Elder ward is a genius

Unknown · September 2003

I cooked an 8 lb boston butt this weekend using Elder Ward's method. I put it in the egg at 11:30 Sat morning (dome temp 200*) and took it out at 4:30 Sunday afternoon (meat temp 200*) - 29 hours and I didn't open the egg once. Only a few minor vent adjustments as the dome temp drifted slightly. The pulled pork tasted great. Thanks Elder.

Unknown · September 2003

rich b,
Now wouldnt a "genius" be someone who showed you how to cook that same great butt in Half that time ???[p][p]
Dylan

Fairalbion · September 2003

rich b,
200° dome is a little cool - remember that the temperature down at the meat level is lower than that in the dome. Next time around, try going for 250° dome (which in my case this weekend translated to 225° at the meat level), this should knock about 10 hours off your 29 hour cook time. In any event congratulations on your fine feast!

Mike in MN · September 2003

Q.N.E. tyme,
You could microwave it in about 20 minutes....but that wouldn't be the same either. [p]He could run the temp up a bit. I use 225, but 250 would cut quite a bit of the time off. Mine take 18-22 hours.[p]Mike in MN

Unknown · September 2003

Fairalbion,
You are correct. I usually cook a butt around 225* to 250* and they cook in a much shorter period of time. This was a challenge to see if the egg could sustain a low temp for a long period of time and it did.
Rich

Unknown · September 2003

Mike in MN,
Yeah Mike, Ive cooked a butt or two in my life..

Dont get me wrong Elder Ward is a cool dude..[p]I just think a 30 hour butt, hes going to come to realize after more cooks the same can be acomplished in half that time... Thats all...

Mike in MN · September 2003

Q.n.e tyme,
ya, it's true....you can accomplish the same, quicker. It's that learning curve thing. Or, it could be that old pain in the bottom junk thermometer that comes with the BGE that is always out of calibration. [p]Mike in MN

Unknown · September 2003

Mike in MN,
I probably should have stated in my original post that I usually cook a butt at 225* to 250*. This was a challenge to see if Elder's loooow and sloooow method would work on my egg. It did and it turned out great. I also used the redi-check remote smoker thermometer. What a great tool. Sorry for the confusion.
Rich

WudEyeDoo · September 2003

rich b,
The first time I cooked a butt, I used Elder Ward's method and it took 27 hours. It was really good and I thought it was pretty cool that the egg could hold temp like that for such a long time. I was quickly converted to the "250 degree dome temp" camp when I tried it and the finished product seemed just as good. I see that you normally cook at 250 and I think most eggers do nowadays.[p]This weekend I cooked two 7.5 pound butts and a 13 pound brisket at the same time at around 250'ish. The brisket took about 14 hours and the butts about 14.5 hours. I was a little surprised they were done that quick with that much meat in there at once. They all turned out really good. By the way, after getting up a couple times in the middle of the night, that BBQ Guru is sounding pretty good to me.[p]Bob[p]

djm5x9 · September 2003

WudEyeDoo:[p]I think the important thing here is that on a BGE the dome thermometer and the cooking grid could vary as much as fourty degrees when cooking at lower temperatures. So if you cook on a BGE at 250º dome you could effectively be cooking at somewhere between 200º to 230º grill.[p]On my cooker I cook an eight pound butt at 200º dome but the grill fluctuates between 200º and 210º. The butts are placed on a preheated cooker and come off in fourteen to sixteen hours later. The important thing is to know the true cooking temperature of your cooker at lower temperatures.[p]If you have not done so, you may want to play with a couple of polders strategically placed in the cooker on a slow Saturday. One in the dome and one on the grid and just monitor the temperatures as you adjust the vents up and down over a period of two or three hours. To make certain you get a good reading on the grill polder, use a small potato to hold the exposed polder and position it half way from center of grill to the exterior. The results will help you understand your true grill cooking temperatures.

JSlot · September 2003

I posted this under a thermometer thread a few days ago, but I'll share it again. I found a Polder at Linens 'N' Things with a dual temp probe (NOT a dual probe)for $29.99. It has another sensor at the end of the probe where the cable attaches. Great for monitoring both the meat and the cooker temp at food level without wires everywhere. Too bad it's not a remote unit! We can always hope![p]Jim

WooDoggies · September 2003

djm5x9,[p]I think it's a good idea to use 2 thermometers to get a better understanding for how the temps vary and to get a feel for how the egg works in general.[p]I don't use a platesetter or firebricks for indirect low and slows..... just a drip pan for the barrier, and have found that the dome temp and the grate temp will eventually merge.
It has only been the initial stage of the cook that the temps will vary on my unit.[p]John

Elder ward is a genius

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