My first overnight cook, not as good as I hoped for

[vegasheatbbq]

Since arrival of my CyberQ, I been waiting for last night for about a week. Was able to get it setup on my router and could check it away from my home.

At work yesterday I slowly worked my way into a should spasm. Took a couple of pills when I got home and started to feel a bit better so the cook was on.

Had a 10lbs pork should that was salted the night before, rubbed in mustard and some good rub that I got from my local butcher store.

Removed the ash and old lump I had, put a nice layers of big chunks on the bottom, some hickory here and there, and thought I had a nice mound for a long 225 overnight cook.

The cyberQ had the grill close to temperature in a short amount of time, welllll so I thought. My thermometer on my KJ classic was fairly accurate but noticed it just below 200 while the cyberQ said 230. I let it warm up for about 40 minutes after that and no change, so I pulled out my ThermoQ, it read 196. The 2 probes were right next to each other. Ohhhh Nooooo, That can't be good. So I pumped up the temp to 265 and it hit it but the ThermoQ said 238, ok I'm happy, put the meat on at 11:30pm and upstairs I went.

I kept a eye on it for about 2 hours and really no change.

Shoulder started hurting again and off to bed. Woke up about 3 hours later ( just a lot of pain). Looked at my phone, CyberQ had 235 with the fan running at 100%. Downstairs I went, ThemoQ said 303 with a max temp of 325. Meat was 159 at 6:15am. Eyes started to roll and called the company and told them the story and think I might have a bad probe. They sent out a new one and I should of just pulled the fan off and run the KJ without it but I had to leave to service the mrs. car and hopefully see the chiro. I checked the fire pit and it looked a bit low so I added all my leftover lump from my previous cooks. Changed the temp. down to 240 and away I went for a couple hours.

The temp was holding steady around 240 with minimal use of the fan. Got home around 11, meat was 160. ThermoQ said 228 where it stayed for about 30 minutes. Temperature started to drop around 2:30 and I pulled the plug. Wrapped it up in foil and into a 270 oven it went. The meat was still 161, (can you say stall?)

House is smelling good, I did have a bit of lump in the fire box but a lot of ash, maybe blockage but just got a bad vibe from the CyberQ. The lump I used was Royal Oak from home depot, I know not the best but was well reviewed at NW.

That's my latest. Thanks for reading. I have a lot to learn.

Enjoy your night everyone.

[Steve R.]

Sounds like you have an awful lot of variables going on there. I'd calibrate the 2 thermometers and maybe consider switching to briquettes, but that's just me.

[ecowper]

I think Steve R nails it .... Lots of variables happening. Get your thermometers calibrated so you know the real temp inside your cooker. Seriously consider moving to briquettes. They are far more predictable and consistent. Make sure you know how many briquettes (or lump) and what lighting configuration will work to keep your cooker steady and stable. I'd suggest a dry run or three with the CyberQ to really know how it works.

[vegasheatbbq]

Here is a picture of my fire box about 4 hours after I shut it down. A lot of lump left over but it couldn't raise the temp any longer

[Breadhead]

If my lump looks like that I'll stir it with my wiggle stick to get the ash to fall to the bottom below the firebox. Your fire will heat up again.

[Mosca]

First thing I though was what Steve said, calibrate your instruments. You can't work with them if you are questioning them.

[vegasheatbbq]

Here is the final result. Just a very faint taste of smoke flavor. Meat was juicy and tender. Overall I feel it was a failed attempt.

[MBMorgan]

Tender. Juicy. Subtle smoke. Failed??? Does not compute! Looks and sounds pretty good to me ... ..

[vegasheatbbq]

Tender. Juicy. Subtle smoke. Failed??? Does not compute! Looks and sounds pretty good to me ... ..

I hear you, but was expecting more of a smoke flavor. My first cook I nailed it but haven't experienced anything that good since

[boftx]

This sounds like a good reason to maybe think twice about the CyberQ. I've been wondering if I could wedge one onto my COS but now I wonder if it would be worth it.

