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Temperature problem
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RoySC
Posts: 7
Hello everyone. I am having a problem with getting my egg up to temp. It has been taking longer and longer get to even reasonable temps like 400. Today it took about 20 minutes to get to 400 with the vents wide open. I am cooking duck on v rack with drip pan direct. Put my pan in when temp got to 400 expecting it to go down and come back up. It went down to 300 and 45 minutes later just got back to 400. Any ideas about what is happening? Before this cook, really scraped out the lump to get any ash down into the bottom and cleaned out ash to make sure good airflow. Added new charcoal to top of box before lighting.
RoySC
Comments
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I have had the same problem. what are you using to start your egg? I have used fireblocks but they don't seem to get alot of the charcoal going -- so I think they are good for low and slow cooks. for high temps, I have started using an electric firestarter -- I bought the one from big egg because it seemed to fit the egg better (I had an XL), even though it is expensive compared to others. I used this for the first time this past Friday and within 8 minutes I was at 400 degrees, and I could have gone higher easily but I closed the vents.
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I am using fireblock right now because I killed my electric starter ( a cheap on, not the BGG one) The problem seemed to start even before my electric died.
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RoySC said:Hello everyone. I am having a problem with getting my egg up to temp. It has been taking longer and longer get to even reasonable temps like 400. Today it took about 20 minutes to get to 400 with the vents wide open. I am cooking duck on v rack with drip pan direct. Put my pan in when temp got to 400 expecting it to go down and come back up. It went down to 300 and 45 minutes later just got back to 400. Any ideas about what is happening? Before this cook, really scraped out the lump to get any ash down into the bottom and cleaned out ash to make sure good airflow. Added new charcoal to top of box before lighting.RoySC
What size egg? I have heard of others having that problem with the small, and some say the small goes nuclear quickly. I had a small and had that problem before selling it and getting a medium.Extra Large, Large, and Mini. Tucker, GA -
Is the charcoal dry? Are the ashes so deep they are blocking air flow?
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Have you taken everything out of your BGE before cleaning out the ashes? Ashes can get lodged behind the firebowl. It helps to take the fire ring and fire bowl out every so often when cleaning out the ashes. It also helps to light your coals in 2 or 3 places.
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Also, if you are using leftover coals, the smaller ones can sometimes clog the holes on the charcoal grate. It might help to just do a clean burn and start fresh with new coals.
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I bet you have ashes and small lump pieces in between your firebox and the wall restricting airflow. I took mine apart yesterday and prolly had at least 2" worth of ash and small chunks outside the firebox. I wasn't having any major issues but I was getting ready for an all nighter. I did notice a quicker start up time tho.-----------------------------------------analyze adapt overcome2008 -Large BGE. 2013- Small BGE and 2015 - Mini. Henderson, Ky.
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Large BGG. I have not completely emptied the firebowl and cleaned everything out. I will try that. Thanks for all the suggestions. Let you know.
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I wonder if air flow is a problem. Sometimes I'll take out all the charcoal and then re-pack by hand, but I don't always have time for that, and it's obviously messy. I'd buy this if I could, but they don't seem to make for an XL which is what I have.
http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Charcoal-Grate-Upgrade-Large/dp/B004XU1FES/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1374500017&sr=8-4&keywords=big+green+egg+grill
Has anyone tried this, does it seem to help airflow? what are the drawbacks?
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Lots of us have the High Que. I consider it essential, particularly for the mini.*******Owner of a large and a beloved mini in Philadelphia
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I have a small and have had problems with temps as said in a earlier post. I can not seem to get it above 400 as well.
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Thanks everyone. Cleaned it all out and fired it up. It jumped up to temp. Lesson learned.
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Mathieu said:
I have a small and have had problems with temps as said in a earlier post. I can not seem to get it above 400 as well.
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RoySC said:
Thanks everyone. Cleaned it all out and fired it up. It jumped up to temp. Lesson learned.
Glad it worked out!!
-----------------------------------------analyze adapt overcome2008 -Large BGE. 2013- Small BGE and 2015 - Mini. Henderson, Ky. -
Never had issue with large as long as it's cleaned out well. My small took some time for me so I got the Hi-Que grate and it solved my problem. Mini has been great so I didn't need Hi-Que grate for it.
Houston, TX - Buddy LBGE, Don SBGE, Tiny Mini & Shiny Momma Pitts n Spitts
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