The Big Green Egg

[antss]

I feel the same way Bob.  90% of these things are made offshore giving us little choice though.

The costco deal is pretty sizable, which might help ease the angst. 

 

[Paul G]

All right, since people are resorted to posting food porn, I'll show you why a pellet grill (and pork shoulder) is a thing of beauty...
[attachimg=1]

What's your temp and fav pellets?

 

[magellan]

I love this thread.  I've always thought about BGE and now a friend showed me the pallet grills.  Wow this is confusing.  Ceramic/refractory vs pallet grills.  I'm thinking I may not want to learn all the tricks to the BGE and other ceramic grills.  You fellows are food artists    I've been cooking on a Tech for 15 years or so.  It's a great grill but it was not really meant to smoke in. 

Keep the information coming.

Thanks all

 

[Dogberryjr]

Y'all are killing me.

Couple of questions for the BGE folks:

• If I want to use it as a grill to do some quick burgers, what's the time involved, that is, fixing the fire and getting it up to temperature?
  If there's unused charcoal in the grill when I'm done, and I shut off the airflow, will that preserve at least some of that unspent fuel?
  How much fuel is burned in a slow cook, say a ~10 hour pork butt at 230 or so?
  

 

[m1sanbo]

I have 3 BGE, 2 Large and a small. I can get one up and running in less than 15 minutes.  When I am done cooking, I shut it down, and use leftover lump for the next time.  For a slow cook, 10-18 hours, there usually isn't much leftover, and at the end, usually will raise temperature to clean plate setter, grill etc from droppings. I have had mine up to 1500 degrees at times, and have also kept it at a temperature of 225 for 36 hours.  IMHO there is nothing better than cooking on a BGE, it ruins you for restaurant food. just my two cents, but I couldn't be happier with them. On another note, their customer service is second to none.  I broke a lid, called the mother ship, and went to nearest dealer, and had another one in less than an hour. 

 

[rmwarren]

Y'all are killing me.

Couple of questions for the BGE folks:

• If I want to use it as a grill to do some quick burgers, what's the time involved, that is, fixing the fire and getting it up to temperature?
  If there's unused charcoal in the grill when I'm done, and I shut off the airflow, will that preserve at least some of that unspent fuel?
  How much fuel is burned in a slow cook, say a ~10 hour pork butt at 230 or so?
  

My  [2cents]:

- Quick cook takes 20 minutes to get the grill started and up to temp using a chimney or just starter squares in a pile of lump.
- Yes - close off the vents and the fire will die out.
- I buy 34# bags of whatever lump BJ's has on sale for around $16-$18, a full load in the KJ is perhaps 1/4 bag and it will burn for 12+ hours at low temp.

If you try to save lump you end up with a bunch of 3/4" clinkers, which are not much use when lighting a new fire. I nearly always empty them out into a small galvanized can and start with fresh lump. The small stuff is handy when going low/slow (layered over some fresh lump already lit) but it can accumulate on you.

I often skip saving the lump and just stack my dirty grates and stones inside the egg open the vent up and let it go until the fire dies on its own. Basically bakes the crud off the grates.

RMW

 

[butzla]

Y'all are killing me.

Couple of questions for the BGE folks:

• If I want to use it as a grill to do some quick burgers, what's the time involved, that is, fixing the fire and getting it up to temperature?
  If there's unused charcoal in the grill when I'm done, and I shut off the airflow, will that preserve at least some of that unspent fuel?
  How much fuel is burned in a slow cook, say a ~10 hour pork butt at 230 or so?
  

That's another great thing about the BGE.  After you're done cooking, there is a ceramic cap that you apply to the chimney to snuff it out.  Close the bottom vent and you can reuse the remaining coal.  For a long cook you simply fill the "smoke box" with coal and it lasts for the whole cook. 
I light my BGE two ways:  For a hot fire, like for steaks and burgers, I use a charcoal chimney and start it using the auxillary burner on my Weber propane grill.  Barring that you can just use some newspaper to get it going.
For slow burns, I use a small wax burner square that I buy at my local grocery store.

A great YouTube source for me is Malcom Reed's How to BBQ Right
Every recipe of his I've use we've loved.  Notables are his garlic butter filet mignon, bbq bake beans and his firecracker chicken.  phenomenal!

An after market accessory I highly recommend is BBQ Guru's DigiQ controller.  It makes your egg like a true oven, you never have to obsess about the temp.

Here's some BGE porn:

Here's a picture of me putting my hand firmly on a 400 degree egg.  Warm but not hot.

