Ed Wort help with Big Green Egg Purchase

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SuperiorBrew

SuperiorBrew

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Since you have several of us buying eggs now, Would you be so kind as to help us out with accessories. It's 90 minutes to my closest egg dealer so I want to get it all in one trip.


Lighting/ wax starters or electric?
Baking Stones/ theirs or any?
Vented Cover/ will i need it sitting under a big overhang on the porch?

Half Moon Raised Grids
Lump Charcoal
Plate Setter
Grill Gripper
Ash Tool
Temperature Gauge
Cast Iron Grid
Grill Extenders

Other suggestions comments please :p
 
I was gonna start a thread just like this, but I'm not in a position to buy right away. However...since you started it...

Ed, I'll likely only buy one Egg. I grill often - several times per week. Mostly, I cook for two, but I'd like the option to cook more from time to time. Occasionally, a whole brisket, several racks of ribs, or a whole bird may find their way into the smoker/grill.

In addition to the questions above, I'd like your recommendation on size...and anything else we should know.

Looking forward to the discussion!
 
Welp - here she is...
4141-BGE.jpg


Going out now to fire her up for the first time. Woot!
 
Congrats, I just came back from picking up a couple racks of baby backs for supper tonight.
Is that a Large? How much was it and what did you all get. I hope to go get mine on Thursday or Friday.
 
Sweet! I reccommend going out to www.eggaccessories.com for stainless grids, extenders, and such. Don't buy a platesetter, get a pizza stone to work with the Spider from www.eggaccessories.com. Get a custome grid lifter from www.gridlifter.com (he makes my custom tap handles too).

I light mine with a Berzomatic MAPP torch. Takes just about 30 seconds and the egg will be up to temp in 10 minutes. Buy only lump charcoal, NO KINGSFORD. Cowboy lump is crap. If you have a Cabela's nearby, they sell it.

I always recommend a large BGE. You can then get a small for your second, or another large (or both like me). The Large is the most versatile. I can smoke 4 boston butts on one large, 4 beer butt chickens, and loads of other stuff.

Welcome to the club guys, the Big Green Egg Club!
 
They didn't have many accessories, so I've had to improvise. They did have a rib rack which I purchased along with a big bag of BGE lump charcoal - which they stock so I shouldn't have any problems there...

I'm cooking ribs right now - this is a terrible pic but it was through the smoke:
4141-image_sb_11.jpg



For indirect cooking, I found this Pizza Stone and holder on clearance at Target today. It hangs perfectly under the main cooking grate and leaves about 3/4" clearance all the way around. You can see it in action the top photo. All in all, I've been pretty amazed at how easy it was to hit 225 degrees and hold it there...

4141-image_sb_10.jpg
 
Those types of stone will crack sooner than later. When that happens, you will want to get a BGE pizza stone as it is the same ceramic material.

Fire bricks work great too. Get the splits. They are a whole brick split in half lengthwise.

I just lit mine for the two Boston butts to go on in about 30 minutes.
 
Here is the finished product:

4141-ribs.jpg


We had already eaten about half of them before I had the presence of mind to take a photo. Both my wife and I agree that they were, without a doubt, the best ribs we have ever had!
 
BlindLemonLars said:
Nice! Is there any kind of "burn-in" procedure you need to do before cooking for the first time?
Click to expand...

Hmm - didn't even think of this. I read the manual cover to cover as well as a bunch of posts on several forums and didn't read anything about it... so I guess not.
 
John Beere said:
Hmm - didn't even think of this. I read the manual cover to cover as well as a bunch of posts on several forums and didn't read anything about it... so I guess not.
Click to expand...
Well, I'm sure if it was necessary it would have been prominently mentioned in the manual. Actually, with a high-end product like that, it's not surprising that it's unneeded.
 
EdWort said:
Those types of stone will crack sooner than later. When that happens, you will want to get a BGE pizza stone as it is the same ceramic material.
Click to expand...

Welp, the cheapo pizza stone lasted exactly 2 times... it just popped in half while heating the EGG up a few mins ago. It worked in a pinch - will have to order a real BGE pizza stone here shortly...
 
