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Not liking my egg at all

2

Comments

  • I agree with the other eggers. As said before, I think it would be a great idea to seek out a local egger and ask for advice. Where are you located?

    Try something real simple. Put some BGE lump in, and let it stabilize at 325 or so. Make sure the smoke changes from blue to clear. Then put some chicken thighs on (just S&P on them is fine). Turn every 5 minutes, they should be ready in a total of 30 minutes.

    Once you have that under your belt, you can try some other things. I would stay away from the super hot stuff until you've had several successes. I cook my 1 1/4" steak at 500 degrees, direct, for like 90 seconds a side. That's it.

    Try a low and slow. Read Elder Ward's Pork Butt method and do that. It will be great.

    Best of luck!
  • I didn't read your post like that at all. I know you were giving me good advice. I hate expressing disappointment and frustration on these types of forums because it is easy for it to be read the wrong way. That is why I read your post as being helpful and I hope that my intentions with my reply was clear.

    I am going to have to check my thermometer to see if it is reading correctly. In less it takes the thing twenty min to show an accurate reading then mine is off is my guess.
  • 2Fategghead wrote:
    What you just said is a do able cook for a steak but I wonder how much lump you had in your fire box? Was it full up to the top of the fire ring? Tim

    In this pic my lump is half way up the fire ring.

    I had it up to the top of the bowl were the ring sits on the bowl. So filled up to that line.
  • Jolly Bill Barker wrote:

    I am going to have to check my thermometer to see if it is reading correctly. In less it takes the thing twenty min to show an accurate reading then mine is off is my guess.

    Calibrate it sure - absolutely - but 20 mins for it to read correctly? No, that's not right. If it takes 20 minutes to read correctly then it's broken.

    I think what people were trying to say was the egg itself takes time to heat up - and stabilise, which can take about 20 minutes. You need to get the fire hot enough so you are getting close to complete combustion (no grey smoke).

    Really, it's not that hard, I'm sure with all this info you'll figure it out.
  • Tweev-tip. wrote:
    Jolly Bill Barker wrote:

    I am going to have to check my thermometer to see if it is reading correctly. In less it takes the thing twenty min to show an accurate reading then mine is off is my guess.

    Calibrate it sure - absolutely - but 20 mins for it to read correctly? No, that's not right. If it takes 20 minutes to read correctly then it's broken.

    I think what people were trying to say was the egg itself takes time to heat up - and stabilise, which can take about 20 minutes. You need to get the fire hot enough so you are getting close to complete combustion (no grey smoke).

    Really, it's not that hard, I'm sure with all this info you'll figure it out.

    So when I was trying to do my pizza the other night I did the following:

    Filled with lump half way up 4 inch fire ring. Started with map gas placed plate setter feet down with a pizza stone on top and let get hot with bottom slid wide open and lid up. After 10 min closed lid and had the bottom wide open with nothing on the chimney so wide open no daisy wheel.

    Let go to get up to temp.

    About one hour and 20 min later it was up to 500 degrees on the thermometer.

    Put the pizza in and after 4 min the curst was burnt to no end. That crust was home made. Shut everything off and let cool tell the thermometer said 400 put the frozen pizza backup on and that was cremated with in 5 min.

    Just the crust was burnt the top wasn't.
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    Bill,

    Did you have a spacer between the pizza stone and platesetter?

    Steve

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Fidel would be the person to jump in here - he makes very good pizza.

    I can't really help that much because I have an adjustable rig to get it up and away from the fire. You want to get it up high in the dome to get the radiant flashback from the top of the dome.

    4 minutes and a frozen pizza is burned to a crisp and it taking it that long to get up to temp sounds like there may be something is wrong with your thermometer..

    Sorry I'm not more help.
  • Sounds like you're trying to cook everything at 500+ and that's not a bad thing considering the kind of meals you're putting together BUT...

    - try some 300 degree + cooks until you get the hang of maintaining temp (this isn't like your gasser) - once your cook is done, play around with your vents and daisy to get a handle on temp control - proper vent settings, etc. (Grandpas Grub has a number of links in previous posts that contain a lot of good info)

    There are many other things that others have referred to, but once you master temp control with the egg you'll be better off.

    I like the suggestion of going to an eggfest. Lots of free advice from people that know what they're doing.

    Good luck!

    Michael
  • Little Steven wrote:
    Bill,

    Did you have a spacer between the pizza stone and platesetter?

    Steve

    Nope
  • Tweev-tip. wrote:
    Fidel would be the person to jump in here - he makes very good pizza.

    I can't really help that much because I have an adjustable rig to get it up and away from the fire. You want to get it up high in the dome to get the radiant flashback from the top of the dome.

    4 minutes and a frozen pizza is burned to a crisp and it taking it that long to get up to temp sounds like there may be something is wrong with your thermometer..

