What am I doing wrong?

RRP

I've searched the archives and while I find some general discussion I don't see anything as for a solution. To wit: try as I do, I can not get my dome temp higher than 650. I see people talk of searing at 800 or 900 degrees. The last marking on my gauge is 750, so even fudgen with the distance beyond might be 800 if the needle is buried. I've calabrated it by the boiling water method and it seems well. I seem to have a tight seal. My fire box is properly aligned with the damper. I'm using BGE brand lump and it is dry. I leave the daisy off completely and the bottom wide open. The air holes are clear. Last night I even put in extra lump thinking maybe that was the problem. I had a fine, fine fire, but 650 or maybe 660 was the top end! Once I just thought I'd wait it out that maybe I wasn't giving it long enough...well after an hour of blasting away it started to lose temp. Am I nuts? What am I doing wrong?

JJ

RRP,
I wouldn't be concerned about temps higher than what you are getting. I do steaks at 500-600* and they turn out great. Higher temps will just cook the meat done a minute or so faster.

KennyG

RRP,[p]JJ has provided some good advice here. Many of us have experimented with alternative coal grates or "trivets" which promote higher airflow and thus higher temps than the BGE stock grate will allow.[p]K~G

RhumAndJerk

RRP,
I have two quick thoughts on the subject.
First, Check your thermometer in boiling water. It could be off.
Second, Do not use any top on the Chimney and leave the bottom vent all of the way open.[p]If both of these things do not work, then it is possible that you have a bad batch of lump. By a new bag of lump and try that.[p]Hope this helps,
RhumAndJerk[p]

Unknown

RRP,
In the beginning I had trouble getting the high temps you are looking for. Somewhere along the line, I don't know what happened, I now get 1000* +
No top and the bottom draft wide open is all I do now just like the guys said.
Carey (aka sundown)

Cornfed

RRP,[p]I agree with what's been said thus far. If you DEFINITELY want to get to the F degrees range, you can do the following. Take out all charcoal and make sure the grate is not clogged. Take off the grate and make sure you don't have anything blocking the path to the vent. Clear all airholes. Place starter cube under vent, light, replace vent, dump in a boatload of charcoal (less than "a sh#t load" but more than "a lot"). Again, this is only if you definitely want to get to 1000 degrees. Fill that bad boy up to the top of the firebox with charcoals and let er rip for about 15 minutes with vent wide open and no top.[p]If after 15 minutes you're not at 1000, use your ash tool or some tongs or whatever and stir the coals a bit. Sometimes agitating or rearranging the coals gives them that extra kick and causes the last few coals to really catch.[p]If the above method doesn't work, then you either have a bad bag of lump, a defective Egg, or you're simply not abiding by the laws of physics and thermodynamics.[p]Cornfed

RRP

Cornfed,
Thanks to you and the others as well. I thought I said I was already doing what came back as suggestions...no top, bottom wide ope, sh*t load of BGE lump, clear air passages etc etc etc...but if nothing else how does one read 900 or 1000 on a BGE brand thermometer that only goes to 750????

Nature Boy

RRP,
When you lap 750, I think there is no need to accurately measure temps. Hot is hot.[p]Sounds like you are doing everything right. Like R&J suggested, try another bag of lump. Different wood (lump) burns at different temps.[p]NB

sprinter

RRP,[p]Heres the problem I had when I first started using my egg, mine is in a nest so if you don't have it in a nest ignore the remainder of this post.[p]The nest has 4 legs, oddly enough. The vent opening on the bottom of the egg sits perfectly between two of these legs. As I was moving my egg around the drive where I cook, the egg actually shifted in the nest a bit so that the bottom vent was not able to open all the way. I too was topped out at about 600 degrees. Once I realized what was happening, and I shifted or twisted the egg in the nest to allow the bottom vent to open completely it hit the high notes like the 4 tenors.[p]If you dont have a nest, check to make SURE that the bottom vent is actually open all the way.[p]Hope this helps.[p]Troy

sprinter

sprinter,[p]'cept there are only 3 tenors, man I hate screwing up stuff like that. Really loses the impact that I was going for. anyway, nothing else here, move along now, move along, nothing else to see..............[p]Troy

KennyG

RRP,[p]I took advantage of an offer that one of my customers made to me and got a decent deal on a Laboratory reference thermocouple. It can accurately measure temps up to 1800* My big Egg is at 1000* when the BGE thermo reads 210* the second time around.[p]K~G

Cornfed

RRP,[p]Sorry for being redundant. I was just trying to stress that if you follow those steps, you should definitely get to insanity temps without problems. It sounds like you have defective lump or a defective egg.[p]Cornfed

