We had never had the slightest problem with the original BGE dual function metal regulator cap so I wasn’t immediately excited when the new rEGGulator Vent Cap was announced a few years ago now. The only real issue I had ever had was occasionally leaving it on the BGE and that could cause a little rust to develop. The other problem that had been reported was the settings of the regulator changing when the EGG was opened and closed. Not a problem if you realised it had happened as it was easy to correct, but an issue if it went unnoticed!!
The rEGGulator was designed to address these issues. Firstly, the regulator has been coated to prevent corrosion. This means that the rEGGulator can be left in place on the EGG between cooks, apparently without any issue. This means that the ceramic cap would be completely redundant. When the rEGGulator is closed down it shuts off the EGG completely in the same way, or perhaps even better than the ceramic cap – and it is more robust! Designed to sit on top of your EGG forever; you won’t need to take it off between cooks. Raining? No worries. The rEGGulator is an all-weather EGGcessory!
Anyway, after a while we decided to take the plunge and so bought one initially for the Minimax a couple of years ago. I was delighted with the quality of the product, beautifully finished and coated to prevent rust.
The opening was smooth and the top held in the selected positions magnetically. Neat! When you open the BGE the top does not move at all and the set opening remains set. BGE suggest that when it comes to temperature control the new top makes this more precise and the potential airflow is greater than the previous top. The added bonus is the insulated adjustment tab, which is silicone covered and allows adjustment without any burnt fingers!!
When you have finished cooking and close the rEGGulator it certainly seems to completely shut off the air supply. This makes the EGG airtight and when you close the bottom vent the charcoal will be extinguished quickly.
We had one tiny issue and that was that the gasket around the top of the dome was old and tired. When we first put the rEGGulator on and tried to adjust the opening the whole top turned! This was very quickly cured by replacing the gasket with some we had left over from when we changed the main gasket some months ago. One improvement therefore might be for BGE to supply enough gasket with the top to facilitate this – just a thought!. Over all though a really great product and one I was very happy to pay for, so much so that we then bought one for the Large BGE too! (With the large we did not need to change the gasket).
The design for the large is the same as for the MiniMax but bigger (there are just 2 new tops, one for the Small and the MiniMax and one for the Medium, Large, Xl and 2XL – sadly non for the Mini). After more than 2 years of use it certainly works as described. It took just a little longer to get used to the large rEGGulator than it did for the MiniMax. When estimating the size of opening required it initially felt a little more difficult to estimate the movement required as a small move of the handle makes a relatively large change to the opening. In truth this proved not to be a real problem and it is a pleasure to use. It is perhaps just not quite as subtle in terms of control as it’s smaller brother!!
These are now the ‘standard’ regulators supplied with all new BGEs, certainly in the UK. If your BGE predates these being the new standard you may want to give one a try. I suspect you will be pleased. And if it starts to rain you can keep the air regulator dry with the optional Rain Cap and prevent rain from dripping into your EGG. For me this is just one accessory ‘too far’ as we have ‘EGGed in the rain for many years without problem with the old cap
……………..but you might just like the idea!
It took me a while to adjust to the rEGGulator but I now have them on each of my Eggs. It’s a good idea to wiggle them and take them off the Egg once a month just to make sure they didn’t stick on.
I agree the rain cap is a device being sold to solve a solution that doesn’t exist. Rain has never ruined a cook of mine. Clouds, after all, are rain drops being pushed upwards by vertical air currents. The hot air coming out of your egg tends to stop the rain coming in.
Good to hear from you Nic and thanks for the tip on ‘wiggling and removing” once a month – so much better than them sicking! I do like your description of rain clouds – how true!!! I do wish they would make one for the Mini – but I suspect that will not happen sadly – it would be fabulous for travelling especially!!