Just got me a new...

B

brwhorn

100+ Posts
Big Green Egg!!
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What should I cook first?

I'm thinking this some easy pork such as:The Link

but am open to suggestions.
 
Congrats on the Egg, you'll love it. I've had mine for about 3 years now and its incredible. Consider getting the bbq guru. Even though the egg is ceramic and maintains heat and temp well, you'll find that on a long brisket cook you may have to do a bit of tweaking. However, with the guru, I've smoked a brisket for as long as 16 hours on one load of lump without ever opening the smoker until its done. Its great to throw a brisket on at night and be able to sleep through without having to get up to check on it. BBQ Guru
 
Burgers and hot dogs.
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Pork tenderloins can be cooked in a reasonable amount of time if you are looking for a meal to cook during the week. If you plan to cook on the weekend, then the world is your oyster.
 
I just did a 10 lb brisket on mine this last weekend. It was at 225 when I went to bed and at 210 when I woke up and took the brisket off at 10:30am. 14 hours of smoke, 15 degrees of variation, no refueling or opening. Plenty good for a brisket.

That said, I did three NY Strips as my first grill on the BGE. 650 degrees with a couple oak sticks thrown on for good measure. Salt, Pepper, 90 seconds a side, a couple minutes sitting there in a sealed egg (all vents closed)... Fantastic.
 
I never use my regular charcoal pit anymore since I got the egg.

Celis, I have been on the fence about the BBQguru for some time now. Nice to hear it works well for you. Do you also use it speed up starting the fire?

Also, the geek in me wants to check out the the other one that hooks up to your computer via wifi. The name escapes me right now though. You could check on the temp from work.
 
Congrats. You'll love it. I've had one about 7-8 years and added a second a couple of years ago. For my needs, I wouldn't trade them for any other grill or smokers out there.

I'd start with some Pork Tenderloins. good and easy (and pull them at 145, don't over cook).

Go read The Link about the flashback warnings before you do a 800 degree steak or pizza. You will thank me for this warning later.

For the other poster, the BBQ Guru competitor is the Stoker.

I don't have trouble getting a fire up to temp, but if you're in a real hurry, instead of using your guru, just get one of those little handheld battery operated fans and hold it in front of the bottom vent. In about a minute or so a 250 fire is up in the 500-600 range. If you're really manly, put the leaf blower or reversed shop vac up there. That should be fun.
 
Basically what you want to do is lift the lid for a few seconds before fully opening. I do this anytime my temp is over about 450 or so. If you just flip open the lid quickly at a higher temperature, you'll get a pretty nasty flare up shoot out of the grill. I've lost a good deal of hair on my arm doing this before.
 
Hmmm....I wasn't totally sure what a BGE was until I looked it up...

That looks just like the hibachi my Dad got when we lived in Japan back in the late 60s...He still has it and it works great. That's what all the BBQ I ate growing up was cooked on...
 
Hmmm...after doing a little more research, maybe my terminology was wrong - it looks like a Kamado cooker...well, my Dad called it a hibachi, so WTF did I know...
 
alright 2 weeks in, but I love the BGE. smoked ribs the first weekend (tried Hornian's method), great stuff, then turned around and seered some steaks at 650 the next weekend. Still on the same load of lump charcoal, and the temp control is great. I'm gonna dig this thing. hmmmm, I'm thinking brisket next weekend.
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A good first cookbook to use with the big green egg is Dr. BBQ's (Ray Lampe) Cookbook. He's a champion BBQ guru that uses the BGE as one of his smokers. Its a good reference for beginner briskets, ribs, etc. You can pick one up from Amazon for $7.



Amazon Dr. BBQ

Also check out the Big Green Egg forum.

BGE Forum

And the Naked Whiz's website. He has a ton of info on recipes, methods, etc. Very informative for a BGE user[url=http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramic.htm newwindow
/url]


You'll probably also want a plate setter to create indirect heat for brisket, ribs, etc. A plate setter is placed inverted on the inner rim of the BGE. The feet stick up so that you can place the grid on top. This creates a ceramic boundary between the heat and grid so that you can have indirect heat. A platesetter is about $45, you can create the same effect with fire bricks. I think this sort of info is on the Naked Whiz site, or you could just google platesetter.
 
You might also want to check out the BGE forum.

BGE Forum

You may also want to check out the Naked Whiz's website. Its all about smoking on the BGE. It has tons of info on recipes/methods/etc. The Naked Whiz

Also, if you want to create indirect heat for ribs, brisket, etc you'll need a platesetter or some alternative like fire bricks. A plate setter looks like a pizza stone with legs. you invert the platesetter on the inner rim of the BGE with the legs sticking up. You can then place the grid on top of the feet of the platesetter. This creates a ceramic barrier and indirect heat. Just google bge platesetter.
 
Naked Whiz was fairly impressed with the Kamado, though the test model did not have the tiles, and they obviously weren't able to comment on longevity.

Link
 
Idigtexas

The product in my Amazon link may be different than the product you're looking at. I think the Amazon link is a Primo Kamado and yours is a Komodo Kamado.

If you're really considering it, go to the Big Green Egg forum, linked above, and find a post by the Naked Whiz, and then e-mail him. He'll tell you the differences in performance and give you a straight up opinion on which is better and whether the Kamodo is worth the extra $1000+. He's a nice guy (and big college baseball fan).
 
Unfortunately, the BGE isn't even in my budget, so the Kamado is not a realistic option for me at this time. If my salary suddenly doubles or I win the lottery then I'll give it serious consideration.
 
Idig

If you're in the Austin area (or even if you're not), they do a Texas Eggfest on Lake Travis every May, and they sell large demo eggs that people use to cook demonstrations over the course of the weekend. After it's over, you can buy them for somewhere between two and three hundred dollars off the regular price (that's not very clear --- you order them before and then pick them up the last day of the fest). That may make it more affordable. I bought my second egg through that route and thought it was great.
 
Affirmative on the platesetter for indirect heat. I knew I was going to be using the egg for smoking, so I bought that when I bought the egg. I wasn't sure if I would still need a gas grill, but after seeing how quicky the egg came up to temp for steaks - the old gas grill will stay to the side for reserve, or if the wife decides to use it instead of the egg for weeknight meals.

Going to CostCo after work today to pick up a brisket and try it this weekend.

I didn't know there was an egg fest in Austin. sounds like a good time.
 
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