Up or down?

Canugghead · December 2014

Mikee said:

Canugghead said:

Mikee said:

Too many eggers think the white smoke clears, then it good to cook. The problems is that they only lit 1/2 half the lump. What happens when the other 1/2 heats up and it gives of VOC's?

dumb question, where/how does one draw the line between the lit 1/2 and the unlit 1/2? btw, when I swim in a public pool, I always stay in the no-pissing section of the pool

My guess is that someone drank the water in the wrong end of the pool.

Ah ha, that splain everything! The taste of second hand white smoke must be hard for him to swallow.

lol OMk

dldawes1 · December 2014

Mikee said:

FarmerTom said:
Fred19Flintstone I gotta agree with you. I don't see the point. As much as you guys cook, it's obviously not going to hurt you. Lump costs too much to waste it (at least it is for me.) Maybe I haven't done a low enough cook, but always seems the smoke has cleared by the time the dome is hot enough for my cooks, and I don't want to wait any longer than necessary to start cooking.

Lump is cheap. I spent less than $120 for the last year.

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And our answer has arrived....Quit buying cheap lump.....Buy Rockwood and spend a little more...less VOC's, no worry about burning them off !!!!!!!!!

theyolksonyou · December 2014

@dldawes1‌ I tried that with him in another thread. He's married to RO. Happy getting 98% of a bag greater than the size of quarter, according to him.

500 · December 2014

FarmerTom said:

Jeremiah Where are you finding Rockwood for $ 10 a bag? I want to get in on that deal. $20 is a great price around here.

I just picked up a bag of RO at WalMart for like $8 for the 17# bag. They still have some in these parts. But it's getting pushed out of the store with all the Christmas crap they sell. Who needs an inflatable Snoopy anyway?

Canugghead · December 2014

theyolksonyou said:

@dldawes1‌ I tried that with him in another thread. He's married to RO. Happy getting 98% of a bag greater than the size of quarter, according to him.

and making sure every quarter is lit to eliminate 110% of the white smoke before choking down

500 · December 2014

UncleFred said:

Ahhhh... the age old question: Did the house burn up? ...or did the house burn down?

When you light the charcoal in your egg do you light it near the top? ...or near the bottom? and why?

The Talking Heads have the answer to your question...

http://youtu.be/xNnAvTTaJjM

Jeepster47 · December 2014

UncleFred said:

O.K. here's another question to ponder...

1. We see the sun shine as bright yellow (I know this for a fact because I live in San Diego).

2. The full moon shines from reflected sunlight (no internal light source)...

So how come we see the full moon shine as brilliant white??? I mean, if I shine a yellow light on a white wall at night it still reflects yellow...

Inquiring minds wish to know...

@UncleFred ... I was going to call you on being off topic - as if that could happen in this thread - then I realized you were simply trying to teach without stating the obvious answer ... ie make us think for ourselves. Then it hit me ... most of those nasty VOCs come out of the egg as WHITE smoke. So, as I understand it, the yellow sunlight goes through the white VOCs where the yellow is filtered out ... yes?

Wow ... now I know why I love my SmokeWare cap ... it keeps the nasty yellow stuff off the food.

nolaegghead · December 2014

Visible egg smoke is mostly water particles and particulates.

Jeepster47 · December 2014

nolaegghead said:

Visible egg smoke is mostly water particles and particulates.

@nolaegghead ... Damn, haven't even had my coffee yet and I'm already headed in the wrong direction! Might as well go back to bed.

Okay, set me straight. I thought the idea was to burn off the white smoke AND the smell before cooking. Is it just the smell?

nolaegghead · December 2014

Go with smell. The white smoke is more pronounced at at the start of the fire, but you can have white smoke that is perfectly fine for smoking meat, especially if you have a lot of smoke wood or it's cold out.

UncleFred · December 2014

Jeepster47 said:
@UncleFred ... I was going to call you on being off topic - as if that could happen in this thread - then I realized you were simply trying to teach without stating the obvious answer ... ie make us think for ourselves.

Canugghead · December 2014

Great advice as usual Nola, I guess smoke is just smoke and mirrors!

bboulier · December 2014

As an irrelevant point, a top down fire is best for starting a woodstove:
http://www.woodheat.org/top-down-steps.html

theyolksonyou · December 2014

@bboulier‌ we passed relevant a looong time ago.

nolaegghead · December 2014

bboulier said:

As an irrelevant point, a top down fire is best for starting a woodstove:
http://www.woodheat.org/top-down-steps.html

top down is the best because the VOCs from the unburned fuel flow up into the fire to be burned, not up above the fire as smoke out the stack. It's how candles burn and why we light them at the top and not the bottom. Lacking gravity, things might be different but we're stuck with it.

dldawes1 · December 2014

FYI,

If you are interested in VOC technical data.......read on.

My simple interpretation : Charcoal kilns are externally heated to a temp of 527*F and most VOCs are driven from the wood. After this, exothermic reaction inside the kiln raises the temp to 660*F and more VOCs are are removed from the product. (some VOCs distill at a lower temp than others). The last quote below basically says that the amount of VOCs emitted from the wood was emitted during the initial start-up of the process. Most of the fumes extracted from the wood are water vapor.

"There are five types of products and byproducts from charcoal production operations: charcoal, noncondensible gases (carbon monoxide [CO], carbon dioxide [CO2 ], methane, and ethane), pyroacids (primarily acetic acid and methanol), tars and heavy oils, and water. With the exception of charcoal, all of these materials are emitted with the kiln exhaust."

