Temprature control

Unknown

I have only cooked on my new BGE one time. I was trying to hold my EGG temp at 300F to grill some Gulf Shrimp. I had trouble figuring out how to hold my Egg temp at 300. I would practically have to close the bottom and top vent completely to lower the temp enough and then I was afraid that I would lose my fire. I would open the lid to turn my shrimp and when I did the temp plummeted to below 300 and I would "Open" bottom and top vent to get temp back up to 300. THen it would get to almost 400 and I was then closing vents again to get it back down. This was only for a 20 minute grilling at 300 and I felt I was on a seesaw. I am concerned b/c I would like to smoke some foods and many recipies talk about smoking at 300 for about 3 or so hours. I certainly don't want to get back on the seesaw for 3 hours/??? Is there something I'm missing here??? Or just trial and error is required??[p]Thanks! Tim - Mississippi

MickeyT

Tim Fritts,[p]My suggestion would be to "creep" into your desired temp. If you are using the daisy wheel, adjust it slowly, let the egg sit til the temp stabilizes. If it's too low then adjust the wheel in small increments till you hit 300.[p]Don't be too alarmed if the temp drops a little while flipping your shrimp. That is your dome temp anywho.[p]Shrimp sure dont take that long anyway and aren't to temp sensitive.[p]Hope that helps.[p]Mick

CR

Tim Fritts, it seems that you are trying to make to many adjustments. You need to stabilize your temp first, with the egg closed. Once you have stabilized the temp at say 300° leave your bottom vent and daisywheel adjustments alone. When you open the egg the dome temp will drop drastically but when you shut it again it will usually come back to your stabilized temp within a couple of minutes, as long as you haven't changed the dampers.[p]You may also want to try making most of your temp adjustment with the top damper. I have very good temp control setting my bottom damper about 1-1/2 inches open and then use only the daisy wheel. I only close my bottom damper to small openings when I am doing long cooks at low temps; this helps to avoid problems with wind blowing into the bottom.[p]Hope this helps.
CR

MrCoffee

Tim Fritts,
I used my MickeyT temperature rings for the first time this weekend for an all day cook and they took all the wandering temperatures out of the egg. #8 ring held 375° the night before for pizza. #2 held at 235-240° for most of the day and the #1 kicked it doun to about 205-210 for a two hour finish on a brisket. I just contacted MickeyT off line like a lot of others and received super service.[p]Terry

Dave's Not Here

Tim Fritts,
As an old timer with a whopping 3 months experience, I can sure relate to your problem. I did the same thing, but now getting the desired temp is no problem, be it 200° or 400°. Let it stabilize and don't try to micro-manage the heat. Follow everyone's advice and you'll be an expert in no time.
Dave