What is an acceptable range of temperature fluctuation?

nick50 · February 2017

I've noticed on my first few cooks that while the temperature looks like its staying stable for 45 minutes, it can then increase by 10 degrees - not sure why maybe because of the wind conditions? Suppose I am targeting 225. What would be an aceptable range in which I shouldnt bother trying to adjust (I guess this is also where I would set my max and min temp alarms on my remote) given the natural fluctuations in the Egg's temperature?

fishlessman · February 2017

for cooks under 7 hours it usually holds plus minus 10, for overnighters i like my sleep and set it for 235...low alarm around 180, high alarm around 270...then compensate with the dome temp accordingly in the morning

doing this with 7 pound pork butts and i can usually hit it done at the 14 hour mark with just one dome compensation in the morning either up or down. 250 dome seems to be easier to hold if your new to egging and you will not notice a difference from 225 dome temp in the cook

nick50 · February 2017

Thanks - that makes good sense.

Eoin · February 2017

At low temperatures my XL takes a long time to settle at a stable temperature - it looks stable after 1 hour but will creep up a bit over the next couple of hours. I got better stability keeping the fire small, lighting one spot rather than 3 spaced out.

Ladeback69 · February 2017

I pretty do what @fishlessman does and an overnight cook my XL can drop 30 degrees when it is cold, but when it is warm it is a little more stable. I don't usually worry about 10 degrees. I have found since I got my SmokeWare cap it is easier to get my XL to temp and stabilized faster.

DoubleEgger · February 2017

Don't sweat the small stuff. 10 degrees is nothing.

pgprescott · February 2017

Extremely good ovens will routinely fluctuate 50 degrees as they cycle on and off.

SOUTHERNLINKSBBQ · February 2017

It really depends on what your cooking. Pork butts are very forgiving but beef is not.

SmokeyPitt · February 2017

Eoin said:

At low temperatures my XL takes a long time to settle at a stable temperature - it looks stable after 1 hour but will creep up a bit over the next couple of hours. I got better stability keeping the fire small, lighting one spot rather than 3 spaced out.

That is exactly how my large behaves. It seems locked in but it will creep up. I have actually used this for a "semi-turbo" cook for butts. It will start out at about 225-250 but by the end of the cook creep up to 300-325ish.

gdenby · February 2017

The Egg's ceramics are a heat sink. It can take longer than 45 min. for the ceramic to heat up and start re-radiating the heat it has absorbed. Once heated, the Egg will take a couple of hours to cool down if the fire is out.

Also, for long term cooks, the meat/food is slowly loosing water, As the inside of the Egg gets drier, the remaining dry air will become hotter. Its not unusual during long cooks for the temp to slowly creep up.

If the temp is coming down, particularly if you started at 225, the fire might be dying out. There's a chance that the food is sweating out lots of water, but it is a good idea to bump the vents open a little more if you find that happening.

SmokingPiney · February 2017

If I'm within 20 degrees or so, I don't sweat it. My goal is the meat's target IT, so 20 degrees either way won't make much of a difference besides a little bit of time.

lousubcap · February 2017

Read @gdenby above- If on an over-nighter I will fire up the BGE a good 2+ hours before landing the protein with the goal of at least a solid hour of no vent movements ( no controller here) somewhere around 240-260*F. Toss it on and give it a look (at the 4 our or so mark- I am old) and then see where I am in the AM.
Go from there- Patience is the watchword for L&S cooks. Above all, have fun. FWIW-

jtcBoynton · February 2017

If you only get a 10º change, claim victory. I wouldn't worry about anything increase less than 20º. Dropping temps get my attention sooner.

When you say stable for 45 minutes, do you mean 45 minutes before putting the meat in the egg or 45 minutes of cooking? What size egg? Holding 225º can be tricky on some eggs - a lot of people think large eggs are more stable at 240º and above.

Wind might play a role. Other environmental conditions can change during a cook that impact the heat balance - temp, wind, solar radiation. Don't know where you are, but for me down here in lower latitudes, solar radiation changes from night to mid day are good for at least a 20º swing in temps (I never have let it go without vent adjustments so I don't know how much it would increase the temp).

ibanda · February 2017

People assume that because they set their oven at 350 that it sits exactly there, ovens fluctuate in temperature also. I would not be really concerned with 20 degree swings.

SaintJohnsEgger · February 2017

I'e had some larger swings after opening the top. But I don't sweat it as basically it only affects the total cooking time. I've finally learned to trust the egg and my controller. I messed things up too much by trying to correct the vent openings to raise or lower the temp. Let the egg do the work.

billt01 · February 2017

From what I have encountered in past cooks, it made no difference that the cooker went from 275 to 225. In the inverse, it made no matter the cooker went from 225 to >300 degrees.

What is an acceptable range of temperature fluctuation?

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