Does anyone else have a problem with hot spots in their Egg? Mine seems to have a chronic hot area, a roughly crescent shape that covers about 1/3 of the unit in back. If I had to guess at a cause, I'd say that the air drawn in through the bottom damper tends to proceed directly to the rear of the firebox, through the coals, then up the back of the unit.I know what a problem it would cause for ash removal, but would rotating my bottom ring 180 degrees help even out my grill temperature?
Jeffersonian, If you move your bottom ring then you won't have the lower air vent lined up correctly. I've heard some folks comment on hot spots in the rear of their eggs, but I still haven't found mine. The people who make the BBQ Guru sell a "turbo grate".(google) It's design may help to cut down on your hot spot. I'm not sure if it would help, but you may want to post a ques. to those that own one. Is your hot spot consistantly there for every cook? And have you checked to ensure that your bottom ring is lined up? I wish I could be of more help.
Big'un,Yes, the hot spot seems to persist on all but the lowest-temperature cooks. My air inlet vent is aligned directly in front of the lower damper at present, which I think may be part of the problem - the air rushes in and directly to the rear of the unit and up the back to where the hot spot is. I contemplated rotating the lowest ring to make the entering air go around the outside of the ring, thus slowing it down before it can get into the fire box.Thanks for the recommendation of the Turbo Grate. I've used things like that on air supply houses for automotive paint booths. I'll check it out.
Jeffersonian,If you notice your fire box you will see the air that gets into there goes through the cast iron 'dran hole cover' the only thing that would caust that air to go back to the back of the egg would be the way lump is stacked. The other air inlets are up higher in the fire box (below the fire ring).The other thing you may want to look at is where you start the fire in the egg, front, back, sides, or more than one spot.I try to start my fire a little to the front of dead center or two starts, left and right of dead center. I notice the corn husks getting 'more burnt' on either side of dead center.If you miss align the firebox inlet away from the lower vent opening you may find you will not get the control or heat you want/need. I am really not sure what that mis-alignment would do.
Jeffersonian,You are correct in the cause of the hot spot. The only solution is to just learn your egg and adjust accordingly. My hotspot sits in the rear just to the right of the hinge area. Some are directly in the back, some are left of the hinges. Some have none at all. On indirect cooks it is easy to compensate - just put one leg of the plate setter directly where the hot spot is to diffuse that heat.If you rotate your firebox you will have trouble getting the egg up to temp (it will take much longer) and on low slow cooks you would likely have problems stabilizing and maintaining a fire for the long hours. The egg is designed to operate as yours is set up. I think rotating the firebox will cause many more problems than a small hot spot in the rear of the egg.
kent,Now that you mention it, I do tend to start my fires toward the rear of the unit. I use an electric starter, and its geometry is such that the hottest part of the starter winds up at the back. I'll be cranking up the Egg today (duh...it's Labor Day), so I'll make an effort to adjust the starter location to the front to see what effect it has.Thanks everyone for your help.
