WSM vs. egg cooker (grill dome here)


 
J

Jim Smithson

TVWBB Fan
Question for you guys:

My neighbor has a grilldome and does pork butts regularly...we were recently comparing notes....I commented how my last butt took 19 hrs and I still had to put in oven for 45 mins to get it to 200F. He has NEVER gone over 13 hrs in his dome to get to 200F...both using 225F as our target temp.

Similar butt size, similar smoker temp...sure they vary but he has done probably 20 butts at least....all consisent from 11-13 hrs. No foil etc...

Why is this so? Why does the WSM (and others I am sure) take so much longer?

Just curious, thanks-
 
Jim,
Those egg cookers are porcelain and the hold the heat in better. They are also more airtight than a WSM. Having said that they weigh a ton and they are much more expensive.
 
Jim
Not all butts are the same, some just take longer. On the other hand I do have some Primos myself and I don't find much difference in cooking times.

Because of the way you have to control pit temps you need to close down the exhaust, this means you need to use very little wood or you can get an off taste.

With the ceramic cooker you are dealing with radiant heat that gets stored in the cermanics, it does change how you would go about a cook.

Most Butt cooks take me 12 to 14 hours, the average butt in the 6 to 7 pound range, when using a WSM.
Jim
 
Ceramic cookers like the Grilldome, BGE, etc benefit from heat retention and efficiency provided by their construction. Think about how much extra fuel is used, or how vents must be more open on a WSM on a cold day. The insulating properties of the heavy ceramic direct more energy to the cooking of the meat rather than loss through the walls of the cooker. The cost for this efficiency, however, is a big cash outlay, and a heavy, fragile cooker.
 
All that being said his question is a good one. 225 degrees is 225 degrees no matter how much fuel is burned or how efficient the radient heat is. I would summise your neighbor may be unknowingly cooking a bit higher than 225 or you are colder that that. Temps that are equal and meat that is simmilar should be somewhat similar. Buy a cryopack of 2 butts and start em at the same time, each of you cook one. Let us know what happens. I find those ceramics pretty interesting.
 
I keep thinking I must be buying some type of "Express Butt", I have only done 6 butts, and they have never taken more that 2 hours a pound, more often less than that. I have felt cheated by not having a super long smoke
icon_wink.gif
 
If the claimed convection effect is indeed achieved by heat radiating from all directions within a ceramic cooker, I could see where-- like a convection oven-- foods would cook faster than they would at the same temp in a cooker that did not transfer as much or no heat by convection.
 
I guess convection would explain it. I will just tell people my pit minder is a convection blower for the WSM.....
 
225 is not 225, it depends where it is measured and with ceramics becuase of the way they are designed the cooks come up with setup inside the pit to suspend the grates and make reading temps much more difficult than you would think.
Without know how and where they are reading pit temps it's hard to say what the real cooking temp is.

Convection is based on moving air, unless a Guru is being used it is not convection but radiant heat that effects the cooker.
Jim
 
Radiation - you won't measure it with a shiny thermometer. There was a thread about cleaning to get more radiant heat somewhere here - something Alton Brown said etc.
If you want low and slow it sounds like you're getting it, presumably the quality of the output is the result of the process, so which tastes better?
 
In this case, he is measuring with a thermometer in the lid.

I used to measure my WSM with probe on grill, but until I find a metal alligator clip that works, I just 'dangle' my probe in the top vent...easy to take out quickly to open to mop etc...and easy to dangle back in.
 
If you're talking about a polder-like probe then use a wine bottle cork for securing it to the grate, Jim. Cut one end of the cork so that it fits snugly between two rails on the grate and drill a small hole that will allow you to run your probe through it. Mines lasted a dozen or so cooks without showing any signs that it won't last forever. If it doesn't there's always more wine.
icon_smile.gif


~Dave
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top