First ribs on BGE=terrible

Cactus Doug

It sounds to me like you like heavy smoke flavor. It is possible that you did not put enough wood chunks in your lump, two or three pcs. may not be enough, next time try mixing more chunks into the lump.

Grandpas Grub

VOC's are not just the dust.

VOC's are released from the wood (lump). For a clean burn the VOC's (from the lump) have to have enough time to completly oxidize.

The partially oxidized hydrocarbon gases (VOC's) excape without burning and is commonly called creosote - part of the black build up in the egg and the 'bad smoke' wish is there as we all know.

GG

Grandpas Grub

Once the lump lights there is more heat created by the lump. Heat rises and creates the updraft from the lower vent. Once there is enough oxygen mixing with the gases given off by the lump the smoke clears. New lump lighting will have enough oxygen and generally will not go back to the white (bad) smoke.

Think of a camp fire. You use small shavings to get a fire going, blow or fan to get the flames going. Because lump is already 'burned' it doesn't need a strong flame to burn.

Once your camp fire is lit and burning pretty good you then toss on a bunch of leaves, papers, whatever you are using for fuel. You have choked off the oxygen and then smoke begins to bellow. You then fan the fire, forcing more oxygen and the voc's oxygenate and burn clear once again.

Back to the egg, to a point the smaller pieces of lump will generate more heat because there is more surface area. The condition is there must be enough space to allow air to get to the lump surfaces. If one can't get air to the smaller pieces the heat and intensity will be slow going.

GG

Ksdaddio

I like to watch the Food Network, and really enjoy the BBQ cook offs, but I can't help but notice that the cooking devices are as varied as our tastes.

It appears to me that the method seems to be the difference, not what the meal is prepared on, but there is a quality that comes with preparing food on the EGG, that just makes it stand out as the only way to cook.

I would not be the first to say that my EGG has made me an excellent cook, and it becomes embarrasing at times at how people are so gracious with their compliments on how well the food tastes. With a few exceptions, the recipes used are pulled from a variety of sources, but the common denominator is the EGG. It does seem hard to believe that the EGG can make that big of a difference, but as can be discerned from the forum, we do love our EGGS.

My theory as to why is that the EGG takes us back to the days when all cooking was done on some form of open fire, controlled by draft, placement of the pots and pans, and skill past down from cook to cook. The EGG allows us to return to those days, but gives us more control over the draft and fire. The EGG is the only method that I have found, that gave me the flavor that I used to get when we camped and cooked everything over an open fire.

I am sorry that you didn't get the results that we told you to expect, but I would urge you to keep trying. I would imagine that even using your usual method, didn't work the first time either.

As you might have noticed, I can't think of a time where I had a bad meal that was cooked on the EGG. They weren't always great, but better than any gas grill can produce, for sure.

GulfCoastBBQ

Thanks again for all of the advice! Don't worry, I won't give up after one try, I think I have a pretty good idea of what went wrong and will be sure to post my results of my next go-round!