New User, First Cooking Experiences

David B.

Greetings all,[p]I have now used my egg several times. Made a pork loin with a jerk rub, was juicy and delicious. Made a brisket with a rub from the alt.food.barbeque newsgroup, made ribs with the same rub. That was one cook. Prepared my fire according to hints given here, lump up to the top of the firebox, a couple of handfulls of mixed hickory and mesquite chips. Put the brisket on at 11:00 pm Saturday night, fell asleep watching SNL. Checked the temp at 1:00 am before going to bed, it was holding fine at 250. At 5:00 in the morning it had dropped a little to 235, opened the vents a little. At 7:30 it had climbed to about 280, closed back down some. At 11:00 it had dropped to 235 and looked to be a little choked in the firebox, I added a few coals and stirred, it probably didn't need the additional coals based on what was left at the end, but I figured better safe than sorry on my first long cook. The ribs went on at about 9:00 am, BTW. The ribs and the brisket were both tender, juicy and delicious. I look forward to many years of great food to come. I basted both the brisket and ribs with brisket fat, a sorry day when you have to baste pork with beef fat, but it was delicious. Next I need to solve my slight gasket leak, otherwise the egg is the perfect cooker.[p]David Burnside
Happy Memorial Day, a bit late

Char-Woody

David B., congratulations and welcome to the forum. You did a few things that perhaps I would not such as stirring during a cook. That should not be necessary. If I do any stirring, its from underneath with my "secret" weapon wire bent to 90 degree angle to fit into my grate holes. I wiggle a bit and make sure they are clear in severa spots.
Your doing great and learning the adjustments to the lower grate and upper top units to maintain a temperature. Just to a tiny move at a time. No big adjustments.
Again, congratulations and your off and running. Each cook is a delightful experience.
(most of the time hence my "Char-Woody" handle from long ago)
Cheers to ya..
C~W[p]C

David B.

Char-Woody,[p]Thanks for the kind words. I see that most do not feel that stirring during a cook, even a long one, should be necessary. Maybe it's just from my experience using an upright water smoker (a MUCH more difficult process) that I felt it necessary, but it did look like my coals were "choking" a little. Maybe just vent adjustment would have been sufficient.[p]Do you think that a slight leak in the back of the gasket (less than a 1/16" gap) might cause some problems with maintaining low temperatures?[p]David B.[p]

Char-Woody

David B., yes, it most definitely will and the dome bands need to be adjusted. Loosen the band bolts, and let the dome settle down to the lower casting. Then retighten. Did you get some silicon seal with your unit?
If you did, you may want to apply it to the inner band area on the top dome. Then retighten. I would advise getting new SSteel bolts and some washers. In the process of overtightening the bolts, the band lips bend and the steel band grinds against the bolt threads distorting them. Thus the difficulty in trying to remove the bolts when the nuts are driven over this distorted thread.
There could be a better option IMHO.[p]
A tiny leak will self close over time. The felt needs a air tight seal or the heat will cause the felt to disintegrate and actually catch fire. It requires a non oxygen environment to keep its continuity.
Cheers to ya..
Char-Woody

Spin

David B.,[p]Welcome to the family and forum. It sounds (reads?) like you are off to a great start.[p]It would be a good idea to have 4 spare bolts for the bands when you make the adjustment. I have yet to salvage a bolt when doing a band adjustment ;-}.[p]Spin