First Cook... Mistakes made

Kjunbob

After looking forward to a Green Egg for years, I finally got one and tried my first cook last night.  I tried to cook bone in Chicken Thighs with an indirect method, and a drip pan, and was disappointed in the results.  I would appreciate any comments about my mistakes as the cook took over 5 hours, and I still couldn't get the temp on the meat thermometer anywhere over 120. I then took them off and finished in the microwave.  When lighting the Egg, I quickly established the dome temp at 200, and I was able to keep it about 250 or so for the entire cook.  (BTW, I checked calibration on the dome probe before starting)

Some of the issues that I know: 
1.  I didn't allow the chicken thighs to come to room temp before placing on grill.  They were rather large thighs
2.  I misread the cooking time in the recipe, but is 5 hours normal for this?  Outside temp was about 65 degrees and little wind.  Should I have been aiming for a higher dome temp.
3.  The recipe called for applying sauce every 30 mins -- opening the grill this often is probably a problem in terms of cooking time.
4.  When I removed the chicken, it was not pink, but the texture didn't seem right.  This was the case even after a short microwave.  And it had a bit of a strange taste as I neared the bone.  Could this have been caused by the Pecan?  Or possibly the sauce?  Or possibly because the chicken was somehow bad.  Other issues?

I would appreciate any ideas as I want to enjoy the Egg.

Thanks 

eightyfive

Personal experience I feel like thighs need a higher done temp and opening that much can't help. But I'm no expert.  I usually do chicken at 350 

RedSkip

1.  Doesn't matter.  You don't want to let poultry come to room temp, you're giving bacteria a change to breed.  Beef (steaks, brisket, generally not ground) is the exception to warming up to room temp.
2.  For that temp (250F), 5 hours seems ok.  I generally cook thighs/wings/drums at 400F for about an hour.  Until the meat is 185-200 F, which generally takes 40-60 minutes.
3.  Opening the grill in my opinion doesn't matter much, others will disagree.  I wouldn't sauce until the last 15-30 minutes depending on the sauce.  You don't want the sugars in the sauce to burn when cooking at higher temps.
4.  Wood smoke doesn't penetrate to the bone.  I'd assume the funny taste was due to undercooked chicken (assumption). Your temp of 120F, I'd assume was the bone temp, due to the thigh being a thin cut of meat - you may have bottomed out against the bone.

5.  Invest in a "Thermapen".  You cook food to a temperature not a time.  The methods of the past i.e. "5 minutes @ 300 F" is gone.  Food is done when it's done, and that's when it hits a specific temp.

Poultry White Meat 160F
Poultry Dark Meat 185F
Pork Shoulder 195-205 F
Pork Loin 160F
Ribs 195-205F  (Bend Test, Pull from Bone, etc.)
Brisket 190-205F
Steaks 115-135 (Depending on your liking)
Roasts 195-205F
Fish 165F

Best of luck, enjoy, and patience is the key to bigger cooks.  Remember the meat tells YOU when it's done.  You can accelerate or decelerate the cooking time by playing with grill/dome temps, but ultimately it's the internal temp of the meat which determines when it's time to eat!

Foghorn

First and foremost - welcome aboard.  You have come to the right place with your questions. 

 

"1.  I didn't allow the chicken thighs to come to room temp before placing on grill.  They were rather large thighs"

That's a nonissue.  It can speed up the cook a little, but not much.  Search for some of the threads on cooking frozen steaks if you need more convincing. 

"2.  I misread the cooking time in the recipe, but is 5 hours normal for this?  Outside temp was about 65 degrees and little wind.  Should I have been aiming for a higher dome temp."

Many people (most?) do cook chicken at a higher temp, but 5 hours does seem long.  If you are hitting 250 (or whatever) inside the egg, the outside temp is irrelevant (except that in colder temps you will burn a little more charcoal to achieve the desired grill temp).

"3.  The recipe called for applying sauce every 30 mins -- opening the grill this often is probably a problem in terms of cooking time."

This is less of a problem with the egg than it is with most grills as the heavy ceramic holds heat well and the grill/dome temp recovers very quickly.

"4.  When I removed the chicken, it was not pink, but the texture didn't seem right.  This was the case even after a short microwave.  And it had a bit of a strange taste as I neared the bone.  Could this have been caused by the Pecan?  Or possibly the sauce?  Or possibly because the chicken was somehow bad.  Other issues?"

