Today I attempted to do a clean burn. My plan was to get it up to 750 for a few hours. I filled the firebox to the top with lump charcoal, lit it up, kept the dome open for 15 minutes, then closed the dome keeping the bottom and top vents wide open. It took almost an hour to reach 700, stayed there for maybe 20 minutes, and less than two hours later it's down to 200. I feel like it should have lasted longer, but it's the first time I fired it up so I'm not sure. Should I have added more coal? Bad gasket? Not sure what I did wrong. I know I need to replace the gasket but was planning on doing it after the clean burn.
Also, why did the dome ooze orange stuff? Started around 550 I think.
by mechedd
7 Comments
The ooze is the egg sweating out the grease build-up.
What charcoal did you use?
Nothing you described sounds too off for a first clean burn. To hit 700–750 you really need a strong, fully lit fire and good airflow, and if the lump wasn’t burning across the whole firebox it can peak fast and then die back down like you saw. A gasket issue usually doesn’t prevent high temps, it just affects control a bit. The orange “ooze” is pretty normal at high heat and is basically residue burning off.
Update: I just went out to open it up and clean the grate. Apparently the grease or something sealed the dome to the base. It won’t open! What caused this? Any suggestions on what I should try? Knife?
Are you sure the thermometer hadnt maxed out and gone further? Ive only ever done one clean burn and was surprised when it read 50 after a few hours but it was insanely hot and after some more time it was reading 500 and I realised it was lowering from being so high
Did you have any charcoal left or was it burned completely out? There’s no guarantee your thermostat is even accurate that high. It’s entirely possible it was hotter than 750. I believe that’s just the maximum for the thermostat. As others have also stated on this sub, clean burns are entirely unnecessary. Run it up to about 500 and let it burn for an hour or two. Shut it down and when it’s cooled off scrape the inside of the dome. I’ve had my egg for 6 years and I’ve done that maybe twice. One of the two times was due to mold, it’s very humid in Florida and I hadn’t used it in awhile. Unless you’re just getting tons of build up you don’t need to clean burn.
The clean revealed a few quarter sized chips in the dome. Should I be worried? Any way to treat them so they don’t get any worse?
Meat sweats. Also, calibrate your dome thermo.