Egg set up for low slow cook - temp stable at 250 for a couple of hours - top vent basically closed - bottom vent open about 1/4 inch - then after several hours - temp spiked to over 650 - the egg needs new gaskets - could that have been enough to intro enough air flow for that temp build up - I can not think of anything else - may that poor Pork Butt rest in peace....
Celtic Wolf,Not sure what you mean - but we had the temp stable for 3 hours with meat on - did not adjust the vents - and then the spike happened - I am guessing that the gasket being bad let just enough air flow in to let a full fire box build up the stronger fire over a few hours - that is all I can figure -
CT, That is possible, but even with a bad gasket a temp spike like your likely had a different reason. Spikes yours usually happens because people adjust the bottom vent right after they put the meat in. They see the temp drop dramatically and reach for the vent. The other thing that happens is they keep looking during the cook. They open the lid and don't have the daisy wheel properly aligned. They close the lid and don't notice it's open more then before. Was it windy? Was the vent facing into the wind.
CT, a "spike" is something that happens short term. if it climbed steadily up to 650 over a few hours, your vent settings had to be off somehow. if it spiked in just a few minutes, then (as CW said), the daisy must have been bumped open or something.just doesn't make sense...leaky gaskets let smoke out, not air in. that would be some amazing airflow to come in the gaskets, nosedive down to the fire, then flow up and out of the chimney while also being fed from below.
Celtic Wolf, No - not windy - I really am at a loss - did not open and close the egg over this time - the bottom vent was open no more than 1/4 - 1/2 inch - the top vent was basically closed - and the temp was stable with meat on for 3 hours with that set up - so I walked away for a couple of hours - and when I checked back on it - it had spiked - I am going to replace the gaskets and try again - and see what happens - I have been using the egg for years and never had anything like that happen - maybe I got the egg gremlins that opened the bottom vent on me - anyway, it justified to be looking at a GURU again
CT, I have a few bags of Royal Oak lump that have unuasually large pieces of lump. I poured some of that in, without any effort to get smaller pieces and I lit the fire in one place for a lo-n-slo, but just a couple of hours, to smoke a fattie. I thought the fire was stable, but the temp climbed to about 320 before the cook was over. I just left it on, because I was going to cook more later and when I went back it was about 420. Not exactly a runaway, but more change than I am used to. I just figured it was due to getting one a couple of pieces of lump going initially, that were really not touching others.....?
CT, It's funny to hear your story and then you hear about others who can't get theirs to reach high temps. Go Figure!Were you using a different brand of lump than usual? Some brands burn hotter than others. Did you dump in any of the charcoal dust that settles in the bag? This might cause a temporary spike in temp, I know it increases the likelihood of flashback.With you having the vents closed down like that, I don't see how it could get up to 650 the way it did.
