I finally figured out what is wrong with you people!

Unknown · June 2007

I did my first butt yesterday on the egg and it was the best pulled pork I've ever seen or tasted. I'm officially addicted. Thanks for all the great tips, tricks, and responses. Your help and encouragement really helped.[p]And now the story.....[p]Let me start off by saying I've owned my egg for about 7 years now but up to this point, I've primarily just used it as a charcoal grill with a few semi-failed attempts at baby back ribs. I came to own my large egg for FREE when my brother gave me his large. He couldn't even use it for the most basic purposes and decided he was a gasser. He also got the egg for free from a friend who had to leave town in the middle of the night due to some pending legal issues we'll say. So all in all the egg is probably somewhere around 10 - 12 years old.[p]I finally happened upon this sight recently and through your eggspertise decided it was time to use the egg for its intended purpose...Low & Slow.[p]I bought a small butt for the first pass and after 8 1/2 hours or so (lots of cold beer was consumed)it was a thing of beauty. I'm pretty sure the reason it took so much longer than it should of is because my egg has almost no noticable gasket left on it. The butt was only a little more than 3 pounds and I maintained a 250 dome for most of the cook. [p]I don't have a handy Polder thermometer yet so I started on good ol fashion faith. I set a timer for 4 1/2 hours and sat back and started in on the coldies. When the timer went off I was all set to stick my 2 thermometers (I have trust issues w/ thermometers) into the butt and scramble for the tin foil. However, when I opened the lid, expecting a beautiful bark I saw a butt that needed alot more time. I set my timer for another hour and went back to the beer. About this time my wife gets home and informs me she had a late lunch. Great news I say because this is taking a bit longer than expected. The hour timer goes off and I plunge my 2 thermometers back in and I've hit 160 degrees. Now I start setting the timer for every 1/2 hour and this goes on an on until I finally start getting some good bark formation and my internal temp is now at 185 degrees. At that point I completely wrapped it in foil and opened my vents to get the egg hotter, probably right around 400 degrees, and set the timer for 45 minutes. The timer goes off, I wrapped it in another piece of foil and brought it in to rest. I wanted to wait an hour before pulling but after fifteen minutes my wife opens it up burns her fingers while trying to cut the string and starts to pulls this thing of beauty. Well actually it almost pulled itself because it was so moist and juicy. I never took a thermometer reading after the 185 degree reading before foiling but looks and taste don't lie. We finally ate it at 10:30 pm and then off to bed.[p]Now for the leftovers

egginator · June 2007

LunaNole,[p]Your new life has begun. Congratulations.[p]Ed
[ul][li]Go Here[/ul]

BigT · June 2007

LunaNole,[p]Congrats![p]That said, it'll be done much earlier if you quit taking peeks every half hour Much more an issue than the gasket imo...[p]good job[p]Big T[p]

Eggtuary · June 2007

BIg T is giving you great advice. Since pork shoulder is about the most forgiving thing you will ever cook, you should go at least an hour between peeks, especially if you're not over 170 internal temp. On Naked Whiz's site (which somebody gave you a link to above) you can read all about the "plateau." Big chunks of meat like that, when they're cooking low and slow, will stay in a temp range around 160 for a very long time. This is a good thing, because that means the meat is tenderizing like crazy for you.[p]Congrats on the big success. May you be blessed with many more!

Tony · June 2007

LunaNole,
Dude... I am a newbie to eggs, but an oldie (25 to 28 years!) to smokin'/grillin. I am doing my first low and slow on my 1 week old Egg today/tonight/tomorrow with a 14lb brisket. But before I started, I installed the "BBQ Guru Competitor" on the Egg. [p]Egg + Guru = Low and Slow Heaven! [p]Google it; read about it; then getcha one. Look for pics and my story tomorrow evening; what I can tell you now is... no worries atall...[p]And replace that gasket if it's really that bad...[p]TD

I finally figured out what is wrong with you people!

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