RhumAndJerk

Cornfed,
I am curious about the defective egg part. Is it made of Ceramic? Does it have a bottom vent? Does it have a dome with an opening?[p]Please, do not take this the wrong way, because I am trying to understand your thoughts. It is possible that dome is sitting flush on the base.[p]I have not heard of defective eggs. If they do exist, I would be curious on how they were defective.
You and SmokingTodd are the ones who put humpty back together again. (Much applause)[p]Just wondering,
RhumAndJerk[p]

Cornfed

RhumAndJerk,[p]I'm not referring to a specific defect. It's just that if one is following all of the normal steps, there should be no problems with attaining 1000. I think the only real options are faulty BGE, faulty lump, or maybe some type of weather thing (maybe a really humid environment???).[p]Incidentally, the reconstructed Egg still has some big cracks and a broken firebox but I still have no probs hitting 1000. I truly believe that this is because I'm generous with the lump plus I clean out the lump EVERY time. The fact that my broken one still works like a champ and that many people on this forum say their eggs have cracks but still work fine further suggests that the problem here is not with the Egg. I was just mentioning it as a possibility to be complete.[p][p]

RhumAndJerk

Cornfed,
Cool. Thanks for the response and not taking it the wrong way.
You definitely had a valid point.[p]Happy Grilling,
RhumAndJerk

Tim M

RRP,[p]Add more lump. Add more. Even if it looks like more than enough - add more. 800+ needs lots of fuel. I don't fill my firebox but I caome real close to it. The only other thing is clogged holes in the grate. many of us use iron tivets or expanded metal grates.[p]Tim

Bambi

Tim M,
Where do you get those "iron Grates" or "expanded metal" grates? Do you have them custom fabricated or where can you buy them? Approx cost?

Gfw

<p />bambi, check out the link.

[ul][li]Trivet[/ul]

Bambi

Gfw,
Man, you're fast! Thanks for the link. I'm very impressed. That must have been one HOT egg to have snapped iron.

Tim M

<p />bambi,[p]I am not as "fast" as GFW -- sort of a benefit sometimes. He told you straight on the iron trivet though. Woody or KennyG can tell you more on the expanded metal than me. The "after-market" grates are nice because they allow easier lighting from under the grate and faster heat rise, but they really don't allow for higher temps (within reason - under 900 deg), they just get up to those temps faster than when using the ceramic grate. The iron bends, so after a month or three you need to flip it over. [p]Tim

Tim M

<p />bambi,[p]I am not as "fast" as GFW -- sort of a benefit sometimes. He told you straight on the iron trivet though. Woody or KennyG can tell you more on the expanded metal than me. The "after-market" grates are nice because they allow easier lighting from under the grate and faster heat rise, but they really don't allow for higher temps (within reason - under 900 deg), they just get up to those temps faster than when using the ceramic grate. The iron bends, so after a month or three you need to flip it over. [p]Tim

Gfw

Tim M, not quite as fast but you must be quick on the trigger or was that a tripple click? Have a great day!

Bambi

Tim M,
Thanks. You've been so helpful. Those pix are incredible. Methinks you should be a photographer in addition to a q'r.

King-O-Coals

JJ, true,, and if you get a lot of direct flame contact on the steaks, you could have a slight bitter taste. My best steaks have been about as hot as it can get with the daisy and bottom vent wide open, (and the slide, if you have one, closed). Although it is impressive to have NORAD check you out to see if the glow they see on the screen is you trying to launch an ICBM.:)

2BQ

RRP,
Here are a couple of other things for you to consider. Check to ensure that the opening in the bottom of the fire box is squarely facing the opening in the bottom of the egg. [p]You may want to test your thermometer. I know you calibrated it, but it may have a problem registering above 650. This can be done by "CAREFULLY" placing over another heat source and seeing if it will rise above 650. Note that if heat is applied too fast or the thermometer is allowed to rise above its intended range that you may damage it. I have had a similiar problem in the past. I acquired my egg at the Eggfest last weekend. When we got home I baked potatoes at 300 for an hour. I then raised the temperature to 700+ degrees and grilled a London Broil. It took less than 3 minutes for the egg to reach this temperature. I was using BGE Lump and a partially filled firebox.
Good Luck!

Tim M

Gfw,[p]I am not as fast and I seem to do the same thing over and over three times. No idea why it did that - Bill M. and I spoke of it several times. I think it has something to do with the CGI script goofing up - maybe when another post is coming in at the same time or sharing a file. I never did anything other than type and send like always. [p]Tim

Tim M

bambi,[p]I have been many things - I was a photographer a long time ago. I did some fun work in my darkroom too. Yeoooooweee
I just bought a new digital camera so next year the Eggfest2001 event will look even better (not you ofcourse - perfection is hard to improve upon).[p]You are always welcome.[p]Tim