How can I cool my egg down quickly?

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

Crimsongator

You should pack it with ice first, then introduce the water

Carolina Q

You have a PINK cooler? :blink:

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

That was what everyone was asking. The BGE was abig hit, but the chicks were askin about the cooler. It's an old one, used to be red. Sits in the sun for a week after every cookout, and's been bleached pink

I'm secure enough for blue suede shoes, the pink cooler isn't any trouble.

"Sparky"

I usually just pee in mine

Capt Frank

Did you roast a bunch of Habenaros and the poor thing just had to have a drink? :P :pinch: :silly:

2Fategghead

Right there in front of everybody? :woohoo:

"Sparky"

I ain't shy :P

Carolina Q

st!ke wrote:

I'm secure enough for blue suede shoes, the pink cooler isn't any trouble.

Yeah, I would imagine.

Beli

Mi amigo, I hope Wess doesn't see this "cause he might give you some other relieving ideas... :laugh:

Hillbilly-Hightech

While that's certainly an effective way to cool it down in a hurry - just curious, but isn't this a recipe for a crack?

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

No

Hillbilly-Hightech

ahhhh, well that's a concise answer.

Must be the engineer in me, as I was curious as to the actual material the Egg is made out of. Certain ceramics cannot withstand such rapid cooling, and will indeed crack if subjected to an extreme hot, then cold temperature change, causing a "thermal shock."

Anyone know the actual material the Egg is made from, or at the very least, the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS)? Does the home company put out such information?

Anyway, glad that it works - not sure if I'd do it though cuz my luck would be that it WOULD crack :silly:

Little Steven

WTF?

Big'un

Oh I get it; when the egg cracks it will be better ventilated and then it will cool faster. :woohoo:

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

Hasn't happened yet

why doesn't it crack in the rain?

Hmmmm?

Hillbilly-Hightech

Stike - I've not said it *would* crack, but I would be interested in knowing the material properties.

But, the question about not cracking in the rain - the rain hits the outside of the Egg, which, while warm, is nowhere near the inside temp of the Egg, due to the efficient insulative properties of the ceramic.

For instance, the outside of the Egg might be (and this is just a guess here) ~100-110 degrees while the inside could be as high as 550-600.

As far as the crack not "happening" yet - you're right, maybe it hasn't happened "yet" - and maybe it never will. It just seems to me that it's a bit like playing Russian roulette - you may be able to do it 1,000 times & nothing happen, but 1 day, the bullet might be in the chamber.

If you want my personal (semi)educated guess - I'd say that the amount of water being poured inside the egg is immediately heated (and turned to steam) by the hot coals (and in turn, the coals are immediately starting to be cooled off) - such that, by the time the water actually reaches the bottom / sides of the ceramic, it's warmed up enough & the coals are cooled down enough that it's not that much of a temperature variance (thus, very small thermal shock effect).

However, I would posit a guess that if you were to pour a 5 gallon bucket of super cold water directly into the Egg with the dome lid open (such that LOTS of cold water hit the Egg at once, rather than a small stream from the cooler, as shown in your pic) - that there WOULD be a large thermal shock, because the coals would not have enough time to heat all that water, and a lot of super cold water would touch the sides / bottom of the Egg before the coals can cool down - thus, resulting in a cracked Egg.

Keep in mind, this is all just a "guess-timate" as to what might happen, because without knowing the actual material the Egg is made out of, it's really hard to tell what would happen.

At any rate, if it works for you - more power to ya!! :laugh:

Kew_el_steve

This kills me... :silly: :woohoo: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Kew_el_steve

Now what did P.T. Barnum say??? :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

about what?

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

i know you are convinced there's an issue. but in my experience, there's is none.

Boilermaker Ben

Do you use that cooler to keep your gazpacho chilled?

A sunbleached cooler is the sign of a man who knows how to live.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

yes. because there is nothing unmanly about colors. unless you are worried about that kind of stuff

FWIW, pink used to be for boys, and blue for girls. it's all what yer taught, and what you unteach yourself.

many life lessons to be learned from faded camp gear.
hahahaha :laugh:

Hillbilly-Hightech

"i know you are convinced there's an issue. but in my experience, there's is none." Anecdotal evidence being what it is, may or may not be the best predictor of actual circumstances.

I also said, if it works for you, more power to ya. I can walk into an intersection when the "don't walk" signal is up & not get hit by a car too - but that doesn't mean I should do it.

I also see some rather odd postings starting to show up (PT Barnum, "this kills me") - which, unless I'm reading too much into it, seems a bit mocking in tone.

So rather than risk "ruffling" the feathers of some of those who, shall we say, have rather thin skins - I guess it's thought of by some here that only the "established" members can offer any sort of knowledge, whereas anyone new should just "know their place."

But, I will leave with this for those who may be thinking of trying the "cold water over hot coals" trick - as I said, pouring cold water into hot ceramic does produce a thermal shock. When heated, the material expands, and when cooled, it contracts.

That is why you see folks posting pictures of cracked pizza stones and concrete pavers.

Whatever material the Egg is made out of has a better resistance to such thermal shocks, but it is NOT "bullet proof" and there IS a hot / cold temp variance that, if approached, it WILL crack - Stike has just not reached it yet. But that seems to be dependent on the temp of the coals & the temp of the water, and the rate at which the water is being poured into the Egg - LOTS of different variables in play there, the slight change in any ONE can produce a result that is, shall we say, less than optimal.

