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Butt direct vs indirect?
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Pastor Mike
Posts: 9
I've always cooked butts indirect but I need to cook a lot of meat. I can't get all the meat on the egg using the place setter. How does direct cooking at 200-225 compare to indirect cooking.
Comments
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Never tryed direct so can't awnser yo direct question but can show you how to put as much butt in the egg as possable.
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If you don't throw that dog a bite of that meat and that shoulder bone, I'm gonna call the ASPCA! :woohoo:
The cat in the background is paying pretty close attention, too. He is a dead ringer for one of ours. -
The direct radiant heat will be grilling the bottom of the meat for many hours. I doubt you'd like the results.
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Get a half height fire ring and a second grate. Rig some legs on the second grate (or buy an Adjustable Rig or Woo2 from TJV) and stack those butts deep!
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maybe start some of the meat to get the smoke flavor and then add a second batch to finish on the bge.
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You don't want the fat dripping on your fire once it gets started! It'll taste terrible.
Get a drip pan under it and stack the butts one atop the other and have your fire stabilized at at least 250º or they'll never finish. Once through the plateau you can jack the temp to 275º or 300º to finish them off but, they have to be through the plateau. -
fishless does ribs direct, but raised high up in the dome with very little lump. don't think he's done a butt or anything larger than ribs though.
if you go direct, your lump will be inches away from the bottom of the meat. charcoal burns at 1200. if your dome says 250, that's because there's so little 1200 degree lump burning, that the ambient temp is only 250.
so if you are direct, you'll basically be searing the bottom of the meat for the length of the cook. the fire won't be large, but you'll have a blackend burnt mess on the underside.
you should consider taking out the fire ring, and putting the platesetter on, legs up. the fire will be close to the platesetter, and you'll want to keep an eye on it. i did this once, i think it may have been a turkey, and i needed the room.ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante -
i rescently cooked a butt direct and it was fine (just wanted to prove to myself the silly notion that it wouldnt work was wrong), but cooking one or two is different than cooking 4 or 5 or more. there will just be too much grease. can you cook some ahead of time and reheat. the problem with a direct cook is that you cant put the meat too close to the lump or the burning fat smoke seems to stick to the meat, you need distance between the fire and meat and you just wont have that room for a lot of meat in there.
http://www.eggheadforum.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=507801&catid=1fukahwee maineyou can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it -
i should add you dont need a platesetter in there, a pizza stone or even just a pan will work, my setup for 30 plus pounds is a pizza stone and a shallow paella pan, depening on the fat on the butts you will need to drain that pan atleast once, and i would probably cut most of the fat off those butts anyways before cookingfukahwee maineyou can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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how high up? did you have to do it on the raised grid?
i have had ribs that poked over the platesetter, and by the end of the cook, they are burnt to a crisp. how much lump did you put in?
in my experience (not with a direct butt, admittedly), i've had exposed stuff burn (char). did you have more or less bark on the bottom? ...did you go fat down as a bit of insurance?ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante -
i used an adjustable rig and less lump than normal
http://www.eggheadforum.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=507801&catid=1
there wasnt much fat on this piece either, top looked like the bottom and would have less black if i tented it with foil, but that doesnt bother me much, you just have to keep temps below 225, less lump, raised as high as you canfukahwee maineyou can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it -
pretty interesting. i remeber it now.
i really would have put money on it being toast on the bottom.
i almost made it through the year without being wrong. at least i made it into november!
(kidding, i'm wrong all the time)ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante -
I've had the same experience with ribs cooking to a crisp (at 250) so I thought you were right too....then Dr Fishlessman steps out of his laboratory and proves otherwise.
go figure!
he's like our own "Mythbusters" -
fishless just does his own thing, man.
like a barbecue version of the-artist-formerly-and-now-again-named-Prince.
you should see his metallic purple motorcycle.ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante -
The dog is running free and the cat is in the doghouse?
I love it! -
When I used to do them direct, I would mop and flip them every 30 minutes. -RP
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there is this false idea that the egg has to be full of lump, for a direct rib cook you only need 2 to 3 inches of used lump to cook ribs for 6 to 7 hours, not much gets used at all
fukahwee maineyou can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it -
Thanks for all your replies; they were very helpful. I think I will cook my whole ham and a couple of butts today and try to get around thirty pounds or more on the egg tomorrow. This is my part of feeding lunch to 70 teachers. By the way I'm pulling a whole ham and adding it to the pulled pork for a little extra flavor. Anyone ever tried that?
Blessings
Michael -
if you can, get a pic of the pulled ham, ive seen alot of posts over the years that say it doesnt pull, thats another silly notion that needs squashing.fukahwee maineyou can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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You might try using a picnic shoulder, it has more of a ham taste.
My first low and slow......takes me back.....
I don't think I even used rub and it still came out great! -
The owner of the local BGE dealership (RD at Outdoor Home) favors direct low and slows, too. He says he's too lazy to use "all that stuff", but I think his real intent is to show potential Egg'ers that it isn't as complicated as some of us try to make it.
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he might be going for that bbq smell to attract customers as well, direct cooks just have a smell that fills the yard with bbq.fukahwee maineyou can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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I've pulled several hams and they turned out excellent. Most people have preferred the ham to the butt. Cooking ham low and slow seem to give the ham a distinct flavor, less hammy and more like a pork butt with a hint of ham; good meat texture and color too. Should have a pic by tommorrow some time.
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