Building a Fire*?*Rookie!

phar71

Hello! I am new here, my wife just bought me a large BGE and I want to start off with some pulled pork. Any advice on how to build a fire? Thanks a lot and I look forward to learning how to use this beast!

Austin Smoker

Phar - I started much like you a couple years ago, carefully building my lump pile.....didn't take me long to move to the "dump and light" method. Seriously, I've dumped the bag in, up to the fire ring, light it in 3 places and have had no problem maintaining smoking temps for 14+ hours.

Try to light the fire in 3 spots, towards the outside of the pile - think 12, 4 and 8 clock. Also, I've learned to place my wood chunk both on top of the fire and 3 or 4 inches below the top.

Leave the cap off the top, and open the bottom vent half way - get the temp up to about 175 and put the petal top on, closing it down to just the petal openings. Close the bottom vent to about 1/2 inch to an inch, and then just adjust to until your temp is stable where you want it for 30 mins. This will get you to a clean burn, and you'll be good to go.

Good luck and welcome!

phar71

Thanks man. Looking foreward to giving it a shot.

SmokyArkie

From one rookie to another this is what other BGE guys taught me. Make sure your firebox and ash pan are clear so the air can draft in from the bottom and up through the lump charcoal. Use the larger lumps on the bottom because they will have nore air flow through them. Light the lump in several place and once it is lit make sure your bottom draft door and the top air flow are open and close the BGE. Wait for it to come up to temp and stabilize before trying to cook.

It is easier to come up to temp than to get the temp too hot and try to lower it. If you are going to use a plate setter or a pizza stone let them come up to temp also, it doesn't take that long.


You are going to love your BGE.

Grandpas Grub

 
I too went from a careful builder to a dumper. Austin Smoker has some good advice as does the video that came with your egg.

For a long cook, overnight, I would take care when loading the lump to put large pieces over the fire grid to make sure you do not block the holes in the fire grate. Also, make sure the holes in the fire box do not get blocked or plugged with smaller pieces of lump.

If you don't have a remote thermometer with alarms or a powered vent system set your clock and check your egg temperature every 2 to 3 hours. You don't want to wake up in the morning finding your fire burned hot or went out.

Here is a link to some general vent settings to get you going. Visual Guide to Vent Settings You will learn your setting as time goes on. The egg is well capable of cooking for very long hours without accessories and even with the fancy accessories fires can go out.

Pork is easy to cook and gives great results. Let us know how your cook turns out.

Congratulations and welcome to the forum.

GG