Temperature drops

camerondds71

Hi all,

i have recently bought a large egg, with the intent of cooking the Christmas turkey on it.  I thought best to practice, which I have been doing with chickens.  I am managing to get up to and stabilising my desired temperature (350F) easily enough but as soon as I put the chicken in, the temperature drops to c 250F and it does not go back near to 350F, even after 45 minutes.

I have tried to research this, the constant message I read is that I should not chase the temperature back up.  Does anyone know what I might be doing wrong?

Now that Christmas is only 3 weeks away, I am starting to panic.

Many thanks.

slovelad

Make sure you stabilize the temp for a good 20 to 30 minutes before you put the turkey in.

also, make sure you have plenty of lump. Full it up to the fire ring, about halfway up the fire ring. Even pile it up to plate setter.

also a good tactic can be to bring the temp about 50 degrees past. Because when the bird goes in it will drop to desired temp

Darby_Crenshaw

you put a large cold bird on the fire.  the temp will drop.  open vents a bit

the reason it takes 45 minutes, if you don't open the vents, is all the energy (or a lot of it) is going into the cold bird.

when you put a cold chicken in an oven, the temp drops.  the heating element cycles on to make up for it.  this is the same as opening vents a bit to compensate for adding the cold meat

probe1957

It will come with experience and the learning curve is pretty short.  Soon you will learn how open vents should be (about) for the temp you want.  Keep cooking.  It is the best way to learn.

bgebrent

Welcome aboard!  Darby is accurate.  You're cooking to IT, or should be.  I wouldn't recommend going too far above your desired dome temp.  Easier to catch it coming up and anticipate the temp drop which is temporary.

camerondds71

Thanks.  Should I open the vents a bit, and once the temperature gets back to 350F, return them to the positions that gave me 350F before I put the bird in?

Darby_Crenshaw

you open the vents to give it a little extra heat to overcome the cold bird.  so when you hit the temp you want, you simply close vents until it stops climbing.  it may or may not be the same settings as before.

take it easy on yourself

25 degrees either way is no issue at all

325, 350, 375... i don't care what the temp is as long as i am cooking to the internal temp

bgebrent

Open the vents a bit and keep an eye on it occasionally.  Bring vents back to where you believe they will give you your desired T and about 25 deg below target T.  Baby sit a little more and fine tune.  Don't chase temp.  Higher than 350 better than lower for me but either will work. Cook to IT, impress all!

HendersonTRKing

Have you tried a tasty adult beverage?  That seems to help with the onset of panic.  Also, try opening the vents a smidge for temp after putting the protein on the grid.  Keep an eye in the temp and enjoy the beverage and the ride.     

Ladeback69

Also go by temp not time.  Most BGE recipes seem to be double the time from what it has taken mine to cook between 300-350.  I brine my turkey and I don't know if it makes a difference or not.  I put mine in at 350 and it dropped to 300 and it took about 30 to 40 minutes for it to come back up to 350.  In the last 45 minutes I took it to 375 to get it done so I could let it rest for 30 minutes before carving.  Put 20 pound turkey in at 8 am and took off egg at noon.  Most recipes it says 6 to 7.  

Ozzie_Isaac

I don't adjust the vents when I put the protein on.  I let it ride.  Just don't dally with the lid open.

Mattman3969

Something sounds off if a chicken is causing a stabilized large to drop in temp. How long are you letting the egg warm up?  With the temps drops you are talking about I'm guessing you are cooking indirect.  Are you letting the plate setter warm up with the egg or adding it right before the bird went in?

SmokingPiney

Are you putting the plate setter in as soon  as you get a good light? It's a good idea to warm it up while the Egg comes up to temp. 

As soon as I get a good light, I'll put in the plate setter, grate, and drip pans and let the Egg come up to temp and stabilize. Once I'm satisfied it's stabilized, I'll put the meat on. A big piece of meat like a turkey will act as a huge heat sink for a bit and it will take a while for the temp to come back up to what you had set. 

Be PATIENT and don't chase the temp. It will come back up. Once it does, you can make some adjustments to dial it in. You're going to cook to internal temp anyway, so the time to come back up to target temp doesn't matter.

Patience is the order of the day with Eggs. Be mindful of that, and the Egg will do you right every time you cook.