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Closing the lower vent trick - other uses?

Powak
Powak Posts: 1,391
Does the dome open/lower vent closed trick work good for getting solid bed of red hot coals to in-turn reopen the vent, close the dome and do some solid cooking? there are so many times I get the egg up to 400-450 to cook at the felt and I’m stuck with a hot egg but not a good bed of coals. 

Comments

  • Mattman3969
    Mattman3969 Posts: 10,457
    Yes it does.  Works great for paella too. 

    -----------------------------------------

    analyze adapt overcome

    2008 -Large BGE. 2013- Small BGE and 2015 - Mini. Henderson, Ky.
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    Yep.  Opening the dome and closing the bottom vent will spread the fire where there's oxygen... the top.  Whatever is burning when you close the lid and open the vents again will continue to burn.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,168
    That's the key to the bed of lava for the caveman cooks.  Give it a go sometime.  
    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.
  • cookingdude555
    cookingdude555 Posts: 3,188
    air is one of the factors for heat output, the amount of fuel is another.  If you want all of the coal lit, and hot, try reducing the amount of fuel you have down there.  its an old trick @Grandpas Grub taught me years ago.
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    air is one of the factors for heat output, the amount of fuel is another.  If you want all of the coal lit, and hot, try reducing the amount of fuel you have down there.  its an old trick @Grandpas Grub taught me years ago.
    That's a mixed bag.  True, if you get an egg full of lump all burning and run on vents there's not enough air to keep the coals hot and all burning.  A small amount all burning can keep up with the air flow, but the fire is way down at the bottom of the egg so you lose radiant heat to the sides.  The compromise is getting just the top burning of a full load of lump.  Not that there are alternatives to this, like put a small grate on the coals, etc.

    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    The only time I close my bottom vent is when I’m using my wok on my spider. After my dome thermometer registers my desired temperature with my wok inside and therefore hot, I will close my lower vent, raise my dome leaving it wide open and wok my meal!
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • Mattman3969
    Mattman3969 Posts: 10,457
    Another use of full bed of lit coals and vent closed is grilling with dome open.  Say you are reverse searing a steak. All you really want to do is form a crust. With dome closed you are still cooking by convection, dome open only cooking from heat below and with vent closed you’re limiting flare ups.  I do this with anything I’m cooking/grilling hot and fast. 

    -----------------------------------------

    analyze adapt overcome

    2008 -Large BGE. 2013- Small BGE and 2015 - Mini. Henderson, Ky.
  • Powak
    Powak Posts: 1,391
    Another use of full bed of lit coals and vent closed is grilling with dome open.  Say you are reverse searing a steak. All you really want to do is form a crust. With dome closed you are still cooking by convection, dome open only cooking from heat below and with vent closed you’re limiting flare ups.  I do this with anything I’m cooking/grilling hot and fast. 
    Man that’s great idea. When you do this do you still gotta crank up the egg to 600+ First before closing that bottom vent?
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,168
    Caveman takes the worry out of being close.  B)
    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.