Help!! First time starting the fire!

Check this out, its just a general guide, yours will be a little different.
http://www.eggheadforum.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=746823&catid=1

According to the instructions you put in enough charcoal to fill the egg to the top of the fire box. You'll see the lip a few inches below the grill. I have a large and I use one or two starter cube to light the charcoal.

Close the lid and open the bottom and top vents full open.
When the dome gauge gets to about 50 degrees below the temp you want close the vents down to start stabilizing the temperature.

The guys on here have written extensively on temperature control. This link helped me a lot.
http://www.eggheadforum.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=718915&catid=1

I'm a newbie as well but I'm already in love with this thing.

Welcome to the forum.

Good question. There are a lot of correct answers on how to light the egg and a lot of different theories.

This is going to be a bit long...

The small and mini egg have a smaller lower vent, smaller fire box and smaller fire grate. These issues are not really a problem but a little more care needs to be taken when loading the lump and lighting the egg.

The egg is efficient so how much lump you put in isn't all that critical other than there is enough to finish your cook at whatever temperature you are cooking at. When your cook is over close down the lower vent and cap off the upper vent with the ceramic cap. I use a piece of gasket on the inside of the ceramic cap to get a tighter seal. My thoughts are that the gasket material will help put the lump out quicker. If you don't have any gasket material use some aluminum foil and then place the ceramic cap over the foil covered upper vent.



The remaining lump can be used on the next cook without problems.

There is no problem loading the lump to the top of the fire box or even the top of the fire ring. The closer the food is to the lump more heat will be radiated to the meat.

Loading to the top of the fire box is fine. Or if you are doing a shorter time cook load somewhere between the holes in the fire box and the top of the fire box. There are some advantages of loading high or loading low, I won't go into right now.

When loading it is important to make sure the holes in the fire grate and the holes in the fire box are not blocked or plugged with small pieces of lump.

I locate a few larger chunks of lump and lay them over the fire grate. I somewhat stack so there is some free space for the holes to allow air flow up into the lump bed. After those base pieces are placed over the fire grate I just dump in the rest of the lump to the desired level.

Lighting. Some of the posts above detail all the different methods. As you are new I am guessing you are using the fire starters (square paraffin pieces).

IF, I am using paraffin squares I break them in half. I always light in 2 to 4 places in the top of the lump bed 4 and 6 o'clock or 4, 6 o'clock and center. I hold the half's in some tongs and light the paraffin squares making sure they are burning all over the piece. When lit I place the square in a lighting spot about 1 inch below the surface and make sure I don't have the lump so tight that it put the square out.

The instructions say to leave the lid open, I disagree. My reasoning is that the lump bed has to develop it's own oxygen draw to become stable. Leaving the dome open allows the oxygen to flow in from the top of the lump bed. Once the dome is closed it is easier for the oxygen to flow into the lower vent and up outside the fire box & fire ring over the top and back down into the top of the lump bed. At some point in time the lump bed will begin it's oxygen draw up through the fire grate and into the lump bed from the bottom. I theorize that is another reason a lot of people have a real hard time stabilizing their egg and are surprised there is some kind of temperature change after they thought the egg was stable.

Here is how I light. When all the squares are lit and burning and in place in the lump bed, I close the dome. Bottom vent wide open and DFMT off of the dome.

The following will happen if lighting with paraffin squares, oil & paper towel, alcohol and any other method that uses a starter aid of some type.

With the dome closed and NOT leaving the egg you will notice a fast climb of the dome thermometer. This rapid climb in temperature is due to the flame caused by the starter medium you are using. The temperature may well reach or surpass 700° ,don't worry. In a somewhat short amount of time the temperature will begin to drop fairly fast - the flame form the starter medium has gone out or is going out.

Usually the temperature will drop to a pretty low temperature, say +/- 200° then you will notice a slower increase in temperature. This slower climb is the lump burning and generating the heat for the cook, this is what you want.

At this point you need to be ready to adjust your vents. Again, my method, I use the lower vent for the main temperature control.

On this second temperature increase you don't want the temperature to overshoot your cook temperature. It is a difficult to cool and egg down to a cooler cooking temperature.

At about 30° below target cook temperature I put the DFMT (daisy) on the egg and close the slider (if a lower temperature cook) and adjust the pedals to a more closed position. As the temperature climbs to my target cook temperature I will adjust the bottom or the DFMT to achieve my cook temperature. This process will be very easy.

Do yourself a huge favor and don't adjust both vents at the same time. You can't catch two rabbits at the same time and changing both vents at the same time is much the same challenge. At some point in time you will learn your vent settings and adjusting the vent(s) will be simple.

If you made it down to here, I hope it was worth the read.

If you have questions ask.

GG

Grandpas Grub wrote:

You can't catch two rabbits at the same time and changing both vents at the same time is much the same challenge.

GG

:laugh: I like that!