Temperature regulation over night

ToriAnne724

Put a Butt on my baby (Egg) last night at a temp of 250 at 10:00.  At midnight it was holding steady.  Woke up this morning at 6:15 at my fire had gone out and had to be restarted.  What am I doing wrong or should I be checking the temp every couple of hours? 

tarheelmatt

I have never had a problem with the fire going out even before my temp controller.  Sometimes, it is good practice to take metal coat hanger and clear your openings in the grate if you're going to bed.  

Did you clean the Egg well before hand?  I like to remove ring and box and make sure it is clean before doing a slow cook.  For me it appears this makes the Egg way more efficient.  

Foghorn

How were your vents set? For 250 on my XL I usually have the bottom vent open about 1/4" and the daisy wheel open a similarly small amount. 

With that being said, the most likely culprit is that your charcoal grate (the grate beneath the charcoal) clogged up as the charcoal burned and small pieces fell down and clogged the holes. Folks here will give you 3 good solutions to that:

1) By a Hi-Q grate that has bigger holes in it and doesn't clog.

2) Hand load your lump with only big pieces on the bottom to keep the holes from clogging.

3) (what I do) After you have poured your lump in, shift some of the lump around (push it to the back) to make sure at least one or two holes at the front of the grate are wide open and can't possibly clog up no matter what the charcoal does at is burns and shifts.

I've done a bunch of overnighters and have never had a problem with that method - and I sleep like a baby.

Oh yeah, others will recommend for butts that you simply turbo cook them at 350 so you don't have to do an overnight cook.

All of these work.

Shiff

If you buy a remote  thermometer like a Maverick ET 733, you can check t he temp from your bed and even set alarms that will go off if the temp climbs too much or drops too much.  Saves a lot of frustration.

Depending on how much the temperature dropped, it might be a health issue on the meat you were cooking.  The general rule of thumb is that if the temp falls below 140 for more than 4 hours, it could be a problem.  Some here on the forum are less concerned about that than others.

ToriAnne724

Thanks all.  I clean the ash out of the egg before every use but have never taken ring or box out.  I checked the temp of my pork right away and it was at 140 so not worried about spoilage.  I will clean the egg really good after todays butt fest and next time I do an overnight I will make sure my air holes are not blocked.

SunDeviledEgg

blocked holes will ruin a good butt fest every time.

tarheelmatt

Ash falls down around the fire box.  You will be surprised at the amount you will have around the edges.    Cleaning that ash helps air flow as well.