Need a little Big Green Egg advice and Pellet grills

[Otowndawg]

Ok guys, so I’ve been up and down with the brisket. Yesterday I smoked a pork butt and of course it came out perfect - you all know that’s the easiest thing. Then I brought the temp up from 250 to 300 and smoked some wings. Those were good too.

THEN I started trying to get the temp down to 225 again for the brisket. Messed with that thing for 1.5 hours trying to get it right. Finally around midnight I shut the thing down, went and took a shower and came back up and it registered 225. I opened the vents to about 1/2 inch and said forget it and went to bed.

Well, of course the egg was out, and I woke up this am to a dead grill and a brisket I’m gonna have to throw away.

So: after that TLDR story:

1) How to you reduce your egg temp effectively?

2). How is a pellet grill for smoking? I just watched a Traeger video and really didn’t see any smoke happening when he was cooking a brisket. School me on pellet grills.

 

[HuskerDawg1005]

Ok guys, so I’ve been up and down with the brisket. Yesterday I smoked a pork butt and of course it came out perfect - you all know that’s the easiest thing. Then I brought the temp up from 250 to 300 and smoked some wings. Those were good too.

THEN I started trying to get the temp down to 225 again for the brisket. Messed with that thing for 1.5 hours trying to get it right. Finally around midnight I shut the thing down, went and took a shower and came back up and it registered 225. I opened the vents to about 1/2 inch and said forget it and went to bed.

Well, of course the egg was out, and I woke up this am to a dead grill and a brisket I’m gonna have to throw away.

So: after that TLDR story:

1) How to you reduce your egg temp effectively?

2). How is a pellet grill for smoking? I just watched a Traeger video and really didn’t see any smoke happening when he was cooking a brisket. School me on pellet grills.

I cheat and use the DigiQ.

Amazon product ASIN B085FSXH8T

 

[Single Barrel Dawg]

Reducing the temp on a ceramic cooker is pretty tough once you’ve overshot. The only way I’ve found to help is add more lump. If you don’t have room for more charcoal, you’re kind of out of luck. Sorry to hear about your cook man. That sucks

You’ve already got an egg. No need to get a pellet grill unless you just truly want to add another cooker to the fleet. And if you decide to go the pellet route, get a Recteq or if you can swing it, a Yoder

 

[waydownsouthdawg]

Ok guys, so I’ve been up and down with the brisket. Yesterday I smoked a pork butt and of course it came out perfect - you all know that’s the easiest thing. Then I brought the temp up from 250 to 300 and smoked some wings. Those were good too.

THEN I started trying to get the temp down to 225 again for the brisket. Messed with that thing for 1.5 hours trying to get it right. Finally around midnight I shut the thing down, went and took a shower and came back up and it registered 225. I opened the vents to about 1/2 inch and said forget it and went to bed.

Well, of course the egg was out, and I woke up this am to a dead grill and a brisket I’m gonna have to throw away.

So: after that TLDR story:

1) How to you reduce your egg temp effectively?

2). How is a pellet grill for smoking? I just watched a Traeger video and really didn’t see any smoke happening when he was cooking a brisket. School me on pellet grills.

https://biggreenegg.com/product/egg-genius/

 

[Nooga Dawg]

Pellet smokers (rectec - being my grill of choice) are excellent smokers. So easy to use set the temp and walk away. Literally all you have to do is make sure the hopper stays full of pellets and that’s it. Could not be any easier.
They produce plenty of smoke, and that can be adjusted up and down with feed rates.

 

[blackout2435]

There are pros to both. But if you decide to go pellet smoker go with RecTeq over the Traeger. We have been very happy with both of ours the last couple years. https://www.recteq.com/

 

[22bulldog]

You'll get better with your Egg, no need for the pellet oven.

 

[snuffy19]

If you want to go the economical route on a pellet grill, look at the Pit Boss (Academy). I've had mine 4 yrs. No problems, cooks great.

 

[Savannah_Dawg]

Get yourself a Flame Boss 500.

 

[Otowndawg]

https://biggreenegg.com/product/egg-genius/

That doesn’t really work to reduce the temp very well. I have the flame boss and gave up on it.

