My first cook

skroll116 · June 2016

Well, it took a while, but I finally retired my MES 30 and purchased a Large BGE. Did the initial burn in on Friday and Saturday tried my hand at bone in chicken breasts as these are quite easy.

My biggest issue was temp control. And what I mean is I spent nearly 3 hours trying to get temps back down to 250 to cook the chicken. Note, using Ceramic Grill Store Spider and 13" ceramic Stone instead of the plate setter. After it all got going I had the bottom vent open about 1" to 1 1/2" and the egg leveled off around 360*, but wouldn't drop. I would close the vent some and wait, close the vent some and wait. I had the bottom vent nearly fully closed and that is when I got to 250*. I will also note I use a Maverick 733 as my gauge and at first I had it close to the edge, but part way through the "close vent and wait" process I moved it directly over the ceramic stone. Temps still were up there until the vent was nearly shut. But, once the temp levels off it just sticks.

The chicken came out great and I loved being able to open the vents once the chicken came off to then grill some corn for Mexican Street corn. I am hooked. Oh, one thing I did notice about the chicken when finished is you can see the smoke. I won't call it a smoke ring, but parts of the meat had a pink color to it from the smoke (yes I cooked it to 165*) compared to my MES produced.

I am looking forward to ribs and pork shoulder soon and then on to my first brisket.

I still have a lot to learn, but look forward to the journey.

Battleborn · June 2016

Congrats on the purchase. As many people will be along soon, the best piece of advice is catching the temp on the way up. You will be fighting, as you found out, to get the temp back down if you overshoot.

20stone · June 2016

+1 on what @Battleborn said. The one things BGEs don't do well is get cooler in a hurry.

Welcome to the forum

SmokingPiney · June 2016

Congrats on the new Egg, @skroll116!

As stated, it's much easier to dial in the temp on the way up. You just need a bit of patience at first. Once you have more cooks under your belt, you will be able to set temps easily.

logchief · June 2016

First off welcome, sounds like you're hooked already. +2 on what's said above. Couple of good websites for you

http://amazingribs.com/index.html

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramic.htm

dmchicago · June 2016

yup...once you learn to catch the temp on the way up, you'll rock.

THEBuckeye · June 2016

This will speed your learning curve, guaranteed. My Sis-In-Law gave this to me as a gift. I still will reference after a few years of Egging.

https://www.amazon.com/Kamado-Smoker-Grill-Cookbook-Techniques/dp/1612433634

skroll116 · June 2016

Thanks everyone. This make sense. In theory how long should vents be left open before I start to close them down?

lousubcap · June 2016

Welcome aboard and enjoy the journey. Just cook away and you will have it sorted out in short order.

Battleborn · June 2016

skroll116 said:

Thanks everyone. This make sense. In theory how long should vents be left open before I start to close them down?

I usually close them down when I am around 25 degrees from target temp. Which, when I am cooking low ~250, I shut them when I close the lid. If you overshoot by 50 degrees, you will be fine. Like @lousubcap said, practice and you will have it dialed in in no time.

logchief · June 2016

I'm not one of the experts around here, but I get a small soft ball size fire going with vents wide open and start adjusting down as the temp climbs for a low and slow cook. It takes a little practice, but you'll eat good getting there.

skroll116 · June 2016

Thanks again for the responses. I am 'working from home' tomorrow so I will try a pork shoulder with these new tips.

SmokingPiney · June 2016

skroll116 said:

Thanks again for the responses. I am 'working from home' tomorrow so I will try a pork shoulder with these new tips.

Just give yourself time to get the Egg lit and set the temp on the way up. The feedback on the temp is slow, so don't expect to see fast changes as you set your vent and daisy wheel. Let the Egg run a bit at your set temp to make sure it's stabilized. Don't get too caught up with dialing in the exact temp. If you are within 25 degrees, you'll be fine.

The temp will go down when you put the meat on - don't chase it! It will work its way back up to where you have it set.

Pork shoulders and Eggs are a magical combination. Have a great cook!

bluebird66 · June 2016

Welcome!

StillH2OEgger · June 2016

Not sure this matters as far as the problem you were dealing with, but I do not use my Maverick until after getting temps stabilized. Dome temp is what you want to pay attention to and that can differ greatly from your grate temp while things are heating up. Also, I tend to baby the probes a little bit and try not to expose them to higher heat if I can avoid it. It only gets easier as you experience and learn. Welcome and good luck.

20stone · June 2016

skroll116 said:

Thanks again for the responses. I am 'working from home' tomorrow so I will try a pork shoulder with these new tips.

First, the granddaddy recipe - http://www.nakedwhiz.com/elder.htm (mind you, this is probably not the best approach, but it is fun reading)

Second, pork butt can take forever at really low temps. At 225 in my LBGE it can go 24 - 25 hours to get done. Thankfully, with good lump you can go that long. Alternatively, you can cook at 275 and not take for-friggin-ever.

Have a great cook!

jabam · June 2016

I usually leave daisy wheel off on cooks 350 or higher and do all the regulating with bottom vent.

YukonRon · June 2016

SmokingPiney said:

skroll116 said:

Thanks again for the responses. I am 'working from home' tomorrow so I will try a pork shoulder with these new tips.

Just give yourself time to get the Egg lit and set the temp on the way up. The feedback on the temp is slow, so don't expect to see fast changes as you set your vent and daisy wheel. Let the Egg run a bit at your set temp to make sure it's stabilized. Don't get too caught up with dialing in the exact temp. If you are within 25 degrees, you'll be fine.

The temp will go down when you put the meat on - don't chase it! It will work its way back up to where you have it set.

Pork shoulders and Eggs are a magical combination. Have a great cook!

@SmokingPiney
This is great advise. I think it should be etched on every new egg.

DRoberts908 · June 2016

Welcome to the forum. Much easier to set on the way up. Much harder to chase down! Happy Egging!

DieselkW · June 2016

For my Egg, if the ash tool fits snug in the bottom vent opening that gives me 250º with the daisy wheel barely showing its holes.

I commonly use 350º, and I've learned that's the width of my thumb.

Pizza cooks best raised indirect at 475º, or two fingers.

As for the daisy wheel on the chimney, crack it open for smoking, everything else is a SimpleWildAssGuess that really doesn't matter much, over 300º you can take it off altogether for all the difference it makes.

StillH2OEgger · June 2016

Forgot to mention earlier, but I believe I originally gleaned this trick from Ron. I overshot my temp one time while preparing to do some ribs and just emptied some apple juice in my elevated drip pan, which did its job as a heat sink and dropped the temp of the BGE really well. I never put water in a drip pan, except in this case. Ron's method, if I recall, was to throw some wet wood chips onto the top of the lump and that will accomplish the same thing and help cool things down in there.

JohnnyTarheel · June 2016

Welcome.... You gonna love it!!

bgebrent · June 2016

Welcome brother.

skroll116 · June 2016

A big thank you to all. Second time around was much better. Left the lid open for 15 minutes when lighting (will shorten this up next time) and then closed the lid and shut the vents way down. Temp climbed to 280*, but came down from there quite easily.

I was using a drip pan on top of my stone this time around with some water so that helped as well.

BTW, pork came out amazing.

My first cook

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