HighQ Grate

Mattman3969 · March 2013

My grate came in on Saturday and was in the egg on Sunday for a Pepered Beef Roast. It took me a bit to get my vent dialed in. I was about half the opening on the bottom vent compared to the stock grate with the daisy wheel being all but shut. One thing I noticed right off was the speed that the fire come up to temp and had clear smoke. Moral of the story "Air is GOOD". Thanks for the info!!

Mickey · March 2013

That and you don't need a wiggle stick anymore.

MrCookingNurse · March 2013

@mickey
Dumb question, but you poke your fire with a wiggle stick during cooks?? Never have here, but almost certain my small needs the high que, I ran out of juice Saturday and had only been cooking 5 hours.

Solson005 · March 2013

@MrCookingNurse I went ahead and got my high-que ordered before I even got my small egg and have never cooked without it in. So I don't know if it is just because the egg is smaller than the large or the high-que that it gets up to temp so quickly, probably both. I never have used a wiggle stick and use the regular grate in my large. I was going to get a high-que for it but haven't had any issues since I started lighting it in multiple spots. I agree with most eggheads and think it is great to have in the smaller eggs to help from clogging.

Skiddymarker · March 2013

Wiggle stick for low and slows in MBGE. Changed to High-Que, no need for the wiggler.

On high temp cooks no real difference was noted.

Fred19Flintstone · March 2013

I use High-Que grids on my large, small & mini. It should be stock equipment IMHO.

MrCookingNurse · March 2013

Does not an extremely large amount of ash just fall through it? Or smaller pieces of lump? The grate slots look huge.

I did a 5 hour in cook around 230 on Saturday in my small. I wanted to crank it up to 425 to do some potatoes. Opened everything and it only made it to like 250 and wouldn't climb. Had plenty of lump and fire still going good. So was I clogged?

Fred19Flintstone · March 2013

MrCookingNurse said:

Does not an extremely large amount of ash just fall through it? Or smaller pieces of lump? The grate slots look huge. I did a 5 hour in cook around 230 on Saturday in my small. I wanted to crank it up to 425 to do some potatoes. Opened everything and it only made it to like 250 and wouldn't climb. Had plenty of lump and fire still going good. So was I clogged?

If you had everything open, then you have two possibilities for the Egg not climbing. First, you may have bad lump. Second, you are not getting enough air. I think you were clogged and that only a small amount of air was getting through your grate for combustion. Get a High-Que grate @MrCookingNurse , you will not believe the difference in your small! Once you do, chock the wheels cuz it's gonna want to take off!

jlsm · March 2013

Small pieces of charcoal do fall through, but not as much as you would think. I love it for my large and particularly for the mini.

CANMAN1976 · March 2013

So It's been suggested to me not get a plate setter for my upcoming new lg egg but get a AR instead (which I am) and I guess a high Q should be purchased the same and scrap the ash tool all together???

The ash tool must be about twenty bucks and the High Q isn't much more than that right? I'm aiming to get what ill want anyways first!

R2Egg2Q · March 2013

I use one on my Small & it does allow some small pieces to fall through but I will accept that for the improved performance on it. Stacking lump with larger pieces on the bottom reduces the pieces falling through. I tried it on my Mini once and found no noticeable difference in how my Mini cooks (mine is a rocket with the stock CI grate) and I see no need for one in my Mini. I don't have one for my Large as it is quite responsive as-is. Your method or Egg may vary.

Mickey · March 2013

Like Fred I have them on both Large and Mini. They were on the Mini and Small I sold. They should be standard eqt.

Mickey · March 2013

CANMAN1976 said:

So It's been suggested to me not get a plate setter for my upcoming new lg egg but get a AR instead (which I am) and I guess a high Q should be purchased the same and scrap the ash tool all together???

The ash tool must be about twenty bucks and the High Q isn't much more than that right? I'm aiming to get what ill want anyways first!

Very good suggestion on plate sitter. But you (at least I do) need the ash tool.

Deckhand · March 2013

MrCookingNurse said:

@mickey Dumb question, but you poke your fire with a wiggle stick during cooks?? Never have here, but almost certain my small needs the high que, I ran out of juice Saturday and had only been cooking 5 hours.

Get the HighQ for the medium. It will sit an inch or so higher but will allow much more air flow.

Mickey · March 2013

MrCookingNurse said:

@mickey Dumb question, but you poke your fire with a wiggle stick during cooks?? Never have here, but almost certain my small needs the high que, I ran out of juice Saturday and had only been cooking 5 hours.

Your Small has to have one to work better. IMO it is a MUST. When you say "ran out of juice" = out of lump? Fill that puppy up when you start and that will never happen again. As for pokeing fire, don't anymore with High Q's.

