Gastket Melt

I don't do pizza on my egg, but I'm guessing that 550 degrees is boarderline when the stack of plate setter and pizza stone is positioned right at the gasket. I imagine the heat rolling outward off the pizza stone, and toward the gasket musta just been too direct and was too much for the gasket. I think a lot of folks do it though. Sorry.

I don't think it matters how much you try to avoid it. I faithfully kept my first cooks to 350-400 or so and all was well. The very first time I cranked it up a bit, 5-600 maybe?, the gasket fried. It is a FELT gasket and it WILL melt. Seems to me I shouldn't have to worry about positioning internal components. If the egg will get to 750 easily, and it will, ALL of the parts should withstand that temp.

My egg is great, but it now has a Rutland gasket. Love the taste of fiberglas in the morning. WHEN is BGE going to recognize that the felt gasket sucks and replace it with something that actually works?

Sorry for the rant, but BGE really needs to address this problem. Or just stop putting gaskets on in the first place.

Since I've burned off at least as many gaskets as anybody I figgered I should comment. Please tolerate the long post as I seem to be wordy today.

The original gasket material I have been told is wool felt. That burns if any flame touches it period, unless it has months (years?) of gunk, smoke, sauce, fat, grease and who knows what else caked on it ...then it seems to last a loooong time and can withstand almost anything ...but a new or fairly fresh gasket ...with open flames going directly past it ... (like with the platesetter in there for pizza especially with "leg's down" the way it works best) it's gonna burn , fry, etc. etc.

The nomex works much better and has a "burn rating" of 700 degrees and I have confirmed this personally many a time unfortunately ... but it won't burn by itself from a flame getting to it..you can watch my video on the same and I show that it won't burn on its own ..you gotta cook it. See my earlier post today I'm trying to stay under 650 for pizza and things turned out really good. I am trying to resist the urge for fire and flames and be sensible making the pizza...

FYI
We did a test at the store ...setup our XL demo egg with a new Nomex gasket kit ... installed to perfection by Toby my master-helper who has assembled zillions of Eggs and zillions of nomex gaskets... filled the Egg with lump, lit it off and went inside the store (both vents wide open yeah! ) ...after about 15-20 minutes (of course, we were all on the phones etc. and had forgotten about it), Lauren one of my order-processers said "what's burning?" and we could smell the nomex (and the glue probably) burning off ....from inside the store !! When we went out ..the Egg was pegged and there were flames shooting from the top ....and from the back near the hinges ...(as that particular XL doesn't seal no matter what that is why we kept it for a demo instead of selling it )...so the gasses escape out the "seam" where there is air space and burn off the gasket ... it just can't be helped ... Everything has a burn temp I guess...

soo ... the Nomex is a good fix but you gotta adjust your Egg so there are no gaps. When we assemble new Eggs, we will go as far as swap around domes and bases to make sure we have the best seal we can get..that has helped us keep the problems to a minumum but I suggest going to the nomex kit and please remember that the Rutland company asked me repeatedly to remind everybody on this forum that their gasket is NOT TO BE USED on a Ceramic Grill because of cancer causing materials getting in / on your food. Normally I myself ignore all those safety warnings in user manuals but I'll tell you ....they REALLY meant it so you have been forwarned (again) .

Hope I helped and shed a little light on the gasket issue ...you can email me off-list or call to discuss further.

I do have "field testers" out there trying different nomex setups (2 gaskets on top, 1 on top, 1 double-thick layer, 2 gaskets on base etc. ) and they have been reporting in and so far some have had good results with nonn-conventional setups ..I plan to do some tests myself in the spring when I can again go outside without freezing my eggs off ...I couldn't resist that one sorry.

Happy Frozen Eggin
FB/SGP

Again, you might want to check out my nomex install vids and of course the "Pizza on Egg" one.

yes... well the Nomex is a solution as long as you don't have any air gaps and you keep the temps under 700 ish ...I'm trying to stay below 650 and it seems to work great...

I too agree that "they" sometimes say it 's bad for you .. or good for you ....then the reverse.... example... margarine ...for YEARS it was good for you, now it's bad for you .....for years ...eat carbohydrates .. pasta .. good for you .... I personally tested that one and you all know the results of that test! If eating pasta is good for you I'm gonna live forever! My mom and her 12 brothers and sisters all lived into their 90's and they did too things ....ate plenty of Italian food and avoided doctors as much as possible. My mom is still "afraid" of doctors :P

I recently read a report where nicotene is good for you ...yep you read it right ... and my cousin who runs a bunch of old folks homes says they have extensively testing nicotene by putting patches on people with dementia and it WORKS! ... so next thing you know, somebody will say smoking is good for you ... the guythat runs the gym I go to infrequently, a world renowned trainer who has a PHD in nutrition and a bunch of world records (now out working with Apollo Anton Ohno) ...I asked him "how about red meat?" he said ..ok ..eat it but put PLENTY OF SALT ON IT ! sheesh ...

so again, the Nomex works great if installed correctly and if the Egg is in "adjustment" with no gaps and lower than 700. I was just out in the back yard and my Trusty Krusty egg is frozen-over again..all alone ... in the dark frozen Pennsylvania countryside.

Happy Eggin.

FB/SGP

Never had a Gasket Melt but have had plenty of Patty Melts. :laugh:

The gasket helps to insure a good seal between top and bottom so that you can better control the airflow through the vents for low temperature control. That said, some folks here on the forum say they don't have a gasket and don't have trouble controlling temps. Most people use a gasket, though.