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Top Open for Early Warmup??
Peter Creasey
Posts: 253
It occurs to me that it probably is a good idea to leave the top of the BGE raised for a while after lighting the fire so there is more draft and a faster warmup of the lump.
Is this advisable? Are there any drawbacks to this approach?
Thanks!
Is this advisable? Are there any drawbacks to this approach?
Thanks!
Comments
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You want the dome to heat up too. Keep it closed and keep the metal top off till it gets near the temp you want.
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I have found just the opposite to be the case. My fire always gets going faster and hotter and more even if I close the dome and take off the daisy wheel.
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The drawback would be that the fire would spread more rapidly. That would leave you with a full load of burning lump. That, in turn, would make controlling temps (especially if you are going low and slow) difficult.
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That might depend on the type of cook that you are doing. For nuke temps remove the Daisey and leave the bottom vent wide open.For normal cooks open the bottom vent about one third open and the Daisey one third open and then fine tune when your desired temperature is getting close to within 10 degrees of target temp.Then fine tune the top if cooking around 300 plus or close the bottom vent to about 25 percent open or less for a long and slow cook.When it will stabilize after 30 minutes from where you have set it you will be good to go.
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I usually leave the lid up with the bottom vent wide open until the starter cube is gone and the coals are lit well. At that point, I put the lid down and start shutting the drafts to get closer to my desired temp.
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I basically do the same thing. Lid up for about 10 min then start closing vents down to the desired temp i am looking for.
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The BGE manual states to leave the dome open for about 10 minutes.
If you use something that will flame up high such as alcohol, that flame may heat the gasket adhesive. I have had the gasket loosen enough that it comes up off of the egg surface.
If I am heading for a higher temp I usually leave the dome open for 10 minutes or so. I want a wide base light.
If I am cooking at lower temps 400° and lower, I light in 3 to 4 spots and leave the dome open for 3 to 5 minutes.
I am not sure if it makes much difference one way or the other.
GG -
UGAVET wrote:I basically do the same thing. Lid up for about 10 min then start closing vents down to the desired temp i am looking for.
U, What you do is basically what I had in mind. I already leave the top open while the electric coil starts the fire then I was thinking about leaving the top up another 10 minutes or so after that.
I agree the dome should be brought up to the temperature so it would seem that closing the top after about 10 minutes would work fine.
If I leave the top closed during the warmup, I always leave the daisy wheel off until I start regulating the temperature.
I am surprised at the differences of opinion on this. Maybe my idea isn't as good as I thought. -
Early on I used starter cubes, or other flammables like alcohol. If I closed the dome, the flames made the therm read really high, and leave me thinking the interior was readier to cook than it really was. So then I left the dome open, but on a few occassions was drawn away, and found heat licking at the gasket.
So I switched to a torch, with the dome down, no daisy and bottom wide open. Depending on how many seconds I burn the torch (15 - 90) and other variables, the temp usually breaks 200 in a little under 10 min, and I don't have to worry about burning off the gasket if I get distracted.
Now, I only open the lid for more than a minute if I want the temperature to really jump up. -
Well, there are lots of different was to skin a cat. I think this has always worked well for me as long as you dont walk away from an open dome i dont think you will have any problems.
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I use BGE starters cut into three strips and distributed around the lump. I leave the dome up and the draft door wide open until the flames go out, and there is no more visible smoke, and there is no more smell of burning wax. Then I lower the dome, leave the draft door open and run the temp up to 25º shy of where I'm going. At that point I shut the draft door down to where I know from experience it will stabilize at the temp I want, and I put on the DMFT set to the final opening for cooks under 350º. For 350º or higher I leave it off.
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Jersey Doug wrote:I leave the dome up and the draft door wide open until the flames go out, and there is no more visible smoke, and there is no more smell of burning wax. Then I lower the dome, leave the draft door open and run the temp up to 25º shy of where I'm going. At that point I shut the draft door down to where I know from experience it will stabilize at the temp I want, and I put on the DMFT set to the final opening for cooks under 350º. For 350º or higher I leave it off.
Doug, Thanks for the good info!
Yours sounds like a good scheme.
Especially interesting is your leaving the daisy wheel on for cooks under 350 and off for 350 and higher. I hadn't thought of quantifying things to such a degree.
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