Little Steven - XL airflow observations

Beanie-Bean

Steve,

After inpecting the lump (and ash) in the XL this morning, I've now figured out what the temp control problem was: ash buildup

Had problems getting the cooker back up to temp after dropping in some andouille and kielbasa, so I went in with my coat hanger wiggel stick and cleared out some holes to provide some airflow. Guess what? That was it! Lesson learned was that even with the DigiQ, I still need to remove the blower and get up in the grate to get the ash knocked out of there. Pretty bad in my case, too--I used Royal Oak instead of Ozark Oak for this run (more ash production in my observations...) and the holes are much smaller than the cast iron grate on the LBGE or SBGEs that I also cook on.

I'll snap some pics to show you later today. Just surprised at how much ash there was left over in the firebox.

Additionally, here was the configuration for the indirect cook I did this weekend for the pork butts, starting from the bottom:

Firebox w/cast iron grate
Plate setter
Fire ring
Drip pan
Porcelain grid

A full size tray fit perfectly in the gap between the grid and the ring, and it floated a bit above the plate setter, so it never got too hot to scorch the drippings.

I'll keep tweaking this setup to figure out how to do periodic maintenance during long cooks like the 17+ hour cook I did to break in the XL.

Little Steven

Mike,

Thanks again. I don't ever remember having a problem with my old XL. Might be the lump. I am really not liking RO lately. I think they are using the prime stuff for co-packing.

Steve

Chef Boyaree

Is putting the platesetter under the fire ring a method others have used? Sounds like a great idea as i find it a pain to get all the pans in place to catch drippings when I put ribs on along w/ pulled pork, which I do frequently. Seems like this would allow for a lot more room on the grid...

Celtic Wolf

It's not really designed to go there, but it will give you the most space for a drip pan.

I usually stabilize my plate setter with the BGE ceramic feet as well. It gives me just enough space between the plate setter and the lump to allow air to circulate.