heat

Unknown

Sunday was my first egg experiance,my steak turned out well but I had a lot of trouble with high temps.My felt gasket melted together and I
fried my hand and arm.
I started at low temps for 45 min. to bake potatos opened it up to sear steaks the guage passed 700 and went around to 400.
Do think the wood chunks I added(5 or 6 soaked for an hour) fueled the fire? Should I have closed it up for awhile?

Tim M

PHIL GLOVER,[p]Here are some basics. With the slide daisy top on the Egg - the max temp attainable is 575-650. So always leave the top on and wide open to prevent a runaway blast furnace. Going past 700-800 deg is just not needed.[p]Adding wood above 375 deg is not going to do anything but burn. To make wood smoke you need to starve it for air. At temps above 350 the wood chip,chunk, or cube will burst into flames. Soaked chips will burst into flames a few seconds later and a soaked chunk of wood will smoke a tad bit and then go to flames. Adding too much wood is not likely to cause the temps to go to high. You need to be very careful about adding wood when your at temps above 500. Always vent the Egg before opening it when its hot and has smoke in it. You can get a little backdraft when you open the dome and the rushing air ignites the smoke. Always vent first.[p]Mastering the temps is easy but it will take a few cooks to get the hang of it. I hope this helps for your next adventure. Holler if you need help.[p]Tim

Nature Boy

PHIL GLOVER,
I enjoy my steaks seared quickly in the 750 plus range. The key is to work quickly and carefully. Don't go inside and wait for humpty to achieve turbo temps. Keep an eye on it, especially if you already have a good fire going from the potatoes. As soon as you get to desired temp, get those steaks on. As long as you open very slowly, and are ready, the whooshes won't be too bad. Flip after a minute or two, let it go another minute and shut down the vents to let it dwell and finish cooking. That is when the egg becomes extremely hungry for oxygen, and whooshes are most likely. After the egg has been starved of air, burp it first by opening the top first, then the bottom. Don't stand in front of the vent, as you will probably get a minor whooosh out the bottom vent when that new air reaches the hungry coals. Then you can open the egg, slowly, stopping at an inch or so, then opening the rest of the way (I lean back a little also to prevent new hairdos).[p]Bottom line, get your searing done quickly reducing the time that humpty is super hot, use care in opening.[p]Some folks like to put the wood on a hot fire, and I am sure there is a benefit of some sort. It might have made your fire hotter, but the temps you decribe are possible with just lump (and a little time!)[p]If you want good smoke in your steaks, try freezing them for an 2 hours, and thawing over a very low fire with wood. Put the steak off to the side so it isn't directly over your small fire. Under 200 you can get 30 minutes of good smoke time without cooking the steak. Remove it. Add any rubs while your egg achieves 750 or more (some folks like them just as well at 600). Then cook as normal. You'll be amazed at the smoke flavoring.[p]Sorry for the long winded response. Hope that helps.[p]NB

Spin

PHIL GLOVER,[p]Welcome to the forum and Egg family.[p]The wood chunks added very little to the heat of the fire. I would also offer that the chunks added very little to the flavor of the steak.[p]Lump charcoal is almost pure carbon. When present with oxygen and heat, it will burn fiercely.[p]For a wood smoke flavor (chunks or chips) to work requires that the airflow through your Egg (dome temp) is low enough to allow the smoking wood to produce smoke (high temps simply vaporize the wood). Also required is that the meat be able to absorb the flavor of the available smoke. Once the surface of the meat reaches about 140F (very quickly when searing), it can't absorb any smoke flavor.[p]Your technique sounds like gas grilling experience. Feel free to email me.[p]Spin