Temperature Surge During Smoke

Unknown

First time smoking Boston butt, started fire, added upside-down plate setter, drip pan with 1 inch of water on setter, grid on top of both, and 8lb butt on v-rack. Brought temp to 225* at 8:00pm, watched it till 10:30PM (still at 225*), went to bed, woke up at 6:00AM and temp was at 300*. I thought temp was stable (bottom was open about 1/4 inch and top of wheel was about half open). What happened and how do I prevent this without staying up all night?

James

Marc,[p]I'm sure there are others more qualified to answer, but here is my take.[p]with an opening at the top and the bottom, wind, even a light breeze in the direction of your bottom vent can spike the temp quite easily.[p]I usually stabalize the temp the daisy top completely closed. This seems to prevent temperature spikes..[p]I'm still working to perfect my techniques, and this is only my theory, but it seems to be working so far.[p]

Mike in MN

Marc,
In 2 1/2 hours, things are really heating up and just stabilizing. The meat and the egg are absorbing a lot of the heat being produced. Once the meat reaches the plateau, and the egg is well warmed, you are probably making more heat than needed to maintain 225°. Also, that first batch of water is getting close to gone. When it's gone, the temp within the egg will go up, because you aren't using up the energy to heat/boil off the water. [p]Personally, I wouldn't leave it all night at that point. I'd set an alarm clock for an hour or two later, just to check on it. I like mine to be untouched/stable for a couple of hours before I go to bed. I don't set an alarm, because I usually wake up every couple of hours ... just to make the "loop."[p]Mike in MN

The Naked Whiz

Mike in MN,
If the water in the drip pan is going to evaporate and result in the temp climbing, I'd leave the water out. I don't see a need either to stabilize the temperature or to contribute to the moisture of the meat. The ceramic is going to take care of both, it would seem.
TNW

The Naked Whiz

Marc,
I like Mike's answer, plus I'd say that your vents were more open than I would have used for 225 on my large egg. You might want to do something like some 6 hour ribs or something like that during the day to watch the temps and see how it goes without having to stay up all night. Or you can get a "Pennsylvania Crutch" (I just made that name up), a BBQ Guru. (In case anyone thinks I'm being snotty, I have and use a Pennsylvania Crutch myself. :-) )[p]TNW

Mike in MN

The Naked Whiz,
I like a drip pan with water, onions, garlic, and anything else that looks good (jalapenos, zuchini, bay leaves, seasonings,??) I figure the "flavored" steam is a good thing. Just my theory. I like steam/moisture with my cooks. In fact, I miss that aspect of cooking with a gas grill. I always used a squirt bottle to spray a good stream of water on the coals, especially towards the end of the cook. The steam would produce a blast of heat and moisture and it seemed to add a bit of juice to the meat....like basting. It was my version of the "TRex" method. High heat, and then a blast of steam, and then the finish on a grill with a significantly lowered grill temp. [p]If you are producing steam, you are using heat energy. When the drip pan water is totally evaporated, that excess heat energy (that was being used to produce steam) would cause the dome temp to rise. It's like throwing a big chunk of meat on a preheated grill...the temp is going to drop as the meat absorbs the heat. Once the meat temp comes up, the dome temp will also rise. [p]Mike in MN