A charcoal grill is a kitchen appliance that allows you to cook meats, fish and vegetables using natural gas. The best way to prepare your food on the Green Egg grill is with firewood coals or lump charcoal because they give off heat quickly. To get hotter fires, use wet wood chips such as apple or cherry woods for long-lasting flames and smokey flavor.
The “how to control temp on bge” is a question that has been asked before. There are 7 ways to reach above 600 degrees, with the first being turning up the heat.
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Nothing is more aggravating than trying to cook a hot pizza or sear a steak on your Big Green Egg (or Kamado Joe) and not being able to bring it up to temperature. This is particularly true when you have visitors! How can I get the Big Green Egg even hotter?
The biggest culprit in only getting low temperatures is simply ash filled holes & grates from previous cooks.
Follow these tips, tricks & methods to either troubleshoot your existing condition or prevent the headache from happening to you in the future.
To ensure maximum airflow, keep your Big Green Egg clean.
How to Clean the Big Green Egg Properly for Maximum Airflow
It’s preferable to start with a newly cleaned Big Green Egg if you’re intending to cook above 500 degrees. The likelihood of old ash from previous cooking restricting the permissible airflow inside the BGE is eliminated with a newly cleaned BGE.
Cleaning should be done every 2-3 cooks, however it’s preferable to do it before anything above 500 degrees (or if you ever have trouble getting the temperature you are looking for). Simply follow these simple procedures to clean the Big Green Egg.
Step 1:
Remove the fire ring from the Big Green Egg and place it away carefully.
Step 2:
Place the leftover coal in a paper or plastic shopping bag, Tupperware, or rubbish bag temporarily while you clean the egg. If you want to keep your hands clean, remove the ash using a rubber glove.
The black ash, on the other hand, washes straight off your hands in the sink.
Step 3:
Remove the metal grate that held all of the coals and place it aside.
Step 4:
Reach in and carefully remove the fire box out. This is readily accomplished by grasping the bottom vent draft door opening with one hand and gradually drawing it out.
Step 5:
You now have an empty egg with nothing but ash remaining within. Simply take a shop vac and vacuum up all of the ash.
I like the Dewalt vacuum since it can run on batteries and does not need a cord. It does, however, come with a chord, so if your battery isn’t fully charged, you may still use it by plugging it into a wall outlet.
The Micro vacuum from Shop Vac is an excellent alternative vacuum since it is tiny and portable.
While you’re using the shop vac, make sure all of the openings in the fire box are clean and free of ash.
Step 6:
Simply replace everything, including the lump coal, into the Big Green Egg.
When installing the firebox, make sure the draft door on the firebox matches the draft door vent on the BGE. After you’ve finished, you’ll have increased your maximum air flow and shouldn’t have any trouble heating the BGE very hot, much over 600 degrees.
This is an example of an incorrectly positioned fire box. It should be aligned with the draft door, as seen in the preceding image.
Is the Big Green Egg still unable to reach temperatures of 600 degrees or higher?
Too Soon in Closing the Big Green Egg Lid (Choking the Flame Out)
If you’re heating up your BGE from a prior meal rather than beginning with a clean BGE, you can have problems attaining temperatures beyond 600 degrees.
With the daisy wheel removed and the draft door open, a newly cleaned BGE will have no trouble reaching temperature with the dome closed.
However, if there is ash left over from prior cooking, you may have reduced airflow. To avoid this, just keep the BGE lid open for a good 10-15 minutes, with a decent supply of grapefruit-sized coals burning before shutting it.
This prevents the BGE from suffocating the flame.
Other Suggestions for a Successful 600+ Degree Cook
Daisy Wheel should be removed (Top Vent)
The daisy wheel is a little temperature vent that may be used to alter the temperature by a few degrees. As a result, while cooking at high temperatures, the daisy wheel may simply be removed.
Please see my other post Big Green Egg Vent Settings (The Function of the Top and Bottom Vents) for additional information on vents and temperatures.
Make that the draft door is fully open (Lower Vent)
The draft door is your primary temperature control, and it may change the temperature by more than 10 degrees at a time. For instance, if you want to move from 250 to 400 degrees, this vent should be employed.
This vent should be wide open while cooking foods like pizza or searing a steak. Continue to add accessories to the Big Green Egg.
Align the fireplace with the draft door (Bottom Vent)
Provide that the firebox aperture is aligned with the Big Green Egg’s draft door to ensure optimal airflow. If you don’t, you could be lowering the airflow required to reach the high heat temperatures.
Hold off on putting the Big Green Egg’s accessories in.
You can encounter problems if you insert all of the equipment in the Big Green Egg before the coals start to heat up. Wait until the BGE reaches 300-350 degrees before adding any attachments, but don’t wait too long since you want items like the pizza stone or the conve”egg”tor to progressively heat up to the high temperatures.
If you don’t do this, you risk shattering or fracturing the pizza stone or the conve”egg”tor.
Fill the firebox with Lump Coal to the top (Myth)
Many people believe that in order to reach temperatures exceeding 600 degrees, the firebox must be completely filled with lump charcoal. This is just not true, since a 12 percent full firebox would still accomplish the job.
However, it is advised that the BGE be filled to the top of the firebox. This ensures that you have adequate fuel to endure the duration of the cook (because the last thing someone would want to do is run out of fuel prior to being completed with the cook). It also doesn’t harm since the lump coal that is left over may be utilized on the following cook.
Hopefully, all of these tips and tactics will aid you in getting your Big Green Egg hot enough while also keeping it clean. These methods should help you avoid those unpleasant evenings when you can’t get the BGE over 600 degrees.
Check out these 4 common methods to start your Big Green Egg for the greatest results. If you have any further concerns or queries, please leave a comment or contact me, and if not, happy eggin’!
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The “big green egg puffing smoke” is something that many people enjoy. The “Big Green Egg” is a type of smoker that can reach up to 600 degrees Fahrenheit. Here are 7 ways to get the Big Green Egg hotter.
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