Making pizza yeaterday. New to BGE – 3 weeks. It's a 11 yo used Large. Previous guy said he replaced the gaskets… I had issues with overbite on the old hinge system so I installed the new one. I've done several low and slow cooks with none of this smoke action… but had it around 600F on the dome thermometer this time. Even when I did a 800F burn off (fire, cleanse me) I didn't see this action…
What are your thoughts?
Also, is there a great guide to pizza? I read a lot and made foil balls to raise the grate and pizza stone to be at the level of the gaskets… first pizza burned slightly on the bottom (I know coal/wood fired pizza will have some char), then the others cooked slower and with less burn resulting in less coal char flavor. I definitely want to try again… have significant pizza experience… not pizza restaurant experience but lots of pizza parties over the last 8 years… best so far has been a camp chef insert that goes on the old gas grill, gets up to 750, temps are consistent and cooks in 3 min or less.
I will be investing into an eggspander equivalent to hopefully raise the pie higher in the dome.
Thank you!
Is this smoke from burnt gasket?
byu/DrMegatron11 inbiggreenegg
by DrMegatron11
4 Comments
To me, it looks like the lid isnt sitting flush.
My egg took a lot of minor adjustments to get the dome to sit flush on the base… i basically sat outside with pliers while cooking to adjust the bolts repeatedly. There was just a small crack that kept appearing in the back of the egg.
When I would go to fix it, a small one would be in the front.
I had to basically loosen them all , and slowly work them tighter from the back forward and I finally got it flush… total pain but now its settled.
I did this in the winter too… i dont recommend lol.
I found heat over time makes the bands and bolts move a little bit
Mine does the same, it’s quite old. I replaced the gasket this past cook and it definitely helped but is leaking from the rear near the hinge. Looks like a bit of an underbite almost, so I guess I’ll learn to adjust it next cook.
I suspect that to be an ill-fitting gasket (possibly due to age?). I try and replace mine annually. You won’t regret it.
I also do quite a bit of pizza cooking and those high temps will punish a deteriorated seal.
Alignment issue, you can get a good seal on singed gaskets but you can’t get a good seal with bands that are tweaked. Keep a dollar bill on you when fiddling with it and try to get it to stick a little when you close the lids on it and pull it out.