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High temp not so good idea!

MichiganEgg
MichiganEgg Posts: 17
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I thought I would heat the egg up good tonight to clear out the soot in the dome. I’ve been doing several low temperature cooks and everything inside was jet black. Tonight when I fired it up it smelled a little like an old campfire. :blink:

I stayed with the egg continuously and the temperature never exceeded 650. After about a half hour I noticed a small puff of smoke coming from the side of the egg. A closer look and there was some black goo bubbling out the crack. I immediately shut the draft doors and when the temp dropped to 500 I opened the lid to find the gasket is trashed. :angry:

I’ve seen several here saying they’ve cleaned the inside with high temp cooks but maybe that’s not such a good idea.

I’m bummed. I wish I would have tried a wire brush or something else. :(

Never more than 650.…. What went wrong? :ermm:

Comments

  • Crimsongator
    Crimsongator Posts: 5,797
    I regularly do 600+ burn offs. The gasket on mine is black and crusty, but does not leak.
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    MichiganEgg,

    It's not a dealbreaker. The gasket is not a seal but a cushion. If the gasket bubbled , it will still leave some goo to act as a cushion. There are mutiple solutions to this "problem" but me, I choose the easiest one, which is to do nothing and I can do anything with my eggs that one would want to.

    Steve

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • The Naked Whiz
    The Naked Whiz Posts: 7,777
    Try asking your dealer or calling headquarters and ask about the Nomex gasket. It should do better. Good luck!
    The Naked Whiz
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    Gene,

    I typed way more than you did. ;)

    Steve

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Felt gasket huh. Now get a Nomex gasket and your problem is somewhat solved. I have had my Nomex gasket to 750 for at least an hour and no problems. In my opinion the felt gasket is a low performance gasket for a high performance cooker. Your BGE Dealer should have the Nomex Gaskets or can get them. Make sure you put it in the drier for 15-20 minutes on high heat to pre shrink it before you install it. :)
  • Ashman
    Ashman Posts: 375
    I did the same thing you did, but I let it run for about an hour. Inside was clean, but I fused the lid shut. My final thought was that the grease in the gasket burnt. Live and learn. Now I don't worry about the crud on the inside. :whistle:
  • PhilsGrill
    PhilsGrill Posts: 2,256
    What went wrong? More than likely you did not have a solid tight seal all the way around the egg. The dollar bill test should be perfect otherwise heat will come out the area that is not tight and cause your problem.
  • Ashman wrote:
    I did the same thing you did, but I let it run for about an hour. Inside was clean, but I fused the lid shut. My final thought was that the grease in the gasket burnt. Live and learn. Now I don't worry about the crud on the inside. :whistle:

    Did you replace yours? Nomex?
  • PhilsGrill wrote:
    What went wrong? More than likely you did not have a solid tight seal all the way around the egg. The dollar bill test should be perfect otherwise heat will come out the area that is not tight and cause your problem.

    My egg is only a couple months old.
    Should this be checked from time to time?
    Do you replace the gasket when it fails the test or is there a way to shim it?
  • Ashman
    Ashman Posts: 375
    Yes I did replace with the nomex. A year later, it is solid black, but still hanging in there. When I get it up to high temps, 650 & above, I make sure not to let it stay there too long. And I checked the seal with the dollar bill test, & I have a good seal. Still think a build up of grease and a long time at high temps can cause problems. But when you replace it with the white nomex, it looks like it is smiling at you. :laugh:

    PIC-0275.jpg
  • safetyman
    safetyman Posts: 80
    I had that happen to my large and the 'mother ship' sent me a nomex gasket free, just give them a call. It was easy to install, using the 3M glue. I just sprayed it into a cup and brushed it on. There are directions for doing this, just type nomex into the 'search' box. Where in Michigan are you located, I am about 50 miles north of Detroit, a town called St. Clair.
  • BConk
    BConk Posts: 72
    PhilsGrill wrote:
    What went wrong? More than likely you did not have a solid tight seal all the way around the egg. The dollar bill test should be perfect otherwise heat will come out the area that is not tight and cause your problem.

    That would make sense to me if the damage on my grill was limited to the area where there proved to be a gap.

    But I set my grill up before the first cook and it passed the dollar bill test with flying colors all the way around. I've had it two months and my gasket is all but disintegrated.

    When I let it heat up to anything over 500° for anything longer than 20 - 30 minutes the gasket starts smoking on the outside all the way around the rim. This is not caused by flashbacks...the lid is closed the whole time. It's not caused by gaps here and there...the entire gasket is uniformly effected. It's not caused by too large a pizza stone - it happens when I use a small stone on a medium grill..

    IMHO - unless I limit my cooks to 400° or less the gaskets that came on my grill are simply not up to the task.
  • NoVA Bill
    NoVA Bill Posts: 3,005
    Some state there is/was a QA problem with the gasket adhesive (duh) and that it's been addressed - I'm not so sure as folks, like you, are still having problems. Not for nothing, I went thru two of the felt gasket sets before I went to nomex.

    Like others I've had my med up to 700 degrees several times with nomex. I avoid opening the dome at that temp and burp the egg without fault at lower temps and the nomex is holding just fine (knock on wood :whistle: )

    As stated the nomex is pretty when new, reminds of a white side wall tire on a '56 Crown Vic :laugh: but it gets all grimmy after several cooks and looks like the tires on my kids cars :laugh: :laugh:
  • PhilsGrill
    PhilsGrill Posts: 2,256
    All things change with heat. I did the dollar bill test the next day after every cook and adjusted so it was tight. Now I don't check it anymore.
  • BConk
    BConk Posts: 72
    I can just imagine BGE telling users that they should perform the dollar bill test and readjust the shell alignment as needed after every cook. :laugh:
  • safetyman wrote:
    I had that happen to my large and the 'mother ship' sent me a nomex gasket free, just give them a call. It was easy to install, using the 3M glue. I just sprayed it into a cup and brushed it on. There are directions for doing this, just type nomex into the 'search' box. Where in Michigan are you located, I am about 50 miles north of Detroit, a town called St. Clair.

    Thanks for the tip. I will give them a call and see what they have to say. I only wish I would have read more threads about high temps and gaskets prior to going that high. I had hit 600 or so doing steaks a few times but never held it there. Before last night, the gasket was only slightly stained. Being able to run 700+ doesn't interest me as much as being able to do a 250 slow cook.

    Nomex is far better at high temps than felt but not burn proof. There are other materials that can withstand higher temps. I might do some investigating as well.

    For the price of an egg and the life expectancy of a gasket, they should send a box of them when you register the egg. :whistle:

    I'm south of Kalamazoo near the state line in Sturgis.
  • PhilsGrill
    PhilsGrill Posts: 2,256
    Well, only 3-4 cooks. Done in a week.