Egg delivered yesterday ABT turned out but MAJOR temp control question

lemonade · May 2012

Hello,

Brand new to the egg. It arrived and set up yesterday. Never saw one in use before, just word of mouth. My question is that once lit, the dang thing steadied out at 410-450 despite the top vend and lower vent only being open a sliver. (however, it seemed to have a mind of it's own and stuck around 350 while my ABTs were cooking but I wrote that off as beginner luck ).

So how do I quickly reach and then maintain temperature. (right now my menu has mostly items in the 350F range or cooler). . (I do admit I was playing around with the thing and keep opening the lid to cool it down, but think that just fueled the flames. )

Per a friend/egg-owner advice, I have the digiQ DX and w/ pit viper etc on order.

Thanks for helping a newbie . -Lemonade Nate

Stoater · May 2012

hi lemonade, I am a newbie too, so probably not qualified to answer this but I find it doesn't behave like a gasser, if you want to heat it up you open the bottom and top vents and if you want to cool it down you close the bottom vent and top vents gradually to starve the egg of oxygen, so if you have the top open a little and the bottom open a little you can stop it at the desired temp, sure takes some playing with though, but am lovin it.

BYS1981 · May 2012

Here is what I do.. this is from trial and error, expect a learning curve. I figure out what temperature I want and once I hit it let it stablize on it. The vent and daisey wheel are both sensitive, and sometimes the effects take several minutes to have effects take effect.

You can control the fire with vent or daisey wheel, or both at once. It comes down to personal preference.

I usually start my fire for abt 10 minutes then adjust daiseywheel and vent to my ideal temp range, and choke when I need to. It is much easier to get the fire a bit hotter than it is to cool the egg down. Keep in mind once you put a platesetter in the temp will go down too.

For 350 I open daiseywheel very little, and the bottom vent about 1.5 inches. I suggest getting used to adjusting fire temp without a stoker for a bit, and then use your stoker. That way if your stoker ever dies during a cook you aren't SOL.

lemonade · May 2012

So I'm right thinking that the less allowed air flow the cooler the egg. I know with the wood burning stove (for heat) if you open the front door (not just the vent cover) , it burns like a camp fire, but if you restrict the air, it burns like a blast furnace. That line of thinking prompted me to keep effin around with the openings, going from open to closed, with obviously poor results. lol

BYS1981 · May 2012

Trial and error.. just try to stay at less than 500 for the first few cooks for gasket.

MikeP624 · May 2012

Make small changes and be patient.

It takes time to get the egg to temp. Also if you over shoot your tempature it takes a long time to cool it down.

For low and slow cooks it usually takes about an hour to get the temp to stabilize.

Stoater · May 2012

You got it.

To heat mine up quickly I open top and bottom vents full, need to do that when its first lit, then once it gets towards the temp you want close the bottom vent so its only open a 2 or 3 inches and then slide the cap of the daisy wheel over gradually and you will see the temps drop, and then you can slide the daisy wheel cap over completely but keep the daisy wheel vents open to try an hit your target tempo o precisley. And when you shut it down close all doors and starve it of all oxygen.

So I'm right thinking that the less allowed air flow the cooler the egg. I know with the wood burning stove (for heat) if you open the front door (not just the vent cover) , it burns like a camp fire, but if you restrict the air, it burns like a blast furnace. That line of thinking prompted me to keep effin around with the openings, going from open to closed, with obviously poor results. lol