torching sir francis drake - lighting a large egg with a weed burner

R

Rick's Tropical Delight

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• Sep 5, 2009

• #1

here's how i lit the large egg last night in preparation for baking pizza.

make a hole in the used charcoal all the way down to the charcoal grate for better airflow

add medium and large lump pieces in the hole

put the fire to it! fly, spark fairies, fly!

pulse the turbo trigger so as to make the fire "breathe" like this

dfmt completely off, bottom draft door and spark screen completely open

the fire grows down toward the air supply

close the spark screen and close the draft door halfway. put the dfmt on and close the slider about halfway

put the grid on to burn off any of the last cook. see the charcoal "crust" developing over the inferno?

break up the "crust" and let the flames out

insert plate setter and pizza stone

the dome temp drops because of the added cold ceramic mass. do not change the draft settings. just wait...

give all the ceramic time to stabilize at about 420

open the lower draft door some if you need to in order to reach your target temp, 550 in this case

time to bake! :biggrin:

 

thillin

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• Sep 5, 2009

• #2

Another good pictoral.

 

cmcadams

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• Sep 5, 2009

• #3

That looks just like how I did the Bubba Keg 5 minutes ago for wings.

 

bbqbull

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• Sep 5, 2009

• #4

Thanks Rick!

 

OakPit

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• Sep 5, 2009

• #5

Rick - Great Pics & descriptive quotes - I may link this thread to my pizza page forthcoming on my website - cool? As we know - proper fire = great BBQ.

 

R

Rick's Tropical Delight

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• Sep 6, 2009

• #6

OakPit said:

Rick - Great Pics & descriptive quotes - I may link this thread to my pizza page forthcoming on my website - cool? As we know - proper fire = great BBQ.

Click to expand...

link away! thanks for asking. :biggrin:

lighting for a 700 degree steak sear is the same procedure, just without the plate setter and pizza stone. 700 degrees can be seen on the thermometer quickly, but the ceramic hasn't had time to heat thoroughly, so i close the drafts to half for a bit, then open them back up for searing.

 

BBQ_MAFIA

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• Sep 6, 2009

• #7

Thanks for the pics they really help.

 

L

ljh34465

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• Sep 6, 2009

• #8

another nice job, Rick. Thanks for taking the time.

Sure like that animated GIF.

My egg is still on the screened porch so I can't use the turbo lever. Tried it once when I first hooked it up and scared the H out of me. So, just turned up the basic flame and it worked well, albeit a little slower.

What lens are you using on your 90? Sure nice and crisp.

 

R

Rick's Tropical Delight

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• Sep 6, 2009

• #9

ljh34465 said:

another nice job, Rick. Thanks for taking the time.

Sure like that animated GIF.

My egg is still on the screened porch so I can't use the turbo lever. Tried it once when I first hooked it up and scared the H out of me. So, just turned up the basic flame and it worked well, albeit a little slower.

What lens are you using on your 90? Sure nice and crisp.

Click to expand...

i don't recommend a weedburner under a roof. consult your insurance agent or local fire department on cooking in a screened in porch.

d80 with 18-135mm (and some photoshop sharpen filter)

 

Ron_L

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• Sep 6, 2009

• #10

Nice job!

 

L

ljh34465

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• Sep 6, 2009

• #11

Thanks, Rick. It is only temporary - everything is going outside ASAP

 

R

Rick's Tropical Delight

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• Sep 6, 2009

• #12

ljh34465 said:

Thanks, Rick. It is only temporary - everything is going outside ASAP

Click to expand...

just be careful with that thing. watch where the bottom vent is pointing too. people have burned down their house when a spark blew out the bottom vent and landed on a newspaper pile in their garage.

maybe cook outside and roll the cart into the porch for storage?

 

L

ljh34465

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• Sep 6, 2009

• #13

only saving grace is that it is all concrete block construction, not frame - yeah, the drywall ceiling could burn but I am being very careful.

Got thick grass out there and don't think "our" carts would roll very easily - building a patio is high on the list - but a very long list with a new house:|

Is that USM for sharpening??

 

R

Rick's Tropical Delight

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• Sep 6, 2009

• #14

ljh34465 said:

only saving grace is that it is all concrete block construction, not frame - yeah, the drywall ceiling could burn but I am being very careful.

Got thick grass out there and don't think "our" carts would roll very easily - building a patio is high on the list - but a very long list with a new house:|

Is that USM for sharpening??

Click to expand...

my driveway is sand and gravel so the carts roll out of the egg hut easily, kind of.

USM?

 

L

ljh34465

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• Sep 6, 2009

• #15

Un-sharp mask in PS enhance.

 

R

Rick's Tropical Delight

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• Sep 6, 2009

• #16

filter/sharpen/sharpen

almost all of my photos get it. unless it makes them too obvious. depends on the beer. :biggrin:

then layer/new adjustment layer/curves/select the black eyedropper/sample the darkest, blackest part of the image/ same for the white, if needed, then layer/new adjustment layer/hue, saturation/boost saturation till it looks good and not obvious. simple, right?

 

L

ljh34465

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• Sep 6, 2009

• #17

once again, thank you for all the detail - appreciate it:wink: Will have to give that simple approach a try - when I have an hour or so:-D

 

Big George's BBQ

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• Sep 6, 2009

• #18

Great Pics Rick. Thanks You really should teach a class. Does opening the screen make that much of a difference

 

R

Rick's Tropical Delight

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• Sep 6, 2009

• #19

Big George's BBQ said:

Great Pics Rick. Thanks You really should teach a class. Does opening the screen make that much of a difference

Click to expand...

it's all about airflow for the draft. opening the spark screen is full throttle. think of the screen as a catalytic converter on your restrictive car exhaust. open screen is like tuned headers and a free flow exhaust. :biggrin:

 

S

schellter

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• Jan 9, 2010

• #20

Man, I thought I followed your instructions for set-up and lighting exactly, except I use 91% alcohol instead of a torch. Everything worked fine until I added the plate setter and pizza stone. The egg would not go above 400* no matter what or how long. I finally decided I didn't want to start over so I tried cooking the pizza at 400* - the crust came out dry and tough on the edges and under cooked in the center. The toppings were OK but not as good as they would have been at a hotter temp.

I can't figure out what the problem was.