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Couldn’t get over 325

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GrillinSailor
GrillinSailor Posts: 70
in EggHead Forum
Lots and LTD of rain and humidity here over the last couple of weeks. Opened the egg to find mold on the grid and around the edges. Decided to clean burn and then do some chicken thighs.  

I had had about a third of a load full of left over rock wood and filled the egg with fresh rockwood lump kept in a sealed plastic garbage can kept outside.

After lighting the charcoal and waiting 20 min, I closed the lid with the vents wide open. Any moisture should have evaporated by then.  I couldn’t get the temperature over 300. Took off the stainless steel smoke cap to get more oxygen and after another 20 min. The temperature had only climbed  to 325. I cleaned the ash out before I started.

was the problem moisture in the lump?  Why wouldn’t it evaporate at 300? Do I have to throw all my rockwood out?

thanks for whatever experience you can share,

Grillin
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Comments

  • SaintJohnsEgger
    SaintJohnsEgger Posts: 1,826
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    How did you start the fire? In how many places did you start it? ==> how much of the lump surface area was lit when you shut it?

    Sounds like you fire was too small and you may have smothered it when you first shut down.

    I'm sure others will be along with more/different/better answers.
    Marshall in Beautiful Fruit Cove, FL.
    MiniMax 04/17
    Unofficial BGE MiniMax Evangelist
    Facebook Big Green Egg MiniMax Owners Group


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  • pgprescott
    pgprescott Posts: 14,544
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    Lump burns well over 1000. Some sort of operators error IMO. Hard to say. There could have been excessive moisture in the ceramics, but if you did a clean burn sorta thing to get rid of the mold it should not have been an issue. 

    Must be airflow or you you knocked the thermo out of tune. No worries, the thermo is able to be calibrated. Just remove it and put in either boiling water or ice water to confirm calibration. If it’s off, simply turn the nut on the back to recalibrate. 

    If if not the thermo, remove the guts and clean it out including the side air vents on the firebox which can be a big culprit. 

    Egg on!
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  • thetrim
    thetrim Posts: 11,357
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    ANother vote for airflow.  You probably have things clogged up in the bottom/
    =======================================
    XL 6/06, Mini 6/12, L 10/12, Mini #2 12/14 MiniMax 3/16 Large #2 11/20 Legacy from my FIL - RIP
    Tampa Bay, FL
    EIB 6 Oct 95
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  • Powak
    Powak Posts: 1,391
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    thetrim said:
    ANother vote for airflow.  You probably have things clogged up in the bottom/
    This and before I gotta KAB I used to feed my mattress pump into the bottom of the fire box and give it some air.
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  • FlyOverCountry
    FlyOverCountry Posts: 665
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    When ever I can’t get it up I always ask my wife to lend a hand.  
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  • Thatgrimguy
    Thatgrimguy Posts: 4,729
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    Waiting 20 min and then 20 minutes is not very long. The ceramics can hold a lot of moisture. It is probably steaming off. 
    XL, Small, Mini & Mini Max Green Egg, Shirley Fab Trailer, 6 gal and 2.5 gal Cajun Fryers, BlueStar 60" Range, 48" Lonestar Grillz Santa Maria, Alto Shaam 1200s, Gozney Dome, Gateway 55g Drum
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,348
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    Thermo calibrated???   
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
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