Newbie creating carbon

FloridaPilot · December 2014

Got a BGE for Christmas today and tried it out with the smoked Mona Lisa's Glazed Smoked Ham recipe on this website.

It called for 350 degrees for three to four hours. I did everything exactly as written and only 90 minutes in, the ham looked like a ball of carbon. It was black and smoking. The gravy that I was to brush on every 30 min was boiling and the pineapple slices were almost ashes. The internal temp on the ham was only up to 120, but it with Armageddon happening on the outside, I bailed and finished it in the oven.

What happened? 350 degrees seems like a very hot temp for smoking, but I kept it right on that for the whole time. Every other outside recipe for smoking seems to indicate 225 to 250 for albeit, a longer time.

cazzy · December 2014

I'm quite sure there was sugar in the glaze. It can easily carmelize and blacken at those temps. Bring the temp down and glaze towards the back end of the cook. Prolly like the last 45-60 minutes.

theyolksonyou · December 2014

First off, welcome to the forum.

what was your set up? Sounds like indirect. Did you have an air gap between your drip pan and the plate setter? Do you have any pics of your set up? Also, have you calibrated your thermometer?

FloridaPilot · December 2014

Yep, there was a lot of brown sugar in the glaze.

I don't have a problem changing it next time, it's just frustrating to follow the BGE website's own recipe to the T and have this happen. Is it really that inaccurate?

cazzy · December 2014

Good point yolk...may have been much hotter too.

FloridaPilot · December 2014

The setup was the plate setter with the legs facing up. Then the grate with the drip pan and rack on top.

No, I didn't calibrate the thermometer. It sounded like a tricky process using boiling water etc. Didn't think I'd have a problem out of the box.

Should I calibrate it before using the BGE again?

theyolksonyou · December 2014

Yep. Just use some chopsticks, skewers or the like to set the thermo on and let stem hang into the boiling water.

cazzy · December 2014

FloridaPilot said:
Yep, there was a lot of brown sugar in the glaze.

I don't have a problem changing it next time, it's just frustrating to follow the BGE website's own recipe to the T and have this happen. Is it really that inaccurate?

Don't always depend on a recipe as there are plenty of variables. Smell, visual and temp should always be what you fall back on. If it don't look or feel right...ask us questions during the process. Someone is ALWAYS available.

cazzy · December 2014

theyolksonyou said:
Yep. Just use some chopsticks, skewers or the like to set the thermo on and let stem hang into the boiling water.

I guess I'll no longer burn myself. #-o

Good tip!!!

DaveRichardson · December 2014

Yep... Too much sugar. I bet just under that crust it was juicy!!!

noregard · December 2014

If it don't look or feel right...ask us questions during the process. Someone is ALWAYS available.

This right here. Never a lack of support from some great great people here! No such thing as a dumb question either.

Enjoy your new egg. It can be a little daunting at first, but it won't be long for it to come together.

stemc33 · December 2014

@FloridaPilot‌, in addition to possible recipe flaws, you might of had fire issues not related to the thermometer. What did the final outcome of the meat taste like? Meaning did it have a pleasant smokey taste, acrid tasting from bad smoke, burnt/charred because the sugar burnt? What kind of lump did you use and what was the fire like? Did the smoke smell bad or good? It's more than likely the issue @cazzy‌ listed above, but sometimes it's a combination of things.

FloridaPilot · December 2014

I appreciate the support I've already seen. Looking forward to a lot of years and great meals.

stemc33 said:

@FloridaPilot‌, in addition to possible recipe flaws, you might of had fire issues not related to the thermometer. What did the final outcome of the meat taste like? Meaning did it have a pleasant smokey taste, acrid tasting from bad smoke, burnt/charred because the sugar burnt? What kind of lump did you use and what was the fire like? Did the smoke smell bad or good? It's more than likely the issue @cazzy‌ listed above, but sometimes it's a combination of things.

For all the visual reasons above, we bailed on the LBGE after 90 minutes and finished it in the oven. It had a nice mild smoky taste but was on the dry side. We used BGE charcoal because I wanted to do everything by the book my first few times out.

We could only peek at the fire past the plate setter, but it looked like a nice bed of bright red glow in the charcoal.

FloridaPilot · December 2014

One other new detail: the new drip pan we used for the ham seems like it's ruined. The hot glaze hardened and removing it too some of the finish off.

I still go back to my basic question: is 350 too hot for smoking a ham in the LBGE?

Mickey · December 2014

FloridaPilot said:

One other new detail: the new drip pan we used for the ham seems like it's ruined. The hot glaze hardened and removing it too some of the finish off.

I still go back to my basic question: is 350 too hot for smoking a ham in the LBGE?

Always line with HD Foil. Guess you know that now :@)

Mickey · December 2014

I do this:NAKED HAM / SMOKE ONLY Let me start that for the past 6 years i have only cooked Egerts Ham (this is an outstanding ham Egged on the BGE). A short while ago went looking for (did not know this at the time) a naked ham / smoke only. Looking at other ways to do a ham w/o the burbon, maple syrup, brown sugar, NO ANYTHING. Guys this was outstanding ham. It tasted like ham. It was a 7 lb Cooks ham (shank) and NOTHING was put on it (Nothing). Just smoke: both lots of Sugar Maple and cherry chunks. Cooked at 300 till 135. I did score the ham deep. Cooked indirect. New item: just did spiral and worked out fine.

theyolksonyou · December 2014

FloridaPilot said:

One other new detail: the new drip pan we used for the ham seems like it's ruined. The hot glaze hardened and removing it too some of the finish off.

I still go back to my basic question: is 350 too hot for smoking a ham in the LBGE?

350 is not too hot to smoke a ham. It just take less time.

cazzy · December 2014

theyolksonyou said:

FloridaPilot said:

One other new detail: the new drip pan we used for the ham seems like it's ruined. The hot glaze hardened and removing it too some of the finish off.

I still go back to my basic question: is 350 too hot for smoking a ham in the LBGE?

350 is not too hot to smoke a ham. It just take less time.

Yep, not too hot at all. However 350 is too hot to baste w/ a high sugar glaze from the onset.

W5CI · December 2014

Yes, 350 is way to Hot. I cooked my ham at 235, 12# ham took 5 hours to reach 140 internal. Good Luck the BGE does have a Learning curve. But its worth it

DieselkW · December 2014

Sugars caramelize at very low temperatures.

I think you did everything right, but at 350f you're too hot for sugar.

DTEgg · December 2014

@floridapilot-

Welcome to the world of eggheads! Just a quick note, many of us use disposable aluminum pans for drip pans, you can buy a bunch of them for not much at Sam's Club or Costco. Saves the damage and you can bend/shape them as needed to fit the egg…good luck!

anton · December 2014

Yep, welcome, and agreed with above, use cheapo drip pans that I buy in bulk, or if your using anything you don't want to have to steam pressure wash to clean, wrap it in foil including your plate setter or indirect stone (whichever you use), helps a lot.
:-bd

Newbie creating carbon

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