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4 Butt Lo & Slo...

MemphisBBQ
MemphisBBQ Posts: 92
edited July 2012 in EggHead Forum
So I am selling butts here at St. Jude for charity. I went to my local meat market and bought 3 seven pounders and a 4 pounder for myself. 
I set everything up as usual and started with the 3 larger ones. After getting the temp up to about 275, I put them on and then I battled the egg for about 5-6 hours to keep the temp up. For the first 4 hours it wanted to stay at 250, no matter what I did. I would bring it up to 275...within 15 minutes it was back to 250. I just let it ride there until I noticed it was falling. It then became a fight to keep it at 225. 
"Something is not right", I think to myself. So at about 1030pm I pull everything off to see the firebox is almost empty. I filled her back up, put everything back on and put the 4th on. 

I dialed the temp back in and went to bed. I was laying there telling myself to trust the egg but still wondering what the deal was.

How on earth did I burn thru that much lump in 6 hours?? Was it the large load of meat absorbing all the heat? Did it get too hot and simply burn off? The dome temp never went about 275. I am no expert in thermodynamics, but dang! 

Anyway, I woke up at 0530 to find everything perfect. Wrapped the butts up, put them in a cooler and went back to bed. All is well, but I gotta figure out how to not burn so much lump! 

Comments

  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,170
    edited July 2012
    You didn't mention how much lump you started with.  For long duration low&slows I give the BGE a thorough cleaning then load lump well into the fire ring (LBGE).  Always have plenty left even after 20+ hour cooks.  As you mention, once you have the lump burning, it's all about air flow to sustain the fire volume for the desired temperature. One other thing, check the calibration of your dome thermo-that's the one indication all BGE's have.
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • dweebs0r
    dweebs0r Posts: 539
    Where are the pictures, Dusty?  I attached the one you sent last night.


       -Jody Newell (LBGE & a 36" Blackstone griddle).
    Location:  🍺🍺  The back porch, Munford, TN.  🍺🍺
  • MemphisBBQ
    MemphisBBQ Posts: 92
    Ha, thanks man. I was going to get around to it eventually. 
    Lousubcap...I just filled the box. Looks like I should have gone up to the ring. This is the second time I have burned up a load of lump. Every other time, like you, I have had PLENTY left over. Those other times were on my father-in-law's LBGE which is VERY seasoned. Mine is only a couple months old. I wonder if that has anything to do with it? 
  • MemphisBBQ
    MemphisBBQ Posts: 92
    And I will be checking that calibration ASAP.
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,170
    I've never heard of the seasoning impacting the lump consumption and can't think of why. A phrase that I keep in the back of my mind when loading lump "you can never load too much lump".  To the extremes I guess you could but it's the quantity of lump burning that drives the temp. But check that thermo.  FWIW-sounds like you have it figured out.
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • MemphisBBQ
    MemphisBBQ Posts: 92
    Yeah, it was a learning experience for sure. 
    Thanks for the thoughts!