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Major Failure - xmas dinner

eggward
eggward Posts: 10
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I had a major failure yesterday while attempting to cook a prime rib roast on my egg.
The temp reached 750 deg, I clamped it down and when it lowered to 500 deg, I put the roast in. Then when the thermometer hit 350 deg, I opened up the vents to try to maintain 350 deg. I live Toronto...cold temperatures. The egg seemed unable to maintain 350, and the temp lowered gradually over the next few hours.
I finally had to bring it in, and finish in the oven.
Was the cold weather to blame?
«1

Comments

  • You probably put the fire out all together. It does take a while for the egg to cool down when it gets that hot.
  • Fidel
    Fidel Posts: 10,172
    The question is - why did you let it get so hot? You want to get your temps on the way up; don't overshoot and try to bring it back down.

    When you need to drop the temps you can shut the vents to a sliver, but don't shut them all the way. It will come down to 400 or so pretty quickly but will take a long time to drop down below that. The ceramics hold a good bit of heat.

    The cold temps were not the issue. Did you see how much lump you have left? Perhaps you burned through it all.
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    Sorry to hear that, but in all honesty it was your own fault...please try a reverse sear in the future and you can nail whatever internal temp you want!
    http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/1996/03/beef-standing-rib-roast-prime-rib.html
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    first things first... not a major failure. major failure would be a toasted rib roast or something. sounds like you just got a little nervous and maybe pulled the plug too early.

    the egg doesn't stop on a dime, so you want to adjust vents a little at a time. slamming on the brakes was ok (chocking it down), but just reopening the vents right at 350 and expecting it to hold isn't going to work. you have a large fire starved of oxygen, and opening those vents when it hits 350 will cause it to go right up past 350 again. i'd have opened it a sliver when it was at 300, maybe 325, and if it started to climb quickly over 325, close them up again until the thing slowed.

    we don't know enough about your setup (indirect?) or how much lump you had. not enough lump would be the kind of thing that causes dying temps over time despite opening vents wider. ash buildup too, but you shouldn't have that much ash. you didn't use briquettes by any chance , did you?
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Been there done that.
  • I wanted to cook mine at 250 F, but the egg wanted to be at 315 for some reason. So, I delayed putting the roast on, but estimated my time wrong, so it still came off 1/2 hour late. I did the reverse sear and will not do it again. Grabbing a 7-1/2 pound roast off an inferno is a bit precarious. In the future, I'll just ramp the temp up to 500 - 600 for about 10 minutes using the indirect set-up. This burns up the drippings, but I pull my roasts at about 125 internal and don't get much in the pan anyway.

    Ed
  • I used the recipe/instructions that RRP provided a link to, above. Christmas dinner was my first attempt at a Prime Rib and I have to admit I was a bit nervous. I just trusted the ol' BGE and it all turned out. The Prime Rib was a HUGE success.

    I have to hand it to everyone on the forum without it I'd be stuck grilling hamburgers all of the time.

    RustyEgg
  • Old Salt
    Old Salt Posts: 357
    Christmas was my first attempt at a standing rib roast on my clay egg. Leery of going too high with the temp I stabled it at 400 before putting on the meat. I put a water pan on the grid and bricks to raise the meat higher in the dome using a V rack. The water and meat brought the temp down to 350*. I then started adjusting the daisy wheel and kept the temp at 350*. Two hours later the probe temp read 135 so pulled it.
    For a select cut at $4.99 a pound it came out tender and delicious.
  • BENTE
    BENTE Posts: 8,337
    and you chased temps..... like everyone else here :whistle:

    happy eggin

    TB

    Anderson S.C.

    "Life is too short to be diplomatic. A man's friends shouldn't mind what he does or says- and those who are not his friends, well, the hell with them. They don't count."

