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small egg

steely
steely Posts: 8
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Own 3 BGE's including small, large and XL. Have trouble producing higher heat levels in the small unit (my young son enjoys cooking on "his" small egg). I have even tried higher heat lump charcoal such as oak. Anyone experience this with the small unit?

Comments

  • hornhonk
    hornhonk Posts: 3,841
    No. No offense, but have you cleaned it?
  • Kokeman
    Kokeman Posts: 822
    I have no problems getting to 600 in my small. I fill with charcoal (fireking) use propane torch to light in 3 spots. Open vent all the way and remove daisy wheel and about 20 or so minutes later i'm up to 600.
  • steely
    steely Posts: 8
    yes, always remove ash after 2 or 3 uses, same as I do with my other sizes. Just seems like an air flow issue I will try and figure out....
  • Kokeman
    Kokeman Posts: 822
    Also I vacuum it out every 5-7 cooks.
  • steely
    steely Posts: 8
    Thx Kokeman, question though....how close to the bottom of the ring are you filling the box with charcoal? I may not be adding enough (?)
  • PhilsGrill
    PhilsGrill Posts: 2,256
    Yeah the small is tougher because the draft door is the size of the mini. Simply get a small battery fan and put in up to the draft door and stand by for action! More air flow... more heat!
  • steely
    steely Posts: 8
    Thanks PhilsGrill! I though that tiny draft door might be the culprit. I shall give that mini fan a try :)
  • mr.b
    mr.b Posts: 75
    cooking some italian sausage on the small as
    i type. i find with the small because of its
    smaller size (vent and grate holes)that to achieve
    higher temps it is best to use mostly larger
    chunks of lump so the air flow is better. it also
    needs to have ash cleaned out way more often than
    say my xl which i may have to clean out only once
    or twice a year.
  • Kokeman
    Kokeman Posts: 822
    I will it up about half way up the ring.
  • Rooster K
    Rooster K Posts: 416
    I have had lots of problems getting my small up to temp. I have found that I need to leave the lid open longer after lighing and get more of the lump burning I seem to get better results.

    There have been posts on this topic befor you it seems that some smalls are rocket ships and some are slow pokes.
  • Steely, this is one of my favorite topics because I spent a while dealing with what you have been. I bought my small around March, and I struggled for a while with it. There were equal camps of people that said it is crazy hot, and those that are like you and me. I read and searched a lot, and came across an aluminum foil rope trick from Grandpa's Grub to increase my airflow in the small. My firebox and firering in the small do not entirely fill the cavity of the egg. Some air flow can go around the combustion chamber, and this aluminum rope is placed in between the fire ring and fire box to eliminate the gap that is there. I also made a fire grate out of expanded metal to maximize air flow. These two tricks, along with the usual tips make my small a hotter egg. Remember the challenges with the small seem to be airflow, increase it and you can get it hotter. The small opening is part of the problem, but I had my brother in laws large to 700 to do pizza tonight with the lower vent only half way open. Here is a pick of how hot it got a few weeks ago on acident:

    f93ff5e1.jpg

    I was going to cook something, but we changed our plans. When I remembered about the lit egg 30 minutes after lighting it, I found it humming along close to 900. I didnt do anything special to get it there, it behaved more like the medium and large by just dumping the lump and lighting it.
  • steely
    steely Posts: 8
    thanks Rooster K!
  • steely
    steely Posts: 8
    Thanks cookingdude! good info...