Overnight Fire Outage

Unknown · February 2004

BamaBob's post today is yet another experience someone has had with fire going out on overnight cooks. I'm a convert (hate to admit this) from the Weber Smokey Mountain (will never go back!) and I never had fires go out on during overnights with the WSM--using briquets. I've enjoyed hades out of my Egg, but a few weeks ago I did my first overnighter with butts and had a similar experience to a lot of people--my temp went down dramatically overnight. I had cleaned the Egg, lit it off in three places with BGE starter, and had charcoal up to the top of the fire ring. Didn't lose the meal, but it really scared me. Good thing I checked it at 4a.m.[p]My question is, does lump (I used BGE lump) tend to cause this overnight drop to happen? If so, how do you minimize the chance it will happen (stirring chacoal before going to bed, etc.)?[p]Thanks!

Chainsmoker · February 2004

VaEgger,
The best advise I can share with you is find Elder Ward's fire building instructions. I think they are in the recipes section, it's called Carolina Pulled Pork. I follow it to the letter and I use Nature-Glo lump and I've never had a fire go out due to lack of lump. Nature-Glo is made by Royal Oak, the same one's that bag the BGE brand. The longest cook I've done was about 18hrs. Was your lump all gone or did the fire just go outRyan

RRP · February 2004

VaEgger,
I haven't had the problem in over 3 years - but I saw one thing you posted where we differ greatly. I only start the fire in the center using one Weber starter cube. If you're starting in three places I wonder if the embers are too much for the restricted airflow and that is choking it? Make sense? More burning lump little air flow and it dies?

Bamabob · February 2004

VaEgger, I actually think the problem was that I didn't allow the ceramic mass to heat up enough. I started the lump with a chimney and the fire was really hot. The dome temp reached 350 degrees in no time and I immediately started chasing the temp every 10-15 minutes . . . too low, too high, but I think I was chasing the fire and not the ceramic temp. After several hours of this I brought the temp down from 275 degrees and for some reason it hovered around 215-220 degrees for about 30 minutes, so I took that as a sign to go to bed. I awoke to a cold cooker, a firebox full of unburned lump, slightly charred hickory lumps, and of course two undercooked butts. I think I'll start my next low-n-slow with something other than the chimney and give the ceramic plenty of time to heat up before adjusting for temp. [p]

jwitheld · February 2004

VaEgger,
was your last temp adjustment (before losing the fire)to bring temp up or down?
always try to sneak up on your temps, last adjustments should be for more air or if its been stable for 2 to 4 hrs you should be fine.
the best thing i ever did www.thebbqguru.com

Wino · February 2004

BamaBob,
Do not give up on the chimney. It shounds like you had to much lump in it. I did my first overnight cook last night, 8 1/2 lb butt. It took 19 hours and had plenty of lump left over to do ABT's. Elder Ward said to start a hand full of lump in the chimney. I thought at first it was not enough, but sure enough no problem with 19 hours. Follow Elder Ward's fire building to the letter.
Wino

Daddyo · February 2004

VaEgger,
I've hear, and I believe, you need to sneak up on 225, not blast to 350-400 and try to back down. Patience is the key. Also, a single fire starter can get a dome over 200 even before any lump is lit. It can fool you into making adjustments before the egg is stable. If you get it to 225 and stable, open the lid, and put in 9 pounds of cold meat, the temp will drop and will take time to come back to 225. Resist the urge to open her up and speed the process. It's like riding a bike, once you get it, you won't understand what the problem was in the first place.

Bamabob · February 2004

Wino, I think you and Elder Ward are right. I did use the chimney again today, but with much less lump, probably about 4-5 good pieces compared to a chimney full last night. The cooker made a steady climb to 350 before I attempted any air flow adjustments and I was able to hold her there for 30 mins. of ABTs. Then I opened the air flow up for the chops. Worked fine . . . I'm learning.

Chuck · February 2004

VaEgger,[p]I have been using a method for my long cooks that a good ol egger, Char-Woody, posted several years ago. I have never had my fire die out using his method. The link is to an old thread where I posted how I do it.[p]Chuck

[ul][li]Low- N- Slow Fire[/ul]

Unknown · February 2004

chainsmoker and everyone--thanks for all the tips! I especially like Chuck's suggestion, am gonna give it a try this week. What a Forum![p]Thanks Everyone.

Overnight Fire Outage

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