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raginrapids
raginrapids Posts: 19
in EggHead Forum
After trolling this site for years and watching many youtube videos in preparation, last week we finally got an egg! Decided to go with a spatchcocked chicken for the first cook.   I'm coming from a propane background....and wow what a difference the charcoal makes.  Used BGE brand lump, and I felt it was the perfect smokiness for the chicken.  

Overall it turned out well, but man I couldn't regulate the temp very well, I kept adjusting too much or too little.

Looking forward to many more cooks on the Egg!!!
Nashville, TN
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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,889
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    Welcome aboard! You sure nailed that one!
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
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  • NPHuskerFL
    NPHuskerFL Posts: 17,629
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    Welcome. Good looking Spatchcock. Small adjustments will cause large temp swings. When adjusting DFMT or lower vent make miniscule adjustment and allow enough time for the temp to adjust.  If you've been lurking you've seen the infamous "it's easier to catch the temp from the start vs chasing it later". Enjoy. 
    LBGE 2013 & MM 2014
    Die Hard HUSKER & BRONCO FAN
    Flying Low & Slow in "Da Burg" FL
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  • theyolksonyou
    theyolksonyou Posts: 18,458
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    Welcome. Try not chasing the temp so much, it's a vicious cycle. Don't worry about being off 20-30 or more degrees it really only affects time. Especially indirect cooks. You'll get it in no time. 
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  • SmokingPiney
    SmokingPiney Posts: 2,282
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    Congrats! Delicious looking spatchcock!
    South Jersey Pine Barrens. XL BGE , Assassin 24, Weber Kettle, CharBroil gasser, AMNPS 
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  • 500
    500 Posts: 3,177
    edited May 2015
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    Welcome aboard!  Lots of info here and lots of nice and nutty folks here willing to share info.  Couple tips that helped me transition from a gasser;
    It's easier to slowly creep up on the temp you want, rather than overshoot and try and bring it down, so slowly close those vents as the dome temp rises. 
    It take longer to get a low and slow fire going than a hot and fast one; stabilizing low temps takes awhile.  It's much easier to hit 275* - 325* than it is to try and keep it at 250*.  400* - 550* I can hit in less than 15 minutes.  Lots of other tips, so that 's a few that I hope help you out.  Before you know it, all of your clothes will smell like smoke.  Enjoy!
    I like my butt rubbed and my pork pulled.
    Member since 2009
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  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
    edited May 2015
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    The bird looks good ... but the egg looks too clean ... cook more!

    Your picture shows the grill several inches below the felt line with the plate setter in place.  How did you do that?  Or are your fire ring notches that deep.

    Washington, IL  >  Queen Creek, AZ ... Two large eggs and an adopted Mini Max

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  • raginrapids
    raginrapids Posts: 19
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    Thanks for the comments!  I definitely fell into chasing the temp trap.....will have to condition myself :) Maybe having a 2nd beer would have helped!
    Nashville, TN
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  • Spydermunky
    Spydermunky Posts: 75
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    Wait....  There's white inside these things?  ;)

    Welcome aboard.  You'll figure out the temp control soon enough, all it takes is a little practice...  And you get to eat after every practice!
    Large Green Egg

    Kansas City, KS
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  • blasting
    blasting Posts: 6,262
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    Welcome.
    Phoenix 
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  • raginrapids
    raginrapids Posts: 19
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    Jeepster47 said:
    The bird looks good ... but the egg looks too clean ... cook more!

    Your picture shows the grill several inches below the felt line with the plate setter in place.  How did you do that?  Or are your fire ring notches that deep.
    hmm, I'm not sure....just used it how it was set up.  I thought you had to use fire bricks or something else to raise the grid to that level.

    Will need to investigate this evening
    Nashville, TN
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  • Ladeback69
    Ladeback69 Posts: 4,482
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    Jeepster47 said:
    The bird looks good ... but the egg looks too clean ... cook more!

