Cast Iron Grate to even out Temp Swings

[earl the pearl]

I have owned a Bulleye deluxe for about 6 months now. I love the grill but have, as many people have reported that this grill struggles at low temperatures with temp swings. At higher temperatures it holds pretty steady.

I attribute these low temp swings to the fact that the grill has a firebox that can produce a lot of heat. The grill itself is not large ...not much material to heat up. In other words low thermal mass. Because of this, I think the PID controller has a difficult time at low temps to control.

My thought was to add thermal mass...material to increase the heat capacity of this grill. (Heat capacity is the ability to store heat energy) The more heat it can store, the more gradual it changes temperature.

Cast iron is the best material to store heat energy.

So I purchased the Aura cast iron grill grate.

This made a night and day difference!!! It now holds very steady at 200 Fahr as well as my normal 225 for pork butts. I love the results!!

The other benefit of cast iron is the awesome grill marks it makes for burgers/ steaks.

The only downside I see is that it takes a little longer to get to high temps of 500 Fahr for steaks.

Hope this helps anyone that might be frustrated trying auger speed and other measures to help with the swings.

I am now more excited and pleased with my purchase. Its the only grill that can do a low and slow cook and truely be used to replace a gas grill for everyday grilling

Regards
Paul

 

[okie]

Congrats Paul, that will help a lot of Bullseye owners.

 

[kstone113]

The Aura cast iron grill grates have been on my Bullseye for over a year now. I used to change out sometimes to the stock grates but hacen't in a long time.

I haven't smoked enough on my Bullseye to have your exerperience but glad this worked for you. The one time I smoked ribs, I had no issues holding 200 for a long time.

 

[Mannydog]

Maybe I'm being cheap, but honestly, for a thermal mass heat sink I've just been using a plain ol' fired red clay brick wrapped in a couple layers of aluminum foil. One could also use fire brick that is made to withstand the higher temps, but I've used the regular red bricks for several years in various grills & smokers as needed, and never had one crack or crumble (though I'm sure I've just jinxed myself on that). I wrap it in foil so the grease doesn't soak in, and I can easily replace that if it gets too nasty.

I don't use it all the time, but once in a while on long cooks on the RT-590 (or my Big Steel Keg) in cold weather months, or if I frequently need to open the lid when cooking on the Bullseye.

 

[Greg Jones]

Maybe I'm being cheap, but honestly, for a thermal mass heat sink I've just been using a plain ol' fired red clay brick wrapped in a couple layers of aluminum foil. One could also use fire brick that is made to withstand the higher temps, but I've used the regular red bricks for several years in various grills & smokers as needed, and never had one crack or crumble (though I'm sure I've just jinxed myself on that). I wrap it in foil so the grease doesn't soak in, and I can easily replace that if it gets too nasty.

I don't use it all the time, but once in a while on long cooks on the RT-590 (or my Big Steel Keg) in cold weather months, or if I frequently need to open the lid when cooking on the Bullseye.

One of the pieces of advice I agree with from Jody at recteq is to let the ash accumulate in the bottom of the grill. It really does help with absorbing excess grease and heat retention.

 

[earl the pearl]

Maybe I'm being cheap, but honestly, for a thermal mass heat sink I've just been using a plain ol' fired red clay brick wrapped in a couple layers of aluminum foil. One could also use fire brick that is made to withstand the higher temps, but I've used the regular red bricks for several years in various grills & smokers as needed, and never had one crack or crumble (though I'm sure I've just jinxed myself on that). I wrap it in foil so the grease doesn't soak in, and I can easily replace that if it gets too nasty.

I don't use it all the time, but once in a while on long cooks on the RT-590 (or my Big Steel Keg) in cold weather months, or if I frequently need to open the lid when cooking on the Bullseye.

interesting....the other advantage of the cast iron grate is awesome sear marks

 

[earl the pearl]

One of the pieces of advice I agree with from Jody at recteq is to let the ash accumulate in the bottom of the grill. It really does help with absorbing excess grease and heat retention.

Agreed...I use the ashes for the grease catching. I also bought some grease absorbing grit used in electric smokers. Seems to work

 

[kstone113]

I leave a good amount of ash at the bottom. Not only for grease but also in case some water gets in if raining or forget to put the cover on. I believe that ash has saved me a few times. i push more ash to the back of the grill b/c that's where the vents are.