The new and the old. On the right is the original daisy wheel cap that came with the Egg. It’s seen a lot of action. It’s never let me down and once set it holds a stable temperature for hours. Lots of people seem to complain that it slides open or closed when the lid is opened but I’m not sure that’s ever really been a noticeable thing for me. I’ve taken it to bits a few times to give it a go over with a wire brush and tightened the screws pretty firmly to reassemble. Maybe that’s why there’s no sliding.
On the left is the rEGGulator. On the Big Green Egg website, they list the rEGGulator at £45 for the Minimax size and £47.50 for all the other sizes. Shopping around, I got the Minimax version for £28.20 all in from Diss Ironworks, which included a 10% discount off the base price of £25 as a first time buyer from them and £6 for shipping. I don’t think it was any kind of special promotion, but it seemed weird that there was such a price difference when compared to buying direct from BGE (*see update below)
The first impression was quite a surprise – it’s a good bit bigger and heavier than the original. I stuck a ring of Nomex felt around the inside to give it a great seal on the top dome; my worries about the compatibility with our small Egg dissipated. It looks pretty good too; a bit sleeker generally. The blurb reckons it is more rust resistant than the original so we’ll see how accurate that promise is in time I guess. There’s a hole on one side to accommodate a rain cap, but since our Egg is undercover I won’t need one. The hole is sealed with a silicone bung. The adjuster has a silicone grip which protects your fingers from the heat.
The way the rEGGulator slides open and closed has a reassuring resistance and it sounds a bit like the air locks closing behind Captain Dallas in the movie Alien. This is pleasing to me.
First Use.
Blimey. They are not kidding when they say that it gives up to 30% more air flow. I lit the egg for a low and slow cook, aiming for 125°C. Did my usual faffing about waiting for the charcoal to settle down and suddenly it was up to 300. Luckily, closing it down dropped the temp just as quickly. I’ve now done another couple of low temperature cooks, plus a couple at fierce grilling heat and the adjustment is a piece of cake. It stays rock steady once set up. It’s really good going from low to high for a reverse sear. This kind of adjustment is where it comes into its own. The daisy wheel on the old cap is good, but there is some fiddling and experimentation to get the temperature you want and the rEGGulator feels much more controllable and stable. As I write this, I realise that I haven’t really had to adjust the bottom vent, even when cooking low.
One nice thing is it totally seals off the dome when it’s fully closed so there’s no need to swap it over for the ceramic top at the end of your cook – just shut the bottom vent and it’s done. The machining of the sliding surfaces is really accurate and smooth – it’s clearly a quality manufacturing process.
Overall, it’s really good. The rEGGulator comes as standard on new Eggs now, but if you’re reading this as a the proud owner of a more vintage edition it’s well worth the upgrade.
*UPDATE – 14/03/2021
It turns out I was the lucky beneficiary of an error made by the retailer as they now have them at £45, albeit still with a 10% discount for first-time customers. Apparently even retailers can’t buy rEGGulators for the price I paid. Still totally worth it at full price though…
Live Fire Journal 