    Your picture shows the grill several inches below the felt line with the plate setter in place.  How did you do that?  Or are your fire ring notches that deep.
    Welcome to the fun raginrapids.

    It looks like his fire ring is not in to me.  Is that correct @raginrapids?  

    XL, WSM, Coleman Road Trip Gas Grill

    Kansas City, Mo.
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  • SoCalTim
    SoCalTim Posts: 2,158
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    Love the Spatch ... Welcome ~ You Are Now Home!
    I've slow smoked and eaten so much pork, I'm legally recognized as being part swine - Chatsworth Ca.
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  • raginrapids
    raginrapids Posts: 19
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    Ladeback69 said:

    Welcome to the fun raginrapids.

    It looks like his fire ring is not in to me.  Is that correct @raginrapids?  

    I believe it is.  It was set up by the dealer.....There are two seperate ceramic parts below the plate setter.  The bottom is the fire box and above that I believe is the fire ring (that has the notches for the platesetter, correct?).  

    Nashville, TN
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  • Nanook
    Nanook Posts: 846
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    Ladeback69 said:
    Jeepster47 said:
    The bird looks good ... but the egg looks too clean ... cook more!

    Your picture shows the grill several inches below the felt line with the plate setter in place.  How did you do that?  Or are your fire ring notches that deep.
    Welcome to the fun raginrapids.

    It looks like his fire ring is not in to me.  Is that correct @raginrapids?  

    Looks normal stock to me. To get to, or above the felt line, you need to use bolts, bricks, woo2 etc.
    GWN
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  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
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    Looks like you have a large egg.  In a large, the fire ring ... well at least mine is 4 5/8" tall.  With the plate setter out of the notches, the grill is just below the felt line.  Placing the plate setter In the notches lowers the grill 3/4~1 inch.  The angle on your picture probably is distorting the drop ... but, it sure looks like more than 1 inch ... maybe it's just the tolerance stack up.

    Washington, IL  >  Queen Creek, AZ ... Two large eggs and an adopted Mini Max

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  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,889
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    Jeepster47 said:
    Looks like you have a large egg.  In a large, the fire ring ... well at least mine is 4 5/8" tall.  With the plate setter out of the notches, the grill is just below the felt line.  Placing the plate setter In the notches lowers the grill 3/4~1 inch.  The angle on your picture probably is distorting the drop ... but, it sure looks like more than 1 inch ... maybe it's just the tolerance stack up.
    I agree Tom, I believe he doesn't have a fire ring in there. It reminds me of when I have removed my fire ring so I could shoehorn in a 25 pound turkey.
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
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  • SmokingPiney
    SmokingPiney Posts: 2,282
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    My new XL looks the same when the plate setter is set into the notches - fire ring installed.
    South Jersey Pine Barrens. XL BGE , Assassin 24, Weber Kettle, CharBroil gasser, AMNPS 
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  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
    edited May 2015
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    Welcome - nice Chicken, but the egg is far too clean - get busy and dirty it up. 
    IMO, the new versions of the fire ring has notches - the setter sits in them to give the height as shown, depth of the notch below the felt line. If the setter is not in the notches, the grid height will approach the felt line. This fire ring/setter arrangement allows two different heights, depending on wether the setter sits in the fire ring or on the fire ring. In the fire ring provides a little more room above the grid maybe for an extender and another layer of cooking grid.   For the chicken cook here, positioning the setter on the fire ring would put the chicken a little higher in the dome - IMO the better position. Indirect cooks, the higher in the dome the more the reflected dome heat.

    If you don’t mind some suggestions. Most eggs run a little hotter to the rear or hinge side so position your chicken feet to the hinge. Hotter for thighs and legs, cooler for breast. Make sure your temp probe is over one of the setter legs, in the shadow of the setter leg. Probes exposed to direct IR of burning lump will read too hot and as the lump burns have wild fluctuations in temp. Maybe that’s why you were chasing a fart in a wind storm trying to dial in your temps. Wrapping setter with foil is good, but it is better to have a drip pan raised off the setter with some foil balls or other spacers. The setter will get very hot and the drippings can burn, adding an acrid taste to your otherwise fine looking chicken. 

