Temp rising during low and slow way to much

seadub · November 2012

First time using the Egg last night for a Pork Butt. Got the fire going and messed with the temp for about 2 hours before putting on the 8lb Butt. Once the butt when on I had the temp pegged at 250. But went on at 9pm. at 12:30am the temp was 270 which I figured would be perfect for me to get some sleep and it might drop somewhere between 225 and 250 over the course of the night. I woke up at 4am and checked on the temp and the smoke was pouring out, temp was 350? I stuck a thermometer in and internal temp was 206 which pissed me off. I was hoping for a 12hr smoke instead it was 7 hours. What did I do wrong?

The bottom vent was open maybe 11/4 inch and the top was just barely cracked. I'm talking barely. Why is my temp so high? Also, when I shut the top and bottom vent completely it took the egg 30-45 mins to start dropping temp at all.

Thanks guys

JwgreDeux · November 2012

My egg always take a similar amount of time to drop in temp once it is shut down.

As far as your temp climbing, the first think that comes to my mind is wind. Was there any wind blowing into the vent. If so that could cause the temp to rise as you described.

Village Idiot · November 2012

I had the same problem.

I knew my gasket was blown, but also realized that my dome was out of registration with the base. So, I replaced the gasket and reregistered the dome. Problem solved. Apparently, air was being allowed through the gap which raised the temperature. I'm not saying that is your problem but it is something to check.

EDIT: Yep, after rereading you post and the comments, I agree the bottom vent was open too much. it still troubles me though that the temperature seemed stabilized but then increased later.

Skiddymarker · November 2012

Did I read it right that the bottom vent was open 1-1/4 inches?

If so, there was maybe too much air coming in the lower vent, depending on the gasket condition and how well the top fits.

For a low and slow, my lower vent is open maybe 1/4" (1/2" maximum) the top is almost closed, maybe 1/8" on the daisies.

A suggestion I found on the forum was to do a low and slow over the course of a day. Once I had a couple of successful cooks under my belt, the overnighter was easy and predictable.

Wind can be an issue, if you have a table , position your egg accordingly.

Mighty_Quinn · November 2012

1 1/4" vent opening seems high to me for 250. For me to hold that temp, top and bottom vents are barely open...like less than 1/8" bottom and petals just cracked on DW.

gdenby · November 2012

Your temp was too high because the bottom vent was open too far. During long cooks, the bottom vent may be open only 1/16", rarely more than 1/8" for a dome of 250.

Once the Egg ceramics are heated, it can take a very long time to shed the heat. 20 minutes if the over-temp is caught quick enough. But I've had close to 1.5 hours to drop from 300 to 250.

The Egg temperature has inertia and momentum. It can take long time to bring it up to temp, and an even longer time to bring it down.

nolaegghead · November 2012

1 1/4" is too much for 250. 11/4" is 2.75", way too open. Don't know which it was, but you CAN control the temp with one vent. If you control using the top vent, and have the bottom vent open fairly wide, you can have the more susceptibility to wind than if you have both of them set in about the correct range.

U_tarded · November 2012

Here is what I found when I first started its a great visual guide of where to be. Not exact due to external conditions altitude etc but its a good starting point.

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/746823/x/p1

lousubcap · November 2012

In addition to the air flow mentioned by the above posts (and air-flow is the temperature driver) if I read your post right-you put the butt at 9 PM with temp at 250*F. 2 1/2 hours later the temp was 270*F-if you changed nothing then you were seeing a 20*F rise every two+ hrs-so the trend continued as you were not in equilibrium. Thus the 350*F dome around 4 AM. Realize a 1/4 *F /min temp change is 15*F/hour. It adds up.

seadub · November 2012

I checked the gasket as this is a new egg and everything looks fine there. also, there was no wind what so ever. i have my egg on a concrete enclosed balcony and monitored the wind.

From what I am reading I had the bottom vent open to much. Thanks for all the input, I am used to my old smoker and I have to have the bottom open a lot more. I was thinking 1 1/2 was barely open. I guess not.

Thanks again, cheers!

SmokinDAWG82 · November 2012

I cooked at Turkey last night with plate setter in at 325 and I only had the bottom open a 1/2 inch

Little Steven · November 2012

I have chicken legs on right now at 250* and the lower vent is open the thickness of a dime. Daisy is 1/8th of a petal open.

CPARKTX · November 2012

Based on what I'm reading here and the link #Utarded posted, I'm cooking with the lower vent open too much (about 1"). I'm wondering if my startup procedure isn't right. How soon after you light the fire do you close the lid and what is the initial position of the lower vent? Can someone give me their detailed routine?

lousubcap · November 2012

CPARKTX said:

Based on what I'm reading here and the link #Utarded posted, I'm cooking with the lower vent open too much (about 1"). I'm wondering if my startup procedure isn't right. How soon after you light the fire do you close the lid and what is the initial position of the lower vent? Can someone give me their detailed routine?