"The kiln has a total of eight stacks, which were sampled during eight runs periodically over the 7-day burn cycle."

" seven test runs were conducted. The first run was performed during the 3-hour startup of the kiln, before the kiln door was closed and sealed. Subsequent samples were taken from one of the eight stacks on the kiln. Test runs lasted from 30 minutes to 4 hours."

"Emissions during the 3-hour startup period is approximately equal to the total emissions during the subsequent 165 hours of the burn cycle."

http://www.epa.gov/ttnchie1/ap42/ch10/bgdocs/b10s07.pdf

fishlessman · December 2014

i light the large from the top and mini from under the lump grate. was lighting the lump thru the lower vent on the large but did an overnight butt cook that way and got zero bark, the thing looked uncooked when it reached temp the next day, wont do that again and dont understand it one bit

dldawes1 · December 2014

Sorry...I couldn't quit yet....

Found this statement from a chemist:

"Here's one easy test to see if your charcoal is VOC heavy. Rub the charcoal dust on your hand. Run water over your hands and see if the char washes away. If you have an oily sticky streak on your hand you have undercooked charcoal with too many volatiles.

Also this:

Greenyarn™ Men's Briefs are comfortable to wear and do not restrict blood flow. They contain a high percentage of Eco-fabric woven with nano particles of activated charcoal. They are anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, deodorizing.

Price

$16.95

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

California VOC Emisssions code says: Be cautious if you cook more than 875# of meat on your BGE each week !!!!

Rule 4692 specifies an exemption where it would not be necessary to install an emissions control device. The exemption applies to each chain-driven charbroiler that cooks not more than 875 pounds of meat each week. If more than 875 pounds of meat are

cooked, a commercial cooking operation might still qualify for an exemption by performing an emissions source test to verify that emissions of VOC and PM10 are each less than one

pound per day. The emissions source test would also be used to determine the maximum amount of meat that could be cooked without having the emissions exceed one pound and

trigger the requirement to install and operate an emissions control device. Exempt units are, however, required to maintain weekly records of the amount of meat cooked and monthly records of the amount of meat purchased.

DMW · December 2014

I think I figured out how to avoid VOCs. I'm going to fire my egg to inferno from now on and let all the lump burn out. Only once the ceramics are super heated and there is no longer a live fire, then put the food in. The food will cook from the residual heat in the ceramics, ala baking bread in a wood fired oven after finishing pizza and sweeping the oven.

Yes, I am taking advantage of a vacation day and have both eggs going, ergo, I am day drinkin.

Sardonicus · December 2014

dldawes1 said:

FYI,

If you are interested in VOC technical data.......read on. . . .

http://www.epa.gov/ttnchie1/ap42/ch10/bgdocs/b10s07.pdf

=D> Well done, Donnie!

Canugghead · December 2014

DMW said:

I think I figured out how to avoid VOCs. I'm going to fire my egg to inferno from now on and let all the lump burn out. Only once the ceramics are super heated and there is no longer a live fire, then put the food in. The food will cook from the residual heat in the ceramics, ala baking bread in a wood fired oven after finishing pizza and sweeping the oven. Yes, I am taking advantage of a vacation day and have both eggs going, ergo, I am day drinkin.

lol my friend, seriously though, what you just described is also feasible with a tandoor oven!

DMW · December 2014

Canugghead said:

DMW said:

I think I figured out how to avoid VOCs. I'm going to fire my egg to inferno from now on and let all the lump burn out. Only once the ceramics are super heated and there is no longer a live fire, then put the food in. The food will cook from the residual heat in the ceramics, ala baking bread in a wood fired oven after finishing pizza and sweeping the oven. Yes, I am taking advantage of a vacation day and have both eggs going, ergo, I am day drinkin.

lol my friend, seriously though, what you just described is also feasible with a tandoor oven!

I know, and the more I think about it, the more I wonder if it would be possible in an egg. No real reason, just a "because I can" thing. The XL with platesetter and pizza stone is an impressive amount of ceramic to hold the heat. I could even toss in a few firebricks for additional thermal mass. :-?

rtt121 · December 2014

After deliberation and re reading this thread. I have decided to go this route. !#@$ you VOC's

http://youtu.be/vrrpOU6Ewrk

rtt121 · December 2014

Canugghead · December 2014

isn't gas 100% voc 100% of the time? 8-}

nolaegghead · December 2014

Oxygen and nitrogen are gasses but are not organic.

Canugghead · December 2014

Thanks nola, tells you how much I know about chemistry $:\$ ">

Eggcelsior · December 2014

nolaegghead said:

Oxygen and nitrogen are gasses but are not organic.

Well crap! There goes my artisan "organic water" business.

On the other hand, I only eat organic carbohydrates.

caliking · December 2014

dldawes1 said:

Sorry...I couldn't quit yet....

Found this statement from a chemist:

"Here's one easy test to see if your charcoal is VOC heavy. Rub the charcoal dust on your hand. Run water over your hands and see if the char washes away. If you have an oily sticky streak on your hand you have undercooked charcoal with too many volatiles.

Also this:

Greenyarn™ Men's Briefs are comfortable to wear and do not restrict blood flow. They contain a high percentage of Eco-fabric woven with nano particles of activated charcoal. They are anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, deodorizing.
Price $16.95

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