trouble getting egg hot in the cold

jerryp · December 2011

I made pizzas last night and had a hell of a time getting the egg hot. It only made it up to about 600 and didn't stay there long. i barely had enough hot coals to finish up the fourh pie(at only 400 degrees!). The outdoor temperature was in the high 20's and I was using Frontier charcoal, which I suggest you don't waste money on. I was just shocked by the low temp and the brief burn time. Any tips or theories would be appreciated.

ChokeOnSmoke · December 2011

First it has nothing to do with the outside temperature.

Agree. I did 18 lbs of shoulder with a temp of 7 degrees overnight on Saturday using my lump reducer. 12 hours later they finished and I had 1/2 my lump left.

rodent · December 2011

Haven't tried lump reducer for long cook. Obviously it seems to go all night.

ChokeOnSmoke · December 2011

Haven't tried lump reducer for long cook. Obviously it seems to go all night.

I use it for every cook. I attached a bottom grid to it so I can shake the ash out after every cook, just leaving the ready to use charcoal for the next cook It's quite awesome.

rodent · December 2011

Thanks, I will try it on my next overnighter. I really like it for steaks and direct cooks.

canoeandcue · December 2011

I agree with the above. Before achiving high temps, good,dry charcoal........clean out ash. Make sure your fire ring is full. You probably started out with a fire ring 1/2 or 3/4 full of lump. High temp = high rate of fuel consumption. At 400 deg. you probably started to run out of fuel. To achive over 600 deg. take the time to make sure everything is clean,dry and full of charcoal.

billyray · December 2011

Haven't tried lump reducer for long cook. Obviously it seems to go all night.
I use it for every cook. I attached a bottom grid to it so I can shake the ash out after every cook, just leaving the ready to use charcoal for the next cook It's quite awesome.

Do you have any pics of your lump reducer and the bottom grid?

ChokeOnSmoke · December 2011

Do you have any pics of your lump reducer and the bottom grid?

Botch · December 2011

I did my first cook at 25º this last weekend, on my Small, and had two problems. One, my Egg was choked with ash, and the Ash Tool works, but not very well, on the Small (in the future I will pull out the ring and the firebox and just sweep it out, those components aren't cumbersome on the Small).

The other problem was just getting the lump lit in the first place, it took a couple tries (I normally use one BGE paraffin block). My lump is kept out in the porch so it was at 25º too, but the ash blockage may have had something to do with it too.

ChokeOnSmoke · December 2011

The other problem was just getting the lump lit in the first place, it took a couple tries (I normally use one BGE paraffin block). My lump is kept out in the porch so it was at 25º too, but the ash blockage may have had something to do with it too.

I highly recommend an $8.00 electric starter. I keep my lump outside in the cold year round and the electric starter fires the lump up just as good in 20 degrees below zero weather as it does 90 degrees above zero.

billyray · December 2011

Choke;

Do you have the XL or the large? Is the reducer from CGS?

Thanks for the pics.

ChokeOnSmoke · December 2011

Choke;

Do you have the XL or the large? Is the reducer from CGS?

Thanks for the pics.

I have an XL. The reducer is from my old "Weber Smokey Mountain" smoker. But I think mine and the one from CGS are very similar in size (If I remember correctly - I compared them a while back). The grate I attached is just a standard Weber charcoal grate. It fits almost perfectly on the bottom of the egg and helps keep the lump away and out of the charcoal grate holes.

rodent · December 2011

I have the cgs reducer sitting on a weber grill grate. Fits my xl perfectly. I got the open wire lump reducer.

Botch · December 2011

The other problem was just getting the lump lit in the first place, it took a couple tries (I normally use one BGE paraffin block). My lump is kept out in the porch so it was at 25º too, but the ash blockage may have had something to do with it too.
I highly recommend an $8.00 electric starter. I keep my lump outside in the cold year round and the electric starter fires the lump up just as good in 20 degrees below zero weather as it does 90 degrees above zero.

Thanks, I've been wondering if that's the way to go (but, thankfully, I no longer live in 20 below like I did in Grand Forks!).

ChokeOnSmoke · December 2011

I have the cgs reducer sitting on a weber grill grate. Fits my xl perfectly. I got the open wire lump reducer.

Nice, that's the one I was looking at before I realized I had one sitting out in my garage collecting dust.

Before I figured out the lump reducer with the grid bottom, my charcoal grate used to get clogged all the time.

Now I start clean every cook and get a consistent fire every time.

Someday this setup will come standard with every EGG!

ChokeOnSmoke · December 2011

Botch,

Smart move. One of these days I'll smarten up and get out of the cold myself!

jerryp · December 2011

thanks all. I'm gonna spend some time hunting down royal oak at all the local walmarts. My closest walmart doesn't carry it anymore.

Snowgetting · December 2011

I made pizzas last night and had a hell of a time getting the egg hot. It only made it up to about 600 and didn't stay there long. i barely had enough hot coals to finish up the fourh pie(at only 400 degrees!). The outdoor temperature was in the high 20's and I was using Frontier charcoal, which I suggest you don't waste money on. I was just shocked by the low temp and the brief burn time. Any tips or theories would be appreciated.

Snowgetting · December 2011

I did a butt on the egg in northern minnesota last year, outside temp at night hit -25 and mine held. it used a lot more lump but i was pretty impressed.

trouble getting egg hot in the cold

Comments

Categories