Getting Married in a month, as a wedding gift my parents and sisters are buying us (me) a big green egg. I'm supposed to go pick it up this weekend, since I have a truck. What do I need to get started? What kind of charcoal should I buy? I mainly wanted it, for smoking ribs, pork, brisket, etc... What accessories should I get?
