seems the water which has soaked into the convrete superheats and then 'pop', causing a spaldiong effect on the surface.

I started to use the weedburner (ice melter) where we get some bad buildup and found out the hard way.

Now I heat and move the burner around so not one spot gets to a point where it will pop.

Kent

Luvs to shoot clay

Now that's a bunch of "German Apple"!