indirect cooking and raised grids

Unknown

I've had a large egg for a few years now and have been very happy. So has the wife and the rest of our families actually.[p]I've always had a grid placed between the firebox and fire ring that I placed firebricks or a pizza stone on. [p]Is the common setup of putting a platesetter(or pizza stone/fire bricks) on the main grill and then placing another grill above it better than the way I've been doing it? [p]I was thinking of getting a platesetter for the egg this year but if there is no real difference I probably won't bother.[p]Thanks,
Brad

Tim M

BDixon,[p]The real advantage of a plate setter is just convenience. You only need the one grid and not two, just remove the grid and place the setter on the firering and replace the grid. Your setup should work just as well - same with the firebrick setup. Enjoy[p]Tim

Unknown

Tim M,[p]Thanks for the reply. [p]Even if I don't get a platesetter would/does it benefit having the cooking grid raised? I've seen posts mentioning dome vs grid temp and it seems that it simply allows a little more accurate guage of what the cooking grid temp is. Less chance of a cook taking longer than expected. [p]Thanks,
Brad

Tim M

BDixon,[p]I did some tests 3 years ago with 5-7 polder probes at different heights and different locations in a large egg. Their was little to no grid vs dome effects noted at temps below 350 (my polder probe max safe temps. The grid vs dome variations seem to occure when you add ceramic barriers, or maybe even large drip pans too. Just raising the food itself won't change too much unless you add other things too. You will move food farther away from the infared radiation of the fire so a little less burning should be noted on the bottom of the food (if cooking direct).[p]Tim

djm5x9

Tim:[p]I beg to differ about placement of food at different elevations inside the cooker and the results of the cook. at low and slow and baking temperatures.[p]In an empty cooker, the heat has a progressively ascending, swirling action as it makes its way up the dome side walls before exiting the dome opening. You are correct stating barriers such as drip pans, and pizza stones/plate setters disturb this action. Cooking food direct gives similar results. The food itself reacts as a barrier disturbing the normal upper dome convection activity. The radiant and convection activity of the upper dome seems to result in more even cooking and little to no need to turn food depending on the mass of the food, food elevation (distance from fire), and the temperatures being cooked. It is kind of like cooking on the upper rack of a conventional oven but you still have the benefits of cooking over lump charcoal.[p]I have had excellent results cooking a full grid of ribs, butts, briskets, and butterflied ducks low and slow this way as well as cooking a 24 pound turkey at baking temperatures. The cook is easier to control. The larger your cooker is the more obvious the results of this technique are. How about some input after experimenting on your large?