Super Bowl's Over..how was your cook

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All I can say is it was the best brisket I'd ever done.

14.5 lb brisket in 12.5 hours.

It had to be the ramp mode.
 
Hey Bill,

I recall that the cal procedure has you putting both probes into boiling water, then you set the meat temp knob to 212° but you set the pit probe to only 200°.

If the Guru's meat temp display reads "zero" and the pit display reads 200° the Guru is calibrated. SO....... Therefore.... the Guru thinks that a temp of 212° should display only 200°.

When you make an adjustment to the trim-pot on the Guru it only changes the display for the meat side.

When I questioned Fred and Bob regarding this apparent discrepancy that's when I got the disertation regarding the need for the meat temp to be more accurate. (I guess so that you will never overcook the meat) And that the pit temp could vary significantly without really affecting the cook.


Uncle Al
 
Question for Al & Chris, what are you guys using in your water pan? The Guru gurus suggest crumbled foil in the water pan and say not to use water in it. I never saw that when I purchased my gur and have always used water and it works like a charm. I just emailed them about starting temps. when using the ramp mode and suspect they will say to set it at your normal cook temp if you want to hold it in the pit longer at the end of the cook. I needed this this weekend because I had to start 3 hours earlier than I wanted to (didn't want to miss a party). The meat was done 7 hours prior to when I wanted to serve it. As soon as each butt hit 170*, i foiled them and returned them to the smoker. They sat in the smoker wrapped in foil for about 3 hours. I set them in a cooler with 3 bricks that were heated on my gasser. I pulled them 4 hours after setting in the cooler and burnt the shit out of my fingers lifting them out of the cooler. The meat temp was still 180*, juicy as could be and was a hit with everybody. BTW the pig powder from Fatz was great, the guys at the firehouse were fighting for the leftovers. I let you guys know what Shotgun Fred says with ramp mode....sorry to ramble on like this, it beats he estimate I'm working on!
 
Now I feel better Fatz! I have "ramp down " mode on my new pit. I can take her "down" the freeway, and get off at the exit "ramp."!
 
Nick,

I always use the crumpled layers of foil in the pan. I did use foil once when I first got the Guru 'cause I forgot that I didn't need to. The cook came out fine.

But since the reason for having the water in the pan , temp regulation, is no longet necessary ( Guru) why create a messy water pan mess to clean up if you don't need to?????

Uncle Al
 
Sorry it took so long to get back to you guys. I was in the middle of responding to Bill's post yesterday when all the computers went down here at work. Seems some people doing road construction cut or T1 lines. Anyway, they sent us home.

Bill, When I said I clipped the pit therm to the meat therm at the bend, I meant between the bend and the wire. But it was over the meat. I was thinking next time I might clip it to the therm in the dome just to see.

Al, I forgot about that calibration discrepancy in the temp readings. So let us know what you find out.

Nick, I use the crinkled foil in the pan and topped with a couple of layers to catch the grease.
 
Al (and everyone else), now that you mention it ( 200° vs. 212° ), I always thought that was a typo. My feelings on the temperature discrepancy issue are that the pit probe is either defective or just not the right tool for the job. That probe reads 20 to 30° different in hot air than in hot water. What they should have done (IMHO) is use 2 “accurateâ€
 
Okay boys here is the inside scoop on ramp mode. The following was my original email to them and there response.


-----Original Message-----
From: nick@theprochilos.com [mailto:nick@theprochilos.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 08, 2005 7:33 PM
To: Fred Pirkle; Bob Trudnak; Linda Filimon
Subject: Guru Ramp mode


We're having a discussion on a message board concerning the Guru and ramp mode. When we set the pit temp when using the ramp mode, should we set it at a higher than our normal cook temp. so the guru starts there and ramps down as meat reaches temp. or should we set the pit temp. at our normal cook temp. and let the guru ramp down as meat approaches temp. With all this said and done should we experince a shorter cook time or a longer cook time using the ramp mode?
Thanks
Nick Prochilo
Northport, NY


You can use both methods that you desribe below. I personally set the cooking temp as if I was not in ramp mode.. (ie. 225° F). This will make for a slightly longer cook. ( a few hours ). If you have less time, set your pit a 275° F or 300° F and the ramp mode will bring the temp down as well. All you are doing by setting a higher starting temp is getting the intrernal meat temp up to rendering zone quicker. Try both methods to determine what works best for you.

Let me know if you have any further questions.
Thank you,
BBQ Bob Trudnak
Marketing/Operations
www.thebbqguru.com
 
Well, that pretty much confirms that the temp should only go to where you set the dial to. FYI, I never set to a higher than normal temp. I have found that when using the Guru in Ramp mode and setting the initial temp to around 225° or 230°, any fat that was not rendered in the plateau is gently rendered while slowly being brought up to around 200° giving me a moist final product. (Cooking butts here) It does, however, take a while longer but I have found that if I have the time, it's well worth the wait. One downfall is that I have yet to be able to complete a butt cook with the Guru in ramp mode on one load of fuel :-( .
 
Bill

You O.K. now??? Great rant :shock:

I agree with you 100%. As something for you to consider...After my Guru got a little wet, the mylar overlay began to detach. I called The Guru boys and asked to replace the overlay and to please re-calibrate the unit for me. Well when I used it after the repair it was much better in the accuracy dept. So you might give them a call and get it re-cald.

Al
 
:LOL: :LOL: Yeah, I feel much better now! That's interesting about the recal...Where's my spray bottle?? :-D

Thanks Al 8)
 
Jeff E said:
... Does the meat probe seem accurate for the other Guru owners out there?
Hard to say (for me) since the probes are not in exactly the same place but mine seem to be within a couple of degrees.
 
Jeff, could it be that when you put your guru therm in it's in a fat pocket and when you take temps with therma pens and other therms you are in the meat?? Just a thought! :D
 
I agree Glenn...no guru for this WSM owner! Mine seems to keep temp just fine for my overnight cooks...and if something goes wrong, the ET-73 Therm is there to chirp!
 
Suit yourselves, Guruless guys! :shock: :shock: Makes my life alot easier with these rugrats running around.....Now, when they grow up some, I may just want to hang out by the offset all night. 8) (I'm really thinkin' 'bout gettin' one!)
 
I put in my time without one. And most of that was using an ECB (not modified as much as it should have been) , so now I'm enjoying the few cooks I've done with the Guru. I'm still working through the learning curve, as I think are most of the people here that have mentioned issues. I've done one non-Guru cook since I have gotten it and had planned to do some of both along the way. This may change if I have to tape my vents to get better Guru air control.
The Guru is a good product... Could it be better?... Yes. But it's not bad, and lets me sleep better knowing that it is working while I sleep.
 
I'm pretty much stuck using the Guru since I taped all my lower vents closed but that's just fine with me. I used my WSM enough before the Guru came along that I can still manage a (WSM) fire if need be. Now when that offset comes along... :shock: :shock:
 
Or you could just bring your friend's shotgun home with you! :-D

(just kidding...)
 
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