    Sorry I'm not more help.

    What?

    I just learned that Castro makes a mean pizza. That you can bounce heat off the lid and you can purchase and adjustable rig.
  • jball
    jball Posts: 63
    Is it possible that the temp needle went all the way around once and was really closer to 1200 deg? Someone told me they had that happen to them.
    - Jball
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    Bill,

    I'm thinking your thermometer may be out of calibration too, but if you have the platesetter in direct contact with the heat source it will get much hotter than the temp in the dome. If the pizza stone is directly on top of it the heat will transfer as though it were one piece. Most here will use something to create an air barrier between the platesetter and the stone. Some use the little green feet that come with the egg, bits of firebrick or plumbing fittings. With the air between your pizza stone will stay closer to the dome temp.

    Steve

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Theophan
    Theophan Posts: 2,654
    I want to "validate" your experience, in that I'm new to the Egg, and I've tried following directions in the little green booklet that came with it, and by gosh it TELLS you to cook burgers at 650, and NOT for 90 seconds on a side, but for 2 minutes on one side and 2 minutes on the other side, and only then shut down the air movement and lower the temp, and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes!!! I thought that was nuts, honestly, but I figured I'd try it and see, and sure enough, they were pretty black. Fortunately, my wife and I happen to LOVE that charred taste, so even though it wasn't want I planned, and even though it wasn't healthy, we loved it anyway... :)

    But like you I've been reading the posts here from these amazingly helpful people and it just sounds to me as though there's either something really odd about that recipe or there's something about it I really didn't understand.

    Anyway, two things,

    1) You're not crazy, it's not you, but I think that recipe was not a good one to put in that booklet for newbies.

    2) I've cooked a few other things and LOVED them, and the people on this list are telling you (and me both) to lower the temperature from what that recipe called for.

    I'm roasting a chicken on one of those vertical roasters with jerk seasoning and it's not burnt! I just checked the temp and the time's up but it's not really done, yet. So hang in there. You're not alone. I'm a newbie as bumbling as anyone, but I'm having a ball, and the people on this list are amazingly generous and helpful.

    Keep on experimenting. I love the idea someone suggested about sticking to just one or two things until you've nailed them down.

    Theo
  • with his lump filled to the middle of the fire ring, the airflow is restricted quite a bit, so it took as long as it did to hit his target temp.

    and with the lump just inches under the platesetter, the platesetter is taking the brunt of the 1000+ degree DIRECT heat of the lump, so it gets much hotter than dome temp. the pizza stone on top of it in direct contact for the same amount of time means, yeah, the pizza stone was probably well over dome temp itself too, and the crust is toast.

    less lump next time. just a pile that sticks up out of the lower fire box a bit.

    as for set-up, there are a number of ways to do pizza, but the closest thing to his method would be to do what he did and add spacers. there's a pic here of fidel cooking pizza and that's the exact set-up" platesetter legs down, BGE feet, pizza stone.

    that way, the platesetter can bear the brunt of the lump (which is well over 600 degrees), and the air between insulates the pizza stone, essentially keeping it at or near dome temp
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    stripstike,

    Well Fidel would be the one to ask on pizza.

    Steve

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Try something like chicken at a lower temp. I came out of the gate with really easy cooks until I gained experience and confidence. If you look up spatchcock chicken in the recipe section and closely follow the directions you will look like a hero and the family will start to turn around.

    If you like chicken wings they are super easy also.

    Salmon on a cedar plank is another easy meal especially if you pay close attention to the temp.

    A great investment is a thermopen. It will give you exact temps and will pay for itself quickly when you stop burning things. I can't live without mine and guessing on temps are a thing of the past.
  • h20egg
    h20egg Posts: 168
    Nothing NEW to add here, but as a 2 month newbie: Chickens are easy and sure to come out well, but use a thermometer. Sunday night I did a 4-1/2 pounder beer butt, and thankfully I did appetizers as the chicken took an hour longer than planned. I've "lost my butt" by trying to do a low slow overnight, but now have a remote thermometer to put by the bed....but....now I'm a LOT more confident about making a fire that will last (and I won't go as low as 225)...yet to try but maybe this weekend. AND, while doing my chicken discovered my GE thermometer is off 100 too low. So I'm just confirming what all else have said. I've had great luck with burgers other than burning the hair off my left arm (yes, burp a hot O2 starved egg and burp it WELL!). I've only done steak as kabobs up on raised grid, and they were great.

    So, hang in there, read up on your next project, and yes, as in all endeavors there will be disappointments. But it's a lot of fun and worth it!
  • TBQue
    TBQue Posts: 103
    The BGE is the best thing to ever happen to cooking!!! Be patient. I would pick one food item at a time master it. I cooked babyback ribs the 1st time I ever cooked on the egg. I never once had a successful batch of ribs before the BGE. I think starting off with low temp cooking such as ribs or butts is a good way to build confidence. You can't screw up the meat when you go low and slow.

