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Dome temp dropped with butt "need advice"

sirlancealot
sirlancealot Posts: 506
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Egg stabilized at 250deg, put butt on and egg dropped to 235deg. :S that"s been 1hr. ago. I know it supposed to go back up but should i mess with it or leave it alone. Thanks 4 your help..." I"m sleepy".

Comments

  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
     
    Dome temp. I presume. If it has been an hour since you put the meat in then possibly you didn't have your egg stable at 250°.

    By chance did the DFMT move when you opened and closed the dome.

    Personally if I didn't have a remote thermometer with alarms I would tweek it up a little as long as it has been an hour with no peeking or changes.

    GG
  • hornhonk
    hornhonk Posts: 3,841
    Listen to Grandpa! He knows best ;)
  • You are most likely seeing a change in the temp reading bc the dome thermometer is very close to that 40 degree hunk of meat you just put on the Egg. If you have a digital thermo stick it in the daisy wheel and see what it reads. If it is reading 235, you have two options.....leave it bc you will still get good results, just a little slower.....OR, try taking your cleaning rod and shaking the fire grate from thru the lower damper. I have had my temp drop in the middle of the night on an overnight and once I shook the grate it came right back up to temp. Just be sure to put the lower damper door in the exact same position you had it previous to putting the meat on.
  • Little Chef
    Little Chef Posts: 4,725
    I agree completely with Gramps! ;) May be worth setting an alarm clock for a couple hours away too... just in case. :S I know...I know....NO fun getting up in the middle of the night, but it's a lot cheaper than the Butt in the trash tomorrow.... :pinch:
    Bump the vent settings every so slightly.... ;)
  • I have not opened the dome since putting on the meat and it won"t come back up..
  • And i do have a digital thermometer, but i will go ahead and bump it up a little, and set a alarm. I can"t afford to lose this meat...
  • And the meat is at 29deg. i put it on right from the frig. with heavy butt rub.
  • It"s at 250deg now, i opened the vents a little, still without opening the dome. thanks 4 your help...
  • So you have a digital thermo on the grid too? Are you reading the 235 from the thermo that is in the dome(the original analog one) or are you reading that from a digital one on the grid? What I am saying is that if you are reading the one that is stuck thru the dome.....then it is too close to the meat to get an accurate reading(possibly) and it is being compromised by the colder temps coming off of the 29 degree hunk of meat? I wouldn't move those vents if you are going to sleep too much......if you move them at all I would plan to stay up to see it stabilized at no higher than 250 DOME for at least 45 minutes. Trust me, I know what you are going thru though, did the same as you the first night I did butts.....got panicked and posted tons and stayed up way too late which resulted in way too many beers consumed.....lol. It was, however, New Years Eve, lol.
  • Having said that, I will tell you what I was told a bunch that night.......CALM DOWN....it will be good no matter what. Butts are pretty forgiving.....just enjoy the process.
  • No, I have a thermometer inside the meat not on the grid. I haven"t got to that level yet, im just strictly dome temp. sorry for the mis-wording..
  • Don't be sorry....I am not at that level yet either...lol. I don't have a grid thermo, but I have a meat thermo and another digital one that I can stick down thru the daisy wheel to see the variation between it and the dome thermo.....that is all I was saying. The first time I did butts I did two, and when I first place them on the egg and shut the lid the dome thermo actually poked down inside one of the butts, which made my dome temp look all wrong. I realized it early though and was able to position the butts so that they wouldn't hit the probe...but they were close enough that they still skewed the reading for a bit after I placed them on. Mine were large though, 8+ and 9+ lbs each.
  • I will say again though.....in case you went to bed and wake up in a panic......if the temp is down considerably......take the cleaning rod and shake the fire grate.....it will come right back to temp. That is a HUGE lesson I learned here the morning my first butts were on.
  • It will be good! Since you don't have a remote thermometer (a cheap investment in piece of mind), do as suggested and set your alarm and get up a few times. Probably won't need anything, but in the event the temps start dropping for no reason, then you probably will need to wiggle your lump.
  • That is a little cool if you took from the fridge. You might need to check your thermometer calibration. Most refrigerators are close to 38-40 degrees.
  • Well? How does it look this morning?