Building a fire

terrafirmay

How do you build a fire in the egg? I have been dumping in my charcoal from the bag and lighting it with the electric starter. Recent posts have referred to dumping as willy-nilly. Is there a better way or is someone pulling my leg?

WessB

terrafirmay,
As long as you`re not dumping all the dust at the botom of the bag its no big deal....I sometimes dump and other times I use a scoop from my tub of lump...I never have sorted my lump...what goes in goes in..there are those who swear by bigger lump at the bottom, you will get comments both ways to this thread...HTH[p]Wess

jwitheld

WessB,
ive been at it with ceramics since the 1970's and i use the dump method.
some people get a little carried away with sorting the lump.

TRex

terrafirmay,[p]I'm one of those that "gets carried away with the sorting of the lump." I usually hand select the first layer of lump, going from big pieces to medium-sized pieces, then I fill in the big gaps with handfuls of smaller pieces. Is this necessary? Well, for low and slows, you do have to pay some attention to lump arrangement so you don't lose your fire due to ash plugging your holes - in my opinion, anyway. Do you have to go to the extreme that I (and some other obsessive compulsive people - come on, I know you're out there!) do with the sorting? - probably not.[p]Bottom line - do what works best and gives you consistent results.[p]TRex

stike

terrafirmay,
i dump from the bag (with a watchful eye for dust and chips towrd the bottom) whenever doing anything other than a lo and slo.[p]i arrange it evenly, distribute the large and medium stuff around, and torch it off.[p]for the lo-and-slo cooks i take some time to build the fire 'right' (most of the time)

fishlessman

terrafirmay, i use a dump and stir method. dump in a third of the lump and stir with the grid lifter,dump in another third and stir. dump in the last third and light. when fire gets started i stir again.

terrafirmay

stike,
What does building it "right" mean? That was my question.[p]Also, you gave a very helpful response to the poster who asked about low temperatures in the Green Egg. I hope the requester learned as much from your response as I did.[p]Thanks.

Mark Backer

terrafirmay,[p]This is one of the best references out there to answer all kinds of questions...[p]http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramicfaq.htm

stike

terrafirmay,
ah
sorry[p]'right' is a flexible subject.[p]it's ALL about airflow.
for a hot fire, you want max airflow inorder to amp the temps. so if you can, try to get bigger chunks on the bottom, and build up from their, preserving alot of pathways for the air to draft up and out.[p]same thing for the lo-and-slo.[p]but i try to be a bit more fastidious. i like to get an even mix of big/med/small chunks throughout, and i actually build the fire in layers, so that i can distribute small chunks of wood throughout the lump, in case the fire wanders around. i find that gives me the most smoke thoughout the cook.[p]and airflow is even MORE important for the lo and slo, since ash will fill up some of the crags during long cooks (i almost always push 20 hours on a butt, at 220 or so degrees). so place some big chunks on the bottom and work up from there.[p]the elder ward fire-building treatise was a revelation. did a few of those until i felt comfy, then played with it a bit. but essentially that's my method for lo and slo.[p]for a regular cook, you can be more loosey-goosey about it.[p]oh and hey, thanks for the 'thanks'. nice to know the time spent wasn't wasted. sometimes you never know if the guy even reads it.[p]stike

terrafirmay

stike,
Where can I find the elder ward article on fire building?[p]Thanks, again, for your help.

Grumpa

terrafirmay,[p]Here ya go....
[ul][li]Everything Elder[/ul]

stike

Bob,
that's it.[p]and for a treat, read the naked whiz's "Tao of Charcoal"[p]
[ul][li]The Way[/ul]