I lucked into a medium BGE for a good price and picked it up. Tried it out for the first time last night and could not get the thing to come up to a high temperature like 700. The most I could get it to come up with the metal top wide open and the bottom wide open was about 500. Any ideas I should try? By the way, the pizza (just a take&bake) was edible nonetheless. Also it was missing the ceramic top lid for the stack. Do I need to order one of these or just do without?

What charcoal are you using? One thing that I found is, if you dump a bag of charcoal in, the smaller pieces will clog the draft holes in the bottom. This happened to me last weekend while low and slow smoking some pork butts. Almost snuffed out completely!

For max heat you need max draft. Pick out medium and large pieces of charcoal and stack them loosely.

Be careful when you lift that lid, it will give an impressive eyebrow singeing fireball once that thing gets rolling! Don't ask me how I know.

I rarely use my ceramic lid. Prefer to have a trickle of smoke come out the top.

Also make sure the opening in your fire box is lined up with the lower vent. Inability to reach high temps almost always has to do with restricted air flow.

Mike

Is it new or used? Every time I've had any issue with any of my eggs not reaching temp a good cleaning always fixes it. Pull all of the guts out and clean it good. I use the small shop vac ($19 at Wal-Mart) and it makes quick work of it. Make sure to clean the round holes in the firebox and make sure the vent screen is clean.
The ceramic cap allows you to put the cast iron cap out of the elements to prevent it from rusting. Run a strip of gasket material around the lid at the top and the ceramic top will seal better saving more of your lump for the next cook

No problem for me to hit 700 on my medium. I like to use a chimney to start my lump BTW. The video is a little different than my method but hang in there.I don't use the stack(dryer pipe) but it sure looks like fun. Next time I get into town,...

If you continue to have problems, throw the damn thing in the back of the truck and come out to West Virginia and I'll fix ya right up.

BING COLD BEER & STEAKS.

I agree on all the above. Only thing I'd add is my thermometer was off by 50-70 deg when it worked. It doesn't work now. Doesn't matter grilling but I used to ruin BBQ before I started using the guru digi q thing. So it's most likely air flow but keep in mind the thermometer failing too.

http://www.high-que.com/Stainless-H...um-Big-Green-Egg-Grill--66-dia_p_20.html

Bi-metal therms are generally junk. Go digital

I was using Cowboy lump charcoal. I did just dump the bag in there and there was a lot of little stuff. It may have clogged the vent holes. It was pretty clean before I started. I took all the insides out and none of the holes were clogged or anything. I'll try using some bigger pieces and packing it in loosely. I'm also going to try a chimney starter to get the coals going good. I noticed when I shut all the vents to shut it down the smoke started coming out around the gasket, so I guess I'll have to order a new one of those also.

284luvr: I plan on going with a digital thermometer. What would you recommend? WV is a long way to drive to buy you steaks and beer for you to cook for me. LOL.

Any other tips or tidbits I should follow let me know. I'm a greenhorn with this.

Agree the diqi q quru thing is digital.

http://store.thebbqguru.com/weborderentry/DigiQ%20DX2

http://store.thebbqguru.com/weborderentry/Pit%20Viper%20%2810%20CFM%20Fan%29

Maybe not the best but that setup works well. When doing brisket for example I load it up set it and never add more fuel or baby set it. Will go 20+ hours.

After re-reading all the posts, I'm not sure that there is a grate down on the bottom for the charcoal to sit on. I'm going to have to look when I go home. I think I just poured the charcoal right onto the ceramic bottom.

That could be your air flow problem!

Here is a breakdown of the components.



Mike

That diagram certainly helps. I'll look when I get home if I have the bottom grate in there. That definitely could be the problem.

Lots of guys use this unit. I have one and they are very poular.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0044FFUMK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Cheapie digital. I've been using mine for several years.
http://www.amazon.com/CDN-DTQ450X-ProAccurate-Quick-Read-Thermometer/dp/B0021AEAG2

Thermapen, for guys that have $$$$ to burn.Nice unit and overprice when compared to what else is out there.
http://www.amazon.com/Splash-Proof-Super-Fast-Thermapen-Thermometer-Professional/dp/B003P601S2

I have a quick read thermemeter -- although not a therapen. It does fine. Reads in about 5 seconds. I thought I should probably get a dual probe remote thermometer so I would know the temp of the meat and also inside the Egg.

