Dome vs. Grid Temp

Newbs

Hi,[p]Been egging since February. Loving it. Going to try first Boston Butts for Father's Day weekend. I've read lots of posts as well as three or four sets of instructions on different Eggthusiasts websites. While the set up of the Egg is very similar in all cases, the temperatures vary quite a bit. 195-270....225 grid....250 dome. I am guessing that grid temps are measured with the guru. I don't have one. I will be doing two butts...approximately 8lbs each. The cook should take approximately 16 hours...2hr/lb. I am pretty proficient with temperature stabilization and control but I have three questions.
1. Do I need to measure grid temp?
2. What is the general consensus on dome temp?
3. Is my time estimate of 2hrs/lb a good estimate?[p]Thanks in advance for your wisdom/assistance/advice.[p]Cheers,[p]John

Fire in the Hole

Newbs,[p]I generally go by dome temp more than grid temp. But since the Maverick ET-73 has both a grid temp probe and a meat temp probe, I watch all three.[p]I try to shoot for a dome temp of 250-275 degrees. The grid temp seems to follow about 25 degrees below the dome temp on my large when the grid is set at normal height.[p]The 2 hours per pound is a good benchmark to use for planning your cook. I use that figure just to make sure my butts are due to come off within an hour or so of the serving time.[p]Use the temperature of the meat to determine doneness. From my experience, anywhere between 195 and 205 is a good target. 195 will give you a slightly moister pulled pork while 205 should be a little bit drier.[p]I have missed the mark before and pulled the butt off at 215 and everyone still raved. That's the real beauty of pork butts. They are very hard to mess up.[p]Relax and enjoy your cook!

BlueSmoke

Newbs,
Hi; good to hear your voice.[p]1. I only measure grill temp when I'm feeling particularly OCD. Then I just use a Polder with the probe stuck through a block of wood.
2. I try to start in the 220 to 230 (dome) range, gradually raising the temperature to 300 by the end of the cook. (Looking for around dome temps about 100 degrees higher than internal meat temp.)
3. Two hours is a good guesstimating time; my times are more on the lines of 2.25 hours per pound. I've found it's easier to finish a little early and hold the butt, than finish late and fend off "the starving masses".[p]HTH
Ken

Newbs

BlueSmoke,[p]Thanks much Ken. I don't post too much...you're right. Typical Canuck in a room full of Americans. Listen well but don't speak much..ha! Too green to pipe up and answer many posts, and most of my questions are answered just by reading the other posts. [p]Appreciate your help.[p]John

Newbs

Fire in the Hole,[p]Thanks for the help. Lots of good tips. [p]Cheers,[p]John

EggSport

Since boiling water is so close to grid and dome temps for 'low-n-slow' cooks, I would sure double check my thermometer and at some point use a small potato or wood block with drilled hole to measure your specific EGG grate temp with different cook configurations. In this case, setup the Butt cook pieces and measure the grate temp versus dome ... even if you have to do it with only one thermometer, when the fire is stable and EGG up to temp, you will be very close even having to open the dome for a moment. I would rather know my differential, but from other posts the range seems to be very close to 25* to 30*F.

Rick G

Newbs,
Don't count on the 2 hours per pound thing. I cooked a 5 pound but the other day. I figured around 10 hours. It was done in 8 and my temp of 225 was rock solid. The next butt I did was 6 pounds and took 16 hours. My belief is it depends on the amount of muscle in the butts. The first but was quite fatty and finished early. The next one was solid meat and went long. Hope that helps.

Newbs

Rick G,[p]Thanks Rick. Guess I'd better be safe and count on 2.5hrs/lb.
If its a quicker cooking butt, I'll just throw it in the cooler for a few hours. If it is a "turbo butt" to use Nature Boy's phrase, I'll re-heat the pulled meat.[p]Appreciated.[p]John

Unknown

Fire in the Hole,when we are talking about 2hrs and 2 butts are talking about the total wt of the two butts times 2 hours or 2 hours times maby the wt of the biggest butt....okesmokie

Texas Geezer

Newbs, I feel your pain <g>. Since no one seems to have addressed very thoroughly the first part(s) of your question(s), I'd like to solicit some help on behalf of all newbies.[p]There, are, of course 3 temps that are relevant to BGE cooking: "internal," "dome," and "grid." And since so many Eggers now have the Maverick ET-73 and/or the Guru (both of which have the capability to measure grid temps) I'm seeing a growing ambiguity in describing recipes and cooking techniques where the specifics of whether the temperature is intended to be grid or dome (or internal, for that matter) is not stated. There are a lot of newbies coming to this forum seeking help, and if we are ambiguous in these terms, we are not helping.[p]What I think would be most useful and helpful - particularly for the newbies who haven't yet purchased every gadget on the market - is a set of tables or graphs that show the difference in dome and grid temperatures over time and under some carefully controlled conditions. This would probably involve a minimum of three set-ups: 1) grid in the "normal" position; 2) grid in the "normal" position and with a grid extender on top of that; and 3) plate setter with grid on top of that. My gut hunch is that these 3 configurations would provide different results, but if not, then it would be nice to have a confirmation that they don't.[p](I don't have a Guru and am hoping that I can continue to survive without one. I'm probably going to get a Maverick ET-73 soon - I'm currently getting by with a Weber wireless remote. So I can't yet run such a calibration.)[p]Just a thought in case anyone better equipped wants to accept the challenge...