I’ve been gifted a Big Green Egg that used to be used in a restaurant for quite a few years, and sadly it was quite neglected.
I’m keen on getting restoring it back to its former glory. Outside of replacing the firebox and fire grate and gaskets, what’s the best way of removing all the build up of grease on the outside and bringing back the green colour?
I’ve already completly disassembled the hinge and all metal parts and soaked them in degreaser, but I’m worried that using too much water/ degreaser on the egg itself will ruin the ceramic.
Thanks
by Legitimate-Bus7626
27 Comments
stiff nylon bristle brush, hot water. don’t use chemicals imo. id also avoid metal bristles at least on the outside.
When you get new fire box and ring, burn a hot fire. It will incinerate all that stuff. Then, put the gasket on last, when everything is restored.
What about heating it up from the inside (max it out) and then use a pressure hose on the outside once the fat is liquid-ish… Or just multiple very hot ‘clean cycles’
No chemicals for sure and no brushes on the outside imo, that shit will get ugly. On the inside I’d start with some elbow grease and indeed a fire basket.
What about the topper? I imagine it’s completely unmovable… If you can get it off i’d consider using soap in a bucket-bath for that thing
Simple Green on the outside, burn the inside clean.
Maybe I’m in the minority but I might think about oven cleaner on the outside. Put it in a big trash bag, spray the yellow cap stuff, let it sit outside in the warm sun for a couple days and then rinse it all off. That’s just me. I’d be petrified of having to scrub it so hard that I’d scratch the green paint.
I do this with my daisy wheel every couple years and it comes out looking like new.
The outside is not gonna come in contact with food and you can easily rinse it all off completely.
My two cents
I sort of like the outside. I assumed it was in a forest fire.
Warranty claim
What ever you do you must play the song in the eyes of an angel as you restore it.
Yikes… looks like a good project.
BGE makes a degreaser/cleaner called BGE SpeediClean. I would use it or something similar that is made for ceramic grills. Spray it down and use a carwash brush that’s used for wheels. May need a bucket of water for the brush. The exterior won’t be damaged with too much water, they’re designed to withstand the weather.
A clean burn should take care of the interior. First use a plastic putty knife or scraper to remove the larger chucks before lighting up. No water or chemicals on the interior.
Looks like you’ll need to replace the lower vent cover as well.
Clean most of it with a good hot fire.
Burn baby burn!
Buying a new one…best way
Man. That thing must be a warhorse. Clean her up will last a lifetime.
Honestly…. You’d probably be better off buying one in better shape on marketplace.
Fire ring and basket plus hinges will run more than a better shape used one on marketplace.
I paid $100 for a large, replaced hinged and metal pieces.. $250-300 fit a near perfect LBGE
The outside will come clean a lot easier than you think. Start with very hot water and a stiff nylon brush to get the bulk of all that gunk off. Then rinse and go back at it with some simple green and after it’s soaked a few minutes, scrub with a sponge and hot water. It’ll come back to life quickly, that process might take a half hour, tops. Reassemble the BGE but without gasket, and do a nice long clean burn, and your insides will look like new.
Quite a testament to the ruggedness. I’ve never seen one this bad lol. Please post before and afters!
JFC, that’s beyond neglectful.
That’s like “fuck you money that’s running out, and “the help” ain’t gonna clean that shit for what ever measly money they are being paid, and it just built up in the final days”.
I see eggs like that on FB in divorce sales all the time…
Can you show us the final product when you’re done? I’ve been curious about the potential used and abused green eggs have
I was gifted one some years ago. It took about six really hot fires to burn the billybobs barbeque ribs stink out of it. Then a bucket of ash. That’s all he cooked! I did add a new seal, flip out shelves, and repaired the firebox, and added the cover. Lovely gift!
Warranty call on parts that are broken.
A very hot fire.
What a great project! Way to go!
Following! Because I have the OP’s twin that I rescued from an….ahem “recycle shop”…. (junkyard). This comments are just the info I needed.
Thank you guys! And you too, OP ☺️
Man, that’s more than neglected. You’ll get r cleaned up with all the good comments.
I’ve never had to clean something like that, but I would probably start with degreasing dish soap, hot water, and the back of my sponge that I use to clean off stubborn bits. As for the burn,I would probably start at something like 350-400 for 5 hours or so, then cut off, clean the outside again (because it is going to sweat out LOTS of crud that has leaked into the pores…). After it isn’t leaking too much more crud, I think it is time to do a 600 degree extended born… After that is done, inside/outside are cleaned again, that may be time to, “let her rip) on 800 degree temp. Given you aren’t sure of the overall condition and any micro cracks, I don’t think I would let it burn at full blast 1000 degree temps. I would try to ease into the process. (And get some cheap stuff to burn like cowboy,, etc…).
Best of luck!!!
Can I just say….it looks like it’s gone through re-entry into earths atmosphere.
BGE has had two different spring/ring designs. Since yours as used at a restaurant for a long time and then ignored, I’ll bet you have the original design. If you have to replace hinge or rings or springs, be sure to match old to old, or new to new.
For comparison, my original Medium (which I bought in 2011) used the new design. The Large (which I acquired used in 2020) was quite old, and used the original design. The old design was so old that the folks at my local BGE dealership (a fancy fireplace store) didn’t even know about it.
I ultimately gave up on matching the old parts, popped off the old design rings etc, replaced with new design metal. If you have all of the old-style parts, and the right old-style springs, you’ll be fine. But chasing down old parts didn’t work out for me and I wish I had bailed sooner.
Swapping out the rings/hinge was about as difficult as putting the thing together from scratch and adjusting the level. uy a new felt gasket and install that at the same time!
Also: make sure you get some airflow underneath the Egg. Use a Nest or equivalent, or a custom stand, or the cute little ceramic feet that go underneath.