Newbie Question?

FrankC · May 2008

Hi everyone! Well I finally did it...after months of planning and saving, I pulled the trigger and got myself a large and a medium BGE, along with a very nice table. Thank you Broc, for introducing me to Casey and Bill at Fisher Fixtures, an Omaha BGE dealer. Dealing with Bill and Casey was an excellent experience.

So I got everything I wanted, and went to do my first cook last weekend, and had what I would consider a difficult time lighting the eggs. I used papertowels sprayed with oil nestled into the lump. After an hour or so, I got the medium up my target of 350 for an indirect lunch of tri tip. It took me about the same amount of time to get the large up to smoking temps for 2 racks of baby backs. The cooks turned out great, but the whole lighting of eggs, seemed to be very time consuming.

With all of that being said, I went out and bought a weed burner at Harbor Freight. Now for the question...where can I find an adapter to connect the weed burner to the propane tank?? Any and all help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Fidel · May 2008

Your weed burnder should have come with a hose and nozzle that screws into the inside of the port of the propane tank as opposed to the outside like your gas grill attachment.

Chef in the Making · May 2008

I only use fire starters but I beleive even with the weed the burner you will need to let the fire stabilize and the initial smoke from the coals to smoke off. Anyway I just use the time to have a glass of wine or two and prepare the food.

407BGE · May 2008

Using a weed burner can make it faster to start because you can light in three locations. But it is difficult to rush the egg up to a particular temperature without overshooting it. Simply stated you cant leave top and bottom open and get to 350 fast and then tune it down and not shoot up to over 350.

I "cheat" and use the Guru for ever cook except Trex steak.

Hustling Hare · May 2008

Even with time for stabilizing as the others have mentioned, I think there is something wrong.

1. Is the fire box aligned with the lower vent?
2. Is the lower vent wide open?
3. Did you remove the rain cap and DFMT from the lid?
4. Did you fill the firebox with charcoal? Put a lot in.
5. Is your charcoal made up of mostly small pieces?
5. Is the charcoal dry?

Basically, with enough fuel and good ventilation you should get to 350 deg. in less than 30 min. by whatever means you start it. Make sure you have lots of charcoal. You can save what is not needed for the next cook by putting the rain cap on and closing the lower vent.
After that, ventilation is the key. Go through the questions above and I think you will get a fire going considerably more quickly than in an hour +.

HH

FrankC · May 2008

Thanks for the replies. I feel a little stupid Fidel, I just got pack from a propane retailer and he pointed out the obvious...that the weed burner does in fact screw into the INSIDE of the port. I was thinking that I had to get an adapter to use the threads on the outside. DOH!

As far as HH was asking, the eggs are set up correctly, per the dealers directions. I was wide open with the lower vent, no cap on the lid and firebox filled to the top of the fire ring with new RO lump. I would say the lump was average in terms of size of chunks, even though I'm new to using lump exclusively.

I'm going to give it a try tomorrow with the weed burner. I don't mind taking 30 minutes, but over an hour seemed excessive.

Thanks for your help.

FlaMike · May 2008

No special connector needed. Maybe you have the older style (not used anymore) propane tank valve.

Car Wash Mike · May 2008

Start gearing up for the Omaha Eggfest in a couple months.
Casey and Bill are great guys.

Mike

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