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How high do you fill the egg with charcoal for a really long cook?

How high do you fill your egg with charcoal for a really long cook?  I thought you were not supposed to go higher than the top of the firebox, but I'm also seeing/reading that some people go well into the fire ring almost up to the grid.  So is there a right or wrong answer to this?

XL BGE Owner Since September 2015 - So expect a lot of newbie questions and please go easy on me :-)

Comments

  • Jstroke
    Jstroke Posts: 2,600
    I fill it to the top of the fire ring every time. However I cook at the felt line or higher. Eggs do better in my opinion fully loaded. They burn more evenly and are less likely to have a temp drop or die out. I don't think I burn any more lump this way but then again I don't worry about lump consumption. I do know that I have never had one die out on a long low and slow this way.
    Columbus, Ohio--A Gasser filled with Matchlight and an Ugly Drum.
  • Fire ring or just above for me.  

    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community [...] but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots."

                                                                                  -Umberto Eco

    2 Large
    Peachtree Corners, GA
  • Fire ring or above if I have the room, have had it touching the plate setter before.

    I'm only hungry when I'm awake!

    Okeechobee FL. Winter

    West Jefferson NC Summer

  • I've had it touching the plate setter with no ill effects.
    LBGE 2015 - Atlanta
  • How long is "really long"? I recently did a 15 hr cook, filled to the top of the fire box, and still had at least half of the charcoal left.
    LBGE in Northern VA
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,665
    for an indirect cook you can top off the firering. now ive done long low and slows with a raised grid direct with very minimal lump to just over the holes and have plenty left but its not a normal egg cook
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • I fill to almost touching the platesetter.
    A poor widows son.
    See der Rabbits, Iowa
  • I too do not fear the fire ring  and load well into it.  Someone needs a gag jpg showing lump puring out of top of egg displacing a grid.

    LBGE, AR.  Lives in N.E. ATL
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,665
    swordsmn said:
    I too do not fear the fire ring  and load well into it.  Someone needs a gag jpg showing lump puring out of top of egg displacing a grid.

    had cleaned and filled and lit an egg for a low and slow one night only to realize the next morning that i forgot to install the lump grate. lump was down to the vent door for the cook =)
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
    edited September 2015
    Two factors to consider ...

    1) Consistency: For direct cooks, keep the fill level consistent from cook to cook.  Makes no sense to raise the grill level four inches from fire ring to felt line and then add an additional four inches of lump.  Even for indirect cooks, it's probably not a bad habit to follow.

    2) Excess Lump: For anything over a couple of hours or so, there is nothing more discouraging than running out of lump.  Yes, you can finish the cook in the oven.  But, by the time you realize you've run out of lump and decide to transfer to the oven, the smooth flow of heat to the center of the protein is screwed up and the cook will be less than ideal.

    My suggestion is to pick a limited number of fill levels ... probably three for an XL.  @Ozzie_Issac measured the lump usage in an XL for a long low-n-slow cook at 0.4 lbs per hour ... see here:  http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1187139/eggheadforum.com/discussion/1179093/lump-burn-rate-in-xl/p1   That means that for a six hour rib cook, filling to the bottom of the plate setter is over kill by about 18 hours.  Thus, you might pick a hot-n-fast fill level (top of fire bowl), rib type low-n-slow (maybe a little over the top of the fire bowl), and finally a third brisket type low-n-slow fill level (up to the plate setter).

    On my large eggs, I fill to the top of the fire bowl for all general cooks of less than ~ three or four hours.  That way the distance to the protein is more consistent from cook to cook.  For low-n-slows of five or more hours, the large egg gets filled to the plate setter notches on the fire ring.  With those fill levels, I haven't had to repeat the walk-of-shame from the egg to the oven with another turkey.


    Washington, IL  >  Queen Creek, AZ ... Two large eggs and an adopted Mini Max

  • I fill my XL to the fire ring and have no problem  doing a 12-14 hour cook. 
  • bill37
    bill37 Posts: 127
    I( fill to the top of the fire ring on a long and slow cook. I have cooked 18 and more hours with out running out of lump. Always have enough left for a direct cook later.
  • feef706
    feef706 Posts: 853
    On my first low and slow (16 hours at 225) I filled slightly above the firebox, but the charcoal was level, it left a lot of lump on the perimeter un touched. More recently I put the level area slightly below the firebox but mounded up from there more like a pyramid, the center being higher than the level area, it resulted in a much more when burn and did not burn as deeply down into the center as the other example, I feel it was more efficient.

    Would love to hear feedback on this type of mounding vs building the coal level all the way across. 
  • feef706
    feef706 Posts: 853
    First example, see how the coal is only burned in the center, the center was basically reduced to ash down the the grate once it cooled
  • feef706
    feef706 Posts: 853
    This is the more recent example where the coal was mounded higher in the center, it burned more towards the edges of the grill but did not burn much below the surface, to me it seemed more consistent and efficient, but I'm still learning also 
  • johnnyp
    johnnyp Posts: 3,932
    Fill it all the way up to the bottom of the plate setter 
    XL & MM BGE, 36" Blackstone - Newport News, VA