First smoke on BGE. Lookin' for advice.

Check Out This site. http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramic.htm

There is a ton of info there that will help you out.

I have a large and no matter what I am cooking I use the same method.. fill with lump, I drizzle some oil on a paper towel and twist that up, toss it on the lump and light both ends.
Once your coals are lit, close the lid with the intake wide open and the top off. Once things are moving along, put in yur plate setter and keep an eye on your temps - when they are starting to get to your cooking temp start closing things down - intake first. Don't let it get out of control or you will play heck trying to get the temp down.
Goos luck and have fun!

Some will say it isn't necessary, but I think it important to do the first several smokes low and slow in order to settle in the gaskets. Save Pizza and other high heat cooks for later.

You also can get your lumps started on your gasser. Make sure your gauge is in the ballpark. Get some beer and babysit it. Good luck!

It's nice to see some more Berks "Countians" in here!!

I would also test the egg's thermometer in ice water and boiling water.
Double check that thing is very close to actual temps.

Good looking table.:thumb: Hope your first smoke on it is wonderful!

I usually guage it by what kind of cook I am doing and the position of the plate setter. If it's legs down you can put in more lump. You need to be able to keep your airflow. And yes - you are right... once you are done your cook you can just shut the intake and put on the rain cap and save the lump for the next cook.

I did my first BGE smoke a couple weeks ago. I dialed it in to 250* and it just stayed there, never fluctuating. I couldn't have been happier.

My only question regarding BGE smoking is: water in the drip pan or leave it dry? What do you guys do?

beautiful table you got there!....if I had your skills, I wouldn't have bought one but gone your route...i'm always wishing I had more room - like yours!!....congrats on your inaugural cook....they'll be plenty more where that came from!....i love my egg!!

I've been using a BBQ Guru now for 6 years. I still have my original Guru Competitor and now a new DigiQ. While I know you can dial in an egg without using something like a Guru, it makes life so much easier. This is especially true if you are doing an overnight cook. There are a lot of variables that can impact your temps (outside temp, wind, rain, sunshine, amount of lump left, etc.). They are spendy little buggers but I think they are worth every penny. I know for a fact that I would not use my egg(s) as smokers nearly as much if I didn't have my Gurus.

If I'm going to build a fire for an overnight cook I always start with an empty egg. I dump out a couple bags of lump into a big Rubber-maid container and then pick out the biggest pieces. I put them in the egg like a jigsaw puzzle. When the big ones are all pieced together I pour in small and medium sized chunks to take up the remaining gaps. Then in a metal pail I start 2 or 3 good sized chunks and let the get blazing hot. I put those dead center in the middle and close the lid. It takes up to 30 minutes to come up to temp but I have no problems (especially with the new Digi Q) locking in on a temp and staying there. This weekend I cooked a Brisket. I put it in the egg at midnight and when I went to check on it 8 hours later it was still 225.

The only other piece of advice I can give is if you need to open your lid, do whatever you need to do quickly. The air rushing in every-time you open the lid can really stoke the coals.

BTW those ribs look great.

fingerlickin' said:

Yeah I though I had mind dialed in at 250* but then I put meat on and started messing with it it's kind of been fluctuating ever since. I'm pretty sure I could have done a better job building my fire. I don't think I spread the coals out good enough. It's just kind of burning in the middle.

Click to expand...

Here's what I did on my first cook.

Cleaned out the firebox of all excess dust and ash. Filled the firebox with lump, big pieces on the bottom. Then I lit a cheap-o starter cube in the middle of the lump and closed the dome with no top and the vent wide open. Once it got to 200* I put in the plate setter, closed the vent half way and put the daisy wheel top on. Once it got to 250* I put the meat on and closed the vent most of the way. I think it was still wanting to climb but the cold meat just killed the heat climb and it just stuck. I couldn't believe how consistent the cook was, just as good as my dad's FEC-100 with a much better flavor profile!

Good luck on your next cook, I hope you get the temp fluctuations figured out. :thumb: