Small egg temp problem???

Unknown

I've tried to get the temp on my small egg up to 600 or 700 deg. so I can do the "perfect -steak", but I can only get about 500 out of it?? I've made sure that all the ash is cleaned out of the bottom, so what should I do? Should I add more lump and wait longer? Thanks for any help you can give me!![p]Goater

Nature Boy

Howdy goater,
Filling up the firebox and giving more time will certainly help. The vents are very small so it just takes longer than the larger eggs that have more air moving through. Usually it takes at least a half hour for me to get a screaming fire with a full load. Just let 'er rip for a while.[p]Still, I have found that since the grate is very close to the coals, that 500 on the small egg cooks a steak like 700 on the large.[p]Cheers!
Chris

The Naked Whiz

Nature Boy,
I think that more lump will help also. But in addition, I think that the size of the pieces affects your ability to get a high temp. If you have too many big pieces, you will have less burning surface than if you have a lot of smaller pieces. Of course, if you have pieces too small and no airflow you have another problem. My first burn in my small egg was with cowboy lump, all fairly uniform small to medium sized pieces and I got her up to 750.[p]TNW

The Other Dave

Also, make sure the notch on the fire box lines up with the bottom vent. This is sometimes overlooked.