General question on temp control

smokygolfer

New Egghead here. I'm having trouble getting my egg to temp and then holding. After lighting there is a lot of smoke, so I let it get really hot to get a clean burn. But it takes FOREVER to get it back to cooking temp (say, 300) and then hold it there. Any suggestions? I love this thing but planning on eating at a prescribed time is really difficult.

jdMyers

Yes.  Hope all is well.  With lump and no lighter fluids....    starimg the obvious there to be funny...  set your vent based on desired temp from the start..  1/2 inch on the bottom and slight Crack on the dome lid example for 300. During initial lighting Leave lid open to ensure flame has actually took. close lid with vents set. Let dirty white smoke turn clear.  20 min maybe.  Watch temp during this phase and adjust vents usually more closed, to get desired temp.  Minor adjustments go a long way.   Control it on the way up.  Once stable where you want it.  Smaller than you think on the bottom.  Then add any smoke hickory etc chunks after it goes clear.  Enjoy your cook.  Catch the temp on the way up is so much easier. .    With that said do chicken and hot dogs before steaks.  Easier to up than down in temp.  Also.  When opening lid During cook.  Close bottom vent to prevent flare up then re adjust back after you close the lid. Hoping it helps.   Jd

jdMyers

lousubcap

First up-welcome aboard and enjoy the journey.  Above all, have fun.
Now to address your issue and some add-on info that may be of value. 
Don't worry about the initial white smoke.  It's VOC's (search function for more on that topic).  A couple of things-BGE fire is air flow controlled (assuming you have enough lump and got it going).  So, temperature control (aka fire volume) is a function of the amount of air flow through the bottom and out the top.  You can control by top or bottom vent or combinations of each (preferred for low temp cooks).  With any BGE the trick is to catch the temperature rise on the way up to the desired end-point.  You have a lot of ceramic mass and if it gets heated above the target temperature it takes a while to cool down as you have experienced.

With regard to quantity of lump-bottom-line you can never load too much lump.  The air flow will dictate the size of the fire.
Misc info-on indirect cooks (platesetter or today's term for heat deflector loaded) your dome temp will initially read around 20-40*F hotter than the temp at the cooking grid-gap narrows the longer the dome is shut.  If not specified, cooking  temperatures here reference the dome temp.  Check the calibration of your dome thermo before you start.  Always wait til the smoke is burning "clear" before putting your food on..(if smoke smells good then all is well, if not-wait).
Should you want to acquire a controller, my opinion (and we all know what those are worth...) is that you should get comfortable using the lower vent and DFMT for temperature control before even considering that purchase.  Many of us think the BGE will do fine at low& slow cooks without the electronics...but your choice.

No need to worry about time to get to the low&slow cook temp-a few minutes delay on the many hour cook is not a deal-breaker.  Key is to not grossly overshoot your target temp-if you leave the dome open to initially get a good fire going (I go with around a softball sized burn for L&S-set the lower vent and DMFT to about where you expect them to be when steady-state at the time you shut the dome. Then adjust as necessary-and don't sweat "dead-on" temps for the low&slow cooks. 270*F+/- 30* is close enough.  Just get the BGE stable (45- 60 mins) and then let it do the work.  You can spend the cook chasing temperature (remember the fire is responding to air flow changes so the feedback loop has quite a delay time).  Relax and enjoy the journey.
Best basic info site going- http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramic.htm 

smokygolfer

Thanks much for the info! Clearly I have been letting the temp get too far ahead of me. Really helpful information. Looking forward to future cooks!

Mickey

Or do like i do on all 5 of my Eggs. Toss that TOP VENT deep in the garage and don’t use it. It is really not needed. You can control by the bottom vent alone. Hell I’ve been cooking like that for 20 years. 

Still use the ceramic top to putout your fire and for storage. 

Legume

The lower your target temp is, the earlier you light your fire.  Smoke takes a little longer to clear at a low temp and it’s easier to overshoot a low temp, so sneak up on a little bit.

jdMyers

Oh and one final thought.   We all like photos of your cook.  Good and bad.  That's how we learn.     Enjoy.  Again welcome.  It's addicting