Is you meat thermometer calibrated?  Was the sauce coming straight out of the refrigerator every time (applying 35 degree sauce every 30 minutes from the beginning could be part of the problem)?

Obviously, I can't speak to the chicken quality but one has to wonder.

If you face this situation in the future, just know that you can cook almost anything that you're "supposed to" cook at 250 at a higher temp, up to 350 at least.  If the sauce has sugar in it you probably want to stay at 300 or below to prevent burning, but you get the idea.  That's what I would have done instead of using the microwave if I were in your shoes.

I hope this helps.

SoCalTim

@Kjunbob , Hi and a big hearty welcome to the forum, I think @Foghorn spelled it all out to you (he indeed knows alot of stuff) ..

I only have a small tidbit to offer you, first off we all were new to egging at one time or another.

I can close my eyes and still remember my disastrous first cook, I tried doing chicken quarters @ 500 degrees - what a mess.

In those days, my egg controlled me ... today, five years later - I control my egg, it never tells me what to do.

You'll get there, my only advice is not to overthink your cooks but rather just enjoy the experience.

Tim 

da87

Welcome to the fun and as others have described it, "wallet genocide"!

A couple of comments as chicken thighs have become a weekly staple for us - great price, great flavor, and incredibly moist on the egg.

1. The safe cooking temp guide for poultry has been updated, all chicken parts are now 165:  https://www.foodsafety.gov/keep/charts/mintemp.html
2. I like to reverse sear chicken thighs, just like I do a steak.  I start indirect like you cooked at around 275, cook to 155 - 160 (only opening the lid to probe for temp - and only that because I don't have a remote thermometer...yet), remove the indirect set up and run up toward 400, and then sear until skin crisp and 165 internal
3. I marinate or rub now, much less sauce then I used prior to having the egg
4. If I do use sauce in the cook I treat it like ribs and only use it during the last phase of cooking.

Hope that helps!

lousubcap

Welcome aboard and enjoy the journey.  The above posters have provided moe than enough information.
One thing you will find here is that for most cooks is that if you ask a recipe questions you will get options to select from and all will work.  As above, the key for the end result is the protein temperature or feel-time and cook temp are only guides thru the process.
Above all, have fun and don't run out of adult supervisory beverages.  

pgprescott

RedSkip said:

1.  Doesn't matter.
2.  For that temp (250F), 5 hours seems ok.  I generally cook thighs/wings/drums at 400F for about an hour.  Until the meat is 185-200 F.
3.  Opening the grill in my opinion doesn't matter much, others will disagree.  I wouldn't sauce until the last 15-30 minutes depending on the sauce.  You don't want the sugars to burn in the sauce when cooking at higher temps.
4.  Wood smoke doesn't penetrate to the bone.  I'd assume the funny taste was due to undercooked chicken (assumption). 120F I'd assume was the bone temp due to the thigh being a thin cut of meat.  

5.  Invest in a "Thermapen".  You cook food to a temperature not a time.  The methods of the past i.e. "5 minutes @ 300 F" is gone.  Food is done when it's done, and that's when it hits a specific temp.

Poultry White Meat 160F
Poultry Dark Meat 185F
Pork Shoulder 195-205 F
Pork Loin 160F
Brisket 190-205F
Steaks 115-135 (Depending on your liking)
Roasts 195-205F
Fish 165F

Best of luck, enjoy, and patience is the key to bigger cooks.  Remember the meat tells YOU when it's done.  You can accelerate or decelerate the cooking time by playing with grill/dome temps, but ultimately it's the internal temp of the meat which determines when it's time to eat!

Pork Loin 140 max
roast 120- 200. I don't want anything to do with a standing rib roast of either beef or pork cooked above 135.

fruitguy

Only comment would be a dome temp of 250 would have a grid temp of 225 or less.  If you want to cook at 250, you need a probe on the grid as it will be lower than the dome temp.