    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
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  • johnkitchens
    johnkitchens Posts: 5,227
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    Great looking chicken. You will figure out the the chasing temp thing very quickly. We have all been there and done that! 

    Louisville, GA - 2 Large BGE's
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  • raginrapids
    raginrapids Posts: 19
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    Wow awesome help everyone.  This site lives up to its reputation for helping others.  

    I did have the plate setter in the notches and will adjust in future.  And great tip about the temp probe location.  I did intend to use a drip pan but I forgot to buy one......I had too much new equipment.
    Nashville, TN
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  • Ladeback69
    Ladeback69 Posts: 4,482
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    Maybe it looks lower because it is so clean.  It won't be for long.  I took photos of mine when it was clean, because it won't be the that clean again.  At least some of my clean burns haven't gotten that clean.  The Spatchcock doe look tasty.
    XL, WSM, Coleman Road Trip Gas Grill

    Kansas City, Mo.
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  • bgebrent
    bgebrent Posts: 19,636
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    =) The new equipment will slowly but surely accumulate!
    Sandy Springs & Dawsonville Ga
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  • Nuke1855
    Nuke1855 Posts: 281
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    Welcome !! You'll quit using foil soon enough :) . Get it nice and dirty.  B)

    Living The Big Green Egg Life...

    <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.caribeque.com/">www.caribeque.com</a>

    www.biggreenegglife.com

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  • YukonRon
    YukonRon Posts: 16,989
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    What you knew as life prior to the BGE is over. You will enjoy this cooker for many years to come. Welcome and congratulations! I will unfold the an extra chair, for you, in the BGE therapy room.
    We tend to self medicate.
    "Knowledge is Good" - Emil Faber

    XL and MM
    Louisville, Kentucky
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  • bluebird66
    bluebird66 Posts: 2,727
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    Welcome and nice looking bird!
    Large Egg with adjustable rig, Kick Ash Basket, Minimax and various Weber's.
    Floyd Va

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  • Biggreenpharmacist
    Biggreenpharmacist Posts: 4,341
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    I agree with everybody above and will add that you should only adjust one vent ( top OR bottom) at a time. When I started I caught myself trying to adjust both and it just didn't work out well. 

    Little Rock, AR

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  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
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    Welcome 
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
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  • RAC
    RAC Posts: 1,688
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    Nice! Welcome!

    Ricky

    Boerne, TX

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  • SmokingPiney
    SmokingPiney Posts: 2,282
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    YukonRon said:
    What you knew as life prior to the BGE is over. You will enjoy this cooker for many years to come. Welcome and congratulations! I will unfold the an extra chair, for you, in the BGE therapy room.
    We tend to self medicate.
    I'm a new Egghead and I'm finding myself marking time between cooks and looking for meat to put on my Egg. At first, my wife laughed at me in my grilling zone communing with my Egg.............but not so much now that she's had some meals from it that knocked our soxes off. 

    I'm completely hooked.  :)
    South Jersey Pine Barrens. XL BGE , Assassin 24, Weber Kettle, CharBroil gasser, AMNPS 
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  • Skiddymarker
    Skiddymarker Posts: 8,522
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    Drip pan is nice to have when you don’t, the classic ghetto pan will do, fold the edges up on some HD foil and instant pan - wait for the drippings to solidify before you move it, it will spill - do not ask me how I know this....
    Dollar store pizza pan that will fit inside your setter is goo for moderate drip cooks, line it with foil for easy clean up and sit it on some foil balls to keep an air space between it and the setter. 
    Delta B.C. - Whiskey and steak, because no good story ever started with someone having a salad!
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