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Any thoughts on lowering pit temps during a cook?

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has_been
has_been Posts: 5
in Cookbook
I'm in the middle of cooking a standing beef rib roast. I found a recipe on page 70 of the BGE Cookbook, page 70 (copyright 2009, 2012). The book says to sear the roast at 425 for 20-minutes then reduce the temp to 350 and cook for another hour+.

My question: how do you lower the temp? Foolishly, I raised the lid to vent the extra heat, but only succeeded in adding more oxygen to keep it fired up. Won't be doing that again!

I've ended up completely closing the top and bottom vents to starve the charcoal. Even pulled the roast off the Egg until the pit temp was more under control.

I'd love to hear from you Experts on how you manage a reduction in the pit temperature.  Thanks in advance!
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  • buzd504
    buzd504 Posts: 3,824
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    First, a reverse sear is almost always your better bet.

    But, obviously, not being an option here, closing down the vents and/or adding heat sinks to the egg are your best solutions.  Adding a ceramic heat deflector to go indirect should lower temps.  If you need to lower it more, add a pan of water (or ice), although prepare for another spike once it cooks off.
    NOLA
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  • CGS
    CGS Posts: 71
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    howdy, easiest way to roast after a sear, if running hot, is go up in the dome with the grid/food and drop an indirect piece under the grid. going up adds space between fire, indirect piece and grid. The indirect piece will knock down the direct radiant (searing) heat. Worst that usually happens is the meat finishes quicker at the higher roasting temps.  Limit the number of times you are checking the meat. 

    t
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,754
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    My thoughts are that recipe is more in tune with an oven cook. Radiant heat off the dome makes up for it in the egg cooking at 350 dome for this cook.  If you want to start higher, just take it out and drop the heat,  maybe ten minutes
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • pgprescott
    pgprescott Posts: 14,544
    edited December 2022
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    If you remove the grids and use the ash tool to distrust the charcoal bed it will likely lower the temperature. It kind of disrupts the efficiency of the current burn and gives you a small reset in which you can adjust your vent settings. I’ve also sprinkled a little water on some of the coals before but that was when there was a much larger gap I was trying to span. Adding the heat sink ie stone and or water pan will also work but I hate to add a water pan personally 
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  • has_been
    has_been Posts: 5
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    Thanks all for your comments. Much appreciated!
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