Not so much detailed routine-but if you can control your temperature (bottom vent and DFMT combo) then don't worry about how you get there since air flow thru the lump is the controller of temperature and measured on the dome thermo for all BGE's. There are about as many ways to fire up the BGE as there are BGE owners. For info-low&slow I light in one spot around bottom center and get about a softball sized amount of lump going (dome and lower vent open at this point) then shut the dome, put on DFMT and close lower vent to around the settings that will give me the final +/- 20*F temp. Usually dome gets shut around 10 minutes after lighting but that will vary. Type of lump, the way you load it and the current weather (wind) can impact the whole thing. FWIW-

jfm0830 · November 2012

I just made some Barbecued Lamb Shanks last night at 250° and it seems like your bottom vent was open way too much. Mine settled in at 3/8 of an inch opening for the bottom vents and just a sliver for the DW. The apparent stabilization at 250 followed by a rise can easily be explained by putting cold food in the Egg. The Egg probably wasn't stabilized and wanted to rise but it had to overcome the thermal inertia of the food that was just put on.

Skiddymarker · November 2012

@CPARKTX, I asked a similar question and the info provided worked for me. Once the lump has fired, bottom vent full open, DFMT off, close the dome. The egg is now a very expensive charcoal starting chimney. It will roar to life within minutes. Let the temp get to between 400 and 500 on the dome thermo. There is no way the temp is actually 400-500. The flames are basically licking the dome thermo probe. Put your hand on the dome, it is still cold.

Once the temp is at 400-500, shut down the lower vent to about 1/2 open, open the lid, drop in the plate setter and your set-up, drip pan grid and Maverick pit probe.

Close the lid shut the bottom vent to about 1/2 inch or so, drop on the DFMT open maybe 1/2 way. Within ten minutes or so the temp will drop significantly and the smoke will clear, now fine tune for your egg. My MBGE likes 1/8" on the DFMT and about 1/4" on the lower vent for the first hour to maintain 250-275 grid. After that, I close the lower to 1/8". After an hour put your hand on the dome, it is warm.

Some folks put the set up in early, and let the whole thing come up to heat together - both work, I just find the method explained above works best for me.

probe1957 · November 2012

The first red flag I see in your method is that you spent 2 hours stabilizing the temperature. It just doesn't take that long and certainly not with nothing in the Egg except hot air. The second red flag has already been mentioned -- your bottom vent was open way too far. The third red flag has already been mentioned too -- your temp went from 250 to 270 degrees in a matter of 3-1/2 hours and you went to bed thinking the temperature was stabilized when it clearly wasn't.

Don't be too hard on yourself though. You learned a lot from this cook.

Personally, I am one of the types Skiddymarker mentioned when he says, "Some folks put the set up in early, and let the whole thing come up to heat together..." Specifically, I will get my fire going good, then I will add any wood chunks, plate setter, drip pan...whatever. I will then put on my meat and close the vents down to where experience has shown me they will need to be to maintain the desired temp. In the case of 250 degrees, the bottom vent would be open maybe 1/4 inch and the daisy wheel practically closed. I should mention my gasket has been history for years. The temperature will of course drop immediately after doing all this stuff and I will make any fine adjustments as the temp starts to climb.

njl · November 2012

It's pretty basic. If the egg is running too hot, you're giving it too much air flow (too much O2 for the fire).

Keep in mind, when you put a big hunk of cold meat in the egg, the internal temp is going to drop. If you mess around with the vents trying to immediately get the temp back up, you're going to overshoot and once the meat stops reducing the egg's internal temp, your temp is going to spike.

jfm0830 · November 2012

I like to keep things pretty simple. For temperature of 250 I light three paraffin starters. I have the bottom vent wide-open and the lid up for about five minutes, which is about the midway point in the burn of the paraffin starters. After five minutes I put in the platesetter, my drip pan, and my stainless steel grate. Before putting in the platesetter, I'll put in one or two wood chunks (if using) positioning them just beyond the paraffin starter. I close the lid keeping the bottom vent wide open and I put on the daisy wheel metal cap which is fully open as well.

After about five minutes the paraffin starters are finished burning and the temps have started to rise. When I get to about 225 (25 degrees lower than my target temperature) I shut the vents down to the position I know works for 250. And that is: bottom vent 1/4" - 3/8" open and the daisywheel open just a crack. The temperature usually coasts up to, and settles in at 250. And within five minutes after that I'm usually stabilized and the smoke has cleared up. This is with WGWW charcoal and your mileage and charcoal may vary. Once I add the cold food, I usually just leave the vents set in the position I know works for that temperature, and keep an eye on it every five minutes or so to start. Just to make sure it settles in where I want. The key is having the Egg stabilized before you at the cold food.

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Temp rising during low and slow way to much

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