[Rfuilrez]

If you're a tinkerer, might want to look into a Heatermeter. I love mine. Once you get it dialed in, it's about as set it and forget it as you can get.

[Breadhead]

vegasheatbbq ...

You might want to read this... https://pitmaster.amazingribs.com/fo...-got-em-part-2

[LA Pork Butt]

vegasheatbbq your finished product looks like mine on the BGE. One thing I have noticed is that when I cook the food doesn't seem very smokey, but when I taste the left overs they do. Other folks find it smokey the day of. I think it might have something to do with smelling so much smoke during the cook. Enjoy your leftovers.

[CeramicChef]

vegasheatbbq - I see you have a Kamado Joe kamado. Just a few questions to get you some help.

1) How experienced are you on your KJ? Go you mostly grill, Low-N-Slow, high temp sears, pizza, etc.
2) Do you have any problems using just the vents on your KJ to maintain temps?
3) What kind of lump are you using? What is it's size distribution?
4) What did your fire grate at the bottom on your KJ look like when you snapped the pic above?
5) Why do you those to use a CyberQ? Do you not trust your KJ to do it's job without help?

If you can get us answers to those questions, we can get you the help so that low-n-slow cooks are easy peasy.

I have a sneaking suspicion that based on the pic of your lump above, your fire grate was blocked by ash and small bits of lump. That's probably why you couldn't hold temps and had to finish in the oven.

We'll get this figured out for you so that next time you can rest really easy. I hope your shoulder is on the mend.

[vegasheatbbq]

Thanks for commenting CC.

1) My experience is 4 bag of lump charcoal. 3 low and slow and a few beer can chickens and some high heat rib eye sears. The high temp sears worked out great, had it over 900 degrees one time. The chickens were done at 350 and turned out great.

2) On the low and slows, it seems I always have the need to slowly open them up a bit by bit. Always did the bottom vent first till it was fully open,(usually after 8 hours or so), then the DW.

3) The last 2 bags were Royal Oak. The size were mainly medium size, I picked through the bag as best I could to get the larger sizes to put on the bottom, then the good medium ones, had a piece of hickory on the bottom then 3 around the top just outside the center. I dig a hole to put the firestarter in to light it up.

4) I'll attach a picture on the next comment.

5) With my limited knowledge and past cooks of always having to adjust. The start of the cook is always good but seems after 4 hours or so, I need to just start moving the vents. I remember on my first cook, when I was done both top and bottom were fully open when I was done and the temp was around 240.

Thanks for taking your time out and asking me these questions.

[CeramicChef]

First you're quite welcome. No big deal. Give me a day or so to formulate a response to your original post. I may have more questions. Do you mind if we make your post and the response part of the Kamado Series we've got going over in the Kamado Section? I think it'd be really instructive.

[vegasheatbbq]

I don't mind at all.

Ask all the questions you want. I would love to get this down. Thanks for your help

[vegasheatbbq]

Here is the picture after carefully removing the used lump

[CeramicChef]

vegasheatbbq - WOW! That looks to be more ash than usable lump. Ash is very good at blocking the spread of a fire. It doesn't burn and is lousy at transmitting heat. I think that you were running out of fuel for your cook!

[CeramicChef]

The ash looks to dominate and there is just a very little lump, small pieces really, and it looks as if you're beginning to see fire grate holes at various places. You very well may have very little airflow here with that much ash under the fire grate.

[CeramicChef]

vegasheatbbq Here is the picture you provided and I've taken the liberty of marking it up to help you and any other folks follow my assessment of your ultimate problem.



Ok, so let's take a look at what we have. I've marked a couple of the 4 total Fire Grate Air holes that can be easily seen. The rest of the Fire Grate air Holes are covered with ash and not air can really flow into your kamado with an arrangement like this. This is a ultimate reason your temps were starting to drop when you pulled the cook, wrapped it in foil, and put it in the oven at 270F.

In the Hexagon, i.e. the 6-Sided figure in the center of the photo, there is precious little lump charcoal of any size to produce and heat. In fact, most of what you see in this picture is ash. There is really only some semblance of lump around the edge of your fire bowl and that isn't of any size whatsoever. Essentially, you ran out of lump and that is another factor in why temps started to drop and you were forced to put your cook in the oven.

