Long cook without any type of controller?

noregard

Hi everyone, I've been reading this forum incessantly for nearly a year now and like my egg, I can't get enough.  Thanks to all the regular posters for sharing all their wisdom and experience.

I'm having family over this weekend (15 people) and am trying to build up the courage to my first big slab-o-meat, brisket/butt/shoulder.  

I'm about to delve into recipes and cook times etc, but what I'm wondering is can I cook one of these (large egg) without any type of temp controller???   My local supplier has the BGE Digi Q, but it's been an expensive summer and I'm not sure I want to drop $400 on it… especially without spending the time to look over other options which I would have to order and wait for (I'm in Canada, and that can take forever for some unknown reason).

Thoughts and advice would greatly appreciated, I have a crazy busy week with not as much time to research all this as I'd like.

Cheers,

Kelly

DaveRichardson

Butts and loins are my thing.... And no temp controllers here! Trust your settings. Load up on lump, and let it ride!

tulocay

I just did a 23 hour cook without a controller. I do have a maverick remote thermometer. I find once the temp comes back up from putting the meat on, it is smooth sailing. That is assuming there is good air flow!

Mr_Pigo

The main reason to buy an egg instead of anything else is so you don't have to drop more coin controllers. I regularly do 12 hr overnight cooks for pork butts with the egg holding at 225 all night. 

Tjcoley

Did a 10 pound Butt and an 11 pound Brisket this past weekend. No controller. Trust the Egg.

brimee

I don't use a controller and never tried one. I do briskets all the time and the only time I had any temperature control problem was when there was a lot of adult beverages involved. This past weekend I stabilized the temp around 230, put the brisket on around 10p, woke at 7a to check and it was right where I left it at 230. This was the 1st 12 pounder that I did and was told it was the best yet..

Sometimes I would have them drift up 30-40 overnight, all that did was move up eat time...

Foghorn

Yep.  I've done multiple overnight cooks without a temp controller and have not had a problem.

stlcharcoal

I have done many, many overnight cooks without a temp controller......but then I had a fire go out when I was at work.  The first had been out 6-7 hrs by the time I got home.  $60-70 worth of meat lost, and it screwed up the party plans.

After the second time that happened, I spent $130 on a temp controller and have used it EVERYTIME since.  It's not necessary, it's just insurance.

NPHuskerFL

Longest I've went without a controller was 18hrs. And it went ok but, it does require some tweaking etc and going to sleep can be a nail bitter worrying about fire going out, temp spike etc etc. IMHO it's a well justified investment to have a pit controller. It's piece of mind. Nothing worse than waking up to a brisky at 230℉ and pit at 380℉ OR brisky has been on there 11hrs and wake up to brisky at 130℉ and a luke warm egg because the fire went out. It's just piece of mind with a pit controller.

DMW

Yes, it can be done, I still go without even though I have one unless I will be gone or tied up on phone calls for work for more than a couple hours. I can just see it now, sitting in my home office on an important conference call watching the Maverick display showing me something is wrong and I can't do a thing about it. Thing is, when I go without it holds pretty much rock solid once its stable. I guess I'm paranoid...

jhl192

I do a fair number of low and slow long cooks and I do not have a controller. I do have a Maverick with a temp alarm. Most times it does not go off. Without a controller or Maverick I would check on it every couple of hours to ensure you are in your desired zone. Good luck!

NPHuskerFL

@DMW‌ yes Sir! Me too. I hear voices that tell me to kill. Kill for more protein for the LBGE. >:)
Lil ditty that's fitting ;-)
Black Sabbath - Paranoid / performance 1970 HQ: http://youtu.be/MSbfqCO8XBI

SkinnyV

Best part for me using the controller is locking in the desired temp immediately. Not wasting 1hr plus checking the temps @ 11pm to make. Sure its stabilized before bed....and even then seeing it creep up for some reason.
No more of that for me is worth the $300.

unoriginalusername

For me I've found the best results come when I build the fire by placing the charcoal for good airflow before dumping in the rest.

From there I light the lump in the centre with a looflighter and create a very hot centre to help control the direction of the burn.  As it burns down the outside coal falls into the centre and keeps my grill and dome temps steady.

I leave my air vent wide open and control temp with the daisy wheel.  I've found this to be the most resistant to wind/temp changes over the course of 24 hours.

I cook at about 210 and using this method don't need to add any lump over the course of 24 hours; even with a quicker burning coal like the Nature's Own Sugar Maple Costco summer special vs. Wicked Good which lasts longer.

HendersonTRKing

I've only had my egg since Christmastime; my family bought me a maverick for Father's Day and I used it for the first time for a brisket last weekend.  I REALLY didn't want to "give in" and use it, my feeling being I was very much able to control the temp and trust the egg myself.  As in:  "why do I need the maverick?  I'm turning out plenty of great food without it."

So, reluctantly, I used the mav and, lo and behold, thought it was pretty fricking cool.  Not that it changed the cook per se -- it didn't.  And not that it made the food any better -- it didn't.  The thing of it is, it's a cool gadget:  I'm in the house, watching a ball game, and I look down at that sucker and see that the grate temp is a solid 245 and the meat temp is slowly creeping up, just how I want it.  It's like never having to leave the egg.  Also, when I went into a long FTC, I was able to watch the brisky IT rise a bit and then slowly fall.  That also was a vast improvement over wondering what the heck is going on in the cooler.

Bottom line:  it's an unnecessary gadget that kicks azz.  That's is exactly why I like having and using it.

gdenby

If I had to cook for lots of people all the time, catering, or the like, I would certainly invest in a controller.  For myself, and the smaller groups of people I serve, no need. Had a Maverick for a few months, but don't even use that anymore. I am a light sleeper, so its not a prob to get up in the middle of the night and peek at the dome therm. I've only ever had the fire go out once, around 6 am, and only once had the dome rise above 350 before I caught it.

