Sorry, just another new guy

tomlori

I just got my new large egg. I cooked some chicken quarters 1st and they turned out wonderful!! I cooked a Boston butt just this past weekend and it did turn out great also, but my question or comment, I cooked it at around 250 degrees and had to add more green egg charcoal and after that, I never could get the temp down to 250 again, it stayed at around 350 to 370. I had the top completely closed and the bottom almost closed as in 1/4 inch. Am I doing something wrong?

theyolksonyou

Welcome to the forum

1. fill it up all the way to the platesetter. I've had mine so full I couldn't get the PS in flat. You won't run out
2. If you open the dome for any significant amount of time, you let in lots of oxygen which means more fire. The egg is way harder to cool than heat!

tomlori

I did lift the lid and it still went back up to 350. The place I bought it from, said only fill it to about an inch from the top.

Hotch

Welcome to the herd.

SGH

Welcome. 

SoCalTim

@tomlori .. everyone here at one time or another was new. Got questions - ask. 

@theyolksonyou is right, fill that baby up, you aren't gonna hurt anything.

Welcome ~ You Are Now Home!

tomlori

I'll fill it up like everybody says, but is that normal that it stayed @ 350 degrees after filling it back up? Should I have opened lid and let it cool off, and then adjust the temp?

SGH

tomlori said:

I had the top completely closed and the bottom almost closed as in 1/4 inch.

For future reference, do not completly close your top when you are cooking. This can and will cause a acrid taste to your food. You are causing the egg to down draft and vent out the bottom if you completly close off the top. You can choke it way down if need be to drop temp, but I don not recommend closing it all the way off my friend. Let it breath brother. 

tomlori

Okay, I might be dumb here, but how am I suppose to get the temp down. After filling it back up it would not get back down to a smoking temp. 250 degrees

SGH

If you almost completly close the bottom vent, and choke down the top vent, it has no choice but to eventually drop unless you have a air leak some where. 

SGH

Like this.

tomlori

Okay I'll give that a try!! Thanks everyone that responded!! It was quick, didn't think I'd the feedback this quick!! 

henapple

Welcome. Once the egg gets to 350 it will take a long time to come back down. If you fill the firebox up with good lump you'll never have to add more. 

SGH

tomlori said:

It was quick, didn't think I'd the feedback this quick!! 

For a old wore out and broken down man, I can still draw pretty fast at times. Depends on if I have had my medicine or not

swordsmn

I think we need to get you a pic of what an eggfull of lump looks like. Me thinks you were WAY low.    I filled my Large up to do my first butt the other week,  I built my temp to 275 and it held through the 10 hr cook of the 9.4 lb butt.   

I admit I cheat with a cyber Q temp controller and the smokeware cap opened just a smidge, but I was truly shocked at how little lump was used in that approx 10.5 hr total run time.

i hope someone has a good pic of a large with a full lump load

SmokeyPitt

Welcome!  I agree with what has been said above.  Basically more air = hotter fire.  If you open the top it will release the trapped heat, but you are making a hotter fire and the net result is a hotter egg.  Clamp down those vents like @SGH showed you and then just wait it out.  Most importantly...don't sweat it.  If it spikes up to 350 it won't hurt anything.  

Grillmagic

SGH said:

Like this.

Listen to this Man! That's about my set up for 225/230 dome

lousubcap

First up-welcome aboard and enjoy the journey.  And with adequate fuel aka lump this thing is all about air-flow.  What follows is likely more than you deserve on a Friday night but...
Here’s a link to all things ceramic-chances are if you have a question the answer is within this site somewhere.  Check out the recipe section for some great ideas.
http://www.nakedwhiz.com/nwindex.htm
For additional links to cooking/recipe sites; here are two very good ones, depending what you are cooking:  This site contains a wealth of the science behind Q cooking along with info on about every type of meat cook you would attempt: http://amazingribs.com/ Here’s the second one:  http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/

After-market toys- With the BGE there are three basic styles of cooking;  “direct”-where the cooking grid is on top of the fire ring; “raised direct”-where the grid is elevated at least to the gasket-line (this setup requires after-market stuff-easiest is to get another grid and then use three fire bricks (or three empty aluminum beer cans) and place them on the grid at the fire ring and then put the second grid on top. The third is “indirect” where there is a heat deflector (platesetter or some other type stone) between the burning lump and the cooking grid.  This is the setup for low&slow long duration cooks.  I would get comfortable playing around with the BGE before any major after-market investments.  Will save you $$ in the long run.

Some observations-make sure you calibrate your dome thermo-boil some water, then insert the thermo and check the temp.  If not around 210*F, then note the off-set and use the nut on the back to correct.  Then recheck.

Temperature is a controlled by the volume of lump burning.  The volume is controlled by the air-flow thru the BGE.  In thru the bottom vent and out the top.  Make sure when you set it up that the fire box opening is aligned with the lower vent. 

