2nd Cook on Large BGE - Getting used to Temperature control. Learning Along the Way

phswrestler125

Hi Everyone,

I recently purchased a Large BGE with the following accessories:
  - Kick Ash Basket w/ Kick Ash Can
  - CGS Spider w/ SS Grid for high searing near the lump
   - CGS Woo w/ 2x Half Stones

I've been really interested in doing some reverse searing cooks; so for my 1st Cook, I reversed sear some Thick T-Bone pork chops. They came out pretty good (sorry no pics), but i noticed i didn't have a good grasp on temperature control. I had a goal in mind to keep the temperature around 250 until the pork chops reach an internal temperature 130. Then i wanted to get the grill up to 600+ for high searing the pork chops until they reached 140ish, so that they could rest up to 145+.

 For that pork chop cook, i did the following:
 - Lit the lump w/ 1x fire starter (Lid opened up and bottom draft all the way open). Saw some very strange results. After about 10minutes, the egg starting putting out alot of white smoke... I looked inside and found out that the fire starter didn't light the lump correctly and the fire died, so this time i put 2x starters in the lump. This worked alot better. This time after 5 or so minutes, i decided to close the lid but open the top reggulator all the way open - this seemed to work better than just keeping the lid open.

- After the lump was glowing, i put in my Spider w/ Grid, Woo Ring with ceramic stone. I kept the ceramic stones open in the middle, to allow the dome to heat up at the same time as the ceramic stone themselves...

- After 15minutes, the gauge read 275, so i opened the lid to close up the ceramic stones and put in my drip pan and top grid.

- After the temperature rose back up to ~220, i decided to close the bottom draft to ~2fingers horizontally wide and closed the top reggulator to be barely open, 

- After another 15-20minutes, the temperature seems to be stabilized around 225-230 (or so i thought)., so i decided to put my pork chops on.

- Throughout the duration of the cook (1hr), the temperature slowly rose from 230 all the way to 300. It was a very slow and steady rise. This really didn't effect the outcome of my cook, but i was a little disappointed that i didn't have the temperature control figure out.

- I think what happened is that the bottom draft was opened too much.. I believe having the top regulator barely opened is what regulated the temperature to be a slow and steady climb, but the fact that the bottom draft door was opened too much is what allowed the temperature to creep up to 300 degrees in over an hour.

Here is the MEATER analysis from the cook: (by the way, the meater probe at grate level seems to register anywhere between 30-50degrees below the dome temperature of the egg). Pork chops came out great! Took the chops off at 130 and they rose to a peak of 134 ( i was actually expecting to rise further, but it didn't). I then setup the egg for a very hot 600+ sear. I seared the pork chops on the SS Grid on the Spider near the lump. 





So now for the 2nd Cook - Thick Ribeyes
- Purchased some really thick 2x 1.8lb ribeyes for me and my wife. These ribeyes had a big spinalis caps on them. Wanted to try to do a reverse sear again to test out my hypothesis from the first cook, and try to fix some of the mistakes.

- I put a piece of oak wood (from a tree we cutdown about 4yrs ago) on the bottom of the kick ash basket to allow the wood to burn cleanly once the fire reached the bottom of the basket (i've notice that my fire seems to go down instead spreading out). I told myself not to throw in another variable, but i really wanted to get that smoke flavor. 

- I filled the basket with lump, and used 2x fire starters this time.

- After about 7-10minutes when i saw the coal becoming red, i closed the lid with the bottom draft and reggulator all the way open.

- I waited until the dome temperature read about 270, i then opened the lid to put in spider, woo, and ceramic stone. Again leaving the stones open to allow the dome to continue to heat up with the ceramic stones. I closed the bottom draft this time to the width of 1finger in the vertical direction (picture below).. I kept the top reggulator all the way open still.

- After about 18minutes, the temperature climbed back up to 230 or so 

- once the temperature climbed to 250, i then closed down the regulator (picture below) to see if i can slow down the rising temperature and stabilize the temperature.... After closing down the top and waiting another 15 or so minutes, the temperature  seemed to stabilize around 260-265..








- Clean (barely visible) smoke was coming out, so decided it was a good time to throw on the ribeyes. I layered the following seasoning:
      Killer Hogs AP rub
      Meat Church Holy Gospel
     Killer Hogs TX rub




- Once the steaks rose to an internal temperature of 120 degrees, i pulled them off and allowed them to rest. During the resting period, the steak only rose 7 degrees and reached a peak temperature of 127. I thought the internal temperature would rise more than 7 degrees, but it didn't.