 

[retfr8flyr]

Wheh, I can see that these are way more involved - but the results much more satisfying than a typical gas grill. There is a learning curve for sure and hope I don't ruin too much food while learning.
Maybe leaning more to a large KJ - as I like some of the updates they have done recently. NOT TO GET POLITICAL but I'm not thrilled to spend this type of coin on a product made in China.
That aside, I just may go check one out on Norfwalk next week.

If you are going to check out the Costco Roadshow, then be aware of the Special. If you are the first one to the display on the first day, you can get the display model Big Joe and the Joe Jr. for the price of the Big Joe only. The only problem is you have to wait until the show is over, so it would require a second trip to Costco. This is a fabulous deal, as the roadshow price for the Big Joe is already a great deal. I repeat you have to be the first one there and ask for the special.

If you want to learn more about the Kamado Joe and Kamado cooking,this is a great forum for Kamado's. https://www.kamadoguru.com/

 

[jlt23]

I have a large BGE and I like it. I just wish I went with the XL. Check out this place for awesome accessories.https://ceramicgrillstore.com

 

[deepcreek]

Hank Hill - Propane & Propane Accessories

[attachimg=1]

 

[PaulH99]

I posted that on the previous page

All right, since people are resorted to posting food porn, I'll show you why a pellet grill (and pork shoulder) is a thing of beauty...
[attachimg=1]

What's your temp and fav pellets?

 

[Bob Marino]

Still mulling this over. Any Primo owners here?

 

[antss]

The principle differences between all of them are:
  - stainless grates (egg, kj) vs. porcelain coated on the primo
  - kj and primo feature tiered, sectional cooking; whereas egg is just a single level and is not divided
  - primo's oval shape may appeal more to some forms of cooking

basically they are just tools to do a job.  All of them will get it done, but you may prefer a red one to a black or green one.  Or country of origin may be important to you.  The tiered /divided cooking arrangement may be of value to you or not.  And maybe one of the forums appeals to you more than another - though none are as good as the FOG  [big grin]

They are all nice grills.

 

 

[DynaGlide]

[member=727]antss[/member] Well said.

I bought the egg, did my homework and paid 799 nest included and skipped any accessories they offered. Bought a , imo, better tiered cooking system than the KJ from ceramic grill store. All in I'm right around the same price for a KJ but with a more useful cooking setup. I didn't need the side tables so wasn't a factor. I've never regretted my purchase.

 

[Bob Marino]

And now through BLAZE grills into the mix........ Soooooo many choices.

 

[DynaGlide]

And now through BLAZE grills into the mix........ Soooooo many choices.

Bob i think you're going to be paralyzed by too many choices. Pick a known quality brand with a dealer nearby and run with it. Since you're new to all this try to go with something that has a lot of YouTube videos demonstrating how to setup for different cooks. I know down by me there's Dizzy Pig and they teach classes using the BGE. Never been to one but i might this year.

End of the day they're just tools. A good BBQ cook can make a nice meal with just about anything.

 

[Dane]

Following on my post above.  If I had the cash, the aluminum Blaze or the Caliber Pro Kamado would top my list.  I have the Broil King, which is sort of a poor man's version of the higher end metal Kamados.  But, I think it functions just as well, or better, given the insulation between the double wall construction.  The ultimate, in my mind, would be an oval shaped, double walled, aluminum Kamado...alas, doesn't exist.  The new Weber Summit charcoal gets close.  You should check that out.  There's a good write up on it at Amazing Ribs:http://amazingribs.com/bbq_equipmen...tion-grill-smoker/weber-summit-charcoal-grill

As to the Primo question- I've owned one of their round versions.  High Quality- USA made, would recommend them.

 

[mikeyr]

I have 11 grills now (down from 14) ranging from the Cobb (6 pieces of charcoal and can grill on the hood of your car) to a La Caja China (plywood but can a cook a pig in 4 hours).  I even have an IKEA grill!

My new Hero !!! I have 6 grills and constantly get told I have 5 too many by both my wife and daughter (son-in-law is starting to tell me also but he is careful).
My favorite grill is my Weber kettle grill with propane start, a small burner to get the coals going.  My gas grill I only use for rotisseries and things like that.  A pellet smoker (need a new and much better one).  A wood only grill and last is a wood burning pizza oven that i use like a BGE.

 

[Green Mojo]

++ on the DigiQ. I would consider it a mandatory accessory for the BGE.

 

[leakyroof]

And now through BLAZE grills into the mix........ Soooooo many choices.

. You BUY the Green Egg..... Its Green.... You sell Green Festools..... What could be better .... [poke] [poke] [poke]
Seriously, all kidding aside, you pick the one that fits your budget and has features that appeal to you.  Worst case, you sell it and buy another of your choices that you didn't go with originally .
Post pictures of the food you create with it.... [thumbs up] [thumbs up] [popcorn] [popcorn]