 

[Single Barrel Dawg]

OP, you absolutely do not need one of the fan controlled devices...you just need a little more practice

 

[Savannah_Dawg]

That doesn’t really work to reduce the temp very well. I have the flame boss and gave up on it.

If used correctly it is really good at keeping temps steady. Trick is to not let it ever go way over temp to start. I had to learn this the hard way.

 

[Single Barrel Dawg]

If used correctly it is really good at keeping temps steady. Trick is to not let it ever go way over temp to start. I had to learn this the hard way.

Haha we all did

 

[Otowndawg]

If used correctly it is really good at keeping temps steady. Trick is to not let it ever go way over temp to start. I had to learn this the hard way.

Yeah that’s been my challenge - trying to reduce the temp effectively. I’m struggling.

 

[Savannah_Dawg]

OP, you absolutely do not need one of the fan controlled devices...you just need a little more practice

not a “need” I agree but it sure is nice when you are trying to watch the Dawgs

 

[Golden Boy]

I cheat and use the DigiQ.

View embedded media

I give this my highest endors-uh-mint.

 

[Single Barrel Dawg]

not a “need” I agree but it sure is nice when you are trying to watch the Dawgs

They’re definitely nice to have, but they are pretty expensive and the eggs will hold temp steady once dialed in

 

[Savannah_Dawg]

Yeah that’s been my challenge - trying to reduce the temp effectively. I’m struggling.

The key is to barely have the daisy wheel open at all almost from the start. Only light the lump in one spot. Have your bottom vent open just a bit too. That and my flame boss keeps it low and slow all day long.

 

[Golden Boy]

Ok guys, so I’ve been up and down with the brisket. Yesterday I smoked a pork butt and of course it came out perfect - you all know that’s the easiest thing. Then I brought the temp up from 250 to 300 and smoked some wings. Those were good too.

THEN I started trying to get the temp down to 225 again for the brisket. Messed with that thing for 1.5 hours trying to get it right. Finally around midnight I shut the thing down, went and took a shower and came back up and it registered 225. I opened the vents to about 1/2 inch and said forget it and went to bed.

Well, of course the egg was out, and I woke up this am to a dead grill and a brisket I’m gonna have to throw away.

So: after that TLDR story:

1) How to you reduce your egg temp effectively?

2). How is a pellet grill for smoking? I just watched a Traeger video and really didn’t see any smoke happening when he was cooking a brisket. School me on pellet grills.

When that happens with me, I just cap off the top vent and close the bottom one. May take a few minutes, but that will get the temp down.

 

[DawgGoesWoof]

Try to plan your cooks so that you aren’t needing to lower temperatures in your ceramic cooker.

From the sound of what you described, you probably burned through a lot of your lump, and by the time you got the temp down, there wasn’t enough to hold temp for a long smoke.

 

[Otowndawg]

So what happened is I raised the temp from 250 to 300 for the wings, then wanted to reduce it to 225 for the brisket overnight. Added some lump so that I had plenty for the brisket after cooking the pork butt and wings all day. Total fail.

I’ve had a couple of solid wins on the brisket when I started low and slow and kept it there. This was just a disaster trying to reduce the heat.

 

[Dawg4Evr]

I've had my BGE for over 6 years and love it. When I'm smoking/cooking at a lower temp, I use hickory and apple wood chunks that have been soaked. Opening the lid will reduce the heat and adding soaked chips to the fire will as well. Close the lid, then adjust the vents.

 

[DawgofAges]

Time is all that works for reducing a BGE. I've also had some success soaking blocks of my favorite woods (apple, hickory, etc) overnight and dropping them in if it starts to go too high. Just the smallest of spaces in your vents and wait it out.

 

[Otowndawg]

I just noticed this got moved to Chat. Does that mean we are going to have to talk about how Trump would lie about his brisket and Biden would forget he had it on the egg? I’m just kidding, please don’t kill this with political posts.

 

[Dawg 'n IT]

Ok guys, so I’ve been up and down with the brisket. Yesterday I smoked a pork butt and of course it came out perfect - you all know that’s the easiest thing. Then I brought the temp up from 250 to 300 and smoked some wings. Those were good too.

THEN I started trying to get the temp down to 225 again for the brisket. Messed with that thing for 1.5 hours trying to get it right. Finally around midnight I shut the thing down, went and took a shower and came back up and it registered 225. I opened the vents to about 1/2 inch and said forget it and went to bed.

