SmokeWare Cap

The smokeware cap air gap is adjustable.  It maintains your setting when you open your egg. I wish they made one for the mini max. Damn daisy wheel always flops open or closed when opening the egg. 

Are they airtight enough to smother the fire and reuse lump charcoal?

The Smokeware cap is not a necessity, but it has several advantages which make it a neat accessory for a number of folks:

1) Keeps precipitation, both solid and wet, out of the egg during cooks.

2) Keeps precipitation out of the egg when you're not using it and you want to vent the egg to prevent internal mold from forming.

3) Is easy to adjust ... turn it one way and the airflow increases, turn it the other way and the airflow decreases.  A much simpler concept than the daisy wheel.

4) The setting doesn't change when the lid is opened.

5) Looks like it belongs on the egg ... stainless steel venting on the top of the egg just like the stainless steel on the bottom.

6) Doesn't need extra attention to prevent rust.  In fact, it can be cleaned in your dishwasher.

7) Doesn't break if dropped on the concrete.

Concerns: Like the daisy wheel, because of manufacturing tolerances, it's not air tight when shutting down the egg.  Some think the daisy wheel doesn't snuff the fire fast enough, so they use the ceramic cap for a more positive shut down.  Likewise, some think the Smokeware cap doesn't snuff the fire fast enough.  To answer that concern, Matt introduced the "Flat Cap" which replicates the effectiveness of the ceramic cap.

I happen to love my cap.  In fact, for the last egg purchase my dealer gave me a Smokeware cap in exchange for my new-in-the-box daisy wheel.  Worked out good for both of us.

pescadorzih said:

... I wish they made one for the mini max. ...

@pescadorzih ... The cost of tooling to manufacture the cap is very expensive.  Probably too expensive to be profitable making a unique cap to fit the MM (and the small?). I've heard there is an adapter that is currently being tested that will allow the present cap to fit snugly on the MM.

@cssmd27 yes. The cap is two pieces. The top just lifts off. My base, however is welded to the egg either with grease or melted gasket not sure which.   No big deal to me. 

I have SmokeWare caps for both my Medium and Large, and I am very happy with them.  I've had frustrating problems, over the years, with mold in the Eggs if I went for several weeks without egging, and I was told that it's because I left the ceramic caps on, that there needed to be air flow to prevent mold.  Well, you can't leave the daisy wheels on all the time, because it rains.  Plus they rusted on me again and again.

I don't intend to cook in the rain on purpose, but I really hated seeing a weather forecast with 20 or 30% chance of rain if I wanted a low and slow cook, because with the daisy wheel, I felt like there would be some water dripping right into the hot Egg if it did rain.  Now I feel much more able to put on a low-and-slow cook and not worry about whether a shower comes along -- the SmokeWare cap will keep the rain out.

And yes, it's as easy to take off and put on as the daisy wheel.  One part stays on the Egg, the other part just lifts off.

And for me, at least, it seems to put the fire out as fast as ever when I close it all the way.  They now make caps you can use to make an even more airtight seal, but I've had multiple cooks, now, on the same bunch of lump, so I don't think I've had much trouble getting the fire out.

cssmd27 said:

Is it as easy as the daisy wheel to take off and on?  I'm wondering about the ability get full airflow like when I go topless for startups or certain cooks?

In terms of the issues for some with tightness, is there a reasonable way to add some felt to make the seal tight?  Or, is it too tight to allow that?

The bottom half of the SW cap has a felt/Nomex seal that holds it tight to the egg.  The top half easily lifts off the unit for those times when you want to go topless ... or remove/add the flat cap.

Too tight to add a seal ... well, at least a felt seal.

pescadorzih said:

The smokeware cap air gap is adjustable.  It maintains your setting when you open your egg. I wish they made one for the mini max. Damn daisy wheel always flops open or closed when opening the egg. 

Position the Daisy wheel like a Pendulum with the BGE logo to the left and the bolt that holds the top towards you, the wheel WILL NOT flop or move or swivel or anything.

Jeepster47 said:

pescadorzih said:

... I wish they made one for the mini max. ...

@pescadorzih ... The cost of tooling to manufacture the cap is very expensive.  Probably too expensive to be profitable making a unique cap to fit the MM (and the small?). I've heard there is an adapter that is currently being tested that will allow the present cap to fit snugly on the MM.

That would be great. 

If you have trouble getting the coals to go out or you are a "purist" you can also buy a plug to help extinguish the coals faster. Nice little upgrade, I use mine in its original "rustic" form and like it. I did not have any bad experiences with the cast damper, but the smokeware cap is kinda cool and easy to use. 

Smoke ware cap is excellent.  Finely adjustable, closes down airtight and as mentioned is great in rain. I have two daisy wheels and ceramic caps if anyone wants them. 

I went pretty cheap with my rain cap and got a 6" house vent cap. It fits pretty snug on top the cast iron daisy wheel. If need be, I move it over to the minimax if I need to.