As a 3mo. Newbe/ 2yr.lurker I"ve noticed!!

I look forward to the replies, I am a month old newbie, and I may have finally figured out how to light this thing and get it up to heat..

leave the metal top off until you get close to where you want the heat, then put it on and partially close the big opening,

then start closing down the bottom and the fire seems to stabilize.

I always start the fire in the middle and top of the lump. maybe a little down, in the pile as i have only done chicken and pork loin so far and wanted 350 dome.

I do get frustrated as i get it hot, I put in the plate setter, the dome temperture then goes way down and takes forever to get up to the 350 that I want.

any comments are appreciated.

 
The size of the egg will make a little difference and the way you light and what you use to light will have some affect, however, it sounds like it is taking too long for you to reach temperatures.

Everyone lights their egg in their own way and all those different ways work well.

Maybe the following will help you out some.

First off, here are the vent settings I use for differenht cooks. Visual Guide To Vent Settings - this is just a beginning point and your actual settings may end up being different.

The heat in the egg can be controlled by the DFMT by restricting the amount of oxygen allowed into the lower vent or can be controlled by the amount of air being allowed into the lump by the lower vent. It isn't unusual to think your temperature is stable when looking at the bottom vent when actually the upper vent is doing the controlling.

Keep in mind heat = fuel + oxygen

Many times I will go from one cook to another without messing with the lump other than to once in a while add more. If I end up adding more lump, first, I will then stir the lump and move things around to make sure there are no small pieces blocking or stuck in the fire grate holes or the holes in the firebox. I do try to put some larger pieces if there are any available over the holes in the fire grate then I just dump out of the bag, in my case a Kingsford Caddy.

On my large or medium, if I use alcohol, starter cubes, paper towel & napkin and what a high temperature fire I will load the lump in 4 to 5 places just under the surface of the lump not covering what I am using to use to light. If using paper towel & oil I will put one piece left and one piece right of center.

I light all spots and leave the dome open until I can see all start places are burning, maybe 10 to 30 second and then I close the dome, bottom vent wide open and DFMT off of the egg.

I watch the thermometer, and will get a heat spike up into and above the 700° range, it will hold and then drop. Most of the time the temperature will drop in to the 200° to 250° range and then, at a slower rate, begin to climb. When I am about 30° below target I close down the lower vent using the settings in the above link. I will play a little trying to get as close to target as possible. I then put the DFMT on the egg and adjust accordingly. For the most part I try to control my temperature with the bottom vent.

If I ever have a problem getting up to temperature or getting up to temperature in a reasonable amount of time (+/- 15 minutes) I will grab the wiggle rod and put it to use.

My thoughts about leaving the dome open for 10 to 20 minutes is that the lump may be getting the oxygen from the top of the fire box. When the dome is closed then the fire has to begin to draw the oxygen from below the lump pile changing the dynamics of the burn and thus possibly causing the egg to become unstable once again until the lower draft is established.

At some point in time I will make a test burn with the firebox way out of alignment with the lower vent, however, I really don't think that is going to make much difference after start up.

I don't worry about cleaning the ash out of the egg before every cook, rather I may go 7 or 8 cooks before cleaning out the ash. For extended/over night cooks I do stir out the lump in the fire box, make sure there are a few larger size pieces of lump over the holes int he fire grate. I usually have new lump on top of the old lump, again just dumping and I make sure to clean out ash under the fire box.

Getting a high temperature doesn't need to have fresh lump, large pieces or a large pile of lump or the ash cleaned out of the egg. The lump pile has to have an adequate supply of oxygen through the lower vent up and through the fire grate and a wide surface burn.

Here is a burn with all small thumb size pieces of used lump from previous burns and the fire box filled to the holes in the fire box. I do have a good burn across the lump surface. The flame up is from the dome being open while taking pictures. Note the stabilized temperature of the cook.









GG

I've tried all sorts of things, and am beginning to think my BGE is pretty forgiving, IF I acknowledge air supply. Tonight I had some beef tenderloin kabobs, and I've been using Weber starter cubes. The lump was leftover, nothing too large (nothing over 2" long, and a lot of smaller pieces than fresh would have). I thought what the heck, I'm just going to try and use this leftover lump and see what happens. I stirred it around well to push small stuff through grate, then fluffed it up a bit. I used just ONE starter block (the Weber white ones seem much easier to light than BGE). In no time I had 600, cook went great.

I think the lesson I've learned is that charcoal of minimal value is fuel, plain and simple. So the only real variable is the size distribution and in effect, the air circulation. Which is enhanced by making sure all the holes are open. I've found when the lump gets played out (smaller) that if you use the poke rod underneath to open up the pile, it works fine; maybe not for an all night cook, but for most average needs. Just my thoughts.