Well, of course the egg was out, and I woke up this am to a dead grill and a brisket I’m gonna have to throw away.

So: after that TLDR story:

1) How to you reduce your egg temp effectively?

2). How is a pellet grill for smoking? I just watched a Traeger video and really didn’t see any smoke happening when he was cooking a brisket. School me on pellet grills.

1)


2) No experience, but is an expensive "fix" for your problem if you otherwise love your BGE.

FWIW, when I do a long smoke of multiple meats, I just stay at 225 because it's time consuming and wastes a lot of fuel to bring the temperature down after raising it significantly.

I smoke wings at 225 then generally finish inside with an air fryer to get the crisp. You can deep fry in oil or roast in a hot oven too. Otherwise, wings would be the last meat I'd smoke outside as I'd still start them at 225 then raise the temperature to crisp them up to finish.

FWIW, I smoked 3 slabs of ribs yesterday then threw a brisket on before dinner and it's sitting at 198 as I type. I put on a slab of 24 hour brined pork belly next to it this morning.

I'm using a Therm Pro temperature probe to monitor the cooking and brisket temp. These things are great for not having to sit on top of the smoker to regulate the temperature. Just set the threshold alarm and monitor it while doing whatever you want. I didn’t have to stress at all last night while my wife got me drunk playing bartender and I'd just check the smoker whenever outside with my dogs.

 

[MaitlandFloridaDawg]

I just noticed this got moved to Chat. Does that mean we are going to have to talk about how Trump would lie about his brisket and Biden would forget he had it on the egg? I’m just kidding, please don’t kill this with political posts.

The Vent mods are going into “season mode”. They are tolerant of non-political “OT” posts in the off season, but once the season starts, they are less tolerant.

 

[Deadlyputter]

Ok guys, so I’ve been up and down with the brisket. Yesterday I smoked a pork butt and of course it came out perfect - you all know that’s the easiest thing. Then I brought the temp up from 250 to 300 and smoked some wings. Those were good too.

THEN I started trying to get the temp down to 225 again for the brisket. Messed with that thing for 1.5 hours trying to get it right. Finally around midnight I shut the thing down, went and took a shower and came back up and it registered 225. I opened the vents to about 1/2 inch and said forget it and went to bed.

Well, of course the egg was out, and I woke up this am to a dead grill and a brisket I’m gonna have to throw away.

So: after that TLDR story:

1) How to you reduce your egg temp effectively?

2). How is a pellet grill for smoking? I just watched a Traeger video and really didn’t see any smoke happening when he was cooking a brisket. School me on pellet grills.

I know I'm going to catch heat for this, but buy this. You'll never regret it. I've used every kind of cooker out there. These are the easiest to use, keep steady temps and cook great food. If you want to baby sit your food, get a good charcoal smoker. Pellet grills work well, but not any better than gas smokers IMO. If you want consistent, great food without constant attention, these work great. There are other models out there, but these are a great value.

 

[Professor Dawghair]

I’m in the middle of a brisket cook in a RecTeq right now - 20 pound whole packer. Pics below are after 9 hour overnight cook. About to wrap in butcher paper and put it back on till done. Then 3 hour rest if I have the patience.

I think the pellet smoker gives a nice level of smoke especially at 225. I added a smoke tube for first few hours. You get most of your smoke and bark at the beginning anyway.

Nice thing is you dial in the temp and go to sleep. It doesn’t deviate more than a degree or two.

And it’s a much better grill and high temp cooker for things like steak and chicken than I expected.

I have a BGE, and loved it for many years. I haven’t fired it up in almost 3 years since I got the RecTeq.

 

[RoyDawgMercer]

Yeah that’s been my challenge - trying to reduce the temp effectively. I’m struggling.

It's always easier to go up in temp v down..... even in an electric oven! My BGE experience is to cook meats -- other than searing a steak first -- from low temp to high temp. If you try to go the other way it's not easy but can be done if you allow it cool off for a longer time and reload the lump. Storing lump inside and using pieces about the same size helps with consistence. (Why I use their brand as they pay Royal Oak for uniform pieces.) Also it's much easier to maintain cook temps in warmer weather v cool or in falling temps.