Temperture not working

ZZNupe

Hi All,
I am doing Spare ribs and gettjng a little frustrated. I was just able to get it stablized at 250 and I just looked and it is down to 225 witch is good. Here is my issue...maybe. I hav been at this since about 11am and I my temp stayed at 300....untill a little while ago. When it was at 300 and I open the lid the temp dropped to like 150...come to find out my coals were out. I re-lit and seems like it is ok but I am afraid if I open the lid again (so I can mist the meat) that my temp will drop and I wont be able to get it back to 250...I know im rambling but just wanted to know if I am doing something wrong.

SmokeyPitt

Unless my eyes deceive me...it looks like your daisy wheel is shut all the way. Tap it open a few so the "eyes" are cracked open.

Eggcelsior

Once the temp is stabilized, the ceramics are hot. Don't worry about the temp drop as it will return to the stabilized temp. This is why the temp maintained at 300 with the coals out. Just don't leave it open too long. Spritzing shouldn't take more than 30 seconds. Leaving it open can cause the temp to rise due to the increased oxygen.

ZZNupe

Yes it was because I was trying to get the temp down to 225 so I was trying to regulate my temp

ZZNupe

Daisy wheel and temp as of right now

jaydub58

Wow, that is a very clean looking DFMT.

What do you do to maintain it?

 

:-c

Mayberry

Any time you shut the daisy wheel all the way, you'll sniff out your fire. Leave bottom vent and daisy wheel slightly cracked and bring temp down slowly.oxygen fuels fire. Close either vent and the fire will die. Also, don't get wrapped up too much in exact temps. There is very little difference in 225 and 250. You might just have to adjust the cook time a little. I've had ribs at 300 that were just as good as 225. From the looks of your Egg, it isnt very old. i tried to overcomplicate every cook when I first started. sit back, adjust to what's going on, and dont sweat it. Good luck, and happy Egging!

GreenhawK

You may just be over adjusting. 

 Just set the vents at what you know it should be at for the temp you want and let it be.  Every time you open the lid 2 things happen.  1) You let the hot air out which makes the temp on the dome thermometer go down.  2) You let more oxygen in.  This feeds the fire, which will cause you to over shoot your temp for a few minutes until it settles back down.  If you adjust your vents every time you do this you will drive yourself crazy.

lousubcap

The BGE is an air-flow controlled cooker, the lower the desired temp, the less the required air flow (key word).    But you have to have the air to keep the fire going.     For low&slow you have only a small amount of lump burning at any one time (that's how you get the extended duration cooks w/o reloading lump) and the fire travels around the lump bed.     Best to not chase temps as noted by @Greenhawk.     FWIW-

Eggcelsior

When changing the vent settings it can take up to 30 minutes before your dome temp is restabilized. This is due to the insulative property of the ceramic. Just be patient, 50 degrees isn't too big of a deal in the big picture.

henapple

No air, no fire. Upside... More beer time. Hey... Who closed my daisy wheel?

ZZNupe

We are on our way...I misted and the temp stayed the same. I made a note of where my vents should be for my ribs. I have been going for about two hours now so I am going to let it go for another hour before bumping the temp and saucing.

Thanks for all the help...everything that u all said I should be doing I was not. Thanks for getting me on track.

JWhirlwind

Yo ZZ, the more you use the Egg, the better you will get until it all comes natural. Remember, about any lo and slow can be done between 225 and 300 with no problem.

ZZNupe

Hey folks thanks for the help and here are the pics from the first time slow and low.....today I am doing spares again and going to go direct....any
suggestions....want to get a good pull when I bite in.

Skiddymarker

Not bad for the first attempt, looks OK. Suggest you may want a drip pan raised a bit off the setter under the ribs. I use one of those dollar store pizza pans sitting on some foil balls or a dollar store cooling rack. As long as there is an inch or so around the pan for air flow all is good. I do all my ribs indirect, some with a higher dome temp giving a little more chew. 

Good luck with the spares.