Temp control

Unknown · April 2003

I've had a large BGE for a few months. I can't seem to get the temp below 3oo. For chicken it's great, but I want to do low and slow pork and smoked trout.
Did a pork loin last night. Had it at 500 for about 15 minutes and tried to bring it down to 300. I couldn't get it lower than 300.
Someone said that I had too much charcoal.[p]Would appreciate some simple step by step assistance.

RRP · April 2003

Barry,
not a matter of too much lump, just a matter of too much air flow. You need to constrict your vent and most of us do the same with the top, whether with a daisey, a Mickey T ring, or something else.

The Naked Whiz · April 2003

Barry,
If you wanted to cook at a temp below 300, you shouldn't have let the thing heat up to 500 and stay there. Once the ceramic heats up, it takes a long time for it to cool off. To get a low and slow fire going, you should light the lump from the top and get a small fire going. As the temperature rises, you should start closing down the vents before you get to your target temperature. If you going for 225, you should start closing down vents around 200. [p]Also, you will find that if you have the temperature higher than you want, as long as you haven't let the ceramic heat up too much, if you open up the egg, put your plate setter or firebricks in, then add a big piece of cold meat, once you close the egg back up, the temp will have dropped significantly. So, again, you approach your target temperature from BELOW and start closing the vents down as you approach the target.[p]I hope this helps. Good luck!
TNW

Banker John · April 2003

Barry,
I remember the difficulties I had with temp control in the beginning. I had a great piece of advice I would like to pass on.[p]1) Light the egg well in advance of your cook to allow time for the ceramic to come to consistent temp.
2) At the start, open the bottom vent and top vent wide open. After 3-5 minutes, close the bottom vent to a credit card width opening (maybe 1/16th inch) and use your daisy wheel to slide closed and the holes half open. This will take a little longer to stabilize, but will use very little lump too. This set up will stabilize at about 220.
3) Allow a good 45 minutes to stabilize the egg. Yes, this seems long and this will surely cause contention here. Keep in mind, this is a starting point. Once you learn the opening settings for air flow and the corresponding temps, you can set the openings to the desired opening/temp relationship at fire up and the egg will stabilize much much faster. After about 40 cooks, I can now set the openings, fire the egg and walk away for 30 minutes to finish last minute preparations to return to the egg at the correct stabilized temp.[p]As our good friend Ron Pratt (RRP) stated, airflow determines dome temp. As Chris (Nature Boy) stated, the bottom vent is for major temp adjustments and the daisy wheel top is for minor temp adjustments.[p]Practice make perfect. Enjoy your toy and share your success and failure stories with us![p]Banker John

Aron · April 2003

The Naked Whiz,
Very true about the cold meat. A few days ago (sat), I had been taking too long to spice up my spatchcocked chicken, and by the time I went out to check the egg, it was just starting to do that fast temp rise that brought it from 350-450 in about 5 seconds. I quickly popped the chicken in and put on my daisy wheel and the temp went down to 300. Then I let it creeep to 350, where it stayed for the hour and 20 minutes it took to cook the 7 lb beast of a bird. I'm still eating off of it.
--Aron

Unknown · April 2003

Barry,[p] Good advise above. I would also check your temp gage as they can get out of whack too. Happy cooking!

Temp control

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