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New Egger, new member

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alexwolf1216
alexwolf1216 Posts: 112
edited June 2012 in EggHead Forum
Hello everyone! I am new to the forums (after a long wait) and new to the BGE. I am located in San Antonio, TX about a 1/2 mile from Rudy's BBQ. My wife and I bought the egg about a month ago and I have been reading as much as I can on here to get a good grasp of technique.

I smoked an 8lb brisket starting at 8:30 AM and pulled it at 185 around 8:30 PM. It was awful! Tough as nails, dry, and all around not very good. I then went and bought a packer cut 10lb and started it at 8:30 PM and hooked up my new Maverick and tried to stabilize temps around 225. It seemed to be OK but at 4AM the alarm went off on the thermometer because the grill temp was at 174. The meat had fallen from 145ish to 125. Dome temp showed around 100. It seems like I choked it down a bit too much. It took about 20 minutes to get things back up and running so when I woke up the temp was around 235. It cooked all day and around 5PM I bumped the temp to 265 on the maverick. It read 195 at 7:30PM so I pulled it, wrapped in HDAF and let it rest for an hour while I made burnt ends.

It was awesome! Tender, juicy, just all around good. I checked both thermometers and sure enough the dome was way off.....somewhere around 40-50 degrees. I have since calibrated it and I imagine things will make more sense next cook. My problem is my Egg doesn't seem to want to stabilize. It is either constantly climbing gradually or falling. Its probably me, and I will continue to play with the vents to try and get it dialed in.

My first question:

I am setting up for a low and slow. I light the fire, let the temp come to 225 and dial in where it stays close. I put in the plate setter, drip pan, grate and let it try to stabilize for 20-30 mins before i add the brisket. According to what I have read so far this seems to be OK. I have the bottom vent around 1/8-1/4" and dial in the top. Am I missing anything?

Alex
San Antonio, TX. LBGE.
Wolf Studios Photography
http://www.wolfstudiosphotography.com
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Comments

  • yellowdogbbq
    yellowdogbbq Posts: 389
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    Congrats on the new EGG!  I think your trying to cook at too low of a temp.  I have great results with my low & slow cooks cooking @ 250-300 dome temp.  I let my egg warm up (with plate setter in) for about an hour to get it stabilized.  1/8" or less on the bottom vent sounds right, just think it will take some time to get used stabilizing your egg.  Have fun.
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
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    Congrats on the new EGG!  I think your trying to cook at too low of a temp.  I have great results with my low & slow cooks cooking @ 250-300 dome temp.  I let my egg warm up (with plate setter in) for about an hour to get it stabilized.  1/8" or less on the bottom vent sounds right, just think it will take some time to get used stabilizing your egg.  Have fun.
    Yep- mine usually likes to run about 260, so I let it. You'l get the hang of it and like yellow dog says, let be stable for an hour....or 2 or 3 before putting on your meat for a few cooks. Really get it dialed in and you'll be fine. You won't be wasting more than a $1 on lump at those temps and I don't know about you, but the thought of getting up at 4am is well worth a $1 to me. Just play with it for an entire afternoon with no food in there if you want to get comfortable with it. take it up, choke it down, see how it behaves. You'll get it sooner than you think.


    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • alexwolf1216
    alexwolf1216 Posts: 112
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    Thanks for the reply. I think having calibrated my dome t-stat will help me out as well. I think I am on to brisket #3 this weekend. Wish me luck :)
    San Antonio, TX. LBGE.
    Wolf Studios Photography
    http://www.wolfstudiosphotography.com
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
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    Thanks for the reply. I think having calibrated my dome t-stat will help me out as well. I think I am on to brisket #3 this weekend. Wish me luck :)
    Keep at it. I did them every week until I figured them out. If I did 2 in a weekend, I took one to the fire house for the fellas to eat. If it was dry, I chopped up and sauced it and they devoured every bite.

    I had a friend who was a firefighter so I kind of had an in, but after a while, I didn't even ask if he was there. When I pulled up, they all started cheering. They got my worst briskets and loved every bite. Don't be afraid to share- even the ones that aren't' your best. 90% chance it's better than what they were going to eat anyway.




    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • Rolling Egg
    Rolling Egg Posts: 1,995
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    Welcome aboard! Brisket is not the easiest thing to cook, and even proffesionals struggle with it from time to time. Another thing to remember. When you have it stabilized for a couple hours and you throw that chunk of meat on there, resist the urge to fumble with the vents for a while. Give the egg a chance to recoup from that cold mass. Then adjust if necessary. Alot of people will get a hunk of meat on there and jack the vents open to get it back to 250. Go to bed and wake up a few hours later and it's running 350. Hang in there, and Happy Cooking!
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