When adjusting the vent(s) to change temperature, the feedback loop can take some time.  Changes in air-flow are reflected in the dome thermo temp.  Don’t chase temperature; +/- 10-15*F is close enough.

“Stable temperature” is a relative term.  Means you haven’t moved the vents and the temperature is steady for anywhere from 30-60 minutes.

More than enough for now-but you will sort this out and enjoy the adult beverage fueled BGE adventures.

swordsmn

@lousubcap I always hope you paste that pretty comprehensive FAQ with your welcome messages.  I know they appreciate it.  Kudos!

Mikee

On a hot, sunny day its almost impossible to drop the temperature from 350 to 275 once the ceramics are at 350. On a day like that is takes very little heat to maintain 350 let alone to drop the temperature. My daisy wheel and bottom vent look fairly identical to what SGH shows. In the winter the bottom vent is opened a little more.

TexanOfTheNorth

I'll just say welcome as others have already addressed your temp issue. Hang in there, you'll get the hang of it.

bgebrent

Everyone above should have you on track. There is a learning curve like with anything else new. Be patient, ask questions as you have and you'll be rewarded with sage advice from the experienced eggers. Welcome!

johnnyp

tomlori said:

I'll fill it up like everybody says, but is that normal that it stayed @ 350 degrees after filling it back up? Should I have opened lid and let it cool off, and then adjust the temp?

It doesn't work like that. By opening the lid, you're feeding the fire oxygen.  So while it is temporarily cooler, you have a bigger fire inside that will only elevate the temp even higher.

johnnyp

And welcome!

Ozzie_Isaac

Welcome, if you need help or want to meet a bunch of great people you found the right place.

TheManBehindTheMask

welcome

swordsmn

johnnyp said:

tomlori said:

I'll fill it up like everybody says, but is that normal that it stayed @ 350 degrees after filling it back up? Should I have opened lid and let it cool off, and then adjust the temp?

It doesn't work like that. By opening the lid, you're feeding the fire oxygen.  So while it is temporarily cooler, you have a bigger fire inside that will only elevate the temp even higher.

Any extended open time will aerate the fire into higher temps.  For critical temps like a low/slow you get all your lump in at the start and the most you'll open it for will be a quick spritz on ribs etc.  that 10 hr butt cook I referred to earlier.... I never opened the dome until my (remotely monitored) internal temp was right at 200F.    The big key is to get the fire started then clamp the vents well in advance of your target temp.  

Do a practice fire where ur goal is say 275... Don't leave top or bottom at full open for long after lighting.  Once its lit for sure clamp vents to some of these surprisingly small cracks and slow the temp rise big time as u approach target temp.   

Mastering the art of not overshooting - stabilizing a low/slow temp is not easy.  Your test fires may go out due to overclamping down but you need to learn how much to close when as temp climbs to ur target.   It'll be worth ur time to practice.   Soon you'll know where your vents need to be in order to keep say 275.   

I'm not the best at it... I admit I have cheated and bought a wifi temp controller... When the fire is safely lit, I put the elec blower in the lower vent and the top is closed to a surprisingly narrow slit.   I tell temp controller I want 275, I clip the pit probe up in the dome on the BGE thermometer stem and I call up the IP Address of the controller.   
Initially the blower runs at 100% as it feeds the fire but as temp gets to 175 or 180 my app shows the blower is regulated down to 75% then 50 then 30 or even much less% as temp creeps towards setpoint.  The controller watches rate of rise and uses a PID loop to intelligently determine fan speeds and not overcorrect or act in haste when temp later drops 1 degree.    On that 275 cook. I remained rock solid +-1 to 3 degrees for hours  as I watched the internal temp of the butt almost linerally climb to 200.   I watched this from our tv room off/on for the full cook.  

Its seductive but expensive.  You can learn to set these vents manually without becoming a neurotic overcorrector.   Its recommended you do that learning. To learn your egg before leaping into these temp cntrl units as a crutch.   I have done 6 hr rib cooks without my cyberQ and while the temp rose briefly when i opened to spritz the ribs, it was a gradual creep that didnt hurt anything.    

The temp controllers like mine, the stoker or flameboss are super handy for "all nighters" where you crave sleep and guaranteed temp stability.  But there are score of folks here doing 12-14+ hr cooks with nothing but a dome thermometer.   They've learned how to load that lump in way it'll burn consistently and they don't let that egg overshoot after initial lighting.  It won't take forever to be that person. But test fires will help you and minimize stress.   Or be a chicken like me, toss your pride and $$ at the challenge and watch your cook graph on an ipad while being a couch potato.   No judgement here!

bluebird66

Welcome!

Davec433

Welcome

tomlori

I want to thank everyone for their feedback! Everyone has been so nice! Thanks again. Here's a pic of the chicken I did 1st on the egg.

swordsmn

That looks great!  Welcome to the forum and a great bunch of nuts.