Afraid to go all night!

Unknown · July 2006

I'm contemplating smoking a boston butt. [p]I wanted to get a little practice in, so I tried some spareribs yesterday. Had
the temp "locked" at 220 for about 2 hours, and thought "nice". Went out about
1 1/2 hours later and the temp had dropped to 150. Raised it easily to 220
again but my ribs took longer than I planned. [p]Started with ample lump and didn't touch any thing, no weather changes, no wind
changes. [p]If I can't "lock" a temp while I'm awake, not too sure I feel capable
of "locking" it overnight! [p]Any suggestions on why the decrease in temp? [p]Regards, [p]-jP

jwirlwind · July 2006

Jim P.,
I would not worry a lot about the temp dropping.I have never had my Egg drop temp more then 20 degrees for low and slow and that was due to holes in grate stopping. I have never had it happen again. I think the key to long cooks is to fill the fire box and I mean fill it up above the top. No matter what I cook, I always fill the fire box above the top. I don't worry about fire going down or out what is not used you know will fire back up for the next time. [p]Jerry

sprinter · July 2006

Jim P.,[p]The fire could have hit an "empty spot" in the lump and it wasnt able to easily light the adjascent piece of lump. Ash could have built up a bit and caused the airflow to change. Lots of possibilities for why the temp changed. If you want to practice doing a low and slow start early in the morning and cook all day. That way you are able to watch what the egg will do over that long cooking period. For as much as folks want them to be, eggs are not really a "set it and forget it" type of cooker. They are much better than some but you still have to watch things to ensure that they are doing what you want them to do.[p]Troy

Unknown · July 2006

Jim P.,[p]The most cost effective is what you'll hear from others about vent useage. If you want to invest money buy a 10CMF BBQ Guru. It has a clip that attaches inside your egg and a fan is attached below at the vent. It will blow in puffs of air all night long when the temp drops. It certainly helped me sleep when doing overnighters. Just another avenue for you to consider.[p]Howard

stike · July 2006

Jim P.,
if your ribs took around 5 hours, well, that's how long they should have taken. can't do ribs in three hours, even four. well, you can, but they won't be anything other than cooked pork with bones.[p]what was the temp you started at before dialing in at 220?[p]if it was higher, and you dialed in on 220, then it would have to go down further. [p]if you snuck UP on 220, you shouldn't have a problem staying there.

Afraid to go all night!

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