New EGG owner....Temperature??????????

When the egg is cold take a dollar bill and close the lid on it in several places, it should pull out with resistance. It may be that too much air is escaping around the edges. Also definitely calibrate your thermometer using the Naked Whiz instructions

Lots of good information on his site about temperature control.

Doug

That is what I have learned to do as well Ron. But please let me ask you a question. When I first set up my lump, I clean everything out then put fresh lump on the grate. Then the old lump on top. I set it on fire with a MAPP torch and then go inside and prep the meat. Tonight it is chicken quarters. I let it get to a full burn because I don't want to repeat the experience of bad tasting food because i didn't let the lump catch on fire. How can i get a low temp like 250 without getting that foul lump taste? I need to let the fire burn well before i close the dome, right?

 

Visual Guide to Vent Settings

GG

Here is what I have learned the hard way. When you light the fire with a MAPP torch, you are injecting a lot of heat very quickly. The fire starts quickly and will get hot FAST. On a high temp cook I will light in 4 or 5 places. If I let it go with the dome up even 10 minutes, I will have gotten up to 400 - 500.

Therefore, on a low / slow, the trick is to catch the temp on the way up or you will have to wait a long time for a cool down.

Here is what I do now. I open everything up all the way to get plenty of O2 in the egg. On a low / slow, I light with the MAPP in one spot, usually about 3 inches from the front wall.

I do not leave the fire to prep the meat. I stay there for about 5 minutes to make sure the fire is started. Then, I close the vents down to about 1 - 1.5 inches on the bottom and the daisy wheel holes all the way open.

Now, my fire is active and it is heating the egg. The VOCs will burn off as the egg heats even though the fire is not active in much of the egg. I watch as the dome temp comes up. When it reaches 175 - 200, I close the vents some more to slow down the heat.

At this point, you should put in the indirect piece and grates to let them heat. You can also put in smoke wood now. I place a few pieces around the fire box so the fire will encounter fresh smoke wood as it burns. The temp will likely come down when you put in your indirct piece, especially if you are using a platesetter or stone. Let the heat come back up. This may take some time, so plan ahead.

Once the heat is back up, you have probably burned off the VOCs. Your smoke wood is probably doing its thing by this time too. Make sure your temps are steady and put on your meat. Total time elapsed so far may be close to an hour.

The process to start a low / slow cook is a bit more involved than a hot & fast cook since you will have to monitor temps more closely, but the extra time on the front end will mean you do not have to put out the fire and start over. That will take a lot more time. I started the fire this way over the week end and was able to maintain a 200 dome for 2.5 hours while I smoked bacon. I also had ribs on. After the bacon was done, I opened the vents a bit to get up to 250 for the ribs to finish. Ribs went about 5 hours. They were beautiful, and my temps never went above 260.

Very helpful to get the visual on this.

What a lot of folks don's understand is that the top vent is doing the lion's share of the work. The fire heats the air and pushes out through the top. If there is no place for the hot air to go, the fire will just sit there and smolder.

On the other hand, if there is enough of a vacuum created by the hot air pushing up, the fire will get its fresh air from someplace. Therefore, you can have a fairly cool fire with the bottom vent open an inch or so as long as the top vent is almost all the way closed.

Of course, I am not a fire scientist, so this is just my observation and experience.

Thanks Grandpas Grub for that pictoral, I hadn't seen that yet. It was very informative.

Thanks Dave,

I'm a new egghead and your messages have been very helpful as I make attempts at cooking low and slow. I hope you had a great Holiday weekend and also have a great day!