The Mistakes We’ve Made

JohnInCarolina

Thought this would be an interesting idea for a thread.  Post the mistakes you’ve made on the Egg, and hopefully - learned from.  I’ll go first:

Trying to cook store-bought pizza dough at 800+ degrees (all it does is burn).  Sadly tried this more than once.  

Drinking too much beer while Egging.  Yes it is possible.

Going to bed with an Egg I thought was stabilized at 250, only to wake up in the morning and find it at 350.  Oops.

Putting chicken wings on before the bad smoke had really cleared out.  Yikes.

Doing a brisket flat, following the Travis method.  Go ahead, try to tell me you didn’t try it at least once.

Believing @cazzy when he told me that @Eggcelsior was a lesbian.  True story.  

Soaking wood chips.  

Not drinking enough beer while Egging.  Only once.

Starting a new thread to call the mods a-holes.  

Injecting brisket.  I know some of you swear by this technique, and that’s great, you’re just wrong.  

Royally effing up a Thanksgiving turkey.  To this day I have no idea what I did wrong, it was just rubbery af, so much so that even my parents commented on it.  Not good.

Not burping the Egg.  Only once.

DoubleEgger

Buying BGE lump 

Hoster05

I tried making a brisket flat with one of my first cooks,  the sole of my boot was more tender then this thing.  I think my wife thought “you better figure this thing out for what it costs us”

thanks to the forum and lots of research my cooks have become drastically different in a good way.  

SoCalSooner

DoubleEgger said:

Buying BGE lump 

Yes. Plus Mapp gas starting the egg too close to patio furniture and children. Embers flying around and putting holes in cushions and burning kids isn’t really that cool with the wife. 

mlc2013

i did a whole turkey for my moms bday last year bottom half was undercooked and top half was overcooked never use a deep pan to set turkey in just use shallow for now on

lkapigian

Great idea @JohnInCarolina , to many to remember, wished I had pictures....all alcohol related . 

Put a prime brisket on, prepped everything sober. Lit fire put brisket on , set Stoker to 225 Grate, insert food probes off to bed....awaken to a very Done Smell a couple hours later....forgot to put the Pit Probe on, fan stoked that fire to " who the heck knows how hot"  burned almost a full load of fuel....pretty well ruined the brisket

TEXASBGE2018

Tried cooking my 1st pizza with half a fire box full of charcoal. Charcoal lasted about 10minutes before it was gone. Kept wondering why I couldn’t get temps to 600

bgebrent

First pizza experiments when I meticulously stabilized a good pizza set up at 500 and then put on a pie made with a 00 crust.  No bueno.  AND it was with BGE lump.  Double trouble.

hoosier_egger

My first butt was raised direct. The bottom 3" was so damn dry and tough that I couldn't cut through it.

bgebrent

And no John, never tried Travis’s brisket.  Some threads are self explanatory 

YukonRon

I have never had such issues.

Sorry, I had to try and type that without laughing my asz off.

There is nothing anyone can post, that I have not done wrong at least twice.

My biggest mistake.....doing shrimp on the XL, and drinking almost too much. I crispy crittered those bad boys in ways that people today, still ask me, not to cook shrimp.

I have since overcome most of their objections, however, people have a long memory, and love to remind me how bad our neighborhood smelled, a couple days after the cook.

@JohnInCarolina ha! I laugh at you. Brisket injected is better than brisket not injected. At least according to all the winners at competitions across the country.

Just kidding. It works out well with costco prime.....

lousubcap

I will load up comments here independent of the memory provided by day/night drinking adult supervisory beverages. I know there are many but as I run the calendar they are fading into the sunset.  
That said, the truly first epiphany was the dome to grate off-set temperature-wise.  How come this friggin cook is not there yet-(yes a thermo finish temp believer)??  
But the dang near most phquing screw up was the SRF gold brisket grease fire that coulda trashed my first gold cook.  All systems go all night. The following AM SRF Gold on the program for National Brisket Day (May 28th, 2017).  Desired eat time is 1-2 PM so that's the over-night cook.  Fire up the BGE a few hours before loading the protein-everything is stable.  Load it up, no issues.  Hit the rack.  Around 6 am nature calls-give the BGE a check, cruising around 270*F, cow at about 170 and smelling good.  Didn't really get back to sleep so I'm up and about.  BGE dome thermo easily visible from my desk.  Around 7:30 AM or so the BGE temp starts to take off-WTF?  Clearing 300*F and not slowing down.  Time to sort this out.  Now passing 310*F and no end-point in sight.
Run with a PSWOO-2.  Pull everything out and have a nice grease fire going at about the 2 O'clock position.  Grab around a dozen ice cubes and toss on the fire.  Get it throttled.  Reload the BGE and continue on-all's well that end's well.  What a treat after the near heart attack.
Upon instant assessment, turns out I had lined my air-gapped 14" drip with HDAF and created a channel where the excessive fat renderings flowed down into the lump.  Once the fire got there-away it went.  That's more than I need to recall as the stars are aligning for a repeat cook/set-up this month.

And yes I did grab a bottle of Allegro (Travis, but no boil) when all I could find were flats-no injection but I did the foil wrap.  Only recollection of the outcome-too salty.
Never mind the load of ABT's cooked and consumed w/o any recollection until the reminder events the following AM.

WeberWho

Don't drive over it

bgebrent

Or tie your dog to it

lousubcap

That would be devastating!  Even with sugar gliders for redemption-

Botch

I never liked using the Ash Tool to clean out the bottom of the bowl through the Intake, even on my large but especially the Small.  I got the bright idea that my leaf blower would not only clean out the bottom of the bowl, but behind the bowl too, eliminating disassembly to clean forever!  
It worked, and very quickly, too!  
I couldn't see that it worked, however, for at least 15 minutes, and that was after I (barely) was able to resume breathing.  I had to strip off my shoes, socks, pants and shirt, shake them out, then take them directly to the washing machine.  Then I had to clean the porch.  
No alcohol was involved.  And if it was, I'da probably had to dump it out, too.  
oof-dah.  

StillH2OEgger

One of my very first cooks I threw some baked potatoes on the BGE, to practice controlling temps for a while as much as anything, and when those were finished I opened everything up in order to sear some steaks. Was very disappointed with the lack of a good char when I flipped and eventually pulled off the steaks and couldn't figure why. It was only later I realized that searing is best achieved without using the platesetter.

jabam

Trying to cook anything, while self medicating and perusing the Friday night posts! I seem to always lose track of time. 

JohnInCarolina

Oh - one other thing I've done - gotten the temp on the Egg up so high the dome thermo wrapped around.  All happened while I was inside.  Came out and wondered how in the world the temp was still below 200F.  Nope.  

GrillSgt

Boneless chicken breasts thrown on before smoke cleared. Damn things tasted like Kingsford. 

DoubleEgger

JohnInCarolina said:

Oh - one other thing I've done - gotten the temp on the Egg up so high the dome thermo wrapped around.  All happened while I was inside.  Came out and wondered how in the world the temp was still below 200F.  Nope.  

Yup. I toasted a Smokeware thermometer 

bgebrent

GrillSgt said:

Boneless chicken breasts thrown on before smoke cleared. Damn things tasted like Kingsford. 

You should’ve used RW, not Kingsford 

JohnInCarolina

bgebrent said:

Or tie your dog to it

We could probably have another thread on mistakes other people have made that you couldn’t believe.  There are some doozies.

CTMike

JohnInCarolina said:

Thought this would be an interesting idea for a thread.  Post the mistakes you’ve made on the Egg, and hopefully - learned from.  I’ll go first:

Trying to cook store-bought pizza dough at 800+ degrees (all it does is burn).  Sadly tried this more than once.  

Drinking too much beer while Egging.  Yes it is possible.

Going to bed with an Egg I thought was stabilized at 250, only to wake up in the morning and find it at 350.  Oops.

Putting chicken wings on before the bad smoke had really cleared out.  Yikes.

Doing a brisket flat, following the Travis method.  Go ahead, try to tell me you didn’t try it at least once.

Believing @cazzy when he told me that @Eggcelsior was a lesbian.  True story.  

Soaking wood chips.  

Not drinking enough beer while Egging.  Only once.

Starting a new thread to call the mods a-holes.  

Injecting brisket.  I know some of you swear by this technique, and that’s great, you’re just wrong.  

Royally effing up a Thanksgiving turkey.  To this day I have no idea what I did wrong, it was just rubbery af, so much so that even my parents commented on it.  Not good.

Not burping the Egg.  Only once.

I think you overlooked your biggest mistake of all - Thinking that @travisstrick was an African American. 

Focker

WeberWho said:

Don't drive over it

Been there done that, not an egg, but a campground grill.

jabam

CTMike said:

JohnInCarolina said:

Thought this would be an interesting idea for a thread.  Post the mistakes you’ve made on the Egg, and hopefully - learned from.  I’ll go first:

Trying to cook store-bought pizza dough at 800+ degrees (all it does is burn).  Sadly tried this more than once.  

Drinking too much beer while Egging.  Yes it is possible.

Going to bed with an Egg I thought was stabilized at 250, only to wake up in the morning and find it at 350.  Oops.

Putting chicken wings on before the bad smoke had really cleared out.  Yikes.

Doing a brisket flat, following the Travis method.  Go ahead, try to tell me you didn’t try it at least once.

Believing @cazzy when he told me that @Eggcelsior was a lesbian.  True story.  

Soaking wood chips.  

Not drinking enough beer while Egging.  Only once.

Starting a new thread to call the mods a-holes.  

Injecting brisket.  I know some of you swear by this technique, and that’s great, you’re just wrong.  

Royally effing up a Thanksgiving turkey.  To this day I have no idea what I did wrong, it was just rubbery af, so much so that even my parents commented on it.  Not good.

Not burping the Egg.  Only once.

I think you overlooked your biggest mistake of all - Thinking that @travisstrick was an African American. 

