Me and the Owls, or...Hooters

Unknown · December 2003

Here's a log of my first cook with the brand new Egg. Any pointers will be appreciated. Thanks in advance.[p]Bob C
First Cook: 10 December 03[p]3.7 pound whole chicken
rubbed inside and out with Chef Paul’s chicken seasoning & olive oil, sealed it in a Baggie to rest for a couple of hours in the fridge.[p]Filled the firebox with BBQ Galore Lump Charcoal, which is all they sell. Hope to buy BGE Lump Charcoal through a local place, but this will have to do for now. Know I have a monster problem right away because a huge lump landed center ring with lots of smaller chips around. But I have left it. Want to see what will happen. Also, I am taking care tonight in getting more of the coals going before I pull the electric wire. I left the wire in until three or four blue flames were lapping up around the lumps. Lots of sparks are coming up, too, but this is more of a fire than the last two starts.[p]I pulled the wire at 5:15. Now I’m out here watching the needle and drinking a G&T. It is now 5:26. The needle went great guns rising to 150, but has slowed to a crawl. Shelby told me it takes him about five minutes between the time he drops the dome until he reaches cooking temperature. Next time I guess I should leave the damned wire in longer and move the big lump.[p]Nothing to do now but wait and sip. I’m tempted to open the Egg and rearrange the coals, but that seems like cheating. Dinner will probably come late tonight.[p]5:40 and the temp is only up to 260, but I can see the creep. Maybe it’s picking up speed. Maybe I should mix another drink. At 5:30 I opened the dome for a minute, hoping the influx of O2 will speed along the burn. Is that cheating? I didn’t touch the coals. Things are moving along. It’s 5:42 and the temp is 280. If this continues and I can stabilize at 350, dinner might happen today.[p]5:51. Okay, I cheated. I opened the dome and scooped over that damned big lump. I have learned my lesson. I am not going to let that lump turn my Egg into the Titanic.[p]5:54. The temp spiked up to 320, but now it has settled back to 290. Can you say, "Man overboard!"? I wanted to put on the bird at 6. It’s been 40 minutes since I pulled the wire, but I’m still not at temp. Lesson for next time: More, bigger, hotter. Here’s the bright side: The bird spends more time soaking up K-Paul’s seasoning and the cook spends more time soaking up Bombay Sapphire. Maybe I should check out eBay for Rose Bowl seats.[p]5:58. Okay, now we’re talking. The needle is creeping north. We’re at 315. Soon. Bery bery soon. Note to self: The Egg is a zen experience. Relax, be mellow, all things come to he who waits. [p]6:10. The bird is on! At 6:03 I hit 350. Adjusted the vents much better than last night, which, I admit, is probably luck. The temp dropped to 340, so I cracked open the daisy a tad--I’m amazed how sensitive that thing is, which makes me wish for a more precise control, something with a calibrated click-screw like the Leupold scopes on my rifles. Maybe that’s the gin talking. Anyway, I did something right because the needle eased back up and pegged 350. A couple of minutes saw it firmly in place, so I opened the dome, dropped on three chunks of pecan wood (each approximately 2x2x2), and closed the hatch. I have the bird on one of those beer can vertical stands in a drip pan. No beer can, but a little water in the pan.[p]6:16. Well, I didn’t expect the needle to drop to 310, but it has. I wonder if the wood is responsible. Maybe the increased smoke dampens the coals. A certified engineer should run an analysis on this. In any event, I have opened the daisy a bit wider and am waiting to see what happens. I predict the bird will be ready at 7:30 and will check with an instant read thermometer. In the meantime I will sit here, nurse the Egg and this drink, and listen to the owls. Currently, two owls are courting here in the canyon, one in a big pine to my south, the other downslope of me to the east. I wish them both luck.