First Sub-Freezing Cook

ken g

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Grill(s) owned
  1. Bull
  2. Stampede
I am doing a mid week cook of 3 racks of baby backs. Ambient air temp of 24 degrees at start of cook. I am utilizing the welding blanket method to trap heat. Will advise as cook progresses.

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Mine has been doing OK in the mid 20s with no blanket. Did a three hour jerky cook at 180-200 and then when it was about 30 I did some chicken legs where I smoked and then cranked it up to 400. It definitely takes longer to heat up and uses more pellets, but I think I may be getting more smoke too.

Chicken again tonight with mid 20s temps, I'll update.
 
24 degrees, light snow, no blanket, no wind, no problem.
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Crispy drumsticks still elude me. Cooks too fast to crisp up. Getting closer though and still delicious.
 
Cook went well with no temp swings. Probably would have been ok without the blanket. However blanket probably cut down on pellet usage.
 
Last night it was 18 degrees with a light wind. My 590 struggled a bit, the temp would drop at times by 10 degrees before coming back up when on LO and 200. When I cranked it up to grill it would not get to 450, but it did eventually get up over 400 in about 30 minutes (starting from 200). It didn't recover very well after opening the lid either.

Also when I started it up the fan was really slow, I wasn't even sure if it was running or not at first. Took a couple minutes to come up to speed.

I may need to adjust my minimum feed rate. I was surprised, it was only 6 degrees colder than last time, I guess maybe that little bit of wind made a big difference.
 
24 degrees, light snow, no blanket, no wind, no problem.View attachment 1529View attachment 1530

Crispy drumsticks still elude me. Cooks too fast to crisp up. Getting closer though and still delicious.
Have you tried air drying the drumsticks on a rack for an hour before putting them on, and mixing corn starch in with your seasoning mix? I like 1/3 corn starch and 2/3 seasoning.
 
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Have you tried air drying the drumsticks on a rack for an hour before putting them on, and mixing corn starch in with your seasoning mix? I like 1/3 corn starch and 2/3 seasoning.


Yes getting the skins dry before cooking helps tremendously. I usually put poultry in the fridge on a rack to let it dry out a little. If in a hurry you can use a hair dryer too. :)
 

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