Getting excited

Boilermaker Ben · November 2009

I don't do overnighters very often. I've got to be able to fit a sleepless night into the schedule, and have an occasion to make that much meat. But I have LOOOOVED the results, so I get excited every time I do one. This weekend, we're hosting a get-together of the "mommy and me" class my wife was in following the birth of our daughter. There will be 7 or 8 couples and as many kids, each within a month or two of turning one year old. I promised to provide the bbq, everyone else can bring sides/desserts. I'm doing two butts, one standard BBQ, and the other with a jerk marinade. It's only tuesday, and I'm already getting excited...I haven't even bought the meat yet!

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker · November 2009

i put the meat on before bedtime, and check the temps when i got to bed. if i am worried about screwing things up (like, if the food is for company and we promised pulled pork) i'll check at maybe 4am. then check again in the morning when i get up.

you only need to check once in the middle of the night if you are worried about temps.

the very reason i got the egg in the first place was so i wouldn't have to check the thing constantly. you don't need to tend it really.

Boilermaker Ben · November 2009

I have found that to not be the case. I've done three overnighters, and have had to make temperature corrections for all three. Before the last one, I bought an et-73, so I don't have to get up to check the temp (although it DID lose signal during the night, at one point), but I still had to get up a couple times to make corrections.

"Sleepless night" is hyperbole, but they are certainly "less sleep nights".

fishlessman · November 2009

i set the maverick with a pretty wide range and the egg at 235 to 250, where ever it wants to ride that day. low alarm 195, high alarm 285. and get up once. seems to work out well enough. then make adjustments up or down as needed in the morning.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker · November 2009

i found that using the maverick didn't make me feel any better because the thing can lose its signal anyway.

not sure why the temps would fluctuate. my egg nails 250 and stays there.

i use medium to small lump, rather than large stuff. i like to give the fire plenty of options to travel.

for what it's worth, if i set it for 250 and woke to 235, that's no issue. neither would 275 be a problem. it NEVER raises, though. might drop to 235 at most, but that isn't enough to lose sleep over (lit. or fig.)

Boilermaker Ben · November 2009

I think I set the alarms at 235-275 or so. Sometime during the middle of the night (after 4-5 hours, I think), the high alarm went off, so I made a small adjustment, reset the high alarm for 285, went back to bed. Woke up some time later and the signal was lost. Reset and checked temp, 285-ish. Another small adjustment. Reset alarms. Back to bed. An hour later, low temp alarm goes off. This is how it goes.

I think that if you get it to stick, you're golden, but once you've got to make an adjustment, you're in for a roller coaster night. Thankfully, I'm one of those people who can sleep anywhere, any time. Honestly, I'm surprised I woke up and saw that the signal was dead. Normally, I would have slept straight through until something woke me up.

Maybe this time I'll get the temp right initially. I think it was just air flow changes over time as the lump burned that caused the initial rising temp. For my overnighters, I've been starting with a layer or two of larger lump pieces on the bottom, and then just dumping from the bag.

last_option · November 2009

I must have the bucking bronco of green eggs. My egg always takes off in temperature. I get it set at 250 and come out a half hour later and it's at 400 :ohmy: Once I make a few adjustments, it will hold temp pretty well. Although, last cook I went out at 5 am and it was at 275 so I closed the lower vent a little no big deal.

But contrary to above my egg always goes up in temp not down. But then again I don't take any time to sort or build a good fire. I just dump in the lump and let her rip.

AZRP · November 2009

If you had it set at 250, it would be at 250 an hour later, not 400. What you need to do is learn what the bottom door opening should be for 250. If your Egg got to 400, your door had to be open at least 1/4". For 250 the door would be open 1/16-1/8" and it wont matter where the daisy is set as long as it is opened more than the door. Once you have confidence in controlling temps with the door, you will be able to set it and forget it. -RP

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker · November 2009

i don't sort either. i wonder how long it's at 250 when you think it's stable...

if temps go higher, it's due to increased air flow. if you haven't touched the vents, then they are as open as they were when it was "stable", so the fire must not have reached its stable point.

Misippi Egger · November 2009

Sounds like a forced air fan (DigiQ II) should be on your Santa list! I set mine, got to bed and it will keep the temp where I set it until the cows come home (or I run out of lump :laugh: ). Have gone 20+ hours on large butts without any problems, and had lump left over.

Boilermaker Ben · November 2009

Unfortunately, given that Santa will need to bring us a new computer this year, I don't think a DigiQ or Guru is in Santa's budget. Santa also has three new family members to get presents for (my daughter and my two nephews), so Santa will be going broke this year.

So it will be another year of doing it the manual way. But as I said, falling back asleep after getting up to check on the egg isn't a problem, so I'm not hurting too badly after an overnighter.

Humphrey Chimpden Earwicker · November 2009

no substitute for a good fire. something's out of sorts and should be figured out. i think it's just assuming that it is stable before it actually is.

fires go out with powered draft units too. granted, no stories of them getting too hot with them, but at the same time, if you figure out what the issue is, then the powered draft units will be insurance rather than a necessity.

Getting excited

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