Beef Brisket question

the daisy holes half open and lower vent somewhere between a credit card thickness to a quarter inch open, each egg seems to act a little different. shoot for a dome of 250 as its easier to maintain and the temp down lower where the brisket is is actaully 225/235 plus or minus. set your alarm clock about 4 hours after you turn in, that way you know the temp wasnt below 140 in the egg for 4 hours and your brisket is still safe to eat. when you get up to check have a rod/coathanger bent up and shake/poke the lump grate thru the lower vent to remove any ash buildup, then go back to bed. i stabilize temps for a good hour before the meat goes on, the meat going on will drop the temps abit but it will come back in an hour or two, dont changer those settings unless its not comeing up. an alarm temp device like the et73 maverick comes in handy but that device can fail as well, meaning you do want to check at least once during the night

The easiest way to make sure you maintain temp is with the BBQ Guru. I cook in KCBS competitions with 2 BGE's and I use their CyberQ which controls 2 pits. I cook overnight all the time and have no problem going 14-16 hrs @ 250F.

Prior to getting the Guru, I did cook overnight but I used a remote probe with a temp alarm just in case. I had it next to the bed so I would hear it if it fell below a set temp. One thing to make sure is that you fill your Egg all the way to the rim of the fire ring. Also make sure it is all new lump, none left over from a previous cook. Build your lump with large chunks on the bottom and then work up to the smaller pieces. It may seem a bit over the top, but trust me, I have learned the hard way that a lot of attention to the fire box prior to starting will alleviate problems later in the cook.

As far as settings, I typically had a small opening in the wheel at the top along with a fairly small vent opening. The important thing will be to watch it for a while and make sure it is stable. I live in Northwest Wisconsin and have no issues cooking in our cold with the egg. It does a good job of maintaing temp.

Good luck with the Brisket. I'm sure you'll do fine.

Wally

Just one word of warning, as this just happened to me, if you let it run on the hotter side, definitely check it at the 4-6 hour mark. I put a 12 pounder on, went to sleep at 1:30am, and when I woke up at 10am the brisket was already at 203 internal. I wasn't worried about it because my temp didn't drop, hadn't even considered that it might be done in only 8.5 hours!

So get some sleep, but keep one eye on that temp.

Two questions if you are still here. Where do you live and when are you going to do this?

Reason I ask is I have a Digi Q2 and would be willing to loan it to you for this cook. I have about 35 lbs of pork butt to cook for Christmas eve and will probably be finished with it around noon on the 24th. You are welcome to use it after that if you aren't too far away. Even if you are too far away and would like to get it. You can borrow it for awhile. if you are somewhat close to me maybe we could meet somewhere close, or I could deliver and help you set it up. Just let me know.

There are a few. Check this link for some other models. I do like the Q2 for ease of use. Yet it's not as configurable as others. I leave all the plotting and charting and graphing at work so I don't need it when I'm cooking.

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/productreviews.htm

The offer is still open if you'd like to borrow it. Not sure how close I could get it to you though. I do know that I'll be passing through Lafayette for a job in Texas on Jan 4th. I could pick it up then. It would save you a two way trip out east.