[p]6:35. Too much owl watching. The temp drifted up to 375, so I stopped down the wheel. Down to 365 now at a creep. That’s okay. I wonder what those owls think of all this smoke. I went in for the binocs. They are both in the big pine now, and I can see them as black cutouts against the cloud cover. They are BIG. Do all owls have horns? I’ll check on the net later as I think these two are Great Horned Owls, but I don’t know if we have that species here in the Santa Monicas. They’re a vocal duo, which I like. I assume they can see me and the Egg clearly. I wonder what they think of the smoke and the man typing at the funny machine in his lap.[p]7:06. The needle is pegged at 350. I went in for a while and have only now come out again. Spent a little time with the missus, checked email, made a fresh drink, scarfed a few chips. The great column of smoke that has been pumping from the Egg is gone. I guess those unsoaked wood chips didn’t last long. I’m looking forward to seeing if the flavor made its way into the chicken. Shelby tells me to figure between 70 and 90 minutes at this temp. Since I put on the bird at 6:10 I have at least another 14 minutes, putting me at 7:20. My current plan is to lift the dome at 7:25, jam in the Instant Read, and see what I get. Shooting for 180 in the thigh. We’ll see. Also, this darned lap top has just shifted to emergen--[p]7:15. Laptop emergency. The beast shut down so I had to get the cords. Now I’m plugged into the outside power and we’re up and running. Inside, the wife is starving and wanted to know when. I gave her the plan. She’s made rice and an apple pie. If I treat her right, maybe she’ll make a salad. Ten minutes to go...[p]7:32. I pulled the bird at 7:27. Checked the Instant Temp and got something I didn’t expect. The thigh shows 168, but the breast shows 181. I don’t want dry breasts, so I’m leaving it off to sit. If the thigh meat runs pink, ulp, I’ll nuke it or toss it on the grid to finish. Shouldn’t the thigh show a higher temp? In any event, it smells great. I’ve closed the vents.[p]7:40. Battle stations. I broke down one of the thighs and the damned thing was VERY pink. Forget the microwave. I decided to toss it back into the Egg. The wife is inside eating rice. Forget the salad...we’re having broccoli. Luckily, the Egg held steady even with the vents closed. Chicken is back on and the vents are open and now I’ll watch the needle to make sure I peg out okay. I’m worried about the breast. If I end up with dry white meat to save the dark, I have some thinking to do. Now that it’s back on, I’ll give it fifteen minutes. Call the target 7:55. I’m eating at 8:00 even if the damned thing clucks.[p]8:25. The meal was okay, but not a hit. The wife was more interested in the apple pie. Hell, maybe I was, too. The chicken was okay, but too smokey for my taste. The wife said it was fine, but that’s just her being nice. I’m still confused by the temperature difference in the bird. After the additional 15 minutes, the breast was still all right, but, obviously, would have been even more succulent without the extra cooking--it was perfect 15 minutes ago. As for the thighs, one was done perfectly but the other was still just a tad red. I ate it anyway as I’m sure it was fine, but I didn’t like it that the cooking was uneven. More experimentation is in order. I wonder if this uniformity problem is because of the vertical stand? Next time--if the chicken is approximately of the same weight--I’ll plan on a 90 minute cook at 350 or a 75 minute cook at 375. The owls have retired for tonight and so will I. Not bad, but not great. There is still much to learn, but I had a good time. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

