Getting XL to smoking temps

DKReale · July 2014

I just got my first egg and I have an XL. I cooked some burgers on it and it was great. Had great heat and held temp perfect.

Question: I am planning to smoke a brisket and boston butt this weekend and I wanted to get temps down to 225 after grilling my burgers to try it out at smoking temps. I put plate setter in and closed vents on top and bottom almost completely. I was not able to getting temp below 285? Even after closing them the entire way. Any suggestions?

radamo · July 2014

One of the strengths of the egg is its ability to retain heat. This makes it tough to cool down. I have not tried this but others have said putting in a drip pan with cool water can help bring temps down quickly.

snoopydapimp · July 2014

Although my egg is a large I have noticed if I want to smoke at a low temp (225-275) I close my lid a little earlier when lighting opposed to letting it burn longer when searing steaks or other meats. This allows me to bring the heat up instead of having to wait for the ceramic to cool down bringing the internal temp down. I let mine heat up to long once when doing a brisket and it took over an hour to cool from 315ish down to 275. I had to almost completely close the vents to accomplish this.

Canugghead · July 2014

You got good tips from above posters already. Just don't shut down completely or you risk snuffing out the fire. May be challenging to hold temp at 225 without a temp controller, I would aim for 250. Give it time and the temp will drop, starting brisket and butt at 300 won't hurt a thing.

NPHuskerFL · July 2014

@DKReale‌ Close vents down most of the way but, not totally. Place a large container of cold water in the egg and it WILL drop temp. Give it a little time because as the others have said the egg is very efficient maintaining temp and will hold in heat once it's hot. Once temp drops where you want it pull your container of water out (be careful as it will be HOT) & then place in your proteins and dial in to maintain desired temp. Hopefully that helps.

This advice was given with the idea that after doing burgers etc at say 500℉-700℉ and then wanting to go L&S shortly after.

revolver1 · July 2014

285 is fine, it will come down. Just don't close the vents completely. 250 - 275 should be your target for low and slow. Did you calibrate the thermometer? That's very important.

DKReale · July 2014

Thanks for all the tips. I guess in so used to my weber gas grill with a smoker box it's a lot faster dropping temps when needed.
@revolver1‌ - how do you calibrate the thermometer?

HDumptyEsq · July 2014

Patience is rewarded, usually with an adult beverage whilst temperature adjustment are taking place. >:D<

GaBGE · July 2014

I have XL, I had to close daisy wheel completely to get 230 temp maintained. There should still be enough airflow with it is closed.

jhl192 · July 2014

I find 250 easier to get to and maintain and still does the job. grid temp is close to 225 when dome temp is 250. Also, low temps require very little vent openings. I was surprised when I did my first low and slow cooks.

Getting XL to smoking temps

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