rookie problems

bigdaddydivo · February 2016

Hello there,
I have had my large for almost two years and have had great success with grilling, ribs, spatchcock chickens etc. I have never had the time to do a nice long smoke on something. I am in the northeast and it is currently about 30 degrees with a pretty good wind. I wanted to smoke about an 8 lb butt for tomorrow. I cleaned the egg out and vacuumed it too. I didnt remove the guts because I had just done that late last summer.
I am having a hard time raising the temp. The lower vent is wide open and the daisy wheel is just cracked open a little. Its holding at 250 but it is not going up at all and the butt has been on for over an hour.
I dont care as long as it stays at 250 but I really dont want to babysit it all dayThere is quite a bit of condensation dripping out which I have already read of in other forums but I would of thought that would of burned off by now. I did preheat and even put the platesetter in and closed it up to bring it back to temp. It did come to temp but now its just holding at 250. I would have thought after an hour it might dry out and start climbing with the bottom vent wide open.
Any thoughts???

SmokingPiney · February 2016

When you cleaned it out, did you make sure the air holes in the fire box are clear? I've found mine obstructed a few times.

You might try opening the daisy wheel up a bit. I have to say, though, that I've never had condensation dripping from the Egg.

bhedges1987 · February 2016

Stack your lump. Put larger pieces on the bottom to get good airflow. I do that, put one fire starter in the middle, let it go for 10 min, stack a little more charcoal around it, put in plate setter, close bottom vent to about 1" and top vent about 1/4 open. Give it 30-45 min

THEBuckeye · February 2016

30 degrees? No problem.

Wide open? Problem

When I'm doing a butt, once I reach temp 225-250 and lock it in, both the top and bottom vents are eventually only open about 1/4 - 1/3 of an inch

Once I'm locked in and put the butt on, I'll do a sanity check in about an hour, again at 4 or 5. Sometimes, I'll find it's bumped up to 300 and I'll just crank the vents down even more.

Butts will take 1 1/2 - 2 hours per pound depending on who you ask. Estimate and plan accordingly. The butt will stall for a good while at 160-170 degrees - don't worry about that.

Depending on when you want to serve, you can alway go "turbo" the last hour or so to get the butt to 200-205 degrees when the middle will probe like buttah. Or you can low and slow until you reach the temp based on your serving plans.

You do not have to babysit - just a few sanity checks over several hours. Good luck.

bigdaddydivo · February 2016

Thanks all!

Carolina Q · February 2016

Make sure the fire grate isn't clogged. If it is, you won't get normal airflow and will need the vent open more to compensate. Take a coat hanger and make a wiggle rod. Stick it into the lower vent and poke it up through each of the holes of the fire grate and wiggle it. Just an idea. Wiggle rod looks like this...

Image: http://thirdeyeq.com/images/2de4e7766fe00d6146aab1c5cf1ef4da.jpg

and can be purchased here if you want a nicer one. Other tools too. From Thirdeye. Check 'em out. http://thirdeyeq.com/Custom_Tools.html

bigdaddydivo · February 2016

Carolina Q said:

Make sure the fire grate isn't clogged. If it is, you won't get normal airflow and will need the vent open more to compensate. Take a coat hanger and make a wiggle rod. Stick it into the lower vent and poke it up through each of the holes of the fire grate and wiggle it. Just an idea. Wiggle rod looks like this...

and can be purchased here if you want a nicer one. Other tools too. From Thirdeye. Check 'em out. http://thirdeyeq.com/Custom_Tools.html

Thanks Carolina! I closed the lower vent down to less than half an inch and shes still holding just below 250
Bottom line I think I need to clear my schedule a bit more and get in the game
I may get a new thermometer for my egg and maybe a smokecraft vent cap, I may have to be a bit more careful with the lump
We'll see
Thanks for all of the great thoughts all!!

Jeepster47 · February 2016

bigdaddydivo said:

... The lower vent is wide open and the daisy wheel is just cracked open a little. Its holding at 250 but it is not going up at all and the butt has been on for over an hour. ...

Lots of good advice from the folks above.

Let me add one more point for you to think about. With your set up, you are controlling ALL of the airflow (read temperature) with the daisy wheel. You've left the bottom vent wide open so that all kinds of air can get into the egg ... but, you've then throttled the daisy wheel down so that the air can't get back out. Nothing wrong with that type of control, but understand that playing with the bottom vent from wide open down to almost closed is not going to affect the temperature. If you want the temp to go up, then you have to open the daisy wheel more with your set up.

Most folks control the temp with the bottom vent. They throttle the airflow down with the bottom vent and leave the daisy wheel more open than you currently have it. Cook around 350 degrees and some folks even take the daisy wheel off and control only with the bottom vent.

Good cooking ...

johnkitchens · February 2016

I think you will be fine. My only advice would be to completely clean out the egg, guts and all, next time. Then you know you won't have an airflow obstruction. I have been cooking a lot of butts lately. Good eats!

lousubcap · February 2016

+1 with @Jeepster47and his comments. The BGE runs on air-flow once you get the lump burning. You can throttle at either end of the BGE. As has been said before, think of a garden hose-you control with the faucet or nozzle. Either way the quantity of water is restricted by which ever you choose. Hope this helps.

Steve753 · February 2016

Another suggestion is to buy a Kick Ash Basket. It helps keeping ash out of the vent holes, and it leaves a small air space between the basket and the sides of the Egg, so you get better air flow. I use a Shop Vac with a fine particle disposable bag to clean the bottom of the fire box before I start a cook, and have had no problems getting up to temperature. I promise you that you will never regret getting a Kick Ash Basket.

Photo Egg · February 2016

Jeepster47 said:

bigdaddydivo said:

... The lower vent is wide open and the daisy wheel is just cracked open a little. Its holding at 250 but it is not going up at all and the butt has been on for over an hour. ...

Lots of good advice from the folks above.

Let me add one more point for you to think about. With your set up, you are controlling ALL of the airflow (read temperature) with the daisy wheel. You've left the bottom vent wide open so that all kinds of air can get into the egg ... but, you've then throttled the daisy wheel down so that the air can't get back out. Nothing wrong with that type of control, but understand that playing with the bottom vent from wide open down to almost closed is not going to affect the temperature. If you want the temp to go up, then you have to open the daisy wheel more with your set up.

Most folks control the temp with the bottom vent. They throttle the airflow down with the bottom vent and leave the daisy wheel more open than you currently have it. Cook around 350 degrees and some folks even take the daisy wheel off and control only with the bottom vent.

Good cooking ...

Great advice above. Keeping your top vent almost closed is keeping your temp low and holding in a lot of moisture. I would rather keep the daisy holes open most of the way and control the temp via the lower vent so you have more airflow. This leads to better bark as well.

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