QBabe · December 2003

Bob C,[p]I like to butterfly my chickens instead of doing them upright. I find it gives me a more consistent result. I usually have a 3.5 to 4 lb bird, direct on a raised grid at 350° for about an hour. I use no extra wood since poultry takes up the smoke very easily and I think that the smoke from the lump charcoal gives me just the right amount of smoke flavor. I usually sprinkle rub on the outside of the skin as well as under the skin directly on the meat. [p]As far as the lump, it's possible that with all those small pieces, you weren't getting good airflow. It usually works better having larger pieces rather than small ones. I don't use an electric starter so can't advise on the length of time it took to start. I just use weber starter cubes or the bge sawdust looking ones and have never really had a problem lighting.[p]Good luck on your next one. BBQ chicken was one of the things I never really liked before the egg, but that has changed...![p]Good Egg'n to you,
QBabe
:~)

Unknown · December 2003

Bob C,[p]That was a very good post, plenty of information and humorous. My first guess is it all goes back to the problems you were having starting your fire. Based on how long it took for the BGE to heat up and the fact that the chicken was cooked better on one side, I would venture to guess it was lit, but only on one side. I don't use an electric fire starter so I can't help you with that but I do use Greenheat or Cubes and I'm able to start my fire in several places. In fact lately I've been pouring in my lump and then making an indentation about 12" in circumference in the middle by pushing some of the lump up the sides. I start the fire in 4 or 5 places in the indentation area and then manually place the pieces that are pushed up on the edge back in the middle over the places I lit. The other thing that caught my attention is you closed your BGE and waited for the fire to start. I don't know if this is kosher but I'll open the bottom vent max and leave the lid open until I'm confident the fire is going to start in all places. Once I'm confident, and the starter flames die out, I then close the lid put on the daisy wheel max open with the bottom vent still max open until the thermometer starts to get some good momentum. Then I start tweaking the vents making every effort not to overshoot my target. I find it easier to raise the temperature a degree or two then to drop it a few degrees. Hope this helps. Every time I use my BGE I learn something.[p]Marty[p]P.s. To answer your other question they tell me all Owls are horny[p][p]

Bordello · December 2003

Bob C,
Here are a couple of site's that might help.[p]http://www.tm52.com/bge/[p]http://yyyz.net/bge/default.asp[p]http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramic.htm[p]Hope this helps.[p]New Bob

Unknown · December 2003

QBabe,[p]Thanks for the response and the tip about laying off the wood. I'll have to try the butterfly method, too. Seems like a lot of Egg buffs enjoy it that way.[p]Happy Eggin' back at you.[p]Bob C

Unknown · December 2003

Marty,[p]If leaving the dome open is good enough for you, then I'll try it, too. Also, it makes sense.[p]I've decided that my electric starter has a poor angle to seat properly in the lump. My project for tomorrow is to bend the coil for a more agreeable seat. This should take care of lighting a larger area of coals. I hope.[p]Thanks for the good word. Especially about the owls.[p]Bob C

Unknown · December 2003

New Bob,[p]These links are great. Many thanks. I'll prolly spend half the night printing out this stuff.[p]Bob C

Mac in NC · December 2003

Bob C,[p] You want a fast fire? Invest in a MAPP torch. Light the lump in two or three places (about 20 sec. each) and leave both the bottom and the top vents wide open. That lump will glow like the sun itself within ten minutes.
Some folks say a MAPP torch isn't worth the money. Funny, I thought the same thing the first two years I owned my EGG. I finally bought one and its still on the first bottle (lighting fires roughly four to six nights a week) eighteen months later. Besides, it sure makes some pretty sparks. Just something to think about... Mac

Big-R · December 2003

Bob C, we've about 18 months in to eggdom and starting the fire was one of the first things you must master to improve your eggsperience. We've tried paper, cubes, and sawdust cubes. The white cubes from Lowe's or Home Depot (Weber Fire starters) are a cheap low tech, fast way to light the fire. We use a LRGL (Lawn Ranger Grid Lifter) to roughly stir the old lump. Nestle the cube dead center in the lump, down a wee bit in the coals. Light the cube and place a few coals over the cube to get them started. Make sure you can see a good even flame coming from the cube. It's best to close the dome and open the daisy wheel and bottom vents all the way. The egg then acts like a chimney creating a draft through the fire causing it to light much faster. Takes now more than 10 minutes total to get to 300 degrees and then you take off from there.[p]Make sure ou watch the temp after the fire gets going cause after 300 it will roar up to 1000 real fast and trash your gasket.[p]Chickens: Have done many chix both beer butt and spatchcocked (butterflied). Like them both. Beer butt is for freezer chicken or chicken salad. Outstanding. Butterfly to eat as dinner. (Freezer chicken is to cook with later, only way to go for chicken pot pie, quesadilla, and the like). I seldon check chix temp preferring to wiggle the leg for looseness. Probably should though. I'f done as many as 4 standing BB chix at a time but only two spatchcocked.[p]Be patient, it will get better, way much better.[p]You've got the right attitude, keep the faith.[p]Randy[p]We use no smoke for birds. They get way too smokey, lump smoke is plenty.[p][p]

Seth · December 2003

Bob C,
You will want to be careful not to leave the dome open tooo long, or else you might damage/burn your gasket. I usually just open the bottom all the way and leave the cap off and it is rip roaring in no time. Just be sure to creep up to the temp that you want to cook at, instead of trying to back that thing down from a high temp. Happy cooking.
Seth

Me and the Owls, or...Hooters

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