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First butt was a learning experience

saaben
saaben Posts: 28
in EggHead Forum
I woke up feeling pretty confident. Got the egg going and pulled butt out of fridge where it had been overnight with rub. Thought I had her dialed in so got the butt on egg and went to the store. I had some errands to run so took off. I had the wife  check while I was out and she said it was 300 and i told her to dial it back. (She has never used egg) Came back and egg was going up and down a little. Redialed in and then worked around house till I noticed it was losing temp. Did what any egger would do and grabbed a beer to monitor. I watched the temp crash until I had to open it up. Imagine my surprise to see the lump had burned a hole to the bottom of egg and was out. I quickly refilled and and got her relit. It obviously was hustle time so got everything put back together. I never thought it would make it but by 6:00 I was at 195 and she was coming off. Bottom line is that I was given the thumbs up by wife and father n law and they are not easy! Learned a few lessons. Kudos to the person who suggested Rockwood. I think that helped with the over powering smoke my wife complained about with Royal Oak.  Turkey day Thursday and will make sure she does not go out. 
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Comments

  • SmokingPiney
    SmokingPiney Posts: 2,319
    Good to see a good outcome.  :)

    For all low and slows, I make sure my firebox is filled. A full fire box will run a LONG time for a low and slow. 
    Living the good life smoking and joking
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  • Darby_Crenshaw
    Darby_Crenshaw Posts: 2,657
    Sounds like you had a 'center burn' rather than running out of fuel. Happens once in a hundred cooks

    you saved it though, so all's good
    [social media disclaimer: irony and sarcasm may be used in some or all of user's posts; emoticon usage is intended to indicate moderately jocular social interaction; the comments toward users, their usernames, and the real people (living or dead) that they refer to are not intended to be adversarial in nature; those replying to this user are entering into a tacit agreement that they are real-life or social-media acquaintances and/or have agreed to or tacitly agreed to perpetrate occasional good-natured ribbing between and among themselves and others]

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  • Mattman3969
    Mattman3969 Posts: 10,458
    Gotta agree with @darby_crenshaw   It will occasionally happen with any lump even RW 

    -----------------------------------------

    analyze adapt overcome

    2008 -Large BGE. 2013- Small BGE and 2015 - Mini. Henderson, Ky.
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  • bgebrent
    bgebrent Posts: 19,636
    Believe ^^^^^^^^^^that!
    Sandy Springs & Dawsonville Ga
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  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
    saaben said:
    ... Kudos to the person who suggested Rockwood. I think that helped with the over powering smoke my wife complained about with Royal Oak.  ...
    Shhh ... don't say that out loud ... you'll drive some folks crazy. 

    Glad the end result was good.  If it wasn't a center burn and you did run out of fuel, don't worry about it ... everyone does it at least once.  One hint is to throw the protein in the oven while you get everything sorted out ... if it's almost the end of the cook, there's no harm in finishing the cook in the oven.

    Washington, IL  >  Queen Creek, AZ ... Two large eggs and an adopted Mini Max

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  • YukonRon
    YukonRon Posts: 17,261
    Adapt, adjust, attack!
    "Knowledge is Good" - Emil Faber

    XL and MM
    Louisville, Kentucky
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  • Grillnugget
    Grillnugget Posts: 71
    Could @Darby_Crenshaw or @Mattman3969 explain the center burn for those of us who don't know. 
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  • theyolksonyou
    theyolksonyou Posts: 18,459
    @Grillnugget it's pretty much just what it sounds like. Lump burns straight down in the center to the grate. The surrounding lump never ignites and the fire self extinguishes.  Not much to do but reload and relight. 
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  • Mattman3969
    Mattman3969 Posts: 10,458
    It's when the lump just burns straight down from your igniting source and doesn't spread wider to the rest of the lump.  I've had it happen on RW,BGE,RO and WGWW.  I haven't had it happen since I started lighting my fires in 4 spots.  Even low n slow fires.  

    How do you light your fire?

    -----------------------------------------

    analyze adapt overcome

    2008 -Large BGE. 2013- Small BGE and 2015 - Mini. Henderson, Ky.
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  • saaben
    saaben Posts: 28
    Mattman3969 said:
    It's when the lump just burns straight down from your igniting source and doesn't spread wider to the rest of the lump.  I've had it happen on RW,BGE,RO and WGWW.  I haven't had it happen since I started lighting my fires in 4 spots.  Even low n slow fires.  

    How do you light your fire?

    I had been lighting in one area. From now on I will light in a few more areas. It did burn down straight to the bottom. I had lump on the side so I think I had plenty in there.
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  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
    saaben said:
    ... I had lump on the side so I think I had plenty in there.
    Just to double check, to what level did you fill with lump?

    Washington, IL  >  Queen Creek, AZ ... Two large eggs and an adopted Mini Max

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  • YukonRon
    YukonRon Posts: 17,261
    I am curious. I have lit my fires in a  single location, at the bottom of the lump about as dead center as I am able to determine. I then pile the lump around it, as it begins to ignite, throwing in wood chips for smoke flavoring. I try to place the first layer in a sort of radiant position from the igniting source, using larger pieces, then stack around the center leaving a crater like structure with the lump. After igniting I fill in the crater with medium and smaller pieces. Seems to work well. I don't know if there is something to this other than luck, but I haven't yet had one self extinguish on me yet.
    Hope this helps.
    "Knowledge is Good" - Emil Faber

    XL and MM
    Louisville, Kentucky
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  • saaben
    saaben Posts: 28
    Jeepster47 said:
    saaben said:
    ... I had lump on the side so I think I had plenty in there.
    Just to double check, to what level did you fill with lump?
    To the top of the fire box. Should I go to the top of the fire ring?
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  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
    saaben said:
    Jeepster47 said:
    saaben said:
    ... I had lump on the side so I think I had plenty in there.
    Just to double check, to what level did you fill with lump?
    To the top of the fire box. Should I go to the top of the fire ring?
    Maybe not all the way to the top of the fire ring for a butt cook, but certainly WELL above the top of the fire box.  Ignore the folks who tell you they do 25 hour brisket cooks with one medium size piece of lump.  It's much better to have lump in the egg than in the bag. 

    Washington, IL  >  Queen Creek, AZ ... Two large eggs and an adopted Mini Max

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