beer butt turkey

Unknown

I am the proud owner of a recently acquired BGE. I am planning to do a beer-butt turkey Thursday but have what may be a stupid question. Do I need to get the fire rip-roaring hot and then cut it back down to around 250 or so, or should I start cooking as soon as the temperature hits 250 (which I've found to be after about 10 minutes of lighting up. I've had trouble controlling heat on the low end.Please advise. Have great holidays.

JJ

tom williams,
Start controling your dome temp, by adjusting the lower and upper vents, when the EGG gets around 180*. This will eliminate the problem you are having controling low dome temps.
You can start to cook the bird when the temp gets to 180*, this way it will absorb more smoke. If you want less smoke, put it on at 250*. Wont hurt a thing.
BTW, no question is stupid.

Unknown

tom williams,[p]My experience is to get the fire cranking and then turn it down to temp. This ensures an adequate amount of the charcoal is burning, else the fire tends to be hard to control accurately and has, on occasion, even gone out.

Spin

tom williams,[p]Welcome to the forum and family.[p]I'm with JJ. Your Egg heats much faster than it cools.
A rip roaring fire only overheats the ceramic of the Egg and then you will tend to kill the fire by closing the vents too far in the attempt to get the temp to drop. [p]I start the fire with the top off and the bottom vent wide open. I allow the fire to freely grow to about 50°F below the desired cooking temp. I then install the top vent and close down both vents to the settings needed to hold the cooking temp. The idea is to catch the temp rise and then control the temp at a level below the cooking temp. Then crack open a vent a tad to allow the temp to rise to cooking temp. This method avoids a common problem with lower temp cooks. The Egg itself absorbs heat as it slowly comes to equal cooking temp. This adds a requirement for heat to the fire. As the Egg warms to temp, the heat of the fire (vent settings) becomes more than needed to maintain a cooking temp of 250°F. Thus the temp tends to rise. A slower rise (as JJ said, start cooking during this rise) helps avoid temp control problems.[p]Air control for lower temperature cooking is a learned "feel" that comes with practice. Good fire control methods come with good practice and are quite useful when cooking at any temp. The feel is quickly learned and you will be rewarded along the way.[p]This forum exists for the sole purpose of helping, sharing, and learning how to cook using the Egg. Questions like yours are the reason this forum exists, and it is welcomed. We respond because we want to share what we have learned in the hope that your learning curve is shortened. Everyone here has learned from others. [p]Let us know how the cook turns out.[p]Spin[p]