Solson005 · March 2013

I agree with everybody above, you might lose a small amount through the larger openings but it is worth it to get up to temp quick and take the worry about clogged holes during your cook. Since I travel with my small so much, I tend to not clean it that often and I believe the high-que allows me to be a little lazy when it comes to cleaning out the ash. I usually find some bigger pieces to put on the very bottom then just dump the rest of the lump on top. You can always save a bigger piece that fell through the grate and add it to the pile next time. I also prefer to clean the small from the top.

scooter759 · March 2013

My local dealer asked me to cook for them during their last customer appreciation event. I was using the dealers large and XL and and I also brought down my large with the high que grate. I was cooking for about 9 hours with the larges between 350 and 600 all day depending on what went on the egg. The high que far and away outrperformed to CI grate. The dealer's large had a 15 -20 min head start over mine on start up, mine was ready for pizza cooks first. Also, obviously had to reload lump over the course of the day, mine required very little tending (lump) during the process compared to the CI grate. Same lump in both eggs.

Also, I agree with the suggestions on skipping the plate setter and getting the AR. I bought the AR R&B combo last spring and just added the rig extender, spider and 13" round stone. All the flexibility I will ever need.

jlsm · March 2013

+1 on the bigger pieces at the bottom. And I don't really stir hard; I just knock the charcoal a bit and reposition pieces to get a level top.

Eggcelsior · March 2013

Deckhand said:

show previous quotes

MrCookingNurse said:

@mickey Dumb question, but you poke your fire with a wiggle stick during cooks?? Never have here, but almost certain my small needs the high que, I ran out of juice Saturday and had only been cooking 5 hours.

Get the HighQ for the medium. It will sit an inch or so higher but will allow much more air flow.

Did you happen to get a large grate? The one I have for my MBGE sits the same as the CI grate.

Solson005 · March 2013

@Eggcelsior I think @Deckhand is saying to @MrCookingNurse to get the medium 6.6" grate instead of the 5.6" for his small egg.. So it sits higher in the small egg being that it is made for the medium.

Skiddymarker · March 2013

CANMAN1976 said:

So It's been suggested to me not get a plate setter for my upcoming new lg egg but get a AR instead (which I am) and I guess a high Q should be purchased the same and scrap the ash tool all together???

The ash tool must be about twenty bucks and the High Q isn't much more than that right? I'm aiming to get what ill want anyways first!

Two points from my perspective. The whole idea with the HQ grate is to allow small pieces of lump to fall through into the ash pit, rather than clog the holes in the OEM grate, restricting air flow. The small pieces will burn in the ash pit, no problem. The ash tool or a home made equivalent is a must. The HQ grate will not negate the need to get ash out of the egg. My ash tool is a piece of corner bead bent in the right shape with a taped wooden handle.

If you have the money, an AR is a great purchase. I got my setter for 1/2 price as a throw in with my egg purchase and I use it for 90% of my indirect cooks and 100% of my pizza cooks. It is simple, easy and very quick to get out if I choose to reverse sear. Good luck with your new egg!

Chubbs · March 2013

The high que increased my egg performance on large big time. I used to have to poke the holes in the charcoal grate through the bottom vent to get it going well. Now I just stir, pour, and light. Comes to temp much faster. Slight increase in lump consumption but worth it for faster start up times and not having to lay on my porch and poke the charcoal grate. Great purchase.

Eggcelsior · March 2013

Solson005 said:

@Eggcelsior I think @Deckhand is saying to @MrCookingNurse to get the medium 6.6" grate instead of the 5.6" for his small egg.. So it sits higher in the small egg being that it is made for the medium.

Oh jeez. Reading is fundamental! I read "Got the HighQ" as opposed to "Get the HighQ".

Dammit. Reality trumps perception yet again!

Thanks @Solson005 . I will wear my Dumba$$ badge with pride.

#-o

egzilla · March 2013

Do they make a High Que Grate for the XL Egg ?

Solson005 · March 2013

@Eggcelsior I misread it the first time around too, but I knew @MrCookingNurse had a small egg so thats how I caught it. Cook 1 spatchcock and a batch of ABTs and you shall be forgiven

@egzilla I don't think they do, with the XL's firebox being so large I have heard airflow isn't an issue like it can be with the smaller eggs but don't have one to be sure.

losttree · March 2013

Got the high-q for my birthday today and tried to cook up some wings with it. I'd like to report that it worked great and I made amazing wings but I failed. It does start quicker and runs hotter than the factory grate. However it is less forgiving of a cook with a birthday growler than the stock grate which is to say that I burnt my wings. That being said, I'll just have to try again next weekend.

Mattman3969 · March 2013

@losttree - First Happy Birthday and congrats on the growler and the HighQ. I have cooked 3 or so times on my new grate and have found to start controlling the fire earlier in the game because it doesn't take that long to heat up. What size egg you cookin on?

EggRacer · March 2013

Airflow is not an issue in a XL with the CI grate. I use the HighQ in my large and it does make a difference in start time and I don't have to wiggle the lump to aid airflow.

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