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First stoker cook now in progress! and a question?

Rezen73
Rezen73 Posts: 356
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Man, how cool is the stoker?

Amazing I can sit upstairs and know in about 15 seconds that the cook is going off without a hitch.

amazing!

So quick question - should I lower the grid temp to 235F? or keep at 250F?

anywho, I got the butt trimmed... removed the fat cap/skin, as well as the spin/neck/ribs/whatever bones they were.

Started with this:

IMG_6162.jpg

Removed the bones:

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Other side of the bones:

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I swear, the end of those bones look like ribs:

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The fat cap:

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Was pretty thick, about 3/4"-1" throughout. Will make for some good cracklin's for our dog, and some good lard for us :D

IMG_6171.jpg

I'm lookin' for rub in all the wrong places...

IMG_6172.jpg

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Egg cleaned, loaded, and lit! While I waited for it to get to temp, I tended to making the rub.

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Toasted some cumin seeds, fennel seeds, and whole coriander...

IMG_6177.jpg

And added it to the spice grinder with the rest of the rub raws ... brown sugar, smoked & sweet paprikas, cayenne pepper, chili powder, mustard powder, granulated garlic, onion powder, dried thyme, ground white pepper, ground black peppercorns, and kosher salt. sorry for the blurry pic, was in a mad rush :D

IMG_6178.jpg

Ready to go on the egg! To prep the butt, I drizzled a wee bit of corn oil (used corn instead of olive oil since corn oil is more neutral in flavor), added a nice dose of rub, then slathered a bunch of French's mustard, then another dose of rub. I like a nice thick bark :D

IMG_6179.jpg

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My jerry rigged rain-proof setup. It's been raining off & on all night, so rigged this up to make sure everything stays operational tonight. I'll make a more proper setup once I get some PVC pipe wide enough to let these stupid UK style power plugs though :/ I bought some today but didn't think about the power plugs you know, actually fitting through the PVC pipe. /sigh.

IMG_6181.jpg

As I write this, the butt's been on for about 2 hours, and is currently @ 111.7F with a grid temp of 249.7F, according to stoker log. What an incredible tool.

Sure makes low & slow seem like easy mode!

Comments

  • Edemitch
    Edemitch Posts: 196
    Looks good. I think I need to do another butt soon. Be careful of the stoker being in the box on hot days. I have a very similar set up. We had a hot rainy day last summer and the Stoker ended up over heating. It still works but it does get a little flaky once in a while.

    Ed
  • Rezen73
    Rezen73 Posts: 356
    Edemitch wrote:
    Looks good. I think I need to do another butt soon. Be careful of the stoker being in the box on hot days. I have a very similar set up. We had a hot rainy day last summer and the Stoker ended up over heating. It still works but it does get a little flaky once in a while.

    Ed

    Hah, no worries about it ever getting hot here. It was in the 50's here (Scotland). I really miss Houston though. Going back in a few weeks actually, looking forward to the hot August heat and out of this dismal cold, even in the middle of summer!

    So any thoughts on the grid temp? Should I leave it at 250? or should I scale it back a wee bit, maybe to 235 or so?

    Cheers
  • Canugghead
    Canugghead Posts: 11,458
    That hunk of butt is a thing of beauty! What's the dome temp? if it's close to 260-270'ish then I would lower grid temp to 235. Depending on the meat temp in the morning you can crank it up again if needed, with the Stoker it's just a few keystrokes and mouse clicks. Looking forward to the finished pic.
    canuckland
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,170
    Too much like work-game on with only the basics, lower vent and DFMT. About to fire up a 9# boston butt ( 10 PM EDT)and if I need more than that then I have the wrong gear. But at the end of the chase it's all about taste-
    Good on ya-
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • Rezen73
    Rezen73 Posts: 356
    Just checked the dome temp... 230F. Grid temp still 250. Of course it's raining out so I'm guessing that has a wee effect on the temps. Butt temp is @ 129.1F

    Guess I'll leave it alone for now :D
  • Rezen73
    Rezen73 Posts: 356
    lousubcap wrote:
    Too much like work-game on with only the basics, lower vent and DFMT. About to fire up a 9# boston butt ( 10 PM EDT)and if I need more than that then I have the wrong gear. But at the end of the chase it's all about taste-
    Good on ya-

    Before I moved to Scotland, I was completely in agreement you... Somehow it doesn't feel right using it lol. But the fact I can type this response to you and control the temp simultaneously while it's raining outside is awesome hehe. Love it.

    Cheers
  • Photo Egg
    Photo Egg Posts: 12,110
    Talk about an electric chair... :laugh:
    Very nice.
    Thank you,
    Darian

    Galveston Texas
  • James MB
    James MB Posts: 359
    Sorryto hear about your rain, we do get a lot and thought you were on the drier side!
    23c yesterday but heavy dew this am here.
    A couple of thoughts.
    1 I found a cheap dc extension cable on amazon that means I keep the mains power indoors and just run the 12V DC out into the rain for the guru.
    2 Doesn't the stoker use 1- wire. I'm not sure how sensitive 1-wire is to distance but could you keep the whole Stoker indoors and just run a long 1-wire lead out to the egg, then have a poly bag with a multi socket in it by the egg to plug the probes etc into.