Heh. It could hear Ed talking to it. :D

Man, I can't wait till Tax time... hope this year's refund is exceptional.... If so, BGE here I come! (I have to get a fridge too, so let's hope for a LOT of money. Otherwise, it's a choice between BGE and Kegerator!)
 
John Beere said:
Welp, the cheapo pizza stone lasted exactly 2 times... it just popped in half while heating the EGG up a few mins ago. It worked in a pinch - will have to order a real BGE pizza stone here shortly...
Click to expand...

I've had my BGE pizza stones for years. I use my large for Pizzas and the medium for indirect cooking with the spider rig from www.eggaccessories.com. It works much better than BGE's plate setter.
 
John Beere said:
Welp, the cheapo pizza stone lasted exactly 2 times... it just popped in half while heating the EGG up a few mins ago. It worked in a pinch - will have to order a real BGE pizza stone here shortly...
Click to expand...

My el cheapo pizza stone did the same thing a couple of years ago. I just use it that way anyway and it works fine.
 
Dude said:
Wow...I went and checked out the prices on these things. YIKES. Way out of my league. Am I missing something? Where are the deals?
Click to expand...

Ed said that you can get a good deal on them during Eggtoberfest -but I wasn't going to wait that long.

Yeah, it was expensive but unless it gets stolen it will probablybe the last smoker / bbq grill I ever have to buy...
 
Got my Pit Controller in today. Its the new DigiQ II from www.thebbqguru.com with their 10 CFM fan. This thing is badass... It is their new model with Open Lid Detection (which seems to work pretty well).

I lit it up and set it to 225 - came back 15 mins later and it was stuck right on the money. Let it sit for over an hour at 225 and it held perfectly... Then ramped it up to 450 and cooked the only thing I had, fish sticks - heh - which turned out awesome but would have been a little better if I had set it up for indirect cooking...

4141-IMG_4822.jpg
 
I am going to get in Sooo much trouble in this forum ;)

I now need a Big Green Egg thanks to you guys...

Wait until you hear how much they cost here...

Are you sitting down?

The ONE place in AUS that distributes them is Barbeques Galore.

The large Egg, (Not the XL) is ON SALE here right now for $1200
 
$1049 US, Includes the Nest, but not Mates. It's $300 off right now on sale.

I guess it's somewhat justified, these things weigh a TON and would break pretty easily if mishandled or not packed properly for the long sea voyage... I can't imagine I could get one shipped here for less than $300 US
 
Yeah, thats about $300 more than here in the States... but the way I looked at it was that this is probably the LAST smoker / bbq grill I'll ever have to buy. Plus it comes with a lifetime warranty.

Does it still come with the lifetime warranty down under? Thats worth something right there...

EdWort was telling me that the XL is not yet ready for primetime - something about the hinge not holding up and the dampers... so I got the Large.

So far I've had no buyer's remorse what-so-ever... check back with me over the weekend after I get finished with my first overnighter and I'll probably be even more sold!
 
Oh, I won't let the cost stop me... It rarely does ;)

I nearly bought one today when I went to have a look at one during lunch.

Need to get it past SWMBO tho...
 
John Beere said:
Yeah, thats about $300 more than here in the States... but the way I looked at it was that this is probably the LAST smoker / bbq grill I'll ever have to buy. Plus it comes with a lifetime warranty.

Does it still come with the lifetime warranty down under? Thats worth something right there...

EdWort was telling me that the XL is not yet ready for primetime - something about the hinge not holding up and the dampers... so I got the Large.

So far I've had no buyer's remorse what-so-ever... check back with me over the weekend after I get finished with my first overnighter and I'll probably be even more sold!
Click to expand...

So JB, have you been using it much?? I think I'm going to get one with the tax rebate they are talking about. Spent 2 hrs this morning trying to get my smoker up to temp for some ribs about 19 degrees this morning when I first got started...I'm wanting one real bad...
 
