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Preparing for a low and slow

Rglover
Rglover Posts: 4
edited December 2011 in Root
New here and to the Egg just got a large for Christmas from my wife and girls. I have wanted a BGE for years. I appreciate all of the hints I have received just from lurking around. I amgetting ready to do the first low and slow Boston Butt for New Years day. I have a couple of questions.

I know that I should start with a clean fire box and add large chunks first. My question is when I start the fire do I let all of the charcoal get going or just start the center and let it burn out from there as time passes. My fear about that is that the heavy black smoke will give the meat a bad taste as new charcoal lights and burns. I plan to use hickory chips for smoke flavor but I am concerned that the smoke flavor of the BGE charcoal may be to heavy.

Please tell me I am over thinking and if my ideas are correct.

Thanks in advance for the help and hopefully I will be of help one day too.

Comments

  • onedbguru
    onedbguru Posts: 1,647
    I have an XL ---  use lump - not briquettes.. for low and slow I light 1/2 a weber (sorry) chimney starter, get it red, dump it in the middle and add enough additional lump to do whatever cook I am doing, close down the damper and the daisywheel to barely open and let'er rip...   I also sprinkle some mesquite or hickory or apple wood chips(depending on steaks, butts  ribs or brisket) in there to add additional flavor..   For steaks, I use a full chimney get it hot,  dump it in and it is usually enough to cook a couple of steaks for dinner.
  • New here and to the Egg just got a large for Christmas from my wife and girls. I have wanted a BGE for years. I appreciate all of the hints I have received just from lurking around. I amgetting ready to do the first low and slow Boston Butt for New Years day. I have a couple of questions. I know that I should start with a clean fire box and add large chunks first. My question is when I start the fire do I let all of the charcoal get going or just start the center and let it burn out from there as time passes. My fear about that is that the heavy black smoke will give the meat a bad taste as new charcoal lights and burns. I plan to use hickory chips for smoke flavor but I am concerned that the smoke flavor of the BGE charcoal may be to heavy. Please tell me I am over thinking and if my ideas are correct. Thanks in advance for the help and hopefully I will be of help one day too.

    Yes you are over thinking it. You won't have enough buildup to worry about the used lump. Just give it a stir and get the ash to fall through the grate. Fill the lump to at least halfway up the fire ring. It doesn't hurt to put the large pieces of lump in the bottom. Get your egg stabilised at 250* for about an hour and make sure the smoke is thin, blue or clear. Don't add a lot of wood because a little goes a long way. Don't try and correct the temp when you put the meat on. The dome temp will drop. Wait for it to come back to 250* and watch for a while. Your lower damper will be open only the width of a credit card.

     

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • There will not be any black smoke as the lump burns .   once you get it started, it will burn for a long time.

     

    you should start it up with a full load and findout how to contro the tem to 250. then bring it up to 300 then 350.  play with it. let it burn without cooking any food,  then bring it up to 350 or 375 and put on a chicken,  whole, pieces, splatchcock, beer can.  direct, indirect, any wayy you want, cook it for and hour and some. take it off and shut down the grill.  or save the chicke for a othr day and put on a couple of burgers, cook like you always did on the gasser.  you will feel real good about owning the egg.

     

    play with it and find out how it works.

     

     

    you will be a lot for comfortable when you do the butt.

     

     

    XL   Walled Lake, MI

  • I was finally approved to be able to comment so I want to say thank you for the replies. I am about 4.5 hours in to the cook right now and I can't believe how easy it's been so far. The temp has held very good so far.

    Happy New New! I hope every one stays safe tonight and has a blessed and prosporous 2012!
  • Mighty_Quinn
    Mighty_Quinn Posts: 1,878

    There will not be any black smoke as the lump burns .   once you get it started, it will burn for a long time.

     

    you should start it up with a full load and findout how to contro the tem to 250. then bring it up to 300 then 350.  play with it. let it burn without cooking any food,  then bring it up to 350 or 375 and put on a chicken,  whole, pieces, splatchcock, beer can.  direct, indirect, any wayy you want, cook it for and hour and some. take it off and shut down the grill.  or save the chicke for a othr day and put on a couple of burgers, cook like you always did on the gasser.  you will feel real good about owning the egg.

     

    play with it and find out how it works.

     

     

    you will be a lot for comfortable when you do the butt.

     

     

    I just got my large Egg the other day, and this is exactly the first time start-up advice I was looking for!


  • My butt turned out great. I was surprised though at how quick it cooked compared to what others had stated for an 8lb. butt so this evening I calibrated my thermometer. It was off by about 80 degrees. I actually cooked it at about 330 degrees. I still cooked to the 195 internal temp so like I said it was still really good but it makes me wonder how good it would have been at 250 degrees.

    If any new people read this I would definitely suggest you calibrate the thermometer before cooking!

    Thanks again to everyone.
  • I've done three briskets the past 3 wks. My last two I did pretty much like everything you are planning to do. except I used my electric starter pretty superfical in the middle of a full load of lump. Once the fire got going pretty good I then put my large chunk of pecan wood right on the fire and another off to the side so it would hopefully get going later in the cook. I then watched the temp rise and put my brisket on as the temp neared 200-210 degrees. As the temp started to rise again after the initial drop from placing the fresh out of the fridge brisket I started to close the bottom vent and as the temp got close to my desired number I used the daisy wheel to fine tune totally eliminating me from over shooting the temp. I all so sprinkled in some hickory chips when I first started putting the lump in. I don't worry about making sure all the lump is started before I put the meat on and anymore I don't stabilize the temp for very long. Over the past 6 years of cooking on my BGE I have made most all the mistakes you can make and have found a system that works for me. Good luck and most of all enjoy!    
  • SteveWPBFL
    SteveWPBFL Posts: 1,327
    Don't dump your charcoal into the BGE directly from the bag, especially an off brand where you might get a lot of dust that will plug up some of your air holes (ask me how I know).