Good luck and enjoy

Kjunbob

I appreciate all of the comments and helpful suggestions.  But what I don't understand is why my internal temp on the meat was not near 165 after over 4 hours when I see many recipes in these forums that indicate that the cooking time was around 2 hours for similar cooks.  I understand that the issue is to cook to temp, but you need to have somewhat of a sense in terms of how much time it will take to cook something to have it ready for mealtime.  And I did calibrate both my temp probe thermometer and the one on the dome.  Also, at this time, my budget prevents me from purchasing an expensive

I would love to cook at a higher temp, but since this is a new grill, the directions say to cook at lower temps for the first few cooks.  I am at a loss as to what to try next, given that the low cook temp is required.  Should I try a Spatchcock?  Pork?  I am tempted, but somewhat concerned.  Help please, and thanks.

jlaw

The directive of cooking at a lower temp for the first few cooks is just meant to set the gasket sealant. After 5 hours you are probably fully set and are fine to crank it up. The ceramics are fired well above 1200 deg and do not need additional cure time.

td66snrf

If you're lookin, it ain't cookin. 

Foghorn

Cooking at 275-300 is a higher temp than 250 and it won't fry your gasket.

But also recognize that at some point in the future you will probably fry your gasket.  I haven't had a gasket for over 3 years...

Foghorn

And thanks for the kind words @SoCalTim.

herbu

Kjunbob said:But what I don't understand is why my internal temp on the meat was not near 165 after over 4 hours

I'm new too, so first I'll suggest you ignore anything I say.

My thought is that you're right.  Chikin thighs at 250 for 4 hours should be "near" 160deg.  So that means either your watch is broken, or the meat wasn't really seeing 250deg.  I'm guessing the latter.

You said you used indirect.  I've found a number of variables can affect a difference between temp at your meat and temp at the thermometer.  The rotational orientation of the firebox and fire ring can make a difference in creating hotspots on the grid.  The location of your fire, (lit coals), can create hot/cool spots on your grid.

I'm still in the reading/experimenting/learning period.  It's a great reason to cook a lot.  The only thing I can recommend is until you're really comfortable with what you're doing, give the grill some extra and frequent attention during your cooks.  A thermometer with the probe clipped to the grid, (like the Thermoworks Smoke), will help A LOT!  Then you can really see the temp at the grid in different positions and conditions.

jtcBoynton

pgprescott said:

RedSkip said:

1.  Doesn't matter.
2.  For that temp (250F), 5 hours seems ok.  I generally cook thighs/wings/drums at 400F for about an hour.  Until the meat is 185-200 F.
3.  Opening the grill in my opinion doesn't matter much, others will disagree.  I wouldn't sauce until the last 15-30 minutes depending on the sauce.  You don't want the sugars to burn in the sauce when cooking at higher temps.
4.  Wood smoke doesn't penetrate to the bone.  I'd assume the funny taste was due to undercooked chicken (assumption). 120F I'd assume was the bone temp due to the thigh being a thin cut of meat.  

5.  Invest in a "Thermapen".  You cook food to a temperature not a time.  The methods of the past i.e. "5 minutes @ 300 F" is gone.  Food is done when it's done, and that's when it hits a specific temp.

Poultry White Meat 160F
Poultry Dark Meat 185F
Pork Shoulder 195-205 F
Pork Loin 160F
Brisket 190-205F
Steaks 115-135 (Depending on your liking)
Roasts 195-205F
Fish 165F

Best of luck, enjoy, and patience is the key to bigger cooks.  Remember the meat tells YOU when it's done.  You can accelerate or decelerate the cooking time by playing with grill/dome temps, but ultimately it's the internal temp of the meat which determines when it's time to eat!

Pork Loin 140 max
roast 120- 200. I don't want anything to do with a standing rib roast of either beef or pork cooked above 135.

Fish to 165º?  Way over cooked for a lot of fish.

jtcBoynton

fruitguy said:

Only comment would be a dome temp of 250 would have a grid temp of 225 or less.  If you want to cook at 250, you need a probe on the grid as it will be lower than the dome temp.

Good luck and enjoy

Maybe.  Maybe not.  It is a common assumption that dome temps are 25º higher than grid temps.  They can be. We had a discussion recently about grid temps being higher than dome temps.  A lot of people report that they see the differences in temp at the start of a cook, but that it goes away after a while.  

Grid temps are greatly influenced by the exact placement of the temp probe and what you are cooking.

