lighting a large bge for low-n-slow

here's how i lit sir henry morgan yesterday in preparation for smoking the turkey wings.

totally clean egg with fresh lump charcoal, mostly medium and large pieces for better airflow



add some used lump on top, mostly around the outside



put the torch to it



close the dome, dfmt completely off, bottom draft door and spark screen completely open. the fire grows quickly, but the temps at the thermometer are from the flames



the ceramic begins to heat up as the flames increase



put on the dfmt and open the slider about 1/3 and the daisy wheel petals all the way, spark screen closed and bottom draft door open about 1.5"





let the ceramic heat up thoroughly and the fire get established




put the plate setter in with spacers to keep the drip pan drippings from scorching





the dome temp drops because of the addition of the colder ceramic plate setter. do not change the draft settings as the temp will recover as everything stabilizes



see?



allow time for stabilization. close the bottom draft door some if required to keep 250 at the dome.



remove the hot plate setter with orka glove and dump in some wood chips, then stir slightly with ash tool





reinstall the platesetter with drip pan and add the grid. close the dome, keeping the draft settings the same as before. wait for the white smoke to turn blue



time to add the meat! :biggrin:

Very nice, Rick.

I, for one, really appreciate the time you take to detail some of the different procedures supplemented with great photo documentation. Sure shortens the learning curve for me:eusa_clap:eusa_clap:eusa_clap

Someone mentioned earlier that you should teach a class - why do I think you are??:-D

I dunno - maybe it is just me - 88 views and only one other said thanks

Is this just too basic?? I would guess from the subject that most of those viewing are eggheads?? Am I the only guy with a large BGE??

Guess I am impressed cuz I are a newbie - that little tutorial took some time and without any feedback, good or bad, why would he bother again

I hope he does - if only for me

My name is Larry and I am selfish:mrgreen:

Chappy said:

Rick, where did you get that glove. I always want to remove the platesetter, but had no way of doing it. Now I see the light!

Click to expand...

i got two at bed, bath & beyond

Pork Smoker said:

Hey Rick, it looks like you let it stabilize for about 35 minutes. You make it look so easy, I still some days hit it right and others end up fighting the temps to stabilize. If I let mine get to 350º it takes forever to get it back down to the 250º range.

I will try my next smoke trying your time frames on process. Looks like 2 minutes before you put the DFMT. I think my biggest issue is how much lump to get going at start. I do not have a weed burner but I light mine in 4-5 places with a Mapp torch.

Should I try just lighting a bigger area directly in the center? Keep in mind I have the XL.

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mine wasn't at 350 for long. look at the times. that was before the plate setter.

the times are not the same everytime. two minutes before the dfnt and closing the bottom some was pretty quick this time.

i don't hae an xl, but the diamter of the firebox is so much larger, i would think you should light in at least a coulpe of places neat the middle. just guessing.

thillin said:

Nice again. Are you hitting it with the torch wide open?

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not wide open. i pulse the turbo trigger maybe 1/3 way like this



wide open would send flaming chunks of charcoal all over the place. especially if there is moisture in the lump.

ljh34465 said:

I dunno - maybe it is just me - 88 views and only one other said thanks

Is this just too basic?? I would guess from the subject that most of those viewing are eggheads?? Am I the only guy with a large BGE??

Guess I am impressed cuz I are a newbie - that little tutorial took some time and without any feedback, good or bad, why would he bother again

I hope he does - if only for me

My name is Larry and I am selfish:mrgreen:

Click to expand...

i don't worry about it.

consider all the "guests" and people with eggs that are members here are a minority.

begging for responses is pretty useless.

Thanks, I wish I would have seen this before I started tonight's cook. If you load the egg with large and medium lump what do you do with the other half of the bag?

Thanks again for directing me to this, I will bookmark it.

Larry