Do Heat Beads Go Off with age?

Rob,

I don't think the heatbeads lose out on heat with age.
What I have found is that they become a little softer with age (probably absorbing a little moisture) and are harder to get started.

I assume you have the Cobb Premier with the open mesh outer cover?
This is known to cause problems with the inner bowl temperature in any kind of wind.

The solution I employed was the use of a Cobb Bra from In Front Canvas Goods.

Claus is an advertiser on this site and the Bra solved my problem with wind.

Note: Do not use the Bra with the Cobb Disks if you can still get them.
They burn too hot and scorched part of my Cobb Bra.
Stick to the genuine Heatbeads and you will get consistency.

Rob, I was a bit concerned about that myself when at Easter just gone, I pulled out the Cobb for the first time in ages. The beads were a good three+ years old but had been stored well in the shed. They worked fine and I nailed a good sized lamb roast down by the Rocklands Reservoir.

As Sandy has indicated, wind can be a killer, particularly on the Cobb Premier with the mesh surrounds. The CobbBra from Klaus works well. I also had Klaus make me a padded canvas cover for the lid which further assists in retaining heat. It has elastic around the bottom so fits snugly around the body below the lid. It is open around the vent holes at the top of the lid. I’m not sure if he offers them on the Infront website but if you contact him, I’d reckon he’d whip one up. I can always drop mine back to him as a template if need be.


Cheers Mick

Rob,
As others have said I don't think the beads go off other than harder to start if they have taken up moisture. Do not start cooking unless the beads are all burning/glowing well. You can get unpleasant flavours from the beads during the starting phase. For the same reason I now avoid the self lighting beads as they give off a nasty pong when starting. I pour metho onto the beads slowly and let it soak in. Once they start looking wet I stop and light them. I find this method gets them going easily and cleanly.

Re the Cobb bra. I have the premier and found the 'ventilation' a problem. The idea of canvas so close to the heat did not appeal nor did the cost. I wrapped a layer of Al foil around the inside and over the top edge to hold it in place. It worked perfectly and has the advantage of being replaceable when dirty. Mine has been in place for 2 years so far with about 8 uses.

I nearly bought some of the Cobb disks and a bloke walking by told me not to as he had tried them and they were too hot as others had said.

cheers

Hi Rob

Our experience has been that the heat beads do go off with age. Particularly once the bag has been opened.

For smaller meals including pizza we use the heat beads.

For roasts, lamb, chicken or beef we use the Greenfire cobblestones made from coconut fibre that are individually wrapped, six in a box and have found them to produce excellent results. We use the roasting rack and an oven bag which reduces the mess and makes for an easier clean up.

We have used the cobb bra once while using the Greenfire on a particularly windy day without a problem.

We have been doing this for a number of years each trip with no problems.