Love my remote. I lay in bed watching TV while stuff is cooking with the damn thing right next to me and still manage to screw things up.

I will agree that the Thermapen is expensive, maybe not soooo bad when you compare the full specs, accuracy, 3 second read time, NIST-Traceable calibration, etc?? Do cooks need all of that??..maybe, maybe not...I can say having a drawer FULL of different digital and non-digital thermometers, if my Thermapen goes bad tomorrow I will replace it ASAP. They do have excellent customer service and even repaired and upgraded one I broke at no charge. Sign up for their emails and they offer discounts, open box units, etc. They also draw from their mailing list and give one away each month, I can vouch for that because I won one!!

I used a dual probe, wireless Maverick for years with no issues. Switched to the Guru and really enjoy it and I recently acquired a Cyber-Q so now maybe I can screw it up from my deer stand 30 miles away!!!

You running that on an egg ?

Yeah, large and an XL

Thanks

After getting home I see that there is a bottom burn grate in there. I'll just try to clean it out and use larger pieces and see if that helps. As an aside, I notice that the pizza I cooked last night had a real smoke or charcoal or something flavor that I was not used to. Does this thing just really need a good cleaning or is that the flavor the lump charcoal imparts to all food on the Egg?

Clean? Maybe vacuum the ash out of the bottom. Flavor imparted would depend on the flavor of charcoal.

Thermapen and guru digi q is worth looking into. Expensive but so was the egg.

Cleaned the Egg out last night and a few of the holes in the bottom half were clogged with charcoal. I'll hopefully get to try it tonight again. I got on "Hi-Que" or some websight and ordered a stainless steel fire grate and a new high performance gasket. I noticed my egg was leaking smoke when I shut everything down. Hopefully the new stainless fire grate will allow more air and burn a little hotter.

As far as I know there is no flavor on this Cowboy charcoal. I can tell you that taste would not be very good on breads or cookies or anything like that. Maybe the charcoal was just smoldering too much because the pizza had a real smoky taste.

Cowboy lump isn't the best - you can check http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm for lump reviews.

I get either Rockwood or Ozark Oak from the place below - both premium lump charcoal. Order $100 worth and the shipping is free! Read up on both - they really are a cut above most other lump.

http://www.firecraft.com/product/rockwood-lump-charcoal-20lbs/

FireCraft has tons of other cool BBQ stuff worth checking out as well, including some really tasty rubs.

I just use the egg charcoal? Works good and cost 20 bucks for a 20 pound bag like in the link above.

I buy a little Rockwood from time to time.



Mike

Me too!

Between the two of us we might have the market cornered.

Mike

Reminds me .... time for another pallet



BaHaHaHaHa!

According to the naked whiz (http://www.nakedwhiz.com/lump.htm) BGE charcoal is Royal Oak lump wearing the BGE badge and you are paying for that accordingly.

Holy Smokes Kaleb! You're paying waaaaaaaay too much for your charcoal.

Don't doubt it....

Where do you get the royal oak for less? Thanks

Our Walmart used to carry it.

Lawn and garden centers etc.

Ace hardware possibly.

Home depot show it on their website but stores vary.

Gotta get out there and beat the bushes.

yep....I get it at Wally World.....

http://www.yellowpages.com/memphis-tn/mip/the-charcoal-store-2376100

Thanks.

Just a take the top off for higher temps. Let the early "blue" smoke burn off before cooking something like pizza to avoid the off putting flavor.

Try closing top vents a little to hold more heat in the unit. Good luck

Cooked a big london broil last night and it turned out pretty good. I lit the Egg about an hour before I put the meat on and had no bad taste this time. Did a reverse sear on it and it worked great.

Not to high-jack the thread, but has anyone had issue with the carpet lining coming apart?

The carpet on my ring fell apart yesterday. Seemed strange...

I assume you're talking about your gasket? If so the factory ones are junk. Strip it and replace it with Nomex or even better, a Rutland like the one pictured.



Mike

Mike,

yes, that's what I meant. Thanks for the note.