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First smoke was 10 lb butt, I lost the fire late. Where did I go wrong?

My wife surprised me with a BGE last week and I couldn't wait to use it. I picked up 20 lb of butt, threw together a make shift indirect setup, and gave it a go. What happened was surprising and well....... Surprising. I started up the grill, honed in on 250 F, and started the cook at ~4:00 PM. I was really surprised at how easy it was to adjust for my target temp. It took very little tinkering, maybe I got lucky. After watching my football team get smashed, I called it a night at about 12, and that's when things started to get weird. Woke up at 3 to my Maverick alerting me of the temp getting low. I chased the temp all night until my body quit on me. Woke up at 7 to find I had lost the fire, the meat at 185 F and the Egg at 160. Crap... So I foiled it, threw it in the oven to let it finish to 195 F, and let it rest for a few hours. I thought it was toast but it turned out fantastic. Really moist, it had great bark, and the family loved it. Why did my temps get so wacky at night? Is there anything I can do to improve temp consistency? How long can you expect to cook low and slow filled with lump? Thanks for the help. - Chris

Comments

  • Tjcoley
    Tjcoley Posts: 3,551
    Glad it turned out good. Welcome. That white Egg looks nice, but it won't look like that for long. When your temp dropped, was there any lump left? For an overnight, I usually fill to the top of the fire ring, not just the fire box. If it was stable temp for 10 hours, then dropped, you may have run out of fuel.
    __________________________________________
    It's not a science, it's an art. And it's flawed.
    - Camp Hill, PA
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    You ran out of fuel by the looks of your lump level.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • NPHuskerFL
    NPHuskerFL Posts: 17,629
    Welcome. Long L&S clean fire box, clean fire grate and large pieces of lump at the bottom will help and load it up to near level with the top of the fire ring. Light at the top toward the center. Airflow is essential on a L&S.
    LBGE 2013 & MM 2014
    Die Hard HUSKER & BRONCO FAN
    Flying Low & Slow in "Da Burg" FL
  • NPHuskerFL
    NPHuskerFL Posts: 17,629
    edited October 2014
    Edit: pic above suggesting to me you had lump stacked to just below the fire box. Load that bad boy up near level to the top of the fire ring.

    Yours
    image

    Mine
    imageimage

    Mine after running 225℉-240℉ roughly 17 hrs. Plenty of fuel left on my LBGE. image
    LBGE 2013 & MM 2014
    Die Hard HUSKER & BRONCO FAN
    Flying Low & Slow in "Da Burg" FL
  • Thanks for the feedback. I figured I might have not loaded it up enough. However, at then end of the cook there was some lump left. Enough to cover the bottom plate. Just to be clear, you can load the lump to the top of the fire ring?
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    Yes. Sometimes it touches the plate setter when I'm done loading it.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • Edit: pic above suggesting to me you had lump stacked to just below the fire box. Load that bad boy up near level to the top of the fire ring.

    Welp, there was one of my problems. Not sure why but I was under the impression that it should be filled to the top of the box.
  • stemc33
    stemc33 Posts: 3,567
    Welcome to the forum. +1 on fuel. How much was left in the morning?
    Steven
    Mini Max with Woo stone combo, LBGE, iGrill 2, Plate Setter, 
    two cotton pot holders to handle PS
    Banner, Wyoming
  • NPHuskerFL
    NPHuskerFL Posts: 17,629



    Edit: pic above suggesting to me you had lump stacked to just below the fire box. Load that bad boy up near level to the top of the fire ring.




    Welp, there was one of my problems. Not sure why but I was under the impression that it should be filled to the top of the box.

    That's what they tell nubes at a LOT of dealers and I guess under normal circumstances it would be fine. But, on a LONG L&S that dog don't hunt. ;-)
    LBGE 2013 & MM 2014
    Die Hard HUSKER & BRONCO FAN
    Flying Low & Slow in "Da Burg" FL
  • stemc33 said:
    Welcome to the forum. +1 on fuel. How much was left in the morning?

    A little hard for me to quantify, but it was enough to cover the bottom fire box plate.
  • SGH
    SGH Posts: 28,791
    @CarbonCrew‌
    Welcome brother. Looking at your picture it's clear that you was way low on lump. Don't be afraid to load that baby up. Just something that I have noticed that I would like to share here for future reference. On my large when it starts getting down to the last little bit of lump the temperature will usually spike considerably. Why? My guesstimate is due to more air flow and less restriction or back pressure if you will as the mass of lump is reduced. I find it far better to load a lot of lump for my long slow cooks so this unwanted temp spike can be avoided. Also when you get real low of lump the lump is no longer well intertwined. This can cause sporadic combustion due to lack of good contact. Just something I wanted to share my friend. Again welcome aboard and fill that egg up with lump!!

    Location- Just "this side" of Biloxi, Ms.

    Status- Standing by.

    The greatest barrier against all wisdom, the stronghold against knowledge itself, is the single thought, in ones mind, that they already have it all figured out. 

  • yzzi
    yzzi Posts: 1,843
    I agree on the consensus you were low on lump, but I want to congratulate you on nailing the temp control on your first shot! Of course there's the possibility that you got lucky ;)

    There's many ways to light the egg but when doing a low and slow it's all about creeping up to your target temp and not getting your lump all lit and come down to your temp. Start a small fire, come up to your temp (with the indirect makeshift in the egg to heat up as well), and let it settle for a good half hour to an hour before putting meat in. When your all settled then you can feel guaranteed that when you open the egg and put your cold meat in and see the temp drop that if you keep your vent settings exact that the egg will EVENTUALLY come back to your target temp with no needed vent adjustments. It's so tempting to open the egg and see the temp drop and adjust your vents to get it back. Don't. You'll be chasing the temp all through the rest of the cook.

    Check out high que grates as well!
    Dunedin, FL
  • pgprescott
    pgprescott Posts: 14,544
    I would have put in more lump, however you had plenty. I am an advocate of pit controllers for overnighters. There are many variables that can cause the fire to go out or fluctuate. The controllers remove these issues. If you already have a remote Maverick, I suggest a Party-Q controller to pair with it and you will sleep like a babe. The party-q is reasonably priced compared to some of the more sophisticated units.
  • mokadir
    mokadir Posts: 115
    The other thing that happens is that ash often falls over time and block the openings in the bottom grate and restricts air flow and temps drop. Before I changed mine, I used to use a wire hanger to clean them out periodically during long cooks.
    Delaware Valley, PA Large BGE, CGS adjustable rig, iQue110, High-Que grate
  • yzzi
    yzzi Posts: 1,843
    mokadir said:

    The other thing that happens is that ash often falls over time and block the openings in the bottom grate and restricts air flow and temps drop. Before I changed mine, I used to use a wire hanger to clean them out periodically during long cooks.

    That's exactly why I recommend a high que grate or something similar. For $20-30 it means probably getting plenty of sleep on an overnighter.
    Dunedin, FL
  • Wolfpack
    Wolfpack Posts: 3,551
    Another way to keep fire going would be to run a little hotter- or do mickeys turbo and you can get plenty of sleep.
    Greensboro, NC