Stabilizing the egg

germanshorthair

Would appreciate some advice here.
Last night I started the egg for a Boston Butt cook.
Had a constant,stable (or so I thought)temp. of 250 for 3 hours.
So I went to bed.
Got up this AM and my fire had gone out?
Not enough air? Not enough coals lit?
How long does it take to stablize egg temp.? or how do you know its stabilized?[p]Thanks in advance.
Mark

The Naked Whiz

germanshorthair,
Tell us some more. Did you clean out the egg before starting? If you just added charcoal, did you stir the old charcoal to knock the ash and chips off? What kind of grate did you have beneath the charcoal? What approximately were your vent settings? [p]TNW

Unknown

The Naked Whiz,[p]Sorry whiz. Yes I cleaned out the egg,added new lump to the unused lump.
I also used an electric starter--as always.
The stumper to me is why would it hold 250 for 3 hours or longer before going out.
There was no small lump in vents--as I shoved it through.
Vent settings were approx 1/4 inch bottom and maybe 1/4 or so open on daisy wheel. ?????

GrillMeister

germanshorthair,[p]I recommend vacuming your egg out before any brisket or boston butt cook. Lots of ash accumulates between the firebox and the outer egg shell. I stick a vacume hose through the stainless door and it goes between the fire box and outer shell and you would be surprised at how much ash gets sucked up. I pull the firebox twice a year because there is ash at the very back that I cannot get to and it accumulates. All this will cut airflow.[p]Cheers,[p]GrillMeister

The Naked Whiz

Good Negotiator and follow-up traits.,
Well, you got me.... Sorry!
TNW

Grumpa

germanshorthair,[p]I have been there and done that!! The day after this happened to me I went and got me one of those remote thermometers. In my opinion you can't do a low n slow without one of these. When I cook a butt or brisket or whatever I notice that my temp drops during the night when the air gets cooler and dense. I go out once before I hit the rack around midnight or so and then I check on it around 3 or 4 am. After that I'll go back out when I wake up at 8am or so and everyhting is ticking along. I know I don't need to go out and check on it because the thermometer has a temp alarm but it makes me feel good to smell the aroma of the wood and meat that early in the morning.[p]I hand stack my lump in the Egg after I vacuum it out. I also start it and let it run for at least an hour before I put the meat on. I can't say why your fire went out but go get a remote thermometer, hand stack your lump and try it again. I'll bet you it works!![p]Good Egging!

germanshorthair

The Naked Whiz,[p]Sorry for the typo,uh my computer has this deal where it remembers words & phrases when you start to type it in.
What can I say, I got in a hurry.
Did'nt expect you to crack that one.[p]Thanks,
Mark