2XL and temperature control issues

Arminho · July 2022

Have had a 2XL for over a year now and love it. My Large kept temperature rock steady, but I have noticed on longer smokes with my 2XL I get a weird temp spike after a few hours and it has happened on all long cooks.

I fill the egg with super fogo and small fist size chunks of post oak, and light in 2 or 3 spots. I stabilize at around 220 grate temp then put in the CyberQ BBQ Guru and then set to 225F. BBQ Guru fan slider is set to 2/4 or halfway open, and about 3-5 hours later or so hours in I get a bump in temperature up 250-260-275 degrees sometime. At first I was wondering whether I have wood chunks or logs catching on fire or what, so I tried switching up my lighting technique, etc.

Is there a trick to maintaining lower temps in bigger eggs? In general, I have found it harder to maintain lower temps like 205-235 in the 2XL compared to my Large. I have never had to worry about this in my large egg with the same CyberQ BBQ Guru. Any advice would be appreciated.

Mayberry · July 2022

I just bought an XL and was about to start a similar post. I was wondering if there was any difference in lighting and maintaining temps, since the bottom grate is so much larger and the lump is spread out so much more. I did buy a Kick Ash Basket with my new XL, too. Tonight, for my burn in cook, I found that I lit in 4 places, and the rear seemed to really ignite and the front was more burned out during the cook. Maybe a longer time to let the lump catch, since it's less deep and more spread out?

My initial thought on low and slow cooks is to light closer together, so the lump is burning in one central area, much like in my Large. If you have 2 fires come together and ignite more coal, it will most likely get hotter at some point. I know it's going to cook "differently" than my Large....just trying to figure out the specifics and start putting out good food with it.

Money_Hillbilly · July 2022

@Arminho On my XL I always light in only one place for low and slow cooks, same with the large. I only light in multiple points for grilling. Not sure about the 2XL but the laws of physics should be the same.

Mark_B_Good · July 2022

What I've found on my XL, is the when I start my fire in the center ... it moves to the back right. I think that is the natural flow of air in the egg. So, imagine that fire moving into a higher air flow zone ... fanning the flames oh so much more.

Wonder if that isn't what is happening with your 2XL? I'd imagine that is a more prominent issue with larger eggs ... given the bigger cross section ... I'd think you can get more prominent channeling of air.

Foghorn · July 2022

This is just a guess. I have had an XL for 10 years and a XXL (not exactly the same as a 2XL, but probably is for these purposes.

The XXL holds 45 pounds of charcoal and weighs over 400 pounds.

My guess is that you are simply allowing too much air to get in to hold at a really low temp. However, it takes a long time to see the final impact of a little increased airflow in a combination of 500 pounds of ceramic and charcoal.

To maintain 250 or lower on either of my eggs I only have the bottom vent open about 1/8 inch and have the top vent set similarly. On the XXL, if I double the vent opening it literally takes a couple of hours to see the final temperature that results - and it is typically 275+.

I hope that this 1) makes sense and 2) is helpful.

Arminho · July 2022

Foghorn said:

This is just a guess. I have had an XL for 10 years and a XXL (not exactly the same as a 2XL, but probably is for these purposes.

The XXL holds 45 pounds of charcoal and weighs over 400 pounds.

My guess is that you are simply allowing too much air to get in to hold at a really low temp. However, it takes a long time to see the final impact of a little increased airflow in a combination of 500 pounds of ceramic and charcoal.

To maintain 250 or lower on either of my eggs I only have the bottom vent open about 1/8 inch and have the top vent set similarly. On the XXL, if I double the vent opening it literally takes a couple of hours to see the final temperature that results - and it is typically 275+.

I hope that this 1) makes sense and 2) is helpful.

This makes complete sense. With the DigiQ attached to the bottom vent, I'll try restricting the fan restrictor to only be at 1/4 open, and will close the top vent even more. @Foghorn do you still get good smoke with that little airflow?

Money_Hillbilly said:

@Arminho On my XL I always light in only one place for low and slow cooks, same with the large. I only light in multiple points for grilling. Not sure about the 2XL but the laws of physics should be the same.

