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Slight temp issues

Toadie
Toadie Posts: 22
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
So, I did my first full packer brisket overnight last night on my large Egg, and it turned out beautifully:

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However, I had some slight difficulty with my temperature throughout the night, and I'm looking for answers. I had the dome temp stabilized at 250 for about 3-4 hours before I went to bed, but when I woke up at 4:30am to check on it, it had risen to almost 300 degrees.

I quickly shut the vents down, and brought the temp back to where I wanted it. The brisket turned out fabulous, but I'm wondering what could have happened to cause the temp to spike up like that with no adjustments?

Comments

  • Little Chef
    Little Chef Posts: 4,725
    Brisket looks nice! ;) Did you have the platesetter in the Egg long enough and stabilized to temp, before adding the meat? The meat will always cause a brief down swing in temp.....but the platesetter can make havok of 100*+ temp swings. My thought is if the meat and platesetter were added at close to the same time, the dome may have been 'artificially' stabilized while the setter came to temp??? :blink: Just a thought..... :huh: Again, looks like you did a nice job....and say "thank you" to that internal body clock of yours.... :laugh: ;) The only other thing I can think of is perhaps a breeze picked up at such an angle it could reach the lower draft door??? I am sure more will chime in here......again though, nice cook....and welcome! :)
  • Rolling Egg
    Rolling Egg Posts: 1,995
    Did you have it stabilized at 250 before the meat went on or did you throw the meat on and adjust some to get it to 250 before going to bed. I've seen them be stabilized at 250 with the meat on and as the meat picks up temp the egg creeps up as well. This is exactly what it sounds like because you only picked up 50 degrees all night. Looks good though!
  • My guess it's a combination of plate setter and perhaps some breeze during the night. Kudo's on your packer. It's an agressive cook for any one. Most will tell you a briskett is a hard cook. BTW what was the internal on the briskett? IMHO that's the most important variable. B)
  • Toadie
    Toadie Posts: 22
    Ok, thanks all for the input.

    I put the platesetter on at the same time as the brisket, because I wanted to throw a handful of hickory chunks on the fire right when I put the meat on, and they won't fit in the space between the ring and the edge of the platesetter.

    It fell below 200 degrees when I put both of them on, but it slowly creeped back up to 250 dome, and remained there for the 3 hours until I finally felt comfortable enough to go to bed.

    I cooked the brisket to an internal temp of 195 degrees, and it was very, very moist and tender (as you can see in the photos) and had that great bark for the "Texas Meteorite" look. It was probably the best brisket I've ever done, and maybe the best I've ever eaten. I am just concerned about the 40-50 degree rise in temperature, after I was certain that it had stabilized.
  • crghc98
    crghc98 Posts: 1,006
    put everything but the meat in and stabilize. you can pull out the grate and use your ash tool to lift the plate setter just enough to slide in the chunks....

    Then put everything on and don't touch the vents for awhile.
  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    It must have been that Norpro accessory you were using. :lol:



    Sorry, Toadie - I tried to stop myself, but I just couldn't do it. :) Good looking chunk of meat there!!

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

  • Toadie
    Toadie Posts: 22
    Carolina Q wrote:
    It must have been that Norpro accessory you were using. :lol:



    Sorry, Toadie - I tried to stop myself, but I just couldn't do it. :) Good looking chunk of meat there!!

    No, unfortunately I bought the BGE Eggcessory because I didn't know that BGE's "rib rack" is the same as 30 other company's "roast rack."