    Tyrus Raymond Cobb

  • drbbq
    drbbq Posts: 1,152
    I would bet you didn't put enough lump in to start and then burned it all up at 750. Just add more lump next time and don't let it get so hot to start and you should be fine.
    Ray Lampe Dr. BBQ
  • I used that method this year and was very pleased - thanks thirdeye!
  • Well, I cleaned out the ash prior, so that was good. And I had Green Egg Charcoal past the little holes, so I think there was sufficient. I believe now, that what I likely did was smother the fire, because there is lump left over.
    Well, at least I know what happened....so I can prevent it in the future. In fact, I think I'll practice today again, using a venision prime rib roast.
    Thanks for your help.
    Ed
  • FlaPoolman
    FlaPoolman Posts: 11,676
    You need to go way past the little holes. Next time fill to within 1" of the top of the fire "ring". The fire ring sits on top of the fire box. Do that and you'll be fine next time.
  • I keep hearing the term "reverse sear". What does that mean?
    Ed
  • That's exactly what I was thinking! But I likely did put enough, as there is some left in the egg. So I must have suffocated it for too long, and put it out.
    Normally in the summer I stand beside the egg, as I lower the temps. This time because of the freezing cold, I left the egg and went inside. Likely I left it too long.
    For the future, how much lump should go in the egg? Past the little holes, or up to the little holes?
    Ed
  • Yeah, I think that's exactly what I did.
    Ed
  • Thanks for the link!
    Ed
  • Gandolf
    Gandolf Posts: 906
    I'd go all the way to the fire ring. There's really no such thing as wasted lump. Whatever is left over after you cook - just stir it up add more if needed, fire it up and enjoy the next cook. And since today is a "practice day" try doing no sear at all. I rarely sear anything other than steaks. Just get the Egg to cooking temperature and have at it. Good Luck!
  • Gandolf
    Gandolf Posts: 906
    It means sear at the end of the cook instead of at the beginning. That way you cook to near the internal temp you want, then raise the dome temp to searing temps and sear for a few minutes. It eliminates having to lower the dome temp after searing at the beginning. As noted below, I rarely sear at either end of the cook.
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    good man. get back on that horse!

    i was looking for a venison tenderloin but no luck. impressed that you have a venison ribroast.

    as flapoolman suggested, fill higher than the holes. might not need i, but it gives the fire more options to travel around nd find new lump. could be that your bge lump was made of bigger pieces (it's good stuff), and that it got to a big gap and the fire had no place to go.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Cory430
    Cory430 Posts: 1,073
    Old Salt,
    This was pretty much my method except that I didn't use a drip pan. I used the adjustable rig with spider and a pizza stone. I just covered my stone with foil thinking that there wouldn't be an issue with drippings (We only had 6 people and plenty of sides, so I had cut my roast down to about 5lbs). I was correct, no problem with drippings. I cooked the roast at 350° for the entire cook and pulled at 121° internal and let rest for about 20 minutes. We couldn't have been more pleased; nice crust, juicy red interior, and a little bit closer to medium on the ends for those that like their beef cooked just a bit more. To be honest, the cook was super straight forward and very easy with awesome results.
  • I did a 6.5# primerib -loaded up charcoal, fired up egg to 700-750, seared the roast -added some wet applewood chips in a smoker pan, dropped the temp to 250 for 3 1/2 hrs, and it was so good-- there was none left, so I couldn't send a picture. DRbbq is right you have to have put a good bit of charcoal on for this.
  • stuck grilling hamburgers all of the time :side: hey! not that there is anything wrong with that!
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    FYI... the 'drBBQ' that responded to your question is THE drBBQ, of cookbook and TV fame. and a bit of a legend on the bbq competition circuit. not a bad deal getting free answers from literal bbq gurus.

    rumor has it that alton brown posts as 'fidel', too.

    ok, that's a lie. but the first part is true
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • OLd Salt, why the water? does the clay absorb moisture from the meat while the ceramic does not?
  • Poolman :ermm: , please answer a few questions from a very novice woman: I thought filling the firebox that full was for really long smokes, like pulled pork (12-18 hours). A rib roast should cook in what, 3 hours? Wouldn't that leave a lot of ash to clog up the bottom holes? Wouldn't that be hard to stir with a large amount of lump in the bin? My bags have not had many lumps over 2" in them and lots of ash at medium to medium high temps (and prevailing winds); even 300F produces lots of ash--that choke the temps way lower....please clarify your recommendation for a full fire box for the prime rib roast :S Thanks so much
  • FlaPoolman
    FlaPoolman Posts: 11,676
    Higher temps will burn more lump. For me I always like to start with a full load unless It's just a quick sear. Full load will not produce a higher temp but will insure you can fix it without reloading. I'm lazy so I do everything I can to make it easy. ;)
  • That's a good idea.
    Thanks,
    Ed
  • Until now, I thought that it was not good to fill beyond the little holes! I'm finding out differently here on the forum!
    Thanks,
    Maria