Low and slow without putting out the fire???

Unknown

Week long egg owner. I've cooked every meal but breakfast on the egg since owning it. My plate setter came in last night so I roasted some chicken wings and today it's Brisket Day![p]It's an 8.5lb packer trimmed brisket that was dry rubbed last night. I put some apple wood sticks from when I trimmed my apple trees last year (about a thumb and a half thick) down in the lump and lit the fire this morning at 6est. I was at 230 by 6:30am so I put the brisket on. The fire has been slowly catching up and I'm at 250 now. I'd prefer to be around 225 but can't seem to get it much cooler without putting out the fire (I had one panic where I had to open everything up just to see if I still had red in the lump).[p]Now my daisy wheel is all the way closed and my bottom vent is only open about a 1/4" and I'm at 250 again and afraid that I'll put out the fire if I'm not careful.[p]My question is for general low and slow cooking (225 and lower). What's the best way to get lower temps. Open the daisy wheel a fraction and leave the vent even smaller (1/8")? Or is it a better idea to close the daisy wheel completely (like it is now) and leave the vent open a bit more (1/4").[p]

Scotty's Inferno

Bozzy, First, don't worry at all about cooking a brisket or butt at 250. Don't shut the thing down so much you put out your fire.[p]I prefer to do a low n slow with the daisy barely open and the bottom vent wide open. That way there's a great oxygen source. [p]If you really want to go low, check out this link. It has more on the above as well.
Have fun, Scott

[ul][li]Cold smoking[/ul]

irishrog

Bozzy,
You will need to leave the daisy wheel open a little so that you have air flowing through the egg. It is the constant feed of oxygen which keeps the charcoal burning.
It is harder to get the egg to go down in temperature than up, remember it is designed to maintain temperature, and all the good advise would suggest that you creep up to the temperature you want and then stabelise your egg there for half an hour before putting in the meat. As you get to know your egg you will find what is the best setting for it to burn low and slow, but for today I would open the daisy wheel a very little, and trust the egg to do its job for you. Try not to open the egg until about an hour before you expect the joint to be cooked because this destabelises the temperature. Check the internal temperature with an hour to go and judge from that how soon you will need to check again.
I am sure the low & slow experts will chime in with more information but I hope this helps for a start.

Clay Q

Bozzy,
With 250 dome yer at somthin like 230 grid level. I've had very good luck with low fires by stacking with large lump at the bottom grate then adding medium lump followed by small. Never had a fire go out yet at 250 dome.
Clay

Darnoc

Bozzy,
You seem to be on track with what is going on now but do not close the daisy wheel all the way.That will fine tune your temperature.If you close it all the way you have cut off the air flow and it will go out.

Parrothead

ClayQ,
Elder Ward style, baby!! A little more time consuming but well worth it IMHO.[p]Cheers,
Chris

Unknown

irishrog,[p]I was able to get it to stabilize at 225 and it's going very well. However, I am opening it once an hour to mop the brisket which I plan on doing for the first 7-8 hours (or until I run out of mop sauce).[p]I'm also not getting as much smoke as I'd like which will be something to work on next time.

tach18k

Bozzy, no need to maintain 225-230, run at 250 and dont worry about it.