First Time Pork Butt W/BGE, Not a Good Experience

Jeepster47

The air currents inside the BGE are somewhat turbulent. Thus probe placement can affect the temp readout. 

This is what works for me:

1) Shield the dome thermometer from direct airflow out of the lump with a plate setter leg or a firebrick.

2) Place both the Maverick and Flame Boss probes so that they are shielded by the plate setter (preferably next to a leg of the plate setter) or an added fire brick ... keep them a couple of inches away from the cold meat.

3) Place the Maverick and Flame Boss probes as close together as possible ... wadded  up foil works well as a temporary bracket.  Leave the ends of the probes exposed.  I don't use the grill clip that comes with the Flame Boss because I think the mass of the extra metal dampens the temperature fluctuations.

Today on my large, the DigiQ stayed fixed at 250, the Maverick wandered +/- 5 degrees and the dome temp started the cook 20 degrees low and wandered slowly upwards until it was about 20 degrees high.  I tend to ignore the dome temp and pay attention to the DigiQ and Maverick temps.

@Ozzie_Issac did the same cook a couple of weeks ago.  Here is his post:

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/1181185/50lbs-of-pork-butts-on-xl-timing/p1

Good luck.

buzd504

jccuk said:

Thanks for all of the posts.  Second time was a charm, did 2 - 8lb butts they turned out wonderful.  Still have little questions about the temp.  Flame boss says pit is 230, Maverick ET-732 says 190, BGE temp gauge says 225, at a loss of what temp I should go by.  Also, have 4 butts on now, overnight smoke, will have to smoke 6 butts soon for a wedding, what type of rack would anyone suggest so that I can smoke them all at one time?

That sounds like too much information.  Dome temp and internal meat temp is all I need. 

Jeepster47

@buzd504 ... it might be too much info, but figuring out the "why" is an interesting exercise. 

The main point is to not be concerned when the temps vary by 10~20 deg ... that's equivalent to being right on the mark.  In jccuk's write-up the dome at 225 and the Flame Boss at 230 falls in the "same as" range.  The Maverick being 35 to 40 degrees low is a flyer.  Just noticed that he said "have 4 butts on now" which suggests that the reading was taken when the butts were first put on the grill ... and, it suggests that the Maverick probe was too close to the cold meat which contributed to the low reading.  Now if he has any pictures, we can verify that conclusion ... or prove I'm all wet.

DaveRichardson

This type of rig had worked wonders for me with multi-butts, multi-meat cooks.  2 butts on the lower and 2 on the upper, or Rib up top going 2-2-1....  whatever I wanted.

Always use Stainless Steel hardware!!!

bob.bud

Cooked my first butt at 250 on the top shelf of my rig. Oval ceramic wrapped in foiled and had drippings left from the baby backs the night before. No issues with dryness. And strangely, I experienced no stall.