BIG GREEN EGG Owners.....have you ever seen this happen?

[Wampus]

BACK STORY:

So I have a small and large BGE that I'm sort of "foster parenting" for brother Dan Chambers.

A few weeks ago I got them home and did my best to scrape them out right off the bat. The small was in pretty good shape, but the large had been through quite a bit of use and needed some attention. I scraped as much as I could while it was cold. I removed the platesetter but the fire ring and fire box wouldn't BUDGE. Being clay, I didn't want to pry or anything for fear of breaking them, so I just didn't go any further.

SO, I just put the fire grate back in place and built a nice hot fire to clean it.



THE ISSUE:

Later that night after a few hours I noticed that there was some sort of wierd ring of what looked like soot around the exterior of the base, about 5-6" below the band that the hinge is connected to. The band of "soot" went all the way around the egg. My son also noticed it. The base was hot, of course, but when the "soot" wiped off. Under the soot, though, I noticed what looked to be very small, kind of spider cracks in that same area. In only one spot, the actual green finish on the egg was blistered. When wiping off the "soot", some of the green glazing/finish flaked off too. There's now a spot about 1.5" in diameter that has no green glaze, but the raw clay underneath.

There are many of these hairline cracks, but only in this one area was it flaking off.




My initial thought was, "OH CRAP. What did I do to this thing?" I thought perhaps that there was a lot of stuff between the fire ring and the body of the egg and that by heating it up the ring was trying to expand and somehow that caused the finish to crack. Later, though, when I was able to get the fire ring out and clean better, I noticed that there's plenty of room between the ring and the firebox and the body of the egg, so that's unlikely.


I cooked a couple of turkeys on it last week and it got up to as hot as 400 and there has been no "growth" of the flaking glaze, so there doesn't appear to be any issue with performance, but I was just wondering if anyone's had anything lke this happen? I'm also assuming that the glaze isn't in any way structural so that there's no real danger to keep using it?



Sorry, but I never did take photos of it. I can provide some later if you think it'll help?


Thanks in advance, you buncha eggheads.

[centexsmoker]

you are good. The hairline cracks are totally normal and they do not cause the finish to come off during cleaning. The soot ring sounds like the dome needs to be adjusted because that means that smoke is coming out of the gasket. You don't need a gasket to run an egg but you need to adjust the dome so it's flush on the base no matter how you run it. There are many videos out there but I'll link you up to one if you think this is an issue. It could have been done already and the soot is residue from before.

Good news is that BGE will cover any defect in the porcelain (assuming he is the original owner and bought from a legit dealer) so if it actually gets worse or affects the performance in any way, they will take care of it.

There are really no issues other than cosmetic so you didn't break anything. You just made it a little uglier.

[landarc]

You ruined it! It seems like a defect in the coating.

[centexsmoker]

also, it's easy to take out the ring and the box. I take mine out to clean behind them all the time. Just take a screwdriver or ash tool with a flat edge and pop it under the ring. Slide your fingers under there and get both sides and lift out. Take the grate out of the box and lift out using the draft cutout on the bottom. It takes 2 seconds.

Normally no scraping needed on the inside of the egg. Load it with lump and let the fire rip to 1000+ until it's gone. You'll be needing a new gasket after that if it has the old style (low heat) gasket. That takes 20-30 min to install but make sure you get the new material (high heat).

Eggs are really very low maintenance. Mine's been outside uncovered for 7 years and I've never done anything other than clean out the ash and do a clean burn every few months (maybe 3-4 a year max)

Hope this helps. Glad to help out if you need anything else

[Wampus]

Thanks.

Yeah I eventually got the ring and box out (after the burn out). I just "disconnected" it with a flathead screwdriver and lifted the ring, then the firebox out so I could properly clean out the body of the egg.



Another question......this one does NOT have a gasket. Putting one on seems easy enough, no?





And a clarification....

The soot ring was well below the joint between the lid and base so I don't think it was from the air/smoke coming out of where the gasket would be.

It's almost like it LEECHED out of the egg body itself in an exact concentric ring 360 degrees around the egg.

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

I would call tech support at the Mother Ship and see what they say. They have been very helpful to me.

[Wampus]

Even if I'm not the owner of the eggs? And I don't know that Dan the owner) bought them new either.


DAN: Did you? I thought you told me you bought them used?

[HeSmellsLikeSmoke]

Sure. I bought both of mine used.

They won't replace anything, but may be helpful about that odd ring. They sent me some free touch up paint and a handle for the daisy shell for instance.

[centexsmoker]

Originally Posted by Wampus

Thanks.

Yeah I eventually got the ring and box out (after the burn out). I just "disconnected" it with a flathead screwdriver and lifted the ring, then the firebox out so I could properly clean out the body of the egg.



Another question......this one does NOT have a gasket. Putting one on seems easy enough, no?





And a clarification....

The soot ring was well below the joint between the lid and base so I don't think it was from the air/smoke coming out of where the gasket would be.

It's almost like it LEECHED out of the egg body itself in an exact concentric ring 360 degrees around the egg.

OK- A new gasket is not hard to put on if you have basic (very) do it yourself skils. Just make sure you get the high heat gasket.

I have definitely heard of and seen pics of the eggs leeching. If you do a lot of butts, briskets, or dark meat chicken and don't use a drip pan they can soak in and leech out when it gets hot. There are some funky pics on the bge forum. It's harmless but can be nasty looking.

If you need more BGE centric advice, that's a good group over there and there is nothing they have not seen or done. I'm over there a lot. Good folks but I like the diversity of cooking styles here too so I do both

[Midnight Smoke]

Originally Posted by Wampus

And a clarification....

The soot ring was well below the joint between the lid and base so I don't think it was from the air/smoke coming out of where the gasket would be.

It's almost like it LEECHED out of the egg body itself in an exact concentric ring 360 degrees around the egg.

Can you post a Picture of this?

[Wampus]

I sure can Terry. Only thing is, I'm out of town on a job tonight and won't be home until tomorrow night. I'll take some pics this weekend and post.

[landarc]

Dan bought them used, I remember when he bought them.

[R2Egg2Q]

I've seen some old Eggs that have spent years uncovered develop the spider cracks in the glaze. Brother Oakpit has one.

As for the "soot", that sounds like a problem caused by excessive moisture and lack of use. Apparently the moisture seeps into the ceramic drawing the gunk from the inside with it & out of the sides of the Egg (the little cracks providing easier access out). With how long Dan has been away from his cookers I wouldn't be surprised about the moisture.

Here's a post elsewhere reporting this problem. Here's another.

And a link to something about those hairline cracks.

[Wampus]

Thanks John. That's what I was wondering too.

This egg was pretty heavily used and then has basically just been sitting outside on his back porch for the last year. It was under an eave, so not in necessarily direct rain/snow, but still in the outside air.

I know that when the glaze flaked off, the underlying clay looked (looks) dark like it has soaked up the grease or seasoning from the inside.