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What's your biggest BGE Bonehead Mistake? Mine killed 2 10lb butts.

I was breaking in my Dad's new egg (L) in cold weather for a first cook later that night. That went fine. But had the CyberQ with Pit fan hooked up cuz going all night in cold.

Later (midnight, and a few bourbons later) me and my lil bro fired it back up. Was a struggle to get it to 225 with the butts in. Figured it was just the ambient temp and 20lbs of coldish meat. Finally walked away and crashed in the yurt. Woke up next morning to find a cold, snuffed egg, 2 poison butts and the Pit Viper running at 100% (all night I'm sure).

Forgot to open the choke on the fan after snuffing the initial burn-in fire with the choke, and daisy closed. Doh!

It sure did look pretty in the snow though.
image

Comments

  • I've done that too, but I caught it in time. I hate that thing, now it's the first thing I check when I setup.
    Aurora,OH
  • NPHuskerFL
    NPHuskerFL Posts: 17,629
    Overslept before I had the Stoker and way overshot on a brisket. Hit 228℉ in spots and had company coming to Wow. Instead I oh shitted them ~X(
    LBGE 2013 & MM 2014
    Die Hard HUSKER & BRONCO FAN
    Flying Low & Slow in "Da Burg" FL
  • Choke on the fan? Explain if u could, using the CyberQ for the first time today
  • rtbarry
    rtbarry Posts: 33
    It's a small metal slider that can close off the airflow between the fan and the pit door. Some people never even notice it. I'm thinking of welding it open :)
  • rtbarry
    rtbarry Posts: 33
    LOL!

    Instead I oh shitted them ~X(

  • EGG_Daddy
    EGG_Daddy Posts: 163
    Brisket (nuked it on the snooze alarm) and Pork Belly (for Bacon)

    The pork belly really sucks because I brined it for 8 days!!!

    MN. LBGE. Vikings. Beer. YETI 75.

  • Tinyfish
    Tinyfish Posts: 1,755
    Not buying one sooner.....
  • NPHuskerFL
    NPHuskerFL Posts: 17,629
    @Little Steven=)) :o3
    I think I pissed myself I'm laughing so hard!!! =)) =))
    LBGE 2013 & MM 2014
    Die Hard HUSKER & BRONCO FAN
    Flying Low & Slow in "Da Burg" FL
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    edited January 2015

    @Little Steven=)) :o3 I think I pissed myself I'm laughing so hard!!! =)) =))
    It was hilarious at Salado last year. Dude is a 6' 3" Mexican. We were all in stitches as he did his impression of a three legged dog running away from meat.

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Black_Badger
    Black_Badger Posts: 1,182
    Worst I've done is leave a prime packer brisket to wet age too long in the cryo in my fridge. 21 days and $70 later I had a rancid hunk of beef you could barely stand to be in the room with. I was so distraught I still trimmed it, rubbed it, and put it on the egg over night. When I woke up the next morning and the foulness could still be smelled over the rub and the smoke I finally admitted defeat.

    The only good thing I did was not eat it or feed it to my friends/family...

    B_B
    Finally back in the Badger State!

    Middleton, WI
  • XC242
    XC242 Posts: 1,208
    Ditto what @Black_Badger‌ did except I did it with a double pack of pork shoulders.
    LBGE (still waitin' for my free T-Shirt), DIgiQ DX2 (In Blue, cause it's the fastest), Heavy Duty Kick Ash Basket, Mc Farland, WI. :glasses:  B)
    If it wasn't for my BGE I'd have no use for my backyard...
  • blasting
    blasting Posts: 6,262
    I was at a friend's place in Monterrey MX and he had purchased a whole boneless rib section. He said "Here, you cook it." I said "What do you think sear and low and slow?" He said that was what he would do so that is what we did. Seared the daylights out of it. We pulled the meat off and closed the vents. About five minutes later we hear BOOM! The daisy shot about twenty feet in the air and the gaskets welded. He isn't on this forum (I don't think) but he now tells me his dog lost a leg and runs away every time he brings beef into the house. Some of you heard the story (embellished) at Salado last year. I think there will be somethiing added in March.

    What caused the boom, and why did the gaskets weld?  It sounds like something to be avoided, but I'm a newbie and don't understand.  Thanks
    Phoenix 
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    Usually I'm perfect (warning bells should be going off because that's like saying "most unique").  Anyhow, I forgot to type 4, 8, 15, 16, 23 and 42 into the console and the whole egg and table changed time and location.  Lost time I do that.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • I've been digging through the yard for years and still can't find the hatch. I'm pretty sure there is someone in there taking care of that for me though.
  • blasting said:



    I was at a friend's place in Monterrey MX and he had purchased a whole boneless rib section. He said "Here, you cook it." I said "What do you think sear and low and slow?" He said that was what he would do so that is what we did. Seared the daylights out of it. We pulled the meat off and closed the vents. About five minutes later we hear BOOM! The daisy shot about twenty feet in the air and the gaskets welded. He isn't on this forum (I don't think) but he now tells me his dog lost a leg and runs away every time he brings beef into the house. Some of you heard the story (embellished) at Salado last year. I think there will be somethiing added in March.


