My XL is froze shut

Danny71 · January 2016

Ok I keep a cover on my XL I'm in the region for heavy snow fall. And I'm planning ribs for tomorrow got a break in the snow so I was shovels agg out and remove cover. And can't get the lid up. Do it want to force it and chance ripping gasket off. Any ideas or helpful tips. I know for the joking side I need a covered deck but just not in my budget at the time lol.

dogfoot · January 2016

Build a small fire in the bottom thru the air port it will warm slow

theyolksonyou · January 2016

Stick a oil soaked paper towel thru the bottom vent and light, you'll be cooking in no time...

assuming theres red lump in it.

Danny71 · January 2016

Ok so build a fire in the bottom means I could put a starter cube in bottom and that will not hurt anything. The oil soaked paper towel exactly what type of oil is recommended. And thanks guys.

YukonRon · January 2016

I use aluminum foil on the gaskets in the winter, keeps the gaskets from freezing. If you can get the lid off, drop a fire starter inside. it will thaw, or as the previous posts has said the bottom vent will help

YEMTrey · January 2016

My XL froze shut once. I put a starter cube through the bottom vent and it was enough to light the lump through the fire grate and I was off and cooking.

You can use a paper towel and vegetable oil if you want.

DoubleEgger · January 2016

I've used a hairdryer in a pinch.

theyolksonyou · January 2016

Vegetable oil, or starter cube, either one. You're not gonna hurt anything

thetrim · January 2016

I prefer canola or coconut oil.

Jeepster47 · January 2016

@YukonRon ... Mine froze in the early winter, thawed it out and used aluminum foil to prevent it from freezing again. Then it warmed up and we got several inches of rain and then turned cold again ... yup, it froze tighter then tight. So, aluminum foil is not the silver bullet.

lousubcap · January 2016

@Jeepster47 - I have always had success with going the foil route. I make sure about 70-80% of the gasket surface (circumference) has a strip of foil and never any issues. Not sure how it failed you but I wasn't there so that's the end of this comment.

Carolina Q · January 2016

Still waiting for my first freeze-up with my 6 year old Rutland gasket. Don't know if I've just been lucky or not, but so far, so good. Won't help you now, but you might consider it for the future.

bettysnephew · January 2016

Welllll, I have a bit of experience with this. Mine seems to freeze shut cover or no. If you try to open it will mess up your gasket. If you have coals in it light as suggested above. If not I would suggest lighting a few outside the egg and dropping them in through the top vent with the bottom vent open. Give it a half hour and try to gently open it. If you feel resistance, stop and wait a bit longer and maybe drop some more lit coals in. The heat gun in the bottom vent also works but takes a while.

YukonRon · January 2016

Jeepster47 said:

@YukonRon ... Mine froze in the early winter, thawed it out and used aluminum foil to prevent it from freezing again. Then it warmed up and we got several inches of rain and then turned cold again ... yup, it froze tighter then tight. So, aluminum foil is not the silver bullet.

Great! Just finished my cook for tonight. Taking off the top and covering it up.
Thank you for the heads up. I got golf tees!

Jeepster47 · January 2016

@YukonRon ... I also don't know why the aluminum foil didn't work ... very disappointing. Had 100% coverage too. The egg that has frozen twice this winter has a gently used seal ... still soft and spongy. I think it simply absorbs too much moisture. The other egg has a seal that is about Rockwell 45 ... won't even wrap around a temp probe wire anymore. It really has no room to absorb moisture.

Hmmm ... have you got a heated steering wheel in one of your vehicles Incorporate that concept into a Joetisserie-type circular wedge and you'd have the perfect accessory to prevent freeze-ups.

Danny71 · January 2016

Thanks everyone we are at 12" and snowing really hard so I'm gonna wait till tomorrow afternoon. Unthaw it and proceed.

BrookieP · January 2016

Hair dryer?

RRP · January 2016

BrookieP said:

Hair dryer?

Sure, but a heavy duty heat gun is cheaper when it burns up, than a wimpy hair dryer. The secret to using the gun is to work quickly and all around the seal, otherwise soon after you may have thawed an area it starts to re-freeze.

YukonRon · January 2016

Jeepster47 said:

@YukonRon ... I also don't know why the aluminum foil didn't work ... very disappointing. Had 100% coverage too. The egg that has frozen twice this winter has a gently used seal ... still soft and spongy. I think it simply absorbs too much moisture. The other egg has a seal that is about Rockwell 45 ... won't even wrap around a temp probe wire anymore. It really has no room to absorb moisture.

Hmmm ... have you got a heated steering wheel in one of your vehicles Incorporate that concept into a Joetisserie-type circular wedge and you'd have the perfect accessory to prevent freeze-ups.

Years ago, and I mean years ago, hardware stores used to sell a plug in heat tape, specifically to keep water lines from freezing on mobile homes.
Novel idea, except it had a bad habit of burning trailer homes to the ground.
Something like that, as a plug in, would work.

bettysnephew · January 2016

Since my earlier post, I recall that foil did not work for me either. Wax paper released with no problems. I know it won't help you now but maybe next time.

njl · January 2016

Any food safe oil will work. My usual method for lighting is a folded up bacon fat soaked paper towel. Vegetable oils work too...but the bacon fat towels are a "waste byproduct" of cooking and draining bacon.

RRP · January 2016

njl said:

but the bacon fat towels are a "waste byproduct" of cooking and draining bacon.

Waste byproduct? I save all my bacon fat! That stuff is like food gold! I saute' my onions in it and it's a part of my chili. Sorry, but burning it is sacrilegious!

NPHuskerFL · January 2016

Load egg into U Haul truck and head south

YukonRon · January 2016

Used foil after a long low and slow cook on ribs for 6 hours, in the snow. The daisy wheel had already froze. I thought I might have a problem for today's cook. This morning it was in the low 20's. No issue.

HeavyG · January 2016

RRP said:

BrookieP said:

Hair dryer?

Sure, but a heavy duty heat gun is cheaper when it burns up, than a wimpy hair dryer. The secret to using the gun is to work quickly and all around the seal, otherwise soon after you may have thawed an area it starts to re-freeze.

If I was going to use a heat gun or hair dryer I'd probably just blow the hot air in thru the bottom vent.

I use a clamp like this to hold a flashlight while clamped to my table. I'm betting it would hold a heat gun.

http://www.amazon.com/Chromo-Inc-FlexHold-Gooseneck-Bathroom/dp/B00EHRYSQY/ref=pd_sim_421_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=414vRkR0P-L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=06VRS56QY99481W5XGK6

Then I could just set it up and go back inside while it warms up the egg.

RRP · January 2016

BTW before leaving this topic I see that Harbor Freight has further marked down their two speed heat gun to $8.87. So those who still don't want to cover their eggs or use other means then for such limited use $8.87 won't put that much of a dent in your egg toy box budget!

CANMAN1976 · January 2016

Now you know what it's like to live in Newfoundlnd...I found the stainless smoke ware cap is good for snow and freezing temps as u can always take off the cap top and drop in a fires Starter!

J-dubya · January 2016

Mine was frozen today. I had cooked some steak last night during the snow so I wasn't surprised. Dropped a starter and two pieces of lump down through the chimney onto the grate. Tried to open it 20mins later, no problem.

My XL is froze shut

Comments

Categories