High Altitude Cooking

Heh VT!
Nice to hear from another egghead in the area.I'm just up the road in Larkspur..6525ft.
I've noticed a bit of difference but haven't tried a butt on my new egg yet.I've cooked them on my Hasty-Bake using a DigiQ2 and that seems to help here in the thin air.You might check into a DigiQ2. Take a look at www.bbqguru.com
Maybe Molly (cookinbiker) there in the springs can give you a couple of tips and share her experiences with cooking a butt.
Stay in touch!
Jon

There is less oxygen in the air and it's been my experience it takes longer to get to temp because the fire doesn't burn as hot as it would at sea level.
We at altitude need to use more charcoal.
Jon

I am in Reno, which is about 4500ft, but I haven't done any pork butts.
I ve done ribs and brisket and didn't have any problems. I did notice that my mini doesn't really go over 600 even with the vents wide open.
I thought that that issue had something to do with latitude, but I am not sure.

Altitude is an issue with things like stews because water boils at a lower temperature so you are cooking at a lower temo when the stew, or chili or beans are boiling.

In baking the levening agents act differently and you have to adjust.

When you are applying heat to meat, I do not understand why it would have much affect. There are lots of things that can cause variation in the time it takes to cook a butt.

Sorry if I missed it, but at what dome temp did you cook the butts? I have cooked hundreds of them here in the Springs and the Denver area and they virtually all cook in the 1.5-2lb/hr range. Evey once in a while you get one that goes faster or longer but not all that often. I use 250°ish dome.

 
I am 5,000'. For me at a calibrated dome temperature of 250° a butt takes about just under 1.5 hrs/#. I can't seem to get ribs to cook as long as many posts I read from others cooking ribs. BB ribs take about 4 hours - again 250°.

A nice soft simmer is 300° - 320° at grid 335°-345° dome.

I don't find a lot of issue with the large. Medium I have to be careful, mini is a cooking machine. I don't use the small much at all but it seems high temperatures are troublesome, again, I haven't put much effort with the small.

I have experienced very slow starting and low max temperatures until I learned and began to use a wiggle rod.

I now just dump the lump in the egg, I use all previously burned lump, mixed new and previously and new lump even small pieces of lump.

Using oil & napkin to start, I can get the medium (my most difficult egg) up to and holding 650° in as little as 11 minutes. No fans and no modifications.

Just make sure your air holes in the fire box and more importantly holes in the fire grate are clear of small pieces of lump. Ash won't make much difference unless you stir it up. If you use lump from a past burn, stir and make sure the lower air holes are clear.

If you see a stall in temperature or slow to reach temperature grab the wiggle rod and get the holes cleared in the fire grate from below. A hanger will work in a pinch but one really needs something stronger.

GG

VT,
I will kick mine up to 275°-300° after the plateau to speed'em up a bit on occasion (it doesn't seem to have any negative effect whatsoever). 'Course sometimes, you get them that just cook a bit slower.

A little more digging turned up the following.

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/factsheets/high_altitude_cooking_and_food_safety/index.asp#5

The bottom line is: Use the sea-level time and temperature guidelines when oven-roasting meat and poultry, as oven temperatures are not affected by altitude changes.

More detail below:

How Do High Altitudes Affect the Cooking of Meat and Poultry?

Meat and poultry products are composed of muscle, connective tissue, fat, and bone. The muscle is approximately 75% water (although different cuts of meat may have more or less water) and 20% protein, with the remaining 5% representing a combination of fat, carbohydrates and minerals. The leaner the meat, the higher the water content (less fat means more protein, thus more water).

With such high water content, meat and poultry are susceptible to drying out while being cooked if special precautions are not taken. Cooking meat and poultry at high altitudes may require adjustments in both time and moisture. This is especially true for meat cooked by simmering or braising methods. Depending on the density and size of the pieces, meats and poultry cooked by moist heat methods may take up to one-fourth more cooking time when cooked at 5,000 feet. Use the sea-level time and temperature guidelines when oven-roasting meat and poultry, as oven temperatures are not affected by altitude changes.