Kjunbob

Well, I did cook #2 last night, and it came out much better, but still longer than I thought that it should.  At 3 hours, the temp on the thermometer was reading 140 when inserted.  It was getting late, so we removed it, and finished up the "raw" pieces inside of the oven.
The recipe that I used was 
http://www.thepatrioticpam.com/2013/03/big-green-egg-chicken.html
As you can see, it calls for the grill to be at 300.  My dome temp was 300, but I am wondering if I should invest in a type of dual thermometer that gives a grill temp reading?  Any thoughts?  Thanks

gmac

No, something is wrong if you can't make it work. You are in the NOLA area. There are some great guys around there. Maybe one of them could come give you some advice (i.e. Come over and cook with you). 
My only thought from before is: is there water or liquid in the drip pan using up all your BTUs?  I have never had to finish anything in the M'wave. You calibrated your therms in boiling water right? This just doesn't make sense or your timing is way off. 
3 hrs and 140 on chicken?  Go direct or raised direct next time (I prefer raised direct for,poultry). 

Kjunbob

Thanks.. And yes, I am in the NOLA area.  Yes, there was water in the pan, and that probably took some BTUs.. but the recipe called for it.  And I calibrated it in boiling water (I had last time also, but perhaps changed something when I put it back in with the clip, so this time I left the clip off.)  Just wondering if getting another thermometer for the grill like the Thermoworks with dual probes is needed.  If so, I'll do it, but I wouldn't like to spend the $s unless I need to do so.  I want the BigGreenEgg to be what I hoped it to be.  

theyolksonyou

Not needed. Neither is the water. 

gmac

Kjunbob said:

Thanks.. And yes, I am in the NOLA area.  Yes, there was water in the pan, and that probably took some BTUs.. but the recipe called for it.  And I calibrated it in boiling water (I had last time also, but perhaps changed something when I put it back in with the clip, so this time I left the clip off.)  Just wondering if getting another thermometer for the grill like the Thermoworks with dual probes is needed.  If so, I'll do it, but I wouldn't like to spend the $s unless I need to do so.  I want the BigGreenEgg to be what I hoped it to be.  

Honestly, something just doesn't seem right. I bought my egg 8 years ago and except for a thermopen, haven't spent a dime since. It's a great cooker and I'm really sorry to hear you are having problems. @nolaegghead Any advice?

CMH88

You do not need another thermometer if the bge one is working correctly. 

buzd504

I don't worry about the grid temp.  Dome temp should be sufficient.

3 hours at 300 to cook chicken to 140 seems like a lot.  I can cook a whole chicken to temp at 375 in under an hour.

Kjunbob

Thanks CMH88 and buzd504... Any specific suggestions.  And the chicken wasn't very large.  This is getting frustrating. 

SemolinaPilchard

I doubt that this is the problem, but it may be possible that your thermometer reads 212 in boiling water and still need to be replaced. If you take a thermometer that you know is bad, stick the probe in boiling water and adjust it, you can get it to read 212. I would also check it against outside temp (not still in the egg, because the temp in the egg will be higher if the sun is hitting it). Also check it at room temp. For thermapens and others you can check it in a glass of ice water, but most dome temps only go as low as 50. You can put it inside your refrigerator. If the thermometer is good it will be a little below 50, it won't be exact, but it will get you close enough to know if the thermometer is the problem. 

Kjunbob

Thanks SemolinaPilchard.  I just took the thermometer out and checked it again in boiling water.. It read 212F, just as yesterday after calibration.  So it held it's calibration.  In the However, when holding it in my hand, it doesn't even approach 50 F.  And I am not dead, so I know that my body temp is above 50 F.  Also when sitting in a room, it consistently is under 50F.  Could it be a bad thermometer?

SemolinaPilchard

Sounds like it. I am not positive, but I believe the thermometer is covered under warranty.

Kjunbob

On the thermometer being bad, I just called the distributor and they indicated that all of the thermometers on the floor also read under 50, so that isn't a problem.  I might not be using enough wood... will try more.  And perhaps start at a higher temp.  And I will also remove the foil that I put around the Plate Setter/Divertor. I have no leaks, but something isn't right...

HofstraJet

If you want a quick check on the thermometer, get egg and oven up to 300. Put your hand in oven and see how many seconds before you remove it. After hand has cooled off, open egg and put your hand above grid and time how long. Nowhere near exact and some may frown on it, but if you can hold your hand significantly longer over egg, thermometer may be broken. 

theyolksonyou

Thighs on. Three ways. Factory level. Somewhere between 300-350. 7:11pm