Holding temps on the BGE

fishepa · February 2016

So I did my first butt yesterday and had some problems with temp stabilization. I put the meat on and got the temp stabilized at around 275 grate temp via my wireless therm. I believe it was stable for about 30 minutes. Went out with the family and ran some errands for about 3 hours and noticed over that period of time the grate temp had dropped to 250. I had to open up the wheel a bit and also the bottom vent just a smidge to get it back up. Is that normal or should it hold the temp better? Lump was initially filled to the top of the ring and firebox holes were all clear when I started.

Thanks

fence0407 · February 2016

I'll leave it up to someone who knows more, but I would look into getting a pit controller if you don't want to worry about temps. Some might call it cheating, but using the CyberQ Wifi (or any of the other controllers) I never have to worry about temps during a long cook.

$0.02

Logger · February 2016

I've had this happen many times and I thought it was cheating too but, the Flame Boss 200 sure made my weekend a lot more flexible.

bgebrent · February 2016

Your temp was not truly stable is all. Keep playing with it. Sometimes it might take an hour or so to have true stability.

pinballLooking · February 2016

I find to if I clean out the ash before a long cook it does better. The kick ash basket helps to.

lousubcap · February 2016

3 hours and 25*F= 8*/hr temp change. I go with 45-60 mins of no vent movement to call it stable for L&S cooks. It takes a while to bring the ceramics up to temperature. And in the main-if your temp is locked in within around +/- 15*F of your target-just let it run. FWIW-

SoCalTim · February 2016

275 is the 'sweet' spot on the egg. Was the butt at room temp when you put it on the egg? If not, that will cause a temp drop. Also, for a long cook like that, I let my egg stabilize for a good 45 minutes to an hour.

Not sure how long you've had your egg, but as time passes and the more cooks you do, it'll get alot easier. My learning curve was about a year, 4 years later - I just know

1move · February 2016

It is doable to get the temperature stabilized but it takes a longer burn time in order to get there. The other thing I noticed is when people lift their lid it might move on them slightly and that screws up the whole process.

As as others have mentioned the best way is using a pit controller! I have a CyberQ as well and it works wonders.

Jupiter Jim · February 2016

I would call it normal. How long was it stable at the 275? I feel that if it was not for at least 30 minutes with out the butt in there it was not really stable and it settled in at 250 with the settings you had.

I would not worry about a 25 degree temp change either up or down with a butt if you had let it go at the 250 it would have been just fine. A temp controller is nice but they are not foolproof I have read many post where people have lost the fire or had it spike to higher temps because something went wrong while they were away. I only do the turbo butt method now at 350-375 and I'm done in 5 hours and don't loose any sleep and the results are in my opinion the same.

admiral21 · February 2016

I don't have any science to back this up but here a few things I've learned that help stabilize temperatures.

1. Make a symmetrical bed of coals, and light two fire on opposite sides. This will initially create as much of a symmetrical burn as possible and will lower the odds of having any off-burn issues. You don't have to get anal about this, but just make sure it looks somewhat uniform.

2. Find my stabilized temperature and check on it every 4-5 times the first hour. After an hour I've found it's good to go and there are few fluctuations. Once I close the vents when I hit 225-250, it will settle on 275 for a few minutes but will drop back down after the initial spike.

3. Don't use a water pan unless you are sure you will keep it full for the whole cook. The water helps control the temp inside the egg and once the water evaporates you will see a spike in temperature.

4. Get a drip pan to catch any fat. With a ton of rendered fat on the coals you can get some flare ups that will cause temp spikes which can be hard to bring down.

5. If I'm doing a long cook make sure to clear out all of the ash and lump before building your coal bed. This will remove any small bits of lump that can get stuck in the grate and restrict air flow.

Jupiter Jim · February 2016

admiral21 said:

I don't have any science to back this up but here a few things I've learned that help stabilize temperatures.

1. Make a symmetrical bed of coals, and light two fire on opposite sides. This will initially create as much of a symmetrical burn as possible and will lower the odds of having any off-burn issues. You don't have to get anal about this, but just make sure it looks somewhat uniform.

2. Find my stabilized temperature and check on it every 4-5 times the first hour. After an hour I've found it's good to go and there are few fluctuations. Once I close the vents when I hit 225-250, it will settle on 275 for a few minutes but will drop back down after the initial spike.

3. Don't use a water pan unless you are sure you will keep it full for the whole cook. The water helps control the temp inside the egg and once the water evaporates you will see a spike in temperature.

4. Get a drip pan to catch any fat. With a ton of rendered fat on the coals you can get some flare ups that will cause temp spikes which can be hard to bring down.

5. If I'm doing a long cook make sure to clear out all of the ash and lump before building your coal bed. This will remove any small bits of lump that can get stuck in the grate and restrict air flow.

It all sounds spot on to me, I'm to lazy to mess with #1 though.

blind99 · February 2016

I'd be totally happy with that result. 25 degree swing over 3 hours is fine. It's a good reason to plan to cook at 275 - a 25 degree swing in either direction should not be a problem. But trying to hold a low temp like 225 for a long time with no supervision can lead to fire going out if the temp drops.

Robo2015 · February 2016

What blnd99 said. I try to cool low, 225-235, but have had the fire go out on me twice now...and it sucks (especially when it is 3:30 am and snowing outside)

Holding temps on the BGE

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