Temperature Wierdness - Please Advise!!

James · May 2004

OK Guys, Help me out here.[p]I have 2 full brisketts on the Large BGE right now. I put them on about 2.5 hours ago at a Dome temp of 175. Now the Dome temp is 200.[p]I cleaned out all teh ashes first and filled the egg with lump to the top of the firebox, and lit it with a firestarter at the top.[p]The bottom vent is wide open. The Daisy wheel is wide open. The dome temp is 200 and holding.[p]I have the 2 brisketts on a grill extender with a drip pan full of water below the briskettes.[p]The Lump charcoal had quite a bit of dust, which might be affecting airflow, but with wide open vents, I should be around 300 or 350.[p]Obviously, I'm quite concerned. If I go to sleep with the bottom vent open, and the daisy wide open, eventually the temp is going to go through the roof, and I'll have burned brisketts.[p]Help! Why is this happening? It doesn't seem right.[p]Oh, yeah, I have to leave this whole thing in the hands of someone who has never used an egg before at 10:30 tomorrow morning. It's pretty hard to explain to them the temp control, when it's not doing what I think it should..[p]I used to be an "eggspert", but after several years being eggless, I'm like a total newbie again..[p]

Toy Man · May 2004

James, I would suspect the 'fines' in the lump. Just happened to me. [p]

Pakak · May 2004

I agree with ToyMan - it's probably the fines. Also, even though you "cleaned out the ashes" you may not have done a thorough enough job. Sometimes you need to remove the firebox and fire ring to get the ash out from between them and the outside ceramic. Last year, the first year of owning my egg, I found I needed to do this about twice for the amount I was using it. Look at the side air intakes (round holes) in the firebox. When you need to do the procedure mentioned above, you can see ash up to or blocking the holes.

chuckls · May 2004

James,[p]I think the pan of water is holding your temp lower than you might expect. Depending upon how much water is there, it can be a pretty big thermal mass. And, unlike a pizza stone or plate setter, it will never get hotter than 212 degrees. So until the water evaporates, expect to see the temp stay put. If you allow alot more draft, the water will evaporate faster, then the temp will spike when it is gone and this probably isn't what you want.[p]Chuck

BucsFanJim · May 2004

James,
I know that this isn't timely help but here goes any way.
I cooked a small turkey indirect/on a beer can style cooker for turkeys and was having the same type of temp readings. (Too low for the amount that the vents were open.) I finally realized that the dome gauge was just barely sticking into the turkey and was giving the false readings. Once I fixed the problem and closed the lid, the correct temp was nearly 400*.
The bird was scoreched in a couple of places from flames reaching over the plate setter. It came out o.k. though. [p]

James · May 2004

chuckls,[p]Thanks. I think you are correct. The pan of water is the only thing I'm doing different this time than from any other time in the past. [p]I left the daisy wheel wide open all night, and the bottom vent more than half way open all night, and the Egg was still smoking away at 190 degrees this morning. I've opened it wide at the bottom and I'm going to take the top off to see if it will kick up to about 250 or so.[p]Thanks again.[p]-James

Temperature Wierdness - Please Advise!!

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