My first Butt, help.

Rich · August 2005

I started my first butt ever last night, late. I was following Elder Wards "how to" recipe. It was nicely done. I had a little trouble regulating the temp upon start up. It would get too high then when i finally got it low enough the coals would go out. At about 1 am, i was ready to give up. Once i got the coals started again i thought i had it locked on 200 but i came out 20 minutes later and the meat was cooking at 420. At that point i shut the vents Almost completely and went to bed. I woke up at 6am to check and see if the fire had went out and I was surprised to see that it had dropped to 200 and is holding steady. It is now almost 11am. That is good news. I have not opened the lid. Anybody out there have ANY ideas or tips for me? I sure hope so. I LOVE MY EGG! You guys are great and very helpful, Thanks.
Rich

TRex · August 2005

<p />Rich,[p]Sounds like maybe you were making big adjustments on your vent settings. If you started your fire evenly and have an even distribution of lump, and allow the temp to stabilize for at least an hour, I wouldn't expect to see any temp fluctuations more than 50 degrees unless it was a windy night or something. Give it another try - sometimes the lump is quirky and sometimes it's even-Steven.[p]Or, you could do what I did and go ahead and invest in a BBQ Guru and never worry about temperature control again. I got the simplest model, the Pit Minder, and it works flawlessly. For under $100 it's a small price to pay for that piece of mind when your head hits the pillow.[p]Just my 2 cents - best of luck![p]Cheers,[p]TRex
[ul][li]The BBQ Guru[/ul]

Mike in MN · August 2005

Rich,
Sounds good... and I say darn lucky. Before leaving the BGE to go night-night, it has to be stabilized and holding... unless you are using the Guru. The high temp you had in the beginning will not harm anything, at least not enough that anyone will notice. After you do a dozen of these, you will be able to pick out some differences, but your guests, volunteers, guinea pigs, will be happy no matter how many issues or problems you have getting to the final product... which is that internal temp of 195° to 200°.... after ???? hours at the low temp. 225° to 250° is my preferred range, whatever Mr. Egg is going to "set" at. I have found that the egg will "find" a temp in that range, and that's where it's going to be "happy." If you try to tinker with it, you will bump the temp up and down on a constant see saw, and you will not be a happy griller. So, if the egg wants to cook at 235°, then leave it... if it's 250°... same thing, leave it there.[p]I hope you have a probe in the meat, so you don't have to keep opening the dome and sticking a fork or a thermometer into the shoulder. Opening the dome is not the preferred choice until the meat temp is moving out of the plateau, and it is your choice to mop, or not to mop.[p]Mike in MN

TheHulk · August 2005

Rich,[p]If you aren't already doing so, make sure you check that internal meat temperature. I cooked 4 butts last night. Put on a 6 p.m. and took off at 9 a.m. this morning. All pieces were hitting 195 internal in 15 hours. I have in the cooler wrapped until I get ready to pull in just a bit.[p]I second TRex's suggestion about the Guru. I bought the Competitor and tried my first run with it last night. Oustanding! Sat at 225 all night and is still there right now. I'm getting ready to crank up the temp a little and throw on some wings.[p]Good luck with all....it gets easier and better every time.

Unknown · August 2005

TRex,
I noticed in the description of the PIT MINDER E TEMP that it says its good for small or medium sized smoker and ceramic grills. I have a large egg, you think it will work for my egg? It sounds like a GREAT invention! Thanks a lot!

TRex · August 2005

®ich,[p]Yeah, I think Grillmeister uses one on his Large Egg all the time - you might call the BBQ Guru folks and make sure.[p]TRex

Chicago Wine Geek · August 2005

Eggcredible Hulk,[p]I'm going to put together the Competitor tonight for my first butt. Pretty easy? Any tips?

My first Butt, help.

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