Super Bowl's Over..how was your cook

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Captain Morgan

Chef Extraordinaire
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
Messages
14,162
Location
Myrtle Beach
abt's were pretty good....started them on the smoker, finished on the grill...pretty good. Brats on the smoker, finished on the grill, with pre-cooked sausages....in a pan with beer and butter, no onions (don't ask).
Pretty good.

Wings in the deep fryer. Because of unforseen problems (two bitches showed up 2 hours late), the first batch was EXTRA crispy. These however, turned out to be popular! The rest were also well received...3 types, A1 Chicago, Buffalo, jamaican jerk...grilled. The jerks were the least favorite, maybe because I glopped on extra sauce after grilling...they weren't as neat looking as the fried that were sauced in bowls.

That's it....lot's of gratuitous comments...will wait till tomorrow to grill my closest friend for true feedback!!
 
Loaded the WSM (at least the top rack) with Pork Butt. Used the Mr. Brown recipe. Came out good and everybody liked it. Although I did get some people talking about the 'heat'.

Used the Guru on 'ramp mode'. It bothers me the temp it lets it pit get to at the start, but after a while it starts 'ramping' down and everything is okay.
 
I'm on a mission to get more folks around here to eat brats.....they're just not that popular for some reason...a couple of people even looked over my spread yesterday and said.. "Got any regular hot dogs?"
 
Susan Z said:
I ended up at my friend's farm with brats on the grill with the ol' beer, butter, and onion bath.

It was my first time to try Johnsonville, which were ok but in my recollection were not as good as Usingers.

My friend had never had brats at all and really liked 'em. Me? I liked firing up the coals using a bunch of twigs and sticks (hadn't brought my chimney starter with me). Fire is FUN! And farms are fun, cuz you can burn the heck out of things.

Susan, That is how I am still starting my fire! When I get the new pit I will probably use the gas assist though! Brisket was oh-s0-good! Butts were just so-so. I got em done too early and they sat foiled way too long! Too much beer. Too much spicy foodway too late. Pass the rolaids! Woodman
 
My WSM ended up sitting out on the deck enjoying the 60 degrees temps WITH THE COVER ON! Long story, but I did however find out my wife is in charge of EVERYTHING I DO?!

She ended up making enchiladas, and was going to make jalapeno poppers but didn't WAKE UP IN TIME! UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Chris Finney said:
Loaded the WSM (at least the top rack) with Pork Butt. Used the Mr. Brown recipe. Came out good and everybody liked it. Although I did get some people talking about the 'heat'.

Used the Guru on 'ramp mode'. It bothers me the temp it lets it pit get to at the start, but after a while it starts 'ramping' down and everything is okay.

Doesn't it start out at your pit pre-set temp and just lower it as it gets closer to your meat temp??
 
Nick Prochilo said:
[quote="Chris Finney":k5gu0rpn]Loaded the WSM (at least the top rack) with Pork Butt. Used the Mr. Brown recipe. Came out good and everybody liked it. Although I did get some people talking about the 'heat'.

Used the Guru on 'ramp mode'. It bothers me the temp it lets it pit get to at the start, but after a while it starts 'ramping' down and everything is okay.

Doesn't it start out at your pit pre-set temp and just lower it as it gets closer to your meat temp??[/quote:k5gu0rpn]
It should. What happened Chris?
 
I did 5 butts, pretty much a full load for the WSM (probably could squeeze 1 more on). I did three Southern Sucor rub and two with Fatz's Pig Powder. Hay Fatz, great stuff. The leftovers at the firehouse are usually shit canned, but yesterday they were fighting for the leftovers to take home. Welcome to BBQ brother firemen!!!
 
Bill Hays said:
[quote="Nick Prochilo":1pz9f15u][quote="Chris Finney":1pz9f15u]Loaded the WSM (at least the top rack) with Pork Butt. Used the Mr. Brown recipe. Came out good and everybody liked it. Although I did get some people talking about the 'heat'.

Used the Guru on 'ramp mode'. It bothers me the temp it lets it pit get to at the start, but after a while it starts 'ramping' down and everything is okay.

Doesn't it start out at your pit pre-set temp and just lower it as it gets closer to your meat temp??[/quote:1pz9f15u]
It should. What happened Chris?[/quote:1pz9f15u]

Nick and Bill,
When I have used the 'ramp mode' it always has started at a higher temp. Up to 30 degs (or more) higher than what I had it set at. I had the alarm on my NU-Temp set 30* above what I had the pit temp set on the Guru. It went off. As the meat cooks it starts lowering the temp and most of the cook it is right in the tolerance range for were I have it set. I saw a chart in some of the Guru info on line, and this seems to be doing what the chart showed. Higher temp at first, then your set range temp, then dropping temp. Is this not how yours are working? From you posts... sounds like no. :?
 
