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Another First Butt - Real Time Q

Chicago Wine Geek
Chicago Wine Geek Posts: 150
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
First Butt and first time with my BBQ Guru. Did all the right stuff (cleaned the fire pit, all new lump, stacked like a jigsaw puzzle). Got a HUGE 9lb. butt lathered and rubed 24 hour prior. Put on the Egg last night at 9:30 pm, a bit to late, but that couldn't be avoided. 9:30 am this morning and the Guru has kept the temp perfect. Butt isn't even registering temp yet. How can that be? I don't want to crack the egg to check the probe, so I'm just going to wait it out. ETA is 4pm or so. What is the panic point? If this butt has to plateau for a bunch of hours, shouldn't I be expecting temps in the 150's or so soon?

Comments

  • DobieDad
    DobieDad Posts: 502
    Chicago Wine Geek,[p]After 12 hours with a 9 pounder you should be in the plateau. It won't hurt to open the Egg and have a look. My guess is that the meat probe connection is faulty. Next guess would be that the probe itself is faulty.[p]Go have a look now and see if you can solve this mystery. If you have a Thermapen or other meat thermometer, use it to determine where you are in your cook.[p]HTH[p]DD
  • Thanks DobieDad,

    Just checked again and meat is now registering 165 temp so I guess we've hit the plateau stage. Will check back after noon.
  • Just came back from grocery shopping and Guru says pit temp is below 175! What happened? Gotta get this back up to 225. Cranking open the damper and vent.....
  • sounds like you ran out of fuel...keep us posted.
  • DobieDad,[p]Posted this on the other forum, didn't appear here. Just got back from the store and pit temp was below 175. Opened the vents to get temp back up and it wouldn't budge. Had to break down and open up the Egg for a peek...[p]Freaking lump was gone! Cowboy brand lump, arranged with big pieces first, then medium, then small, right to the top of the firebox. And it only lasted 14 hours??? IIRC, Naked Chef's site shows that after you are done, there should still be lump left. Is Cowboy Lump that bad? Should I have read all the lump reviews first? Anyone else have this happen?

  • JeffHughes
    JeffHughes Posts: 100
    Chicago Wine Geek,[p]Lots of kiln dried scraps in Cowboy. Okay for grilling but not good for low and slow. In your market you should be able to find good quality lump.[p]I hope you were able to get the butt into an oven to finish off. It should still be great.[p]Go ahead and look a couple of times during your cook. The egg gets back to temp in no time...[p]Jeff

  • DobieDad
    DobieDad Posts: 502
    Chicago Wine Geek,[p]
    Ooooo. Sorry 'bout that! That's pretty disappointing.[p]There have been lots of negative posts regarding Cowboy. The gold standard for low and slow seems to be Wicked Good Charcoal, but it is expensive and hard to find. If you want to try it there are two stores in the Chicago area that carry it: Fireplaces Plus in Vernon Hills and Backyard Barbecue in Willmette. Call first to make certain they have stock.[p]A better basic lump is Royal Oak. According to TNW, it is the same as BGE. You can find it near you at GFS (Gordon Food Service www.gfs.com). They have a store in or near Aurora.[p]Other lumps that I've tried and liked and that are available here are Grove and Patio Chef.[p]Good luck![p]DD

  • Jeff Hughes,[p]Reloaded the Egg and got her back up to 225 pretty quick and Butt went back in. Ok, so there was maybe 1 1/2 hours that the temp was below 175. Still, it's now been 17 hours and I'm still stuck at 170. I'm thinking of bumping it to 275 if we stay at 170 much longer.[p]As for lump, I guess you get what you pay for. Menards had it for $4.99 a bag w/$1 mail in rebate. Closest place for me is my Egg dealer for BGE Lump. That will be my next stop....

  • I'm about half way through a pallet of Cowboy that I bought for $5.00 a 20-lb bag. I've had many, many overnight cooks running up to 20 hours, and still had enough left for grilling the next day. I don't get all fancy about how it goes in the firebox. I just pour it in straight out of the bag letting the pieces land in whatever random order they fall. Generally, for an indirect low-n-slow I'll fill part way up the fire ring, light one spot right in the center, bring it to temperature and let the guru take care of bitness.
  • 20 hours, temp at 195......[p]Holding out for 200.[p]Then a quick wrap in foil and rest for a few minutes while we get everything else ready for dinner.
  • DobieDad, Wicked Good might be more expensive by price but not by value. IMHO

  • Fdaypics2018.jpg
    <p />Posted pic's of this on the new site, couldn't figure out how to on this site..... I'll try this.....

  • Fdaypics2019.jpg
    <p />So how do I do multiple pics on the old site?