Smoking at low temps

cuttingras · August 2011

I can't for the life of me get my Egg to smoke at 200-250. The lowest I can keep it going is 400-450 and have no problem reaching temps of 600+. I can almost close it all off and it goes out or stays at 400. What am I doing wrong? I'd love to do a slow smoked Brisket. Thanks in advance!

onedbguru · August 2011

How in the world are you starting it up as it takes a bit to get it that hot. LowSlowCooking cannot be rushed so don't get in a hurry to get it "hot". You should let it stabilize for 30-60 minutes before you put on the meat.

I have an XL. For LSC, I use 1/2 a chimney starter (Weber brand) worth of HOT coals. poor it in and fill up the fire box on top of the hot coals. Sprinkle water-soaked wood chips (mesquite for brisket, hickory for pork) throughout the firebox. Close the lid. open the bottom vent approximately 1/4-1/2 inch. Open the DFMT petals barely open. Let the temp climb slowly. once you overshoot the temp, it will be almost impossible to get back down to the 200-250 range. Make MINOR adjustments to the vents to increase or decrease the temp. Again, Patience is a virtue:

"Patience is the state of endurance under difficult circumstances, which can mean persevering in the face of delay or provocation without acting on annoyance/anger in a negative way; or exhibiting forbearance when under strain, especially when faced with longer-term difficulties."

From an earlier post by Granpas Grub:

"The Naked Whiz has a tip about the DFMT. Google nakedwhiz don't use 'the' in the search."

eggtopia · August 2011

For 250, I use about 1/16 of an inch on the bottom vent and the DFMT just cracked. If it is too hot, you have too much air flow.

BBQMaven · August 2011

I can't for the life of me get my Egg to smoke at 200-250. The lowest I can keep it going is 400-450 and have no problem reaching temps of 600+. I can almost close it all off and it goes out or stays at 400. What am I doing wrong? I'd love to do a slow smoked Brisket. Thanks in advance!

cuttingras

Could your thermometer be off? Have you calibrated it in boiling water?

cuttingras · August 2011

Thanks for all the replies! After reading more I di believe my fire is too big. I take two squarez of firestarter stuff and tear it into pieces then scatter it in an area like a circle. I'm only going to light one small Piece and take everyones advice! I'll let you know how it goes!! Im running to the grocery stor and getting a brisket!!!!!

..... <---thats me drooling.

cuttingras · August 2011

Will calibrate too TY!!!

NC-CDN · August 2011

I'd check the calibration for sure. I only light one spot when doing low n slow. IF your vents are near closed you should have no problem maintaining a 250 F temp. Good luck. Hope you get it sorted.

wolfsburg18 · August 2011

I read through the forums quite a bit before I purchased my egg and I kept seeing comments about burping the egg at both high and low temps. This is opening the dome just an inch or two and allowing small amounts of fresh air in at a time.

My first attempt at smoking I had a few issues when I opened the dome where the temp would spike I found that I had to close off the bottom vent for a min or so before I would burp it to put the fire down a bit before it received the flood of fresh air. I also found that I could only have the dome open about 3-4 minutes or the fire would warm up too much. I also used a coffee can where I would get some hot coals at the bottom put two moist chunks of wood on the top with more charcoal on top then another two chucks, so as the fire burned up it would burn through layers, for me this worked to keep smoking for about 4 hours and a temp under or right at 200 for almost 14 hours. For me this made some amazing meals and beef jerky.

Wish you luck.

GeekGod · August 2011

Also perform the dollar bill test on your gasket and ensure you have no leaks.

Basically this means taking a dollar bill and close the lid with the dollar bill sticking half way out. Tug on the dollar bill and you should have a decent amount of resistance. If you move the dollar bill all the way around the BGE doing this test and you find that at any point the dollar bill comes out without any force you have a leak and will need to realign the dome to the base.

NC-CDN · August 2011

Just an FYI. I can take a stake of $100 dollar bills. Even $1000 bills and still pull them out. LOL. It's got more leaks than the government, but still does the job. Got some wings on right now. Was at 225. Just letting it climb to 300 or so. Raining like mad and it's windy out there from Irene. Sucks going out to check. No remote thermo for me.

SmokeyPitt · August 2011

Thanks for all the replies! After reading more I di believe my fire is too big. I take two squarez of firestarter stuff and tear it into pieces then scatter it in an area like a circle. I'm only going to light one small Piece and take everyones advice! I'll let you know how it goes!! Im running to the grocery stor and getting a brisket!!!!! ..... <---thats me drooling.

=P~

My favorite thing about the new site...there is a drool emoticon.

:-bd

ribmaster · August 2011

You got to start it low.
Light it with a torch in one spot (center top)
put platesetter on, close lid and when it hits 150 shut the bottom door to 1/4 inch and daisy wheel with a small slit.

Salty Hogs BBQ · August 2011

I light in 3 places. 2, 6, and 10 o'clock places near the edges. Get the lump in those areas nice and red. Put place setter in. Close dome. Once it reaches 200 close bottom vent to 1/4. Make sure daisy wheel is closed to a credit card thickness for an opening. Very tiny opening. Once the temp gets to 225 close the bottom a little more and then make incremental changes until it reaches 250 and stabilizes.

The reason I light in 3 places is to make sure it doesn't go out.

My Stoker is my insurance though. I use it all the time now.

castlemonster · September 2011

So I gather from this thread a VERY small opening is the way to keep 250? I smoked my first butt over night this weekend and I thought for sure the fire would go out because the bottom vent had such a tiny crack.

I left it and it smoked at about 225 for the night. I barely opened it and 275 is where it stabilized.

Cactus Doug · September 2011

First off you need to catch your temp on the way up. Once you overshoot it can take a loooong time to bring the temp down. Start with the vents open and close them down as you approach your target temp. I usually light in one place for low cooks. On my LBGE cookers 1/8" to 1/4" open on the bottom vent and the top slider closed and the top vents cracked -/+1/8" will maintain a temp in the 225 to 250 range undisturbed for many hrs.

Smoking at low temps

Comments

Categories