Ok, you guys are going to get me in trouble. I've been wanting to replace my cruddy weber gas grill for awhile. But I also want a smoker. I've stayed away from charcoal in the past due to the whole heat up time thing. This looks like it might be ticket though. I could kill two birds with one egg so to say. How well does it handle like a smoker? Are you able to maintain good smoking temps easily? Any chance you can cold smoke on one? How long does it take to get up to grilling temps? I usually grill about once a week, mostly doing burgers or fish. The nice thing about gas is being able to walk out and crank it on and start cooking in 10 minutes. And since it's usually a small amount of food, I can turn it off and be done quickly as well. Do you need to toss a ton of charcoal on to do something like this or can you get it too temp with a small amount fairly easily?

I think I'm going to start doing some research.....
 
jdoiv said:
Ok, you guys are going to get me in trouble. I've been wanting to replace my cruddy weber gas grill for awhile. But I also want a smoker. I've stayed away from charcoal in the past due to the whole heat up time thing. This looks like it might be ticket though. I could kill two birds with one egg so to say. How well does it handle like a smoker? Are you able to maintain good smoking temps easily? Any chance you can cold smoke on one? How long does it take to get up to grilling temps? I usually grill about once a week, mostly doing burgers or fish. The nice thing about gas is being able to walk out and crank it on and start cooking in 10 minutes. And since it's usually a small amount of food, I can turn it off and be done quickly as well. Do you need to toss a ton of charcoal on to do something like this or can you get it too temp with a small amount fairly easily?

I think I'm going to start doing some research.....
Click to expand...

Any more questions???? I know I'm in the same situation except I grill about 5 days a week so I wonder if it's as easy as gas???:drunk:
 
As far as small amounts of food go, from what I've read so far on BGE operation, you just close the upper vent and the lower damper when you're done, and the coals neatly extinguish themselves, leaving the uncharred portions ready for use next time.

Sorry I can't answer the rest of the questions. I'm in the same boat as both of you. *eyes his refund dubiously*
 
Brewiz said:
So JB, have you been using it much?? I think I'm going to get one with the tax rebate they are talking about. Spent 2 hrs this morning trying to get my smoker up to temp for some ribs about 19 degrees this morning when I first got started...I'm wanting one real bad...
Click to expand...

Yeah, so far we've used it at least twice a week... did two boston butts overnight Friday night for dinner on Saturday - man, that was some good eats.

I can confirm that once you are done, all you have to do is shut the dampers and it quickly extinguishes itself. To use it again, just stir up the remaining charcoal to knock any ash below the fire grate and relight.
 
Hey John,
Can you post a pic with the DigiQ all mounted up?

I may run to a local shop that carries the BGE to investigate this further.

I use to manage a restaurant kitchen and we used charcoal/wood grills for our all our steaks and fish. I know how to manage a fire but don't really want to do that at home more than I have to.
 
If you are looking for a deal on a large egg in Texas, wait till the Texas Eggfest where you will be able to save a couple hundred bucks on one. It gets assembled and we use it for the afternoon and you take it home, assembled and seasoned. It a great deal and you learn a lot from veteran eggers at the event.
 
jdoiv said:
Hey John,
Can you post a pic with the DigiQ all mounted up?

I may run to a local shop that carries the BGE to investigate this further.

I use to manage a restaurant kitchen and we used charcoal/wood grills for our all our steaks and fish. I know how to manage a fire but don't really want to do that at home more than I have to.
Click to expand...

Here you go:
4141-IMG_4822.jpg
 
Thanks John,
I was sorta wanting to see where everything is hooked up at. Where does the fan hook up and what do you use to power it? Is it hooked up to the intake or outtake vent?

Thanks
 
jdoiv said:
Thanks John,
I was sorta wanting to see where everything is hooked up at. Where does the fan hook up and what do you use to power it? Is it hooked up to the intake or outtake vent?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Thats the fan the DigiQ is sitting on top of. It hooks directly into the intake damper which you can sort of make out in the picture - right next to the legs of the "nest". Compare it with this photo. It hooks in right at the bottom left of the damper.

4141-BGE.jpg
 
Cool, thanks.
Does it run on batteries or do you plug it in? I've got to figure out placement on the deck as I only have one outlet and it's not in a convenient place. I may have to run another outlet, but it will be a major pain to do and would rather not.
 

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