    What caused the boom, and why did the gaskets weld?  It sounds like something to be avoided, but I'm a newbie and don't understand.  Thanks


    Ditto. What exactly caused the boom?
    Minneapolis, MN
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    Looks like this evolved into a Paul Bunyan tale, but you can have a situation inside the egg where you get a flashback - fire almost out, oxygen and hydrocarbons combine and are ignited by the last spark in a single piece of lump. I doubt the dog lost a leg because of the egg, but stranger things have happened.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • stemc33
    stemc33 Posts: 3,567
    Looks like this evolved into a Paul Bunyan tale, but you can have a situation inside the egg where you get a flashback - fire almost out, oxygen and hydrocarbons combine and are ignited by the last spark in a single piece of lump. I doubt the dog lost a leg because of the egg, but stranger things have happened.

    So I take it @nolaegghead‌ doesn't believe in Santa Clause.
    Steven
    Mini Max with Woo stone combo, LBGE, iGrill 2, Plate Setter, 
    two cotton pot holders to handle PS
    Banner, Wyoming
  • anton
    anton Posts: 1,813
    You have a yurt? That's hella cool, I used to camp in a yurt at my sisters property.@rtbarry , do you live in it, or are you at hunting camp or something?
     Using a MBGE,woo/w stone,livin' in  Hayward California," The Heart Of The Bay "
  • I overcooked some wild deer sausage once. Ran it at 250ish indirect for about 1.5hr because I wanted to be sure it was COMPLETELY food safe. It ended up being way too dry and hard to serve. I threw it in the fridge and considered using it later in a batch of chili.

    Every so often I would cut a bite-sized slice off of the link to sample and eventually it hit me. I dug out some crackers and jalepeno cheddar cheese I had, and went to town.

    Apparently I had just stumbled upon how to prepare a deer summer sausage snack tray. Now I cook sausage that way on purpose.


    Gittin' there...
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,170
    As mentioned on an earlier related thread-It was a Sunday morning shortly after waking up and attending to business that I was reminded that I had prepped, cooked and consumed several (number unknown) ABT's.  And they were made with chorizo and habanero cheese to compound the casualty.  Clearly there were adult supervisory beverages at work.  "Feel the burn!"
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • BBQJIM
    BBQJIM Posts: 106
    I don't blame tripod.  I would run to if I could
  • Canugghead
    Canugghead Posts: 11,458
    rtbarry said:
    It's a small metal slider that can close off the airflow between the fan and the pit door. Some people never even notice it. I'm thinking of welding it open :)
    I like Stoker's hinged flap door design, it opens automatically when fan runs.  Of course one has to make sure the fan is not attached upside down!
    canuckland
  • My first turkey a few years ago... I put in the platesetter feet down, and did not test things out before cooking. The turkey was so large the top of my LBGE touched the top of the turkey when closed. So, I took out the bird and proceeded to flip my platesetter to feet side up after it had been cooking for a few hours. Did OK until the very end, when my hand touched the hot platesetter and I let it slip. One of the feet hit the edge and snapped right off - guess what - the ceramic is brittle when hot! 

    Sigh.
    LBGE, platesetter, Stoker wifi, StokerX Mac software, Pit Pal for iOS, @HerringBigEgg on Twitter, joined forum in 2008
    Austin, TX
  • westernbbq
    westernbbq Posts: 2,490

    I had been overcooking items when I got my first BGE (an XL).  I was disappointed at longer cooks at low temps and some intermediate cooks at higher (not searing type temps) but anything I grilled came out perfect.  The original reason I got the BGE was so that I could replace my gas grill Weber Summit Gold D, my Pitt's n' Spitt's 24x36 smoker and an outside infrared steak searing grill.  I was bummed when I figured that I would never be able to do anything on a BGE except sear.


    Well, then I found out on THIS forum that it's critical to CALIBRATE thermometers.  And when I did that, well, I discovered that the temp guage was reading 325F in boiling water.  So up to that point, I had been heating it up way too hot (I wasn't using anything except the stock BGE thermometer).  I also realized that when inserting the thermo into the dome, I had been rotating the clip instead of pinching it to get the probe all the way in, hence, the 'de calibration' of my thermometer.  Once I got all this figured out, hope was restored and the best results were achieved.

  • rtbarry
    rtbarry Posts: 33
    LOL! That's awesome. Luckily, I did calibrate before the first cook. And then I typically verify with the CyberQ. That musta drove you crazy.


    And when I did that, well, I discovered that the temp guage was reading 325F in boiling water.

  • rtbarry
    rtbarry Posts: 33
    Ouch.


    One of the feet hit the edge and snapped right off - guess what - the ceramic is brittle when hot! 

    Sigh.

  • rtbarry
    rtbarry Posts: 33
    Haha! Can't wait.


    Some of you heard the story (embellished) at Salado last year. I think there will be somethiing added in March.

  • Chubbs
    Chubbs Posts: 6,929
    Most if not all of my screw ups are because of booze. Worst was putting a butt on hammered at 1 am or so. Woke up to the butt being cooked at 450 or so. Nice black bark on that one. Booze-45 Chubbs-38. That's the all time record
    Columbia, SC --- LBGE 2011 -- MINI BGE 2013
  • rtbarry
    rtbarry Posts: 33
    Hah! Yeah, she's a common culprit.


    Chubbs said:
    Most if not all of my screw ups are because of booze.