Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

First overnight cook

Reno
Reno Posts: 12
edited March 2012 in EggHead Forum
I'm going to do my first overnight cook Wednesday. I've looked at Naked Whiz and his instructions on how to make a fire. Makes sence to only use big pieces of lump for your fire. I'm cooking 4 boston butts on my XL BGE. I like to put a drip pan of apple sauce and i have some homemade rub that i use. Any suggestions on keeping the fire stable is much appreciated.

Comments

  •   I just bought my Lg Egg last week & the 1st cook was a whole chicken, the 2nd cook was a pork butt so I could have pulled pork for my wife who is a Carolina girl. I got the temp to 225-250. I put the 9 lb butt on at 12:30 that evening & went to be . I checked it at 6:00 & it was 225..................I kept it there for the entire time & pulled it when the internal temp was @ 205, it was juicy & pulled apart easily. I am amazed on how easy it is to cook on this egg. I have done split chicken, pork butt, pizza & ribs . I love that there is really no need to baby sit the fire & feed it coals as I did on my ole metal smoker.Good luck...........I would highly suggest using a thermometer to take the guess work out of it.
  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    There are a few things to do for an over-niter. Put lots of lump in, at least half way up the fire ring. Be sure the Egg holds a temperature of 250 dome (calibrate the thermometer, if you haven't) for about 45 minutes. Lo-n-slo flires are pretty small, and if the dome temp is under 225, they sometimes fail, and the Egg is cold before someone catches it. I usually put my food on about 2 hours before bed. That gives me time to see if the temperature comes back to where I want it, or adjust if not. The temperature will always drop when a big piece of cold meat is put in to cook. Sometimes the hunk(s) of meat can be big enough to slow the airflow, and drop the temperature.

    A remote thermometer system, like the Maverick ET-7, can give a lot of peace of mind. Its nice to crack open an eye in the middle of the night and see that the grill temperature is holding steady. I used one several years ago, but when it failed, now I just  get up once in the middle of the night. 4 out of 5 times, the dome temperature is within 10 degrees of 250.

    There is more of a chance, at least in my experience, that the temperature will creep up, instead of going down. If the dome doesn't go above 350, there is nothing to worry about other than how to hold the butt until time to serve. I've had a few fires that were around 300 when I checked in the middle of the night. It just meant that I needed to wrap the meat up in a cooler at 9 a.m. instead of 3 pm.
  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273

    butts are pretty forgiving - I wouldnt worry about trying to maintain a temp below 250.   Keep it in the 250 to 280 range you are fine - like gdenby said, if it creeps up to 300, not the end of the world.

    Key is the clean out before you start - making sure there is clean air flow.

     

    Cookin in Texas
  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273

    after stable - your gonna wind up with bottom vent between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch opening.

     

    Cookin in Texas
  • XLentEGG
    XLentEGG Posts: 436

    after stable - your gonna wind up with bottom vent between 1/8 and 1/4 of an inch opening.

     

    And the wheel at about half a petal.
    More meat please !! :-)
  • paulheels
    paulheels Posts: 457
    @LSUTiger1226, you sir are a smart guy. Tho I must ask, which Carolina?
    thebearditspeaks.com. Go there. I write it.
  •   I just bought my Lg Egg last week & the 1st cook was a whole chicken, the 2nd cook was a pork butt so I could have pulled pork for my wife who is a Carolina girl. I got the temp to 225-250. I put the 9 lb butt on at 12:30 that evening & went to be . I checked it at 6:00 & it was 225..................I kept it there for the entire time & pulled it when the internal temp was @ 205, it was juicy & pulled apart easily. I am amazed on how easy it is to cook on this egg. I have done split chicken, pork butt, pizza & ribs . I love that there is really no need to baby sit the fire & feed it coals as I did on my ole metal smoker.Good luck...........I would highly suggest using a thermometer to take the guess work out of it.
  • Eastern North Carolina Paul......so it was the vinegar based sauce from Wilbur's BBQ in Goldsboro no ketchup. I make my own Cajun BBQ that I grew up with.....
  • Sorry posted the same comment twice
  • Your forgiven if ya show a pic
    LET'S EAT
  • Hi54putty
    Hi54putty Posts: 1,873
    Been to Wilbur's many times. Great spot.
    XL,L,S 
    Winston-Salem, NC 
  • Reno
    Reno Posts: 12
    I failed to mention I have a Maverick thermometer. I got it dialed in at 250 and has been going for about 2 hours. I am cooking 4 -10lb butts. By my math they should be ready to come off at 7 am tomorrow morning. Just in time for lunch. I work at a bank and we all love to cook. We're having our bank board meeting, so we take turns cooking for them. Excited to see how it turns out. Will post pictures.
  • Mike8it
    Mike8it Posts: 468
    Did your wife go to ECU? Ive been in eastern NC all my life and love it.
  • Reno
    Reno Posts: 12
    Sorry butts went fast and didn't get a picture. Everything went according to plan. I did have to use a "wiggle stick" to clear grate holes out before I went to bed. Thanks everyone for comments.