    Start off with cracking the bottom about a half inch and only regulate the daisy wheel. That will give you and idea what setting cooks at what temp. Half moons (large top vent fully closed and small vents cracked) on top and half inch bottom will get you around 225 to 250 degs. Fully opened small vents and half inch on bottom gets you about 300degs. Fully opened small with a half moon crack on top with half inch on bottom gets you between 350 and 400 deending on how hot the fire is. You get the idea. Just play around with it until you get used to the settings. Remember less is always morewhen it comes to the vents. Let the temp come up and slowly if you are unsure.

    Try cooking you hamburgers around 400 degs until you get the hang off it. Anyway, goodluck.
  • bingo!

    i actually do mine platesetter legs up, grid, and pizza on a pizza screen

    works good for thin crust
  • 2Fategghead
    2Fategghead Posts: 9,624
    Hey Jeff, How ya doing man. I really don't do pizza's much. I may look around for a pizza pan like you got. Maybe I'll start making some pizza's and see how it goes. :) Tim
  • Little Steven, you read my mind. I burned a few before finding this advice in the forum. I used some crumpled Aluminum foil balls to add the air space. Pizza also seems to be sensitive to how much topping... More topping means longer cook time .

    I also noticed you have to open the vents more because the plate setter cross section restricts air flow.
  • jball wrote:
    Is it possible that the temp needle went all the way around once and was really closer to 1200 deg? Someone told me they had that happen to them.
    - Jball

    Nope. I watched the thing trying to climb up the whole time. When I get time I am going to calibrate the thing. I am becoming more and more suspicious of it.
  • tach18k wrote:
    dont read the book, put it inside your gasser.

    Done
  • 2Fategghead
    2Fategghead Posts: 9,624
    Jolly Bill Barker,

    Hey Bill. I'm no eggspert but, You said you had a fire box full of burning lump and you were going to sear steaks on the food grate above the inferno. Now here is the point i'm trying to make. You left your meat in the fire to long. Maybe next time you could either take your food off sooner or have less lump in the fire box then your meat will be further away from the heat source.

    Now if I may make a suggestion. When you get around to planing a cook...post it on this forum and see the responses you get. Then if you understand the cook go ahead and give it a try. If you don't understand the cook ask on the forum the part you don't understand.

    I have even gone as far as asking one person on this forum if they can help you on this cook because sometimes when you have three or four telling you in each ear and they all have a different way of doing it...it can get confusing.

    Hopefully this forum can help make you a better cook it has me. ;) Tim
  • Boilermaker Ben
    Boilermaker Ben Posts: 1,956
    Jolly Bill Barker wrote:
    Is it possible that the temp needle went all the way around once and was really closer to 1200 deg? Someone told me they had that happen to them.
    - Jball


    That might just be the difference. Mine was 100 degrees off when I first calibrated it (after I burned a butterflied jerked pork shoulder).

    And the guys aren't kidding about seeing if you've got any other eggheads in the neighborhood. We really are a friendly bunch. I'm sure many of us would come help you figure this out. There's nothing like hands-on training. Most of us will work for food. :laugh:
  • Well I have to thank everyone on here as I am well back on track.

    I calibrated my thermometer and ready for this... drum roll it... was off by 105 degrees. No I am not kidding. Secondly, I now think I know why this happened and why my first three cooks were a success, the fourth just ok, and the last three horrible.

    The guy that delivered my egg told me a trick. "Just spin your thermometer around so the temp you want is right on the top. That way you can just glance at it and see if you are on temp." Well the clip in my dome was tight. I turned it every-time I cooked and I turned it clockwise.

    Now I just have to let my new gasket cure and I am going to do a Walkerswood jerk spatchcock chicken. Brined and marinated under the skin. I will put a brick on top covered in foil with a thermometer probe in the thigh. Cook it with the plate setter at about 320 degrees with a little bit of pecan chips.
  • 2Fategghead
    2Fategghead Posts: 9,624
    Glad you found your problem. :side: I hope your next cook goes very well. ;) Tim
  • Boilermaker Ben
    Boilermaker Ben Posts: 1,956
    lol, oh boy, spatchcock. If you think you got a ton of advice about your recent problems, just wait till you start getting spatchcock advice. Everyone has their own way. :laugh:

    Most of us would say, however, that the brick is unnecessary in the egg. I think someone just did one recently, though.

    For what it's worth, I do spatchock skin side up, on a raised grid, over direct heat at 400 degrees. I only switch to skin-side down at the end, and only if it looks like the skin didn't get as dark as I prefer.

    Let the spatchcock advice begin! :P
  • Cool. I will skip the brick.