I just used the ramp mode for the first time Sat. nite. Ya know, your right now that I think about it, I went to a party after I set it and came home 5 hours later and the pit was 15* higher than I set it. I just thought the pit probe was having the heat blocked by all of the meat on the WSM (5 butts). Later it settled to the 210* that I set it at. I did finally figure out how to use the good neighbor feature and thought that was great. Thanks for the help Chris that I didn't know I was looking for!! :-D
 
Chris, I think you're refering to the 14 Hour Brisket chart shown on this page. The temp is suppose to go to the temp you set, whether in ramp mode or not ~ There should not be a 30° overshoot in either mode. I'm assuming that you're placing the pit therm in the same place in both modes? Anyway, the Guru should take the pit to the temp you have set (Using Ramp Mode) and hold it there until the meat gets to 25° below the meat set point on the Guru. As the meat temp rises from there, the pit temp should drop and the temps should hold at about 15° apart. BTW, this feature is now called the "Cook & Hold" feature because "Ramp Mode" caused so many questions.
 
Well Bill,

It certainly says at the top of that page you 'linked' that it DOES NOT ramp temp up. Only down.

But then what are they doing to get their charted temps? Starting out with the unit set higher and then changing the set temp?

I'm getting this without doing anything!

Didn't someone on TVWB say that they had talked to Fred and that there was a 30* tolerance range on the pit probe, and the meat probe was very accurite?

I may need to call Fred and get to the bottom of this. Or just quite looking at the thing and trust it.



Pit probe was clamped to the meat probe at the bend. Saw that in one of their pictures.
 
I had the same temp issues. So as usual I called Fred & Bob. Their answer was that the temp should be set to what you want the pit temp to be. In other words if you want to cook at say 235° that's where you set the temp. Regardless of whether it's set for ramp mode or not. The graph in the literature shows how the temp profile would look if one were to set the pit temp to 275°- 300° and then the guru would lower the pit temp when the meat temp was 25° lower than the meat temp set point.

Well,the only way I could get the Guru to work properly was to tape all the bottom vents and use the aluminum tape to provide a better seal between the middle and bottom sections. AIR LEAKS ARE THE ENEMY OF THE GURU
I also set the pit temp to 200° and then make some minor adjustments based on my ET-73 readings. It takes about an hour for the pit temps to stabilize before I can make adjustments.

That's my story for today kids !!!!

Uncle Al
 
Well, next cook I am going to move the pit probe over to the cooking grate beside the meat. I don't know if this will help any or not.

My bottom vents seem pretty tight, but maybe they're not. I had aluminum foil 'gaskets' on the door and between the top and the middle section.

But Damn, shouldn't the Guru just shut off it the pit temp gets too hot? It was motoring on for all it was worth. Full speed ahead.

I will get out the pot of boiling water tonight and check the temp on the Guru.

Then I don't know 'what' next.
 
Chris,

I'm the guy from the WSM forum. I didn't mean to post redundant info but I started my reply and then my boss had the audacity to walk into my office and talk shop. So, my answer was a little late. :oops:

Anyway, as Bill noted, the main feature of the Guru aside from controlling the pit temp is the Cook and Hold mode. You are supposed to be able to shorten the cook time by setting your pit temp higher than normal and then the Guru will Ramp down the pit temp and hold the meat at its setpoint till the cooker runs out of fuel. Also, holding the meat temp accurately required a more accurate probe and as long as the pit temp is somewhere in the slow cook temp range there should be no problems.

Keep in mind that these Guru guys are always at comps and such and cook with the Guru constantly. They know their stuff and love to talk. Give em a call.

Uncle Al
 
That's so sad WoodRecluse. :-(

Anyway... Thanks Al, Bill, and Nick for you responces to my Guru issuses.
I read through all the info I have printed from the BBQ Guru website last night when I got home. As Al stated in the post above, the Guru guys say AIR LEAKS ARE THE ENEMY OF THE GURU . So I will work on that issue.

I still don't truely understand why if I can easily control my temps in the WSM without the Guru and keep things where I want them... and when I close all the vents the fire dies out within the time frame the Guru guys say is good... that air leaks would be the issue. And why doesn't the Guru stop running when the temp is over the set point? Why... why... why?
 
I had to tape all of the lower vents too in order for the Guru gto have good control over the fire

Chris Finney said:
And why doesn't the Guru stop running when the temp is over the set point? Why... why... why?
One of the quirks from clipping the pit therm to the meat therm is that while the meat is still cold, that cold radiates through the meat therm and will affect the pit therm to a degree (not to 30° though). The closer you place the pit therm to the meat, the more overshoot you will get. I have been placing the pit therm at the end of the meat therm next to the cable so I can rotate the meat therm thus placing the pit therm further away from the cold meat ~ this has worked well for me. I use to place the pit therm next to the meat on the top grate but it was hard to get a good placement between the 2 cold butts and the heat wall coming up the sides of the WSM.

As Al suggested, call Bob or Fred and get their views...Maybe they have some new ideas. And while you're at it, ask them about the temp difference between when we calibrate the therms and when they're in the WSM. This has been asked before but I haven't heard a "good" answer yet!
 
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