The Chicken

BeerBQ

Made "The Chicken" and turned out pretty good. I'm still having issues controlling temp. Since this was only my 5th cook, I hope it will come with time. Any suggestions for bringing egg up to temp and holding? I had platesetter in from beginning. Took several minutes just to get above 300. When I get close to 350 I have to hang around the egg and open and close top to keep temp. I was really hoping I could walk away from the egg at some point, but not yet. I start with the bottom vent wide open and adjust the top only. I also put the platesetter in from the start. Seems to take just as long to bring to temp as it does to cook.

Side note: Can someone explain the purpose of the green top for the egg. It rained heavy while cooking and I thought it was more or less a rain shield. I put it on and it completely shutoff the top????

Stanley

The purpose of the cap IS to completely snuff your fire (when you are done cooking). Can be used as a rain cap on top of the DFMT, but then you risk throwing it off if you forget and open the lid. Better to get a sheet metal vent hood as many have posted.

Dawg Gone Egghead

Still looks good. Someone here would know better than me but any chance your lump got wet at some point? I know that has hindered me in the past and caused me to change how I store my lump charcoal.

Buckdodger

BeerBQ...are you making sure your vent holes in the bottom of the fire box are clear? Also when I start my egg up I use 3 starters in a triangle in the lump and I leave the bottom vent open all the way and the top open until I see that the lump is lit well. Close the lid put on the daisey wheel about half open and start closing the bottom vent as you near your cooking temp.I use the bottom vent to control the temp. This works for me.
Bob
Alex City, Al

BTW the cook looks good to me.

Klag

I find when doing a hot fast cook, it's easier to put in a few pieces of lump, then the starter pieces, light the fire and pile more lump slowly on the flame with out snuffng it out. Once the fire is going good I'll put in the plate setter and close the bottom vent some. Takes just a few minutes to be off the temp scale with flames shooting out the top vent.

On a long slow cook, I'll load up with lump, light the top, put in plate setter and let it slowly come up to temp (30 min or so).

Here is a picture of my $8.00 rain protector from Home Depot. Fits right over the daisy wheel.

Gunnar

I have the recipe from an earlier post but haven't made it yet. The families like for heat varies...how hot would rate these?

Fidel

It's really not that hot. More of a vinegar flavor that outright heat.

East Cobb Eggy

Yes, the Green Cap is sometimes called the "raincap".

However, it is only used when you are not cooking on the EGG.

Also, you should note that the main control of your temp should be done with the bottom vent.

The top vent or daisy wheel should only be used for minor adjustments in temperature.

Greg

Grandpas Grub

BeerBQ,

Some interesting posts with lighting the lump expressed here.

Hopefully the following will be helpful to you and some of the newer eggers. Sorry this isn’t short, there is just a lot to cover. (Greg has the short version).

It seems a lot of folks are leaving the bottom vent open or fairly wide open then adjusting their temp via the DFMT (top vent).

I don't follow that method of controlling the temp. If the DFMT isn't positioned correctly, every time the dome is opened the slider and petals will change. Not paying attention to the possible change will always result in the egg changing temps.

I use the bottom for the course adjustment and the top vent for the fine adjustment say 20°.

When using starter cubes, gel or paper towel/oil (liquid cooking oil or olive oil) the temp will quickly rise, which is due to the heat generated from the accelerant or in the case of the paper towel/oil the oil. These initial temp spikes are not a stabilized state of the lump.

You will see the temp drop as these ‘starters’ burn down the dome temp will now decline. Leave the vents open at this point. You will see the dome slowly lower to some point and stall, then a slow climb. We will come back to this point shortly, but for now a side note…

If one doesn’t touch the dampers the egg will climb slowly for a while. When the heat from the lump gets to a point where it will flame, the dome temp will then spike. It isn’t unusual to get a 200° - 300° or more rise in temp is within a very few minutes, and a good reason not to leave the egg alone initially.

Digressing… at this point the dome temp is slowly rising. When you approach your target temp begin to close the bottom vent and put the DFMT on the dome.

From experience that if I want 275° or lower, I know to close the bottom vent to about 1/8” open (thickness of a credit card). The top vent, slider closed petals open 1/3. The dome temp will settle to 250° - 275°.

If I want 350°-425° I will generally use the above bottom setting maybe a little wider. The slider will be 1/8” open and the petals ½ open.

Above 450° will depend on the lump, old or new, small or large pieces. I will start with the bottom vent about 1/4 “ open and at times it may have to be ½ open or more. Generally I don’t even put the DFMT on if I am taking the egg above 500°.

A word of caution, if I find I have to open the bottom vent ½ the way or more, I do not leave the egg even for 2 minutes. Should the lump move or burn enough and a better air flow gets to the lump, the egg will go nuclear within a minute or two.

A couple of last things…

Depending on what you use to light the egg you will at first get a white smoke (if you use napkin – paper towel/oil you will first see a black sooty smoke then white) that smoke will thin out and turn to a clear or bluish/clear. If you have chips or chunks in with the lump or in the lump from a previous burn that white smoke may just be from the wood.

Lower temps the wood chips/chunks will not smoke as much. As the temp goes higher wood chips/chunks will begin to smoke and continued upwards temps they will smoke even more until the mixture in the firebox gets to a flash point. Then the vent will look like the back of a jet engine and there will be no smoke.

Make sure your egg is stable, that is it holds temp at your vent settings – 15 to 20 minutes will generally be enough time to tell.

After the egg is stable, a\At any temp. above approximately 350°, the higher the temp the more likely, if you have moderate to heavy smoke coming out of the dome you will most likely experience flashback when opening the dome. However, don’t be fooled, flashback may occur even if there is little or no smoke coming out of the dome.

Visit The Naked Whiz Web site nakedwhiz.com There is a lot of information and pictures on how to place the DFMT on the egg, flashback (very important), burping the egg, venting the egg and a host of other helpful and important information.

Lighting – probably should have been at the top, never the less, if I am using starter cubes or paper towel/oil (cooking oil or olive oil), I usually use 3 pieces placed out towards the egg wall. If using propane/MAPP 4 or 5 spots, one dead center, weed burner – all over (it just happens that way).

All this temp stuff seems intimidating at first but it really is just a walk in the park.

Good Eggin,
GG

skihorn

Grandpa's Grub: NO need to apologize for the length. That was VERY informative. I have done 6 or 7 cooks and have gotten pretty good with temps, but you still taught me a lot!

BeerBQ

Thanks to all those who replied! I will use some of the tips and tricks on my next cook.