Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

Controlling Flare-ups

Chula-Q
Chula-Q Posts: 6
edited November -0001 in EggHead Forum
My LBGE and I celebrated our tenth anniversary together this weekend. It has been a fantastic marriage. However lately I'm having trouble with the old girl. Suddenly I am getting enormous flareups and having a little trouble controlling the temperature. When the BGE is over 500 degrees I burp her as I should before opening the top lid. But even when I open the vents and leave them open for a long time, when I open the top, I get huge flareups. What am I going wrong. My routine of lighting the charcoal (electric starter) and heating up the BGE is the same as it has been for 10 years.
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    what are you cooking?

    i only get flare ups from fatty stuff, and only when the lid is open (oxygen)

    did some lamb (greek) sausage the other day, and it flared like crazy. i may roast it next time. even closed, the dripping fat made for a lot of smoke
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Chula-Q
    Chula-Q Posts: 6
    I'm getting these flareups before I put the meat on. Tonight I did a filet mignon .... very lean.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    new lump then. purple flames? kinda slow? and then a big bunch of flame when you open it?

    that's either new lump or a dirty egg
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Chula-Q
    Chula-Q Posts: 6
    We are getting close ... yes, it does seem to start up slow and then huge flareups.

    What do you mean by "new" lump?

    I cleaned the egg out completely (ash) but there does seem to be a buildup on grease on the inside of the dome. What do I do about that?
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • FlaPoolman
    FlaPoolman Posts: 11,677
    High temp burn about 600 for a few hours should help.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • ranger67
    ranger67 Posts: 9
    Flare ups occur because there is something to burn when oxygen enters the egg. I'd examine the inside for any evidence of excessive buildup and using a metal brush knock any excess off. Afterwards I'd fire up the egg and bring it to at least 600 degrees for an hour or so with nothing in it. This, like the self clean function on your oven, will help to burn off any left over burnable compounds. This might help to reduce your flare ups in the future.

    Good luck
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    Chula-Q,

    If you have a lot of small pieces and dust in the lump you can choke the airflow and you'll get flashes when you open the dome.

    Steve

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Chula-Q
    Chula-Q Posts: 6
    Thanks to all of you who replied ... I'm cranking the temp up to 600 right now and I'm going to let'er roll for a couple hours.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Beli
    Beli Posts: 10,751
    .....anyway Chula-Q...hope you control the flare-ups.........just wanted to say loved your handle name.... :laugh:
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories