Sooty rib roast <---Help!

DavidM-SC

This past weekend I purchased a three bone rob roast and cooked it following the direction in this video.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xv6c9q4HqQk  Very easy to cook following this method and it was very successful with it turning out perfectly at medium rare.  Great tasting and all was eaten.  Only one small issue.  The outside of the roast was sooty.  I’m thinking that one or both of the following things contributed to this.  First, I put three large chunks of hickory mixed in the Rockwood charcoal.  Second thing that might have contributed to this is the drippings dripping onto the plate setter and causing soot. What do you all think.  This was a test cook for the meal I’m going to prepare on Xmas day so I’d like to get this figured out.    Any opinion as to the cause?  

DoubleEgger

Have you cleaned out your egg? Sounds like excessive ash to me. 

tarheelmatt

Check the above from @DoubleEgger 

Also, I do buy the hotel pans for catching drippings to prevent them from burning, especially on items that are very fatty.  That could be the culprit.  

Also, if you've done this kind of cooking a lot, you might need to clean burn some.  I had a lot of fat from a doing low and slows and had lots of fat buildup on the sides and other places of my egg.  

Eggcelsior

It could have occurred from the shutting of the vents. If you had wood chunks in there at 650 dome, they were likely on fire. Shutting the vents would snuff them out and non-carbonized wood is going to give off heavy, sooty smoke. There are a lot of variables so at a minimum, I would clean burn and use a drip pan to start.

Also, for what it’s worth, I do my rib roasts low and slow. I can hold my egg at 180, but 225 is fine. Cool to 125-130 for medium rare. Easy cook too.

st¡ke

Has nothing to do with ash

It's the old soot-maker, incomplete combustion 


come on people:  fire triangle

in a regular oven, running hot for the start of the cook and then shutting it off (or starting hot and dropping to slow roast temps) is a traditional method. (Ignore for a second WHAT the logic was, this was common, and often recommended today.) 

This is not a problem in an electric or gas oven. But that's bc there's no smoke

in a BGE or other AIRTIGHT cooker, it is a big problem

The old BGE manual talked about the sear and dwell method for steaks. Start hot, sear flip sear and then SHUT ALL THE VENTS. Quite possibly the worst way to cook a steak. 

All this guy is doing is a sear and dwell for a roast. 

when you have a fire comparatively raging at 600/700, your fire is burning clean and hot. 

When you crash-choke to 250/300, or even shut the vents "off", you starve the bed of coals of oxygen. But they are still burning. They don't go off like a lightbulb. 

the majority of lit coals are now dying and burning very poorly. They aren't hot enough to burn clean

my old example is a candle wick. Burning bright, you have clean flame and no or little smoke. 

Blow it out, and you'll see it is actually still lit. A small ember in the wick will keep burning. But it will throw sooty smoke and will smell foul until it completely dies. 

Good smoke always smells and tastes good. Sure, there can sometimes be too much, but good smoke is never ashy or foul

Bad smoke, soot, is ALWAYS due to incomplete combustion

I don't personally bother with high heat and prime rib. I get a better, browner, (black is bad) and more uniform crust cruising at 225 and 250. Always

if you want to start hot and crash to slow roasting, pull the roast OFF and let the egg come down to lower temps AND burn clean. Then put the roast on to cruise.   It won't harm the roast to sit while you come down to temp

or, sear at the end. This can cause you to overshoot the IT though

me? Dry the roast a few days or at least overnight. 

Then slow at 250 until IT is where you want it. Minimal carryover. Perfect crust. Absolutely uniform color across each slice (no overcooked grey outer ring). Literally the easiest cook on the BGE

There is only one reason for the sooty bad smoke here. It's the choked out fire. Witness the smoke he gets when he drops temp by shutting vents. Smell that smoke

it ain't good

smoke should always smell good

DoubleEgger

Thanks for the info Carey. 

Wouldn’t excessive ash block the airflow and cause incomplete combustion? It’s the fire triangle man! 

fishlessman

i will sear a steak at 650 to 850 but for a roast think 425/450.  then drop the temps down to 300 with the roast out of the egg, then finish cooking when the egg is stable at 300.  you want a drip pan, clean egg, if its been raining lately the lump absorbs moisture which takes for ever to burn cleanly again.

st¡ke

fishlessman said:

i will sear a steak at 650 to 850 but for a roast think 425/450.  then drop the temps down to 300 with the roast out of the egg, then finish cooking when the egg is stable at 300.  you want a drip pan, clean egg, if its been raining lately the lump absorbs moisture which takes for ever to burn cleanly again.

This guy gets it. 

Take the toast out of the egg when you choke vents down

st¡ke

Eggcelsior said:

It could have occurred from the shutting of the vents. If you had wood chunks in there at 650 dome, they were likely on fire. Shutting the vents would snuff them out and non-carbonized wood is going to give off heavy, sooty smoke. There are a lot of variables so at a minimum, I would clean burn and use a drip pan to start.

Also, for what it’s worth, I do my rib roasts low and slow. I can hold my egg at 180, but 225 is fine. Cool to 125-130 for medium rare. Easy cook too.

What he said. 

I spent too much time cutting and pasting and here's eggselsior with the answer

DavidM-SC

DoubleEgger said:

Have you cleaned out your egg? Sounds like excessive ash to me. 

Egg was spotless, I did a clean burn the day befor this cook.

tarheelmatt

st¡ke said:

Eggcelsior said:

It could have occurred from the shutting of the vents. If you had wood chunks in there at 650 dome, they were likely on fire. Shutting the vents would snuff them out and non-carbonized wood is going to give off heavy, sooty smoke. There are a lot of variables so at a minimum, I would clean burn and use a drip pan to start.

Also, for what it’s worth, I do my rib roasts low and slow. I can hold my egg at 180, but 225 is fine. Cool to 125-130 for medium rare. Easy cook too.

What he said. 

I spent too much time cutting and pasting and here's eggselsior with the answer

it's clear the first two repliers didn't actually watch the video

I didn't watch the video actually, but I mentioned what Dylan indicated in his post that you praised.  Shrugging my shoulders.  I have placed that in bold too, BTW.  

st¡ke

tarheelmatt said:

st¡ke said:

Eggcelsior said:

It could have occurred from the shutting of the vents. If you had wood chunks in there at 650 dome, they were likely on fire. Shutting the vents would snuff them out and non-carbonized wood is going to give off heavy, sooty smoke. There are a lot of variables so at a minimum, I would clean burn and use a drip pan to start.

Also, for what it’s worth, I do my rib roasts low and slow. I can hold my egg at 180, but 225 is fine. Cool to 125-130 for medium rare. Easy cook too.

What he said. 

I spent too much time cutting and pasting and here's eggselsior with the answer

it's clear the first two repliers didn't actually watch the video

I didn't watch the video actually, but I mentioned what Dylan indicated in his post that you praised.  Shrugging my shoulders.  I have placed that in bold too, BTW.  

Watching the video makes clear the problem

don't know who dylan is or what was praised

but the issue is shutting down the egg with food inside it. Drip pans are fine. And the smoke would have been lessened if he used them (because he wouldn't also have fat on the coals), but the smoke was from incomplete combustion. 

DavidM-SC

Eggcelsior said:

It could have occurred from the shutting of the vents. If you had wood chunks in there at 650 dome, they were likely on fire. Shutting the vents would snuff them out and non-carbonized wood is going to give off heavy, sooty smoke. There are a lot of variables so at a minimum, I would clean burn and use a drip pan to start.

Also, for what it’s worth, I do my rib roasts low and slow. I can hold my egg at 180, but 225 is fine. Cool to 125-130 for medium rare. Easy cook too.

How long do you think an 8lb roast will take low and slow?

DavidM-SC

st¡ke said:

Has nothing to do with ash

It's the old soot-maker, incomplete combustion 


come on people:  fire triangle

in a regular oven, running hot for the start of the cook and then shutting it off (or starting hot and dropping to slow roast temps) is a traditional method. (Ignore for a second WHAT the logic was, this was common, and often recommended today.) 

This is not a problem in an electric or gas oven. But that's bc there's no smoke

in a BGE or other AIRTIGHT cooker, it is a big problem

The old BGE manual talked about the sear and dwell method for steaks. Start hot, sear flip sear and then SHUT ALL THE VENTS. Quite possibly the worst way to cook a steak. 

All this guy is doing is a sear and dwell for a roast. 

when you have a fire comparatively raging at 600/700, your fire is burning clean and hot. 

When you crash-choke to 250/300, or even shut the vents "off", you starve the bed of coals of oxygen. But they are still burning. They don't go off like a lightbulb. 

the majority of lit coals are now dying and burning very poorly. They aren't hot enough to burn clean

my old example is a candle wick. Burning bright, you have clean flame and no or little smoke. 

Blow it out, and you'll see it is actually still lit. A small ember in the wick will keep burning. But it will throw sooty smoke and will smell foul until it completely dies. 

Good smoke always smells and tastes good. Sure, there can sometimes be too much, but good smoke is never ashy or foul

Bad smoke, soot, is ALWAYS due to incomplete combustion

I don't personally bother with high heat and prime rib. I get a better, browner, (black is bad) and more uniform crust cruising at 225 and 250. Always

if you want to start hot and crash to slow roasting, pull the roast OFF and let the egg come down to lower temps AND burn clean. Then put the roast on to cruise.   It won't harm the roast to sit while you come down to temp

or, sear at the end. This can cause you to overshoot the IT though

me? Dry the roast a few days or at least overnight. 

Then slow at 250 until IT is where you want it. Minimal carryover. Perfect crust. Absolutely uniform color across each slice (no overcooked grey outer ring). Literally the easiest cook on the BGE

There is only one reason for the sooty bad smoke here. It's the choked out fire. Witness the smoke he gets when he drops temp by shutting vents. Smell that smoke

it ain't good

smoke should always smell good

How long does low and slow take?

DoubleEgger

st¡ke said:

don't know who dylan is or what was praised

fishlessman

st¡ke said:

Has nothing to do with ash

It's the old soot-maker, incomplete combustion 


come on people:  fire triangle

in a regular oven, running hot for the start of the cook and then shutting it off (or starting hot and dropping to slow roast temps) is a traditional method. (Ignore for a second WHAT the logic was, this was common, and often recommended today.) 

This is not a problem in an electric or gas oven. But that's bc there's no smoke

in a BGE or other AIRTIGHT cooker, it is a big problem

The old BGE manual talked about the sear and dwell method for steaks. Start hot, sear flip sear and then SHUT ALL THE VENTS. Quite possibly the worst way to cook a steak. 

All this guy is doing is a sear and dwell for a roast. 

when you have a fire comparatively raging at 600/700, your fire is burning clean and hot. 

When you crash-choke to 250/300, or even shut the vents "off", you starve the bed of coals of oxygen. But they are still burning. They don't go off like a lightbulb. 

the majority of lit coals are now dying and burning very poorly. They aren't hot enough to burn clean

my old example is a candle wick. Burning bright, you have clean flame and no or little smoke. 

Blow it out, and you'll see it is actually still lit. A small ember in the wick will keep burning. But it will throw sooty smoke and will smell foul until it completely dies. 

Good smoke always smells and tastes good. Sure, there can sometimes be too much, but good smoke is never ashy or foul

Bad smoke, soot, is ALWAYS due to incomplete combustion

I don't personally bother with high heat and prime rib. I get a better, browner, (black is bad) and more uniform crust cruising at 225 and 250. Always

if you want to start hot and crash to slow roasting, pull the roast OFF and let the egg come down to lower temps AND burn clean. Then put the roast on to cruise.   It won't harm the roast to sit while you come down to temp

or, sear at the end. This can cause you to overshoot the IT though

me? Dry the roast a few days or at least overnight. 

Then slow at 250 until IT is where you want it. Minimal carryover. Perfect crust. Absolutely uniform color across each slice (no overcooked grey outer ring). Literally the easiest cook on the BGE

There is only one reason for the sooty bad smoke here. It's the choked out fire. Witness the smoke he gets when he drops temp by shutting vents. Smell that smoke

it ain't good

smoke should always smell good

this should settle the argument is this really stike