Temperature Regulation

Unknown

I received a Medium Egg for Christmas and have been cooking alot on it. However I have been experiencing some trouble stabilizing the temperature in the 300 to 350 degree range. In order to maintain a 350 degree temp I have to open the daisy wheel top wide open and the slide damper on the bottom 1/2 to 3/4 open. This seems a bit different than the settings I hear about. I use Big Green Egg lump charcoal but the size seems to average the size of a golf ball, very few large lumps in the bag (note: this is my first bag so I do not know if this is normal). I also notice that the cooking times are different. I cooked a Boston Butt for 3 hours at 300 degrees and found the internal temperature to reach only 148 degrees. Cooked a 15 pound turkey for 5 hours at 300 and could only achieve 157 degrees. Am I missing something?

AZRP

Eric Sheehan,
The way I get a stable 350 on my large is have the small holes on the daisy wheel all the way open, the large hole shut, and the bottom door all the way open. -RP

stike

Eric Sheehan,
300 is a bit 'hot' for the entire cook on a boston butt. 250 is about the max most go. even then, 300 degrees would still take much longer than 3 hours.[p]at 250, i average 2 to 2.5 hours a pound for a butt.[p]turkey is usually roasted around 325 to 350, and that yields about 15 minutes a pound with a 'store-bought' bird (or brined).

tn slagamater

Eric Sheehan,are you using a plate setter?....cooking indirect ?? Both turkey and butts need indirect cooking. And 300 degrees is too hot for a Butt as mentioned ; this type of pork needs to be at low temps(230 -250) for many hours.... Fill the firebox with charcoal ; open the bottom vent ; as you approach temp you want....slowly.... close the bottom vent to set the temp you want.... hth

Unknown

Eric Sheehan,[p]I tend not to use BGE charcoal as it's so expensive. I use Royal Oak ($7.99 per 20 lb bag bought locally) for grilling and Wicked Good Charcoal ($40 for three 22 lb bags plus shipping as they are not to my area) for 10-20 hr cooks. Both usulaly have some nice large sized pieces.[p]Howard