Breaking the rules, scrambling, and coming out okay - maybe

Joder

I broke from tradition and DID NOT use the Elder Ward method for a low and slow - so far so good. [p]Problem: I wanted to grill burgers Saturday night, cook a shoulder picnic low and slow Sunday to give to a friend, AND eat ribs Sunday.[p]Solution: After grilling the burgers at high heat, I shut down all the vents for about 10 minutes, while I prepared Mr. Picnic. Then,
Ijust dumped fresh charcoal straight from the bag onto the hot coals filled up to top of firebox -dome temp was about 450 then. (The Egg was not cleaned out - it had a low and slo and 2 previous cooks worth of ash under the firebox.) I figured what the heck, I was going to be home all day Sunday to keep and eye on it. I put Mr. Picnic in a V-rack in a drip pan straight on the grill at 9 pm. I usually use a pizza stone, but wanted to use the grill for JSlot's direct ribs the next day. Went to bed with top vent about 1/8" open, bottom about 3/4" open.[p]I woke up about every 2 hrs. (without a clock - I was that concerned) and checked on it. (I have no BBQ Guru yet) It made it through the night no problem. Dome temp was a little high at 245-260. Meat temp was 161 at 6 am - (The Plateau - it stayed there until 12 noon before it started climbing again) . I added the ribs at 10 am - it was down to 225 dome so I opened the vents to 1/2 top and 2" bottom. At that time I sprinkled apple chips through the grill for the ribs. I would've used hickory, but all I had were chunks that wouldn't fit throught the grill. At 10:30 it was down to 190. Uh-Oh - fire was dying.[p]I opened the vents wide open. I stuck my tongs through the grill and stirred up the coals. Then I took my golf club propane starter from BBQ Guru and jiggled the fire grate from below to try to stir things up. It worked great. By 11:00 it was up to 250 dome. AT 11:30 it was 275, so I shut down the vents to 1/2 and 2". It's been cruising around 250 ever since. It's 4:00 and the ribs are about done, the meat is at 181.[p]My plan of direct cooking the ribs did not really work. I had to pile 2 racks on top of the Picnic and 1 on the grill. The dripping grease made a lot of smoke, which I hope doesn't put a bad taste on things. Perhaps the ribs will baste the Picnic.[p]