He’s not?

bgebrent

jabam said:

CTMike said:

JohnInCarolina said:

Thought this would be an interesting idea for a thread.  Post the mistakes you’ve made on the Egg, and hopefully - learned from.  I’ll go first:

Trying to cook store-bought pizza dough at 800+ degrees (all it does is burn).  Sadly tried this more than once.  

Drinking too much beer while Egging.  Yes it is possible.

Going to bed with an Egg I thought was stabilized at 250, only to wake up in the morning and find it at 350.  Oops.

Putting chicken wings on before the bad smoke had really cleared out.  Yikes.

Doing a brisket flat, following the Travis method.  Go ahead, try to tell me you didn’t try it at least once.

Believing @cazzy when he told me that @Eggcelsior was a lesbian.  True story.  

Soaking wood chips.  

Not drinking enough beer while Egging.  Only once.

Starting a new thread to call the mods a-holes.  

Injecting brisket.  I know some of you swear by this technique, and that’s great, you’re just wrong.  

Royally effing up a Thanksgiving turkey.  To this day I have no idea what I did wrong, it was just rubbery af, so much so that even my parents commented on it.  Not good.

Not burping the Egg.  Only once.

I think you overlooked your biggest mistake of all - Thinking that @travisstrick was an African American. 

He’s not?

Coastal FL honkey cat.

HeavyG

I can't seem to remember to put on one of my long bbq gloves BEFORE opening the dome when cooking some foods (like paillards that have been marinating overnight) that produce a lot of steam.

Already been painfully scalded twice so far this year.

I'm pretty good tho at remembering to put one on before the second and third times I open the dome.

JohnInCarolina

CTMike said:

JohnInCarolina said:

Thought this would be an interesting idea for a thread.  Post the mistakes you’ve made on the Egg, and hopefully - learned from.  I’ll go first:

Trying to cook store-bought pizza dough at 800+ degrees (all it does is burn).  Sadly tried this more than once.  

Drinking too much beer while Egging.  Yes it is possible.

Going to bed with an Egg I thought was stabilized at 250, only to wake up in the morning and find it at 350.  Oops.

Putting chicken wings on before the bad smoke had really cleared out.  Yikes.

Doing a brisket flat, following the Travis method.  Go ahead, try to tell me you didn’t try it at least once.

Believing @cazzy when he told me that @Eggcelsior was a lesbian.  True story.  

Soaking wood chips.  

Not drinking enough beer while Egging.  Only once.

Starting a new thread to call the mods a-holes.  

Injecting brisket.  I know some of you swear by this technique, and that’s great, you’re just wrong.  

Royally effing up a Thanksgiving turkey.  To this day I have no idea what I did wrong, it was just rubbery af, so much so that even my parents commented on it.  Not good.

Not burping the Egg.  Only once.

I think you overlooked your biggest mistake of all - Thinking that @travisstrick was an African American. 

Haha.  That was a joke.  One of my better ones (I think).

bgebrent

JohnInCarolina said:

CTMike said:

JohnInCarolina said:

Thought this would be an interesting idea for a thread.  Post the mistakes you’ve made on the Egg, and hopefully - learned from.  I’ll go first:

Trying to cook store-bought pizza dough at 800+ degrees (all it does is burn).  Sadly tried this more than once.  

Drinking too much beer while Egging.  Yes it is possible.

Going to bed with an Egg I thought was stabilized at 250, only to wake up in the morning and find it at 350.  Oops.

Putting chicken wings on before the bad smoke had really cleared out.  Yikes.

Doing a brisket flat, following the Travis method.  Go ahead, try to tell me you didn’t try it at least once.

Believing @cazzy when he told me that @Eggcelsior was a lesbian.  True story.  

Soaking wood chips.  

Not drinking enough beer while Egging.  Only once.

Starting a new thread to call the mods a-holes.  

Injecting brisket.  I know some of you swear by this technique, and that’s great, you’re just wrong.  

Royally effing up a Thanksgiving turkey.  To this day I have no idea what I did wrong, it was just rubbery af, so much so that even my parents commented on it.  Not good.

Not burping the Egg.  Only once.

I think you overlooked your biggest mistake of all - Thinking that @travisstrick was an African American. 

Haha.  That was a joke.  One of my better ones (I think).

Almost as good as the Airport trolling.

Gulfcoastguy

Botch said:

I never liked using the Ash Tool to clean out the bottom of the bowl through the Intake, even on my large but especially the Small.  I got the bright idea that my leaf blower would not only clean out the bottom of the bowl, but behind the bowl too, eliminating disassembly to clean forever!  
It worked, and very quickly, too!  
I couldn't see that it worked, however, for at least 15 minutes, and that was after I (barely) was able to resume breathing.  I had to strip off my shoes, socks, pants and shirt, shake them out, then take them directly to the washing machine.  Then I had to clean the porch.  
No alcohol was involved.  And if it was, I'da probably had to dump it out, too.  
oof-dah.  

That is how I clean mine out. I turn the blower on low and start from a distance walking up to it. I quickly raise the nozzle to blow the cloud toward the pesky neighbors and then lower it. Lather, rinse, and repeat. I works like a champ with a medium and now my aunt with the XL does it too.