New Large Egg/First Cook

NightTrainLayne

PIcked up my new large egg after the Oklahoma EggFest on Saturday evening. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to spend but about 45 minutes at the EggFest due to too much "stuff" going on Saturday (4-year old B-day party, etc.).

Apparently, the Egg that was originally meant for me had been used for a TRex cook during the Iron Egg Chef competition and after it cooled down enough, the gasket was completely sealed shut. I knew that this meant I would need a new gasket as well, but the fine folks at Everything Barbecue traded me out with another Egg that wasn't scheduled to be picked up for another week or so. The one I ended up with looked like it had hardly been cooked on. Thanks Scott!

Yesterday, decided to try some spare ribs cooked low and slow for about 6 hours. Fired up the Egg, and tried to stabilize the dome temp at 250. It seemed that the Egg "wanted" to be at 270-280. I couldn't get it to stay down at 250 or lower.

After I was battling to get the temps down, I realized that the wind was blowing at a pretty brisk pace right at the draft door, and assumed that this was causing most of my problem. I had it shut down to just a sliver (maybe 1/16th inch), and the daisy wheel at about the same. Could the wind be the culprit here? I didn't want to move the egg around after I had already got my fire going. I had pretty well filled the lump to the top of the fire ring, and was using the inverted plate-setter.

Cooked the ribs then at around 270-280 (dome) for 6 hours. The flavor was fantastic. I used a rub from the "Smoke and Spice" cookbook which I love, and cooked them dry.

However, they were a little tough, and chewy. I was a little disappointed although the flavor was great.

Any tips or something I missed in keeping the temp. lower? I soon want to try a Brisket and Butt, but don't want to cook them at 270 for obvious reasons.

AZRP

The temp should have been fine, if they were spares, you might have pulled them a little early. Baby backs usually take about 5 hours and spare around 7 for me. Welcome to the club. -RP

fishlessman

ribs is a tough first cook, sometimes its the ribs fault and not the cooks fault. you actually did well for a first cook, just start stabilizing earlier next time and if the fire gets too big, close it even more, depending on the egg and the lump your using, 1/16 can be wide open. one of my eggs used to run at half a credit card thickness, the other is open about a half inch for a low and slow, each egg is different.

gdenby

Wind will make a considerable difference. I was cooking on a very gusty day, and after several minutes of hard blowing air, the dome temp would climb 10 - 15 degrees. I was able to rotate the nest a bit, and reduce the problem.

Be sure to start shutting your vents down when the temp rises a bit above 200. I usually will have the bottom down to about 3/16", and the daisy just cracked by 240. The temp usually then parks around 250. Later in the cook, maybe 2 hours, I often need to reduce the opening even more, leaving just a tiny crack open.

NightTrainLayne

Thanks for the quick response. I had wondered if the meat itself might be part of the blame. Also assumed from my reading that 6 hours was on the long side, but sounds like I could have let them go longer.

I will just have to play around with it some I suppose.

I was probably just too afraid to shut it down any more, and with the wind blowing right at it I was probably sill getting too much air. I was afraid that if I shut it any more that I would put the fire out.

I am just amazed that it can keep going with such a restricted air-flow. That's tremendous!

Should I have used a drip pan with some apple juice or beer with the ribs? Would that have affected the texture/toughness? Or did I just need a couple more hours.

Sorry for all the questions, just trying to accelerate my learning curve. Thanks for all the help!

AZRP

I just cook mine indirect with an empty drip pan to catch the grease. I don't think flavored liquid in the drip pan adds muck to the ribs flavor. To get flavor from a liquid, cook them for 2 or three hours then wrap them in foil with the liquid and cook for an hour, then unwrap and finish. -RP

Ross in Ventura

Here is a site that might help
http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/
My Best,
Ross

EddieMac

Sounds like you're well on your way to BGE Stardom....You'll get the hang of dealing with the temperatures....There really isn't much difference between 250 and 270 when smoking meats...Don't sweat it!!....When you're smoking a brisket or butt...indirect with platesetter in place...275 to 285 is no problem whatsoever...and that's the magic of the BGE...and that's what you've paid for...225 is a sexy smoking temp...but it's completely unnecessary on the BGE....

I smoke 8-12 butts per month for my wife's catering company on the BGE...I smoke them at 275 to 285 dome temp...which gives you 250 - 260 degrees temp...and they always come out nicely...And that's because the BGE is a very forgiving device...Have fun!

Eddiemac

Little Steven

NTL,

I find brand new eggs tend to get a little hotter than they do once they are used for awhile. Air flow wise, everything is about perfect with a new one. Things start to get coated with stuff and you end up needing to open the vents a bit.

Steve