Rookie questions

Unknown · September 2007

Dearest Eggheads... I have recently acquired an Egg and have been searching for one ever since I heard of its amazing potential. So tomorrow is my first day to play with it. My questions are 1) how is the best way to light the charcoal? 2) How long would you recommend smoking a brisket and at what temp? 3) Do you rub a brisket like you would in a traditional smoker? 4) How do you impart smoke to the end product with an Egg? 5) How do you add wood chips during smoking if you are using the Egg for a longer period of time (like a brisket)?

Little Steven · September 2007

gunzilla,[p] If you are new to Egging a brisket can be challenging. If you choose to do brisket get Elder Ward's method from the sites recipe section and follow it to the letter. After you've done a couple you will be able to experiment.
Good Luck[p]Steve

duckegg · September 2007

gunzilla,
Wow you are really jumping into the fire. Brisket is a real challenge for your first cook on an egg. I would try something simpler like maybe a fattie.[p]I start mine with propane, most people seem to prefer MAPP. I add smoking chunks when the fire is established and just befor I put the grate on I rarely add chunks during the cook.[p]Rub your brisket and let it set overnight, I am still struuggling to do a really good one so ignore any brisket advice I give.

Flashback Bob · September 2007

gunzilla,[p]Welcome!
1) pile the lump up to the bottom of the firering (more depending on how long a cook you anticipate). You can use many different ways to light it- from paper towels and oil to electric starter and everything inbetween. I find the easiest is the starter cubes. put 3 spaced equally and light 'em up. Give your coals enough time to burn clean (20 - 30 min) when the smoke disappears or is whispy bluish, it's good to go.

[ul][li]You need to see this - The Whiz[/ul]

Unknown · September 2007

gunzilla,[p]I'm only about a week ahead of you. I lit my with the BGE Fire Starters. I'm sure I'll get a MAPP eventually ,but the starters worked just fine.

Unknown · September 2007

Flashback Bob,I'm a bge rookie when you say let the coals burn 20 minuites is this with the top down & dampers open @ desired tempeture. Also what is mapp
thanks

gdenby · September 2007

gunzilla,[p]There are quite a number of ways to start the lump. The one's I've used: Charcoal chimney, pressed wood/paraffin starter cubes, a twist of paper towel drizzled with cooking oil, a MAPP gas torch. I've heard of flammable gels, portions of fake fireplace logs, and an electric hot coil starter from BGE. These all work pretty well.[p]Just don't ever use lighter fluid![p]Fires are most quicklly started with the bottom vent wide open, and the daisy wheel off.[p]For first cooks its better to start the fire slowly. Just some pieces of a single starter cube, or a half a chimney load of nicely burning lump. That way, the Egg will come up to temperature slowly, and you can damp the fire down as it approaches the temperature you want. Do note that if you use starter cubes or other flammables, the dome thermometer will read 300 degrees or more while there are visible flames. Once the flames abate, the temp will drop down quite a bit.[p]It took me more than a few cooks to get the hang of how a fire develops, and how to stop it from getting hotter than a particular food needed. For low-n-slow fires, my general practice is to hit the lump in 4 places with a MAPP torch with a count of 10 for each. Then I shut the lid, and go away for 10 minutes. If the thermometer hasn't reach 150, I go away for another 10. Usually after 20 minutes, the dome reading is about 200. At that point I put the daisy wheel on, full open, and close the bottom vent by half. When the dome reading is 225, I close the daisy half way, and shut the bottom to about 1/4". Usually the fire's growth slows way down, and in another 5 minutes, I close the daisy to just a crack open. The fire's growth drops to a crawl, and sometimes stops at 250. If it is still rising, I close the bottom to 1/8". That will almost always yield an airflow just large enough to keep the fire no higher than 260 dome, and not so little that the fire will go out. There have been a few times when I've needed to open a bit farther to keep the fire going.[p]I'd suggest that you might just want to play with burger, or pork steaks, or something simple till you get a good handle on how to get the fire going. There are times that it will surprise you, and 5 minutes away with the vents just a tad too open will get you a 400 degree fire in no time.[p]gdenby[p]

Flashback Bob · September 2007

Noodie,
Once I get the firestarters going, I close the dome, leaving the daisy off (chimney open) and leave the bottom vent open all the way. as the temp approaches the target, I close the bottom vent ( or damper)to where I think it needs to be. It's harder to bring the temperature down to your target, so the rule of thumb is to catch it 50 degrees before it reaches target temperature.[p]The 20 - 30 minutes I mentioned is once the starters are lit and the dome is closed. This gives them time to burn up and gives the charcoal time to burn off the VOCs. I typically only use the daisy when I'm cooking in the 200's, otherwise I leave the chimney open.[p]MAPP is a kind of high temp torch you can get at a hardware store (Home Depot) that a lot of folks like to use to start up the Egg. I like to keep it simple and don't need one more gadget in my garage.[p]Stike posted an EXCELLENT primer on starting a fire with Paper towels and vegetable oil. You might Ping him about it. I tried the Archives and I couldn't find it.[p]Happy Cooking!

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