Stike has just been lucky up to this point, to not reach the limit of heat/cold, etc. However next time, pour that 5 gallon bucket of cold water into a set of coals which are at say, 550 degrees & see if there is still "no issue." (if not, then I would admire the quality of the BGE even that much more).

At any rate, "to each their own."

:blink:

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

i don't think there really is an "established member" thing here. to be honest, it usually comes from the person feeling they might not be established, rather than anyone actually making them feel that way. i know this because when i got here i thought the same thing. i always find the "clique" accusation (not that you made it) a funny thing, because after a few years, you'll see that the perceived cliques and established members change over time.

anyway, i maybe took some of the other posts tones as mocking, but you need to look at who's mocking. did they offer anything beyond the mocking? no. which makes their post nearly valueless. could be though that they were being just as goofy as i was when posting the pic. so i don't take it to heart

FWIW, i didn't read your replies as mocking, and you made good points. if you took mine as mocking you, i can't help that.

i just need you to understand that i do have some experience with cooling the egg in that admittedly unorthodox manner, i do understand what thermal shock is, i do know the egg is formulated to resist it (specially formulated refractory ceramic, tested for repeated cycles of heating/cooling) and i do know it is tested with just the same sort of crazy abuse that my adding water might seem to be. doesn't mean they advertise it or warrant it. but rest assured, i'm pretty certain (from what iunderstood of a conversation) that the egg has been jetted (with blown air) to some crazy temps and then doused with water. especially when testing the firebox formulations ask john at BGE HQ, and he'll likely tell you not to do it, or to even do what i did, but he'll also maybe share with you what it took to destroy an egg that way. that's speculation on my part, you';d have to ask him. maybe there's a magic threshold. i'm pretty sure i'm WAY below it. the dome gets very hot, and i have no knowledge of it ever shattering due to thermal shock

and at the end of it, i'll remind whoever was contesting it that i have done it a few times before. the usual response will escalate it to "well then, just because it hasn't happened doesn't mean it won't" sure. fair enough.

but i don't think i ever said i was taking a 500+ degree egg and advocating dumping five gallons of water into it either.

small egg, had been cruising at 400 for a couple hours. then sitting during the game for 4 hours at cooling temps, then quickly brought to 400 for a brief cook. it was snuffed, and then before putting it in the truck, i ran a thin stream of cold water onto the coals to put them out. a trickle

did this in full view of the dealer at eggfest in NH, to a large I'd just bought, too. i wasn't going to stand around like mickey the dunce waiting five hours for it to cool

in light of evidence to the contrary, warnings about doing what i did at the temps i did are well taken, but proven not accurate by my own experience. and extrapolating it to the point where i'm advocating huge doses of water added all at once to a raging egg are way off the mark.

please don't read anything into replies that isn't there. i don't care how many posts someone has when they respond to me. likewise, i hope that no one assumes i think my post count means my answers are any more valid either. but human nature is what it is

Hillbilly-Hightech

Fair enough - thank you very much for a very detailed response. FWIW, the only posts I thought might be "mocking" were the PT Barnum and "killing me" posts - though, I must admit I didn't understand what those posts were referring to, or who they were meant for - which is why I called them "odd."

At any rate, I appreciate the explanation of the testing that the Egg goes through. That's what I was seeking when I asked earlier about the material data sheet, etc.

And you're right - I guess me extrapolating the "trickle" of water you were using to the "dumping 5 gallons onto a raging Egg" wasn't a fair comparison. I agree with you when you said that you are indeed WELL below the thermal shock threshold - I guess my point is that I'd like to know just what that threshold is.

Hey, maybe we Eggers can all write in to Mythbusters to have them do a "Big Green Egg" Myths episode where they prove/dispel the myths (facts??) regarding just how incredible the Egg is???? One of the segments could indeed be the "how quickly can I cool the Egg down before it cracks?" :woohoo:

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker

and from the "hasn't contributed a thing in weeks" section of the audience....

2Fategghead

I know we are beating this dead dog to death but, I have very little to say.

I was told there are cookers on the market that will not take the shock that a BGE can take. I thought I heard this from BGE but, when I called Bruce Bohannon he could not be reached. Although I did just talk to a person at BGE that the BGE is far superior than others I can not use their name for a reference and was told Bruce would be one to ask.

Now for what little there is of it that's my $.02 worth. Tim

2Fategghead

Hillbilly-Hightech wrote:

...maybe we Eggers can all write in to Mythbusters to have them do a "Big Green Egg" Myths episode where they prove/dispel the myths (facts??) regarding just how incredible the Egg is???? One of the segments could indeed be the "how quickly can I cool the Egg down before it cracks?" :woohoo:

I like it we can sent them a statement along the lines that an egghead had just finished nuking a steak in the parking lot at a NE Pat's game and poured five gallons of water in it and was decapitated...they may consider testing it on a show. :woohoo:

Who will be the tester. :blink: :evil:

Da Kine Green BBQ

Video or pictures of that experiment would be awesome!

Hillbilly-Hightech

yes, that's what I was thinking re: Mythbusters because they always go for the "big bang" at the end - they'll probably devise a test where they get the Egg up to 1100 degrees then drop it into a pool or something...

I'd definitely watch that episode!!! :silly: