First Butts

[Amphoran]

My first really long cook (23 hours), 15 pounds of butts.

I had a couple of temperature fluctuations - got down to 190 about 2 am, so I ran it up to 230, but then it kept on climbing to 270, but cooled down over the next three hours or so. I've got to do more, so I can get a better handle on the dynamics!

It turned out fantastic, though, and most of it ended up eaten!

Anyway, here's the proof:

[Sanny]

How many people did you have there to eat two butts? Obviously, a group with exquisite taste.

[DennisLinkletter]

Re: First Butts

My first really long cook (23 hours)' date=' 15 pounds of butts. I had a couple of temperature fluctuations - got down to 190 about 2 am, so I ran it up to 230, but then it kept on climbing to 270, but cooled down over the next three hours or so.[/quote']

For long cooks I recommend pouring your charcoal into a large box or tub and then sorting them by size.. I use mostly medium pieces and jiggle them until then are well settled and touching each other.

Then I pour the smalls and very smalls over the top. If I don't have any I break some large pieces in the cooker so the little slivers fill the small voids.. this ensures an even burn and pieces don't burn out with out lighting another piece. Running your ashes thru a screen will also give you lots of lil pieces..

Looks good..

I went out and heated a foodsaved pouch after seeing it..

[Amphoran]

Six people - we actually ate a little less than half of it, most of the rest goes into the foodsaver tonight.

I THINK that my problem with temperature wasn't an actual fluctuation in the burn, but my lack of a feel for the cooker dynamics. After the initial heat up, it took more heat for the first few hours (as the cooker itself heated up), then I closed the lower vent too much, and the temperature fell very slowly until it was down to 185 when I woke up at 2. I then pulled the damper out, and it heated up over about 10 minutes to 225, and I pushed it back in (still open only a tiny bitk), but there was enough heat in the charcoal itself to drive the cooker to about 265. That then cooled off very slowly over the rest of the night. In the morning I opened the vents just a bit more, and it held 220-230 very stably the rest of the cook.

I will try the sorting by size trick; I've read about that elsewhere as well.

When I pulled the damper out in the middle of the night, the entire basket was glowing dull red, so everything was lit. That would have been 9 hours into the cook.

[ThreeDJ16]

Six people - we actually ate a little less than half of it, most of the rest goes into the foodsaver tonight.

I THINK that my problem with temperature wasn't an actual fluctuation in the burn, but my lack of a feel for the cooker dynamics. After the initial heat up, it took more heat for the first few hours (as the cooker itself heated up), then I closed the lower vent too much, and the temperature fell very slowly until it was down to 185 when I woke up at 2. I then pulled the damper out, and it heated up over about 10 minutes to 225, and I pushed it back in (still open only a tiny bitk), but there was enough heat in the charcoal itself to drive the cooker to about 265. That then cooled off very slowly over the rest of the night. In the morning I opened the vents just a bit more, and it held 220-230 very stably the rest of the cook.

I will try the sorting by size trick; I've read about that elsewhere as well.

When I pulled the damper out in the middle of the night, the entire basket was glowing dull red, so everything was lit. That would have been 9 hours into the cook.

Noticing I am seeing you talk about pulling out the slide damper for adjustments on a low and slow. Use the knob instead. You only need a very small opening (say 1/8" - 3/16") on the largest portion of the opening on the bottom vent, and 1/4 or less turn on the top vent to maintain the 225 vicinity.

Though for the ultimate in "no worries overnight cooks", get a Guru. Plus it is a fun gadget to play with. Using it, you would completely close the bottom damper and every so slightly crack the top - no more!

-=Jasen=-

[Amphoran]

Yeah, I pulled it out to try and get things to heat up quick, because it was two in the morning, the temperature was forty degrees low, and I was in the back yard in my bathrobe....

The problem was that I should have shut it again after the temperature climbed about 10-15 degrees, then opened the twister a couple of degrees.

I'm looking at the guru and the stoker; and can see advantages to each. I would like to know the cooker well enough though, that I could manage it well in case of a controller failure!

[Fetzervalve]

I feel your pain

I had a similar experience on my first L&S also. The hardest thing for me to learn was how little you need to adjust at those low temps to get a large temp change. When it us getting such a small amount of oxygen to burn that low a small change in airflow is a relatively large percentage swing in oxygen. Move it 1/16" (or less) at a time and wait..... I ordered my Guru the day after my first L&S. It's a sleep aid!!

[Amphoran]

Percentage change - a very good point I had overlooked!

In spite of all the gyrations, the butts came out very well, so maybe I was being just a tiny bit anal-ytical

[ThreeDJ16]

Percentage change - a very good point I had overlooked!

In spite of all the gyrations, the butts came out very well, so maybe I was being just a tiny bit anal-ytical

That is why everyone recommends shoulders or butts for the first cook. It is hard to mess one up.

-=Jasen=-

[dub]

Like Jenga only messier...

The hardest thing for me to learn was how little you need to adjust at those low temps to get a large temp change. When it us getting such a small amount of oxygen to burn that low a small change in airflow is a relatively large percentage swing in oxygen. Move it 1/16" (or less) at a time and wait.....

True dat, FV-I wish my K had a draft door with the daisy wheel on it. I just crack it a whisker for L&S. Remember: a 250F 'fire' will fit in your palm,more or less. It don't take much air for that.

DL's charcoal sorting tips are right on target. Think of the lump pile as a tree with trunks(big chunks),branches(mediums),twigs and leaves(fines).The less gaps the better and 'bigs on the bottom' allows more room for ash without cloggage. The 'fines on top' help the burn by filling in gaps as they fall.

dub(good L&S cooks begin with blackened hands)

[Porkchop]

right on for "fire building"... check out "elder ward's" method at the Green Room (BGE Forum). look under his "recipe" (reads more like a manual!) for pulled pork. good fire management for low and slow is to set it up right. another good reason to sort lump is to catch any foreign objects and moonrocks. for low and slow, i set my fire at the top of the pile and let it burn down to the bottom. also, with the otb, i set it slightly forward of center, as it seems to "bleed" back towards the rear-oriented stack during the cook.

big chunks at the bottom is the key; set them together like puzzle pieces for a layer or two. after that, i dont bother sorting the rest out. long as you got that layer at the bottom, it keeps airflow from getting interrupted by ash.

that's what i do anyway; ymmv.

[Firemonkey]

Man, all I ever do is dump the bag in there!

I pour in as much as I can fit, stir in some wood chunks, toss in a few sticks, put the heat deflector on top (wiggling it down if necessary), and light it. Thus far, I have had no problems, and always had leftover fuel, even when "light" lumps like cowboy.

Amphoran...pay attention to the dial/damper settings once you find your temp. They should be the same next time. Once you get the hang of it you will know exactly how to set it for your common temperatures.

[Amphoran]

Thanks, FM!

I realize that I had the damper just a bit too tight - I was losing a few degrees an hour, then when I tried to bring it back up quickly, I way overshot. All in all a good learning experience!

The next one will be smoother.