My advice to you so that this doesn't happen again is the following.

1) I tend to think that Thermostatic Controllers, in your case the CyberQ, tend to give folks a false sense of security. You have a Kamado Joe (KJ) Classic, a really fine cooker. In fact, I think so much of the KJ product line that I have no problem recommending their cookers. In your case, this means you need to learn how to trust your cooker. Kamados have been around for a VERY long time ... about 3,500 - 4,000 years. That KJ you have is the end of a very long line of experimentation and is pretty much optimized. I would suggest that you learn to control your cooker by knowing the specific vent settings that yield the specific temps you want. Forget your CyberQ for the time being. It's a crutch you really don't need.

2) I don't know how much lump you had in the fire bowl when you began your cook. What I always suggest to new and seasoned kamado cookers is that they completely load their fire bowls at the beginning of every cook. A Kamado Joe Classic is able to hold enough lump to last at least 24 hours at a temperature of 225F. Now that's more than long enough to do any sized cook that will fit on the grate. I've never met anyone who can figure out before the cook how much lump to load for any type of cook. Always start with a full fire bowl and you'll never have to worry. Lump is after all, reusable from cook to cook to cook.

3) Before you ever light the lump for a low-n-slow cook, please always completely clean out the belly of your kamado. This means you scrape/sweep/vacuum out all the ash from previous cooks. This means that you remove the fire gate, the fire bowl, and get after getting out as much ash as you can. This will ensure that your grate won't get clogged by ash. Clogged fire grates are the primary cause of 99% of fires that extinguish during a kamado cook.

4) I see lump charcoal as a basic ingredient in each and every cook. I buy quality ingredients because great starts ensure great endings. To that end, I buy the best lump I can find. To me that's FOGO. It has great size, it light easily with my MAPP torch, it buys hot and long, it produces very little ash, and it burns with virtually as little aroma as I can find ... it has a nice faint oak aroma. Royal Oak has its fans and a lot of good cooks have been done with RO. I'm not one of those fans. I've seen too much concrete, metal, mill scraps, and other foreign materials in RO to trust it now. size is too much of a crap shoot for me with RO at this point ... it just isn't my first choice. It used to be, but not for quite some time. Make certain that you start with the best lump charcoal that you can afford.

5) Finally, once you can do long, over night cooks with confidence, grab your CyberQ if you feel the need. I've got a CyberQ myself and it rarely sees the light of day. Using a CyberQ is not as simple as plug and play. You have to know how to dampen down the airflow to fit what you're trying to accomplish. You need to know how to set the top damper so that you're not blowing too much out of the top vent. I am decidedly NOT an expert on the use Thermostatic Controllers. The best guy I know on that area of 5698k who shows up here on a regular basis. He, and others can give you very specific advice that is beyond me.

6) Finally, I would hope that you read through the Kamado Series that we have over at The Pit => Grills and Smokers => Charcoal => Kamados. We're discussing a series of topics that you might be interested in and I think you'd find beneficial. Most of what I've written above is covered in real depth.

I hope this little analysis helps you. As always, if you have any further questions, post them here, start another thread, or shoot me a PM. Heres' to a quick healing of that shoulder.

Here's to great cooks and even better memories with family and friends!

[BriggsBBQ]

I hardly ever cleaned mine. Just used a shop vac on the ashes. I am sure Ceramic chef has some good ideas.

[Breadhead]

Guest ... I've never scraped my BGE. I use a shop vac to remove the ash. I do a clean burn when there's lots of carbon build up in it. I put my heat defector in and all my grimy crates and run it up to 800° for about 15/20 minutes and everything is clean.

[CeramicChef]

There are ash tools that I find largely useless and a waste of money. In cleaning my KKs, I use a small which broom and dustpan combo. You can get them at any Ace Hardware, Lowes, Home Depot, etc. I throw the ash in a 5 gallon galvanized bucket with a lid.