Interesting (Cowboy) Lump Experience

srq2625

So, I fired up my egg this morning to cure a newly installed gasket. I pretty well filled the firebox with 1/2 new and 1/2 used Cowboy lump.

No matter what I did, I could not get the egg to settle in at (dome) 250°F (225°F grid) to save my life - the temp would shoot up and maintain a temp between 240°F and 260°F. Normally, a very small gap in the daisywheel and another very, very small gap in the bottom vent would lock the temp in at the desired 250°F (dome). But not today.

After working this from 10:00AM until 3:00PM today, changing one variable after another (only one at a time and waiting for results, thank you), I finally decided to shut the egg down, extinguish the fire, and replace the Cowboy with my preferred Wicked Good.

Believe it or not, after I got the fire stabilized at 250°F, it stayed there - no problems, no issues, no worries.

I have a hard time believing the solution could be as simple as changing out the fuel, partly because I take very good care of my charcoal to ensure that it stays as dry as possible (around here, humidity is a fact of life, especially in the summer).

Anyone have an explanation for this observed behavior?

2Fategghead

My experience with Cowboy lump is it does burn hot and it also burns up fast. One more thing about the Cowboy lump is it don't have much for smoke flavor. Some folks use it for baking when they want no smoke flavor or least as possible. I have had a bag laying around for a long time.

On the other hand some folks use it as their primary lump so to each is own.

stike

240, 250, and 260 ARE 250.

:laugh:

i dunno. never had such an issue. i certainly wouldn't extinguish a fire for a ten degree difference.

honestly, thew only thing that ever causes temp swings in my egg is when i try too hard to dial the temp. up and down and up and down adjustments lead to constant over and undershooting, from what i experienced anyway early on when i started with this thing.

it only ever dialed in perfectly when i let it alone and stopped trying to dial it in perfectly. zen of the egg. best way to control temps within ten degrees is not to try and control temps within ten degrees.

egret

Some BGE owners, especially new ones, get too concerned with the dome temp. during a cook. The temp. will naturally vary when you're cooking with lump charcoal. That slight variation you're talking about with the Cowboy, or any other brand for that matter, is perfectly normal and if you were able to hold it that close I'd say you're doing a great job! I wouldn't even think about changing anything if I were able to hold it as close as you did......
BTW, I use Cowboy a lot, but don't take that as an endorsement for that particular brand! :laugh:

FlaPoolman

John, I'm going out to by 10 bags tomorrow on your endorsement :laugh:
How's everything coming along with the fest planning?

srq2625

It was nice to hear that folks think I'm doing such a nice job controlling the temp, but it would appear I did more to confuse the issue than anything else by mixing the grid and dome temps in my original post.

All temps measured at the grid:

I was shooting for 225 and was getting anything from 240 to as high as 260. These were stable temps, waiting at least 1/2 before making changes because I know the egg temperatures move slow - lots of thermal mass (inertia) to overcome when making temperature changes.

Oh, as for newbs wanting/desiring/attempting to get 100% temperature control/stability - guilty! But that's just the engineer OCD coming out .... again!

Anyway, progress report: After I removed the Cowboy, I reloaded with Wicked Good Weekend Warrior and, after a little more than an hour sitting at 225, I started a pulled pork cook (started at about 7:00PM). It's still going, the temps maintained 225 all night long with only a small jump to 235 for about 5 minutes (still don't know why that happens once in a while).

transversalInactive

I don't have an explanation for you, but I live in New Orleans and I can tell ya some horror stories that humidity has caused and I, too, take real picky care of my charcoal storage. I've tossed entire bags that I was convinced had absorbed an inordinate amount of moisture. This climate down here is tough on charcoal. I am fortunate to have an Ace Hardware down the street that is a local BBQ Mecca. I don't buy too many bags of charcoal in advance.

egret

I think it's pretty good stuff! Planning is coming right along! Registration is pretty slow, but, I expected it to be at this early stage.

NC-CDN

If I was at 240-260 I'd be fine with it. No worries. If it was fluctuating much more I can only guess it was the lump or external factor like the temperature outside changing. Maybe once you changed the lump the temps outside had stabilized. Who knows. Did the meat taste good? If so then you're golden! Hopefully you enjoyed a nice cold beer while all this was going on.