Help!!!

aturco

I think I totally messed this up, any suggestions would be appreciated....

1) I am trying to smoke/cook a 4 lb pork shoulder, I fired up my grill w/ the wood chips in the grill. A lot of white smoke, a ton of white smoke for over an hour. I decided to put the shoulder in the egg at about 100 degrees. Was that okay?

2) what about all this smoke, the neigbors gave me a few dirty looks and they shut all their doors and windows. I have a ton of white smoke. This worries me. I now have the egg stabilized at 225 and there is still a lot of white smoke. I used some left over lum and some new lump and filled it to the top of the fire ring. I am using Jack Daniels wood chips and I did not soak them.

3) My egg is leaking smoke, my seal melted so there is smoke coming out of the sides. Some people say they don't use a seal, dont they have smoke leak? And there is smoke leaking around the edges of the daisy wheel. Any suggestions on this?

4)Is my shoulder ruined?

Thanks
a

bbqcentral

aturco,

I might be able to help with the food and smoke part...but not the BGE side. Was your butt cold when you put it on or did you have it sitting it out? How long did it take the BGE to get to 225*? Only danger would be having the butt be higher then 40* and lower then 140* -- that's the danger zone!

I wouldn't worry about the white smoke...once your neighbors taste the shoulder they will become big fans of the egg when you use it...they might even ask when the next time is going to be

As far as the seal or gasket, I'm pretty sure you need that to function at peak performance.

Just keep the BGE at 225*-250* and you'll be a-ok

BobS

I do not think that it is ruined, but only you can decide about the smoke flavor.

What did you cook before this cook -- was there a lot of grease down in the lump?

No gasket is no problem so long as you can control the temp you want.

mad max beyond eggdome

lets see here. ..first, starting at 100 degrees is way too low....second. ..using old and new lump is ok .. . should have started your fire using that.. .get your fire stableized at around 225 or so with just whispy light grey smoke. ..any white smoke at that point would have been old grease and needed to burn off. . .then add your wood chips. ..a good fist full would have been plenty (don't know how much you put in there, but i'm not surprised you got a lot of white smoke with a bunch of jack chips at 100 degrees) .. ..leaking smoke around the base is no big deal, both my eggs do that, you just adjust your top and bottom vents for that to help control temps... .

did you ruin your butt?. . .maybe/maybe not. .. depend on how acrid that smoke was and how long it stayed in there at that low of temps. . .how long has it taken that butt to hit 140 degrees internal temp? . . .

Bama Boy

How many wood chips did you use? I typically use more than you should and it puts out a lot of smoke. Was the lump up to temperature when you put the chips on? I wait until the lump gets hot then I put the chips on. I would not worry about the smoke coming out of the seal - before I replaced mine I had smoking coming out of it - I think as long as you have the temp where you want you should be fine.

aturco

Thank you all for the quick replies. Since the post, the smoke has stopped considerably and there is a nice "wisp" of smoke coming out of the top and I have it stabilized at 225. I guess my only concern now is if I ruined it and by that I mean too much acrid smokey flavor from the white smoke.
There was no grease in the egg, its only the 3rd time I used it, the other times was for pizza.
My shoulder was taken out of the fridge about 1/2 hour before putting it on the egg. Probably not a good idea, not very patient, guess thats something I need to think about when doing this.
I probably used too many chips too used basically the whole bag.
I am just going to leave the thing stablized at 225 for a couple hours before I start taking temps internally, hopefully it will come out okay. i will keep you all posted.
thanks
a

mad max beyond eggdome

LOL, a bag of jack daniels chips lasts me about half the summer and i use it a lot. ..a little goes a long way. . . that is gonna be one good woodsie tasting pork butt, dats for sure. . .if you have the egg up 225 now and keep it that way, i think you are gonna be ok. ...also, since it as only 4 pounds to start with, its not going to be spending that much time under 140 degrees, so again, i think you'll be ok. ...

aturco

Okay thanks I guess live and learn. Am I suppose to check the temp of the meat now? And is it okay to have the bottom open only about an inch and the daisy wheel barely open? I am at 225-250. Can I go out and run some errands and let it be?

Zippylip

Sounds like you've got some good advice on the butt situation, now about those neighbors... slap'm each with a pulled pork sandwich & they'll be happy every time they see smoke :cheer:

mad max beyond eggdome

yeah, you should be ok. ...i think an inch on the bottom is probably too much. .. usually, to maintain 225-250 in a large egg, about the thickness of a credit card on the bottom vent is sufficient and the daisy wheel holes open just a 'scosh' is good enough, particularly if you have air leaks around the gaskets. ...that usually works for me ... .i wouldn't be gone too long if i was you though. ...

aturco

Hi ZippyLip
I met you last week at the eggfest at woodburners. i bought the egg that Hillard was using. Just wanted to say hello, saw you were in WC I am in havertown. Where do you buy you lump? I bought a bag at the superfresh in ValleyForge (gateway) for $6/bag. Havent used it yet. Any info on where to buy RO or Egg lump in the area?

a

mad max beyond eggdome

well, if you bought an egg that my buddy hillard used, then you bought the best. . .hillard was the first egger i ever met over 6 years ago...we are partners on "free range bbq" as he is friends with my neighbor brett ....heck, i let him take my daughter "the spawn" all the way to reno two years ago for the big bbq tv show filming that he was part of. .. .there isn't any better person in the world than him....but he didn't teach you any better than to stick a whole bag of wood chips in a 100 degree egg? .. .oh, shame on him!!

aturco

yeah i guess that was kind of silly, i guess i thought less was more.
do you have any contact info for him, he was extremely helpful that day.

thanks
a
aturco99@yahoo.com

aturco

yeah i guess that was kind of silly, i guess i thought less was more.
do you have any contact info for him, he was extremely helpful that day.

thanks
a
aturco99@yahoo.com

Zippylip

You are sh!!'n me, we met - I can't remember which one you were, are you in any of the Pix that Boss Hogg posted the other day? You live in Havertown, that's about 2 seconds from me, & here I was complaining just yesterday that I don't know an egger w/in an hour - how funny is that. I get all my lump at Walmart, $5ish per 10lb bag of American Royal Oak, I pick up at least 10 at a shot

aturco

stop over later today for some shoulder and some beers.
i am right off darby road on W. Clearfield.
I was the big red headed guy with my wife, the blond. I was hanging out with Hillard at the end of the eggfest. what is the link for Hogg's pics?

Zippylip

which one is Hilliard (I am real bad with names), where was he/what was he cook'n. Boss's pictures were posted about 2-3 days ago, just scroll back & you'll find'm. Thanks for the invite but I have a bunch of guys on their way for footballathon sunday & a whole bunch o' cooks lined up, look for my posts later today. We'll have to make a plan, I work in Media right on Front Street

Zippylip

Are you in PA also?

aturco

Nice...
I just got back from a bike ride...so much for errands, to nice not to ride. Anyway the egg is at about 225, the shoulder is at about 150. Been in since 8 am. I figure a couple more hours. Whats up with wrapping it in foil and putting it in a cooler. Should I do that?

a

mad max beyond eggdome

nope, northern virginia. ...