The only thing I'd really like to have is an auto ash sweeper.

llrickman

Ive done 22-23 hr cooks without a controler with no problem. I would take everything out of the egg , fire ring, fire box, clean all the ash from the egg. When you put it back together and load your lump dont just dump it in from the bag go through it finding the largest pieces and make your first layer from those a few inches deep then add the rest of your lump up to the top of the fire ring for an overnight .

Get a good fire going and let it stabilize for 30min to an hour

if your going to be going to bed while its cooking i wouldn't try and keep the dome temp under 240 i have read alot where people had it dialed in at 225 and woke up and the fire had gone out

jerryb78

I just got a Maverick a few weeks ago and it makes it way easier to babysit longer cooks if you aren't planning on sitting near the grill the whole time.  I'm currently sitting in my basement office with a pork butt going outside with no worries that the temperature might've somehow gotten out of whack.  Plus it's pretty cheap compared to a full fledged controller.

jerryb78

As if on cue, it just started raining here.  Glad that I have my maverick sitting on my desk today!

tgkleman

Temp controllers are convenient, but not required.  They enable you to stop checking on the egg every 30 mins to make sure the temp is locked in.

Canugghead

Can't imagine doing my smoked salmon 170F for 10 hours without my Stoker ...

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1168056/naked-whiz-and-russell-s-smoked-salmon#first

brimee

HendersonTRKing said:

I've only had my egg since Christmastime; my family bought me a maverick for Father's Day and I used it for the first time for a brisket last weekend.  I REALLY didn't want to "give in" and use it, my feeling being I was very much able to control the temp and trust the egg myself.  As in:  "why do I need the maverick?  I'm turning out plenty of great food without it."

So, reluctantly, I used the mav and, lo and behold, thought it was pretty fricking cool.  Not that it changed the cook per se -- it didn't.  And not that it made the food any better -- it didn't.  The thing of it is, it's a cool gadget:  I'm in the house, watching a ball game, and I look down at that sucker and see that the grate temp is a solid 245 and the meat temp is slowly creeping up, just how I want it.  It's like never having to leave the egg.  Also, when I went into a long FTC, I was able to watch the brisky IT rise a bit and then slowly fall.  That also was a vast improvement over wondering what the heck is going on in the cooler.

Bottom line:  it's an unnecessary gadget that kicks azz.  That's is exactly why I like having and using it.

Sounds like roughing it in a camper with a big screen tv and satellite, where's the fun and adventure in that???

:P 

But then again i have been looking into putting a tv out on the back patio...  

@-)

Ktim

No you do not need one. I have only done 6 overnight cooks 5 of which were great and one that was OK and the OK one was because of Budweiser.Just be sure your temp settles in for a while before you pass out.

DTEgg

http://www.greeneggers.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=1023409&catid=1

This link was helpful for me, shows what @unoriginalusername is describing.  I have yet to use a controller and my longest cook was 19 hours on a large brisket that turned out very well according to the guests.  

Just don't be afraid to fill 'er up with lump before your cook.  I do have a Maverick 732 that lets me sleep well on an overnight cook, should the temp go over/under it will beep to wake you up!

All that said, I still WANT a controller because it is a gadget and we must have more gadgets! Good luck- big hunks of meat are more forgiving than some make them out to be...

HawkeyeEgghead

Late to the thread but for what it is worth, here is my two cents.  Buy what your comfortable spending and if you feel like it has been a taxing year with expenses, now is not the time.  They are nice tools but funny thing is I don't need 90% the BGE accessories I have.  The egg, a heat deflector, a grate, and good airflow management is all you need.  Lots of solid advice here, good luck on your cook and save a bit of the $400 for when it feels right.

BugCollector

I've turned out some great briskets and pulled pork.  I don't have a controller and can't imagine having one will improve my cooking. The egg is so easy to set up for long cooks I just set it and take the meat off when I know it's done.  In fact, this coming weekend I'll be doing a prime brisket from Costco.  I have ABT's on now and a steak to go on once it's hot enough.  Mmmmm

BYS1981

Also, what's not mentioned is the ease of holding temperature can depend on your lump. I use kamado joe lump and it holds solid, but cheap best of the west fluctuated quite easily.

Mickey

I learned to TURBO and sold/gave away my Digi Q & Party Q. I also sleep at night (all night)...

thailandjohn

BBQ can be done in any thing that will hold heat and smoke....I use different cookers for different things and how much I need to cook I invested in an XL for what it could do for me...long slow cooks that would produce good results....that being said, after cooking on the Egg for a few months, I decided to purchase a Stoker and I could not be happier with this combination. I can now sleep without worrying about the pit temp and I like the fact I can monitor the meat temps remotely and adjust the pit temp from my iPhone or iPad Bottom line is, you can do a good job without a controller and also do good BBQ without spending the big bucks for an Egg, but the Egg and Stoker combo is great for me

grey_bri

I live in Canada as well. You might want to check out bbqs.com lots of outlets in and around T. O.

Coastalcooker

Like Bug Collector I can't see how any controller would improve my low and slow cooks. I normally go to bed after the news and wake up by 7:00. During the night I may wake and make a trip to the bathroom. At that time I look out the window or even go to the egg and look at the temperature.
For a twelve hour cook, I get up a little early. For all night the fire is stable before the meat goes on and long before bed time.
During the day time, I may check temps every hour or two. Normally no more than a ten or twenty degree tweek.
Bob