Odor

NoleC5

Morning everyone!

Okay...sorry to re-hash this but I'm really stumped at this point.

Some may remember that I started a thread a week or so ago about a weird, chemically smell that I was getting from my egg. After inspecting the gasket, sure enough it was pretty much toast. So....I went to my local dealer and purchased a nomex gasket.

Took a couple hours this weekend, totally took the egg apart, cleaned and installed new gasket with 3M 77 adhesive spray. I also left the egg sitting on the ground at this point as I'm going to re-finish my table. I let it sit/dry for about 18 hours and then fired it up for about 15 minutes at 600 degrees to hopefully burn off any overspray of the adhesive spray.

The next day (sunday) I did a stuffed pork tenderloin, which came out okay, no leaks from the gasket but I still noticed the smell coming from the egg...especially at higher temps.

Am I crazy?? Should I just not worry about it?? Do I need to do a "longer" burn off?? Kind of at a loss here.

And just so you didn't read all of this for nothing...here is a pic of the tenderloin, baked fries and awesome coleslaw that my wife made! ;-)

Ripnem

All the eggs I've been around have pretty much the same smell, and it ain't chemically at all. :huh: If it keeps up, I would try and get your dealer to swing by if possible and sniff a little. Now idea what the smell could be.

Fidel

Odd question, maybe asked and answered in a previous thread.....but, have you ever used lighter fluid, match light charcoal, oven cleaner, or anything similar in the egg? The ceramic is porous and will absorb the odors from stuff like that.

NoleC5

No, I have only used the alcohol method and the wax starter cubes to start the egg. I've kind of stopped using the alcohol for the moment b/c I think I read that it could be bad for the gaskets.

Before changing the gasket, the thought was that the smell could be coming from the burning gasket...but I think I've elimited that factor.

The other thing I was concerned about was whether or not it could be from the 3M 77 adhesive that I used to replace the original gasket. But I've done a lot of cooks so I would have thought it would have burned off by now.

jagweed

after i used the permatex sealer, my first high temp cook gave me a little tinge of "burn" to the smoke. like plastic burning. never had it again.

have you had this smell after a couple high temp cooks? could just be residual glue, maybe even from overspray.

alcohol as a starter shouldn't do anything really. sounds like the indise edge of the gasket/glue is seeing some direct heat, or that there's overspray.

might do an extended burn of 500 or so, coupla-few hours, to see if you can literally smoke it out.

shouldn't happen continually, cook after cook

NoleC5

Thanks Jagweed....I think that is the only thing I have left to try.

It is odd that I only notice it on higher temp 450+ cooks. If I'm just doing chicken or something like that at 300-350, I don't notice it. Maybe that is an indication that the smell could be from something burning off at a higher temp.

I've never done a high temp burn-off like this before...anything particular to look out for?? Remove the cooking grate possiby? Get egg up to 500-550 and let it rip for 2-3 hours??

crazybout'Q

Maybe you've experimented with this already but I would suggest making sure your lump is burning clean before putting your food on the egg. I had problems with a odor being infused into the food too but if I let the charcoal burn till its burnin clean (15-20 min or so may take longer) I don't normally have a problem.. Jus my 2 cents.

NoleC5

I'm pretty good with making sure the fire is ready before I start cooking...mainly b/c my wife isn't a huge fan of real smokey flavors. She can really tell if I rushed it along.

Grandpas Grub

 
Is any of the odor smell in the taste of the food?

I am wondering if it is the starter cubes. When I used to use starter cubes I always removed them after the lump was burning.

If you are concerned about he alcohol may be hard on the gaskets then try using paper towel and oil.

GG

NoleC5

I don't believe I've noticed any taste difference, although I do feel like I've been in an "egg slump" lately. Had a couple of cooks come out a little below my standars (dry, overcooked, etc.). But nothing odd about the flavors.

I do know what you are talking about regarding the smell of the wax starters....I hate that smell as well...but that is not what I'm experiencing.

Firetruck

If you're using the same lump every time, try buying a new bag or different brand. You may have just gotton some bad lump.

NoleC5

I guess that is possible....I have a brand new bag of BGE lump that I can start fresh with.

Tonight, I think I'm going to try a high temp burn off at around 550 for an hour and see where that gets me. I will keep everyone posted....I may just have to have someone else smell it at some point to either offer other suggestions or just tell me that I'm a nut bag! :ermm:

TheDirtyBurger

Hell you never know. I am glad I sift through most of my lump cause in almost every bag I find fiberglass, moon rocks, and of course metal. Could be something like that.

NoleC5

I wish it were that easy. The more I think about it, the more I think that I have been noticing this smell since changing the original gasket about 5-6 months ago. When I replaced the original one, I got a replacement from the mothership and used 3M 77 to install. Now that I replaced the gasket again this past weekend with a nomax...I also used 3M 77 again.

I'm hoping that that it is the 3M that I'm smelling and that I can burn it off. But it is weird in that I don't notice it in the smoke that comes out of the top of the egg....its like its coming from the egg itself, from the sides.

Rolling Egg

I'm not trying to be funny or nothing so don't take this wrong. Is this your first charcoal cooker? I wouldn't call it a chemical smell but charcoal does smell different than gas. Im not sure of what could be giving you a chemical smell though. Good luck.

NoleC5

I've had a charcoal grill before, but nothing like the egg. I've been cooking on the egg now for just over a year and didn't notice this smell until after the first gasket replacement (at least I think that is when I noticed it).

The 3M is the only thing I can think of...but there seems to be plenty of people who have used it here without problems. :S

RRP

when you say totally took the egg apart may we assume you removed the firering and fire box - though that would not have been needed to do for just changing a gasket. I know one time years ago while doing a beer butt chicken I knocked it over at the end of the cook and the beer and wine and chicken grease deftly fell between the outer shell and the fire ring. When I went to use it a week later the odor was noticeable and when I removed the fire box the ashes trapped behind had yucky mold spores growing.

Davekatz

You say you don't taste it in the food and it is stronger the hotter it gets, so could it be something in the daisy wheel?

NoleC5

Yes, I took all the internals out and removed the band. Although I didn't spend much time inspecting the fire box/ring, everything from the inside was cleaned out.

Not sure about the daisy wheel.....do you think it is worth putting it inside the egg when I do the burn off tonight??

Davekatz

Sorry, I was egging chicken and didn't get back to you. I always store my daisy wheel in the Egg when I shut it down, so it gets a pretty good heating. I think it helps keep it free of rust and crud. I'd sure toss it in during your burn out as it can't hurt.