- I open all the vents to sear on the spider near the lump around 650 degrees. I let the steak sear until they formed a nice crust and flipped.



- Looking at the Meater Analysis, i was quite surprised to learn that i was able to maintain a constant and stable temperature throughout the cook. My hypothesis was correct. In my first cook, i had the bottom vent opened too much, which is why it crept up to 300 degrees (albeit slowly crept up, due to the to reggulator choking it down). So by decreasing the bottom vent, i was able to maintain a constant steady temperature of 260-265 degrees (~230 at grate level)... The dips on the meater graph are when i opened to dome to take a picture and to flip the steak.

WeberWho

You might want to look into a weed torch from Harbor Freight to light the egg. I tried many ways over the years to light the egg and I find the weed torch by far the easiest and quickest way to light the egg. Just my two cents. 

I don't run the top daisy wheel (or whatever lame term they call it now) except for low and slow. Anything above 300 degrees I remove the top daisy wheel and only use the lower vent for making temp adjustments. (My personal preference)

Once you have the egg stable 250 degrees the lower vent and daisy wheel will look closer two a toothpick width opening. (Hardly open) It will take some time to figure out but it eventually becomes second nature. My biggest suggestion is give it time. Even small adjustments with the vents don't come evident right away. 

Keep asking questions. Always someone here to help. 

Foghorn

1) Welcome aboard.

2) Not surprisingly, @WeberWho has you covered with good advice.  With that said, I'm too chicken to run with the upper vent uncovered unless my intent is to cook at 500+.  As you get more cooks under your belt, you can learn that "grate" temp can be - or just read - highly variable depending on where you set your grate thermometer.  If it's near a hunk of cold meat and in the silhouette of your heat blocker the air temp can be quite cool compared to the dome temp.  As the meat temp warms up, so does the reading on the grate thermometer.  Toward the back is usually hotter than toward the front just based on airflow, etc.  This can be a source of frustration initially but once you learn how the grill behaves you can play it to your advantage.  For example, put the thicker ribeye in the back.  Ditto for the dark meat on a chicken or a turkey, etc.

3)  The next time you cook a great pork chop, or particularly a ribeye, we'll need a sliced "money shot".  

Bar

  

Bar

The above is approximate.  There are other factors that could affect settings.

Bar

i've notice that my fire seems to go down instead spreading out).

I notice the same thing with the kick ash basket & can on my XL.

phswrestler125

@WeberWho

Very Interesting that you are able to hold temperature with a fully open top and barely open bottom draft. It seems like there may be various methods to holding low temperatures. The Ace Hardware guy on youtube (check jason, i believe) like to keep his draft half way open and choke down the top all the way... Curious, have you observed better smoking results with your bottom draft barely open and your top fully off, compared to choking down the airflow with the top ? It does seem like that will create better movement of air through the egg.

lousubcap

Welcome aboard and enjoy the journey.  Above all, have fun.
As you have sorted out, the BGE temperature is a function of air-flow (assuming you have fuel and a lit fire).  Managing the air-flow by whatever method you settle upon is the key to stable temperatures throughout the cook.  

jdMyers

Tips.  When opening the lid for anything close the bottom vent to prevent flair ups and climbs.  Close lid then reset bottom.  Helps.

WeberWho

phswrestler125 said:

@WeberWho

Very Interesting that you are able to hold temperature with a fully open top and barely open bottom draft. It seems like there may be various methods to holding low temperatures. The Ace Hardware guy on youtube (check jason, i believe) like to keep his draft half way open and choke down the top all the way... Curious, have you observed better smoking results with your bottom draft barely open and your top fully off, compared to choking down the airflow with the top ? It does seem like that will create better movement of air through the egg.

Anything below 300 degrees I'll use the daisy wheel for low and slow cooks. Anything above 300 degrees I'll lose the daisy wheel and control the temperature just with the lower vent. Big Green Egg never used to come with the top daisy wheel. They eventually added the daisy wheel for fine tuning temps. I'm one of the low majority of people here on the forum who doesn't use the daisy wheel for anything above 300 degrees. I find it to be an extra step that isn't needed when using the BGE. (Just my humble opinion)