Ok this is definitely something I have never done. I always light in at least 3 places. Gonna try one place to light in the center somewhere, maybe even front left center. Thanks @Money_Hillbilly

Mayberry said:

I just bought an XL and was about to start a similar post. I was wondering if there was any difference in lighting and maintaining temps, since the bottom grate is so much larger and the lump is spread out so much more. I did buy a Kick Ash Basket with my new XL, too. Tonight, for my burn in cook, I found that I lit in 4 places, and the rear seemed to really ignite and the front was more burned out during the cook. Maybe a longer time to let the lump catch, since it's less deep and more spread out?

My initial thought on low and slow cooks is to light closer together, so the lump is burning in one central area, much like in my Large. If you have 2 fires come together and ignite more coal, it will most likely get hotter at some point. I know it's going to cook "differently" than my Large....just trying to figure out the specifics and start putting out good food with it.

This goes along with what other folks are implying too. I'm going to try lighting in just one area that's centralized and try to go from there next time @mayberry

Foghorn · July 2022

I get food that is smoky enough for us - but we don't like most things all that smoky. I actually view food that tastes really smoky as having been poorly cooked - as it represents a fire that wasn't managed properly on an offset...

When I want to take the smoke up a notch - but still have it be a "clean" smoke, I use a firestarting technique that @The Cen-Tex Smoker taught me here. Load the XXL with lump. Clear out a hole in the center and put wood chunks in that space. Then get some lump burning hot in a charcoal chimney and pour it onto the wood chunks. Set up the egg how you want and let it come to temp and evaporate off the VOCs (volatile organic compounds) until the smoke is thin and smells good - like the wood chunks you put in are burning pretty cleanly (about an hour in the XXL - maybe more).

Photo Egg · July 2022

Mark_B_Good said:

What I've found on my XL, is the when I start my fire in the center ... it moves to the back right. I think that is the natural flow of air in the egg. So, imagine that fire moving into a higher air flow zone ... fanning the flames oh so much more.

Wonder if that isn't what is happening with your 2XL? I'd imagine that is a more prominent issue with larger eggs ... given the bigger cross section ... I'd think you can get more prominent channeling of air.

For slower cooks on my XL I light 2 spots, left and right of center more towards the front. I agree , natural burn goes towards the back.

Mayberry · July 2022

Arminho said:

Mayberry said:

I just bought an XL and was about to start a similar post. I was wondering if there was any difference in lighting and maintaining temps, since the bottom grate is so much larger and the lump is spread out so much more. I did buy a Kick Ash Basket with my new XL, too. Tonight, for my burn in cook, I found that I lit in 4 places, and the rear seemed to really ignite and the front was more burned out during the cook. Maybe a longer time to let the lump catch, since it's less deep and more spread out?

My initial thought on low and slow cooks is to light closer together, so the lump is burning in one central area, much like in my Large. If you have 2 fires come together and ignite more coal, it will most likely get hotter at some point. I know it's going to cook "differently" than my Large....just trying to figure out the specifics and start putting out good food with it.

This goes along with what other folks are implying too. I'm going to try lighting in just one area that's centralized and try to go from there next time @mayberry

I did another break in cook on my new XL today. Cooked a rack of ribs and a chuck roast to make pepper stout beef. I lit in only 2 places, left and right a little toward the front of middle. Held right at 250º throughout the cook.

Mark_B_Good · July 2022

Photo Egg said:

Mark_B_Good said:

What I've found on my XL, is the when I start my fire in the center ... it moves to the back right. I think that is the natural flow of air in the egg. So, imagine that fire moving into a higher air flow zone ... fanning the flames oh so much more.

Wonder if that isn't what is happening with your 2XL? I'd imagine that is a more prominent issue with larger eggs ... given the bigger cross section ... I'd think you can get more prominent channeling of air.

For slower cooks on my XL I light 2 spots, left and right of center more towards the front. I agree , natural burn goes towards the back.

Yeah, that makes sense, create a longer path of coals towards that bias (back, right in my case) ... burn longer at probably a more stable temperature throughout.

2XL and temperature control issues

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