Big Green Egg Cleaning & Repair

Big Green Egg is based in Atlanta and has been selling ceramic kamado cookers since the 1970s. The design comes from traditional clay cookers, rebuilt with modern ceramics. The thick walls hold heat, so an Egg can run low and slow for hours or get very hot for searing and pizza.

Inside the dome and base, the stack is simple: a fire box at the bottom, a fire ring on top of it, and a cast iron fire grate in the firebox where the charcoal sits. Airflow comes in through the draft door at the bottom and out through the top vent. A felt gasket seals the dome to the base, and a metal band and spring hinge hold the heavy dome in alignment. Eggs come in sizes from Mini to 2XL, and many sit in a nest stand or a built-in table.

• Worn or burned gaskets. Very hot cooks burn the felt, and old gaskets compress and leak air, making temperature hard to control.
• Cracked fire box or fire ring. These ceramic inner parts take the most heat and can crack. A cracked firebox often keeps working, but pieces that shift or fall in affect airflow.
• Dome alignment. Loose bands or a tired hinge let the dome slip so it no longer seals evenly.
• Rusted top vent or draft door hardware.
• Ash and grease buildup that blocks airflow at the grate.

An Egg cleans itself in large part: a hot burn turns grease and residue on the inside of the dome to ash. What it can't do is get rid of that ash. We remove the cooking grid, fire ring, firebox and fire grate, vacuum and scrape the ash and debris from the base, and clear the draft door. The grids get scraped and cleaned. We inspect the gasket, the ceramic parts and the band and hinge, then reassemble so the parts line up and airflow is clear. The exterior gets a gentle wipe. Ash and debris go into a bag that leaves with us. During fire season, we'd suggest a look at the ash and gasket a little more often; see Santa Ana winds and ash.

Big Green Egg parts are sold through its dealers and are generally available: gaskets, fireboxes, fire rings, grates, bands and hinge parts. We can replace a gasket, swap a cracked firebox or fire ring, and adjust or replace bands and hinges to bring the dome back into alignment. Large parts like bases and domes are heavier jobs that start with a conversation about availability. Our smoker and pizza oven service covers other charcoal and kamado cookers too.