I've been using a BGE for a little over 6 months now and absolutely love it. So easy to get started and get hot and takes very little time in doing so. Great control of temp. Makes a perfect pork tenderloin every time (amongst other things).
One thing I thought was lacking was its ability to go low and slow in an indirect role. It was fine for ribs but for a brisket, I rarely could get a pink smoke ring to show up and if I did, it was very thin. At times, I'd get good smoke flavor and other times, it was lacking. My theory on this is that the BGE is so incredibly efficient, it requires very little heat energy from the coals to maintain 225 degrees which means very little smoke flavor is being imparted during the crucial first 8 hours. Just a theory though...
So I asked for and received a WSM for Christmas and fired it up for the first time this past weekend for the Super Bowl. Very easy to get it started and very easy to get it to settle into the 225-250 range (I used the "Minion Method"). Threw on the brisket within 20 min of lighting the charcoal/oak, stayed up ~ 1 hour to monitor the temp and went to bed. The temp was at 251 when I went to bed and slowly climbing or possibly plateauing at 251 so I closed the vents a little. Apparently I closed them too much as the WSM was at 150 when I woke up 8 hours later. Checked the internal temp and it was a solid 135 degrees so I figured it must not of been at 150 for long. Threw it into the oven and kept my fingers crossed... I was getting pretty nervous that the brisket would have no smokey flavor due to the low temp at this point....
Pulled the brisket out at 185, let it sit for 45 min, cut into it and... A VERY solid pink smoke ring was there (wish I had pictures). Took a bite of part of the point and wooooow, it was damn good. Tons of good smokey flavor despite me screwing it up. Considerably more than the BGE. I was beyond impressed and can't wait to try again, hopefully keeping the temp in the 200-250 range all night.
For low and slow from now on, its the WSM all the way. But for everything else, the BGE still reigns supreme (made some damn good beef fajitas on the BGE as well
).
Best solution: buy both
One thing I thought was lacking was its ability to go low and slow in an indirect role. It was fine for ribs but for a brisket, I rarely could get a pink smoke ring to show up and if I did, it was very thin. At times, I'd get good smoke flavor and other times, it was lacking. My theory on this is that the BGE is so incredibly efficient, it requires very little heat energy from the coals to maintain 225 degrees which means very little smoke flavor is being imparted during the crucial first 8 hours. Just a theory though...
So I asked for and received a WSM for Christmas and fired it up for the first time this past weekend for the Super Bowl. Very easy to get it started and very easy to get it to settle into the 225-250 range (I used the "Minion Method"). Threw on the brisket within 20 min of lighting the charcoal/oak, stayed up ~ 1 hour to monitor the temp and went to bed. The temp was at 251 when I went to bed and slowly climbing or possibly plateauing at 251 so I closed the vents a little. Apparently I closed them too much as the WSM was at 150 when I woke up 8 hours later. Checked the internal temp and it was a solid 135 degrees so I figured it must not of been at 150 for long. Threw it into the oven and kept my fingers crossed... I was getting pretty nervous that the brisket would have no smokey flavor due to the low temp at this point....
Pulled the brisket out at 185, let it sit for 45 min, cut into it and... A VERY solid pink smoke ring was there (wish I had pictures). Took a bite of part of the point and wooooow, it was damn good. Tons of good smokey flavor despite me screwing it up. Considerably more than the BGE. I was beyond impressed and can't wait to try again, hopefully keeping the temp in the 200-250 range all night.
For low and slow from now on, its the WSM all the way. But for everything else, the BGE still reigns supreme (made some damn good beef fajitas on the BGE as well
Best solution: buy both
