Cleaning black goo that drips down from daisy wheel

I use oven cleaner. Others will balk at it. I find it to be the easiest way to clean it up

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westernbbq said:

when the egg is hot, just bunch up a throwaway towel or a thick bunch of paper towels, get them wet with water only and that stuff will wipe right off

That will do the trick

Captainjimpark said:

What do you use in place of the daisy wheel?

Control 100% with the lower vent. 4 Eggs, zero Daisy Wheels. Make your life 50% easier. 

Just keep the daisy in your egg after you are done cooking and it will render all excess fat while perpetually seasoning itself

as for the argumnent re not needing the daisy... It's six of one, half dozen of the other: i keep the lower vent open and the daisy is what i use to control temps. Better than bending, and the daisy turns easier (than the lower vent slides), and is easier to see (for me)

do what works for you

@Mickey  not trying to be ignorant just trying to figure it out and brain storm. If your daisy wheel is off wouldn't you get less radiant heat and mess up the way the air circulation works in a Kamado??? 

I would think by removing the daisy wheel you essentially create a chimney of sorts where the airflow goes directly out and does not contact as much of the surface of the interior of the egg? I mean eventually you would retain the heat in the upper dome but I am very sceptical it would be within the same amount of time and therefore you would end up burning more lump than necessary.

Here is a diagram of what makes sense in my head but let's discuss as this is has potential to be a very interesting experiment!

here's the thing.  the flow of air through the egg is what controls temp.  you can control how it gets in, or how it gets out.

mickey uses the lower vent.  no more air can escape than he is letting in.

i use the daisy, no more air can get out, than i let out.

there may be someone on the planet who dials in perfectly and both are open the exact same amount, but that's not necessary.

i'll trot out the old garden hose analogy one more time.  because air is a liquid too.

if you want to slow the water that's coming out the hose, you can use the nozzle all by itself, with the hose bib (the faucet handle at the wall) wide open if you want.  no matter how wide open the faucet/bib is, you are completely in charge of the flow by using the fine tuning of the nozzle end in your hand

likewise, if you know just precisely how to set the faucet/bib at the wall, then you don't need the nozzle at  the other end, because you can't let more water out than is coming in.

people have long suggested "letting out more smoke" by taking the daisy off.

well...  if you take the daisy off, and more air comes out, then your daisy was what was clamping the airflow down, not the lower vent.  your temps will rise.

if you take the daisy off, and the temp does not rise, then your lower vent was running the show.  and if your lower vent is in charge, then taking the daisy off won't let more air out, because you can't fit any more air in the egg anyway.  the lower vent was constricting it, and the egg is full of air.

imagine the air is water, and you will see it more clearly.

there is some difference due to the stack effect, sure.  but for practical purposes, you should just pick one and stick with it (lower vent or daisy).

i usually start the egg with the bottom vent kicked open and the daisy open.  as i am dialing in, i will kick the lower vent shut, because i know it isn't going to need to be 350 or so.  so i shut it down below that.  but i don't inspect it.

that will start to slow the fire.  i'll go inside and prpe, or maybe just jump the gun and drop the daisy on prematurely, dial it down to the settings i know visually to land me around 250, and then head inside to prep the food.

the daisy is going to stop the fire from growing. i could leave the bottom wide open and it would be fine

when you are crashing from high temps to low temps, all bets are off, because the fire will draw more air in and you'll even see it forced out under pressure almost.  that's the stack effect kicking in.  in that case, better to clamp down on both vents.

but starting a fire? for a low and slow?  either vent will work.

and when one is in charge, the other can be wide open.

Technically you can control with 1 or the other. With both you can regulate it 100%. If there werent a breeze and i was only using 1 of the methods to control it then maybe i would agree with not needing a daisy wheel. If it were windy/breezy that day then that air flow at the daisy wheel would still leak out slightly even though you choose to only control it with the bottom vent only. I still see smoke /heat expelled if i close the daisy wheel and leave the bottom vent wide open. If it rains you cant go daisy-less either unless covered alternately.  Reason i say this is because my smaller egg didnt come with a daisy wheel and you have to have perfect variables for it to work, or else there is still air flow, even if less then 5%. Thats still air flow that raises your temp. This is my point of view and what i've dealt with experimenting with both.

sorry.  that's just not how it works.

you can't have air coming in BOTH vents, and not going out anywhere.

it has been proven time and again the the egg can be controlled using only one of the vents and kept stable.  there's no point at which a fire is going to grow and begin sucking air in from the top because the lower vent is limiting intake.  the draft isn't going to reverse.

mickey cooks at hotter temps using just this method, the lower vent only.  his vent never magically reverses flow and sucks air in from the top as well.

If your referring to high temp cooks then yes its a no brainer you can use only 1 to regulate. BUT there will be air flow, i put the ceramic top on the egg and smoke still flows in and out of the bottom vent. Maybe it differs from a mini to an XL as the bottom vent slot is smaller/larger depending on the model. I've tried it first hand and it still flows, so im not believing using 1 thing would work, especially low and slow like 200°-250°. If you close the end on a hose but leave the other exposed, water will seap out and air will take its place. If a fire needs oxygen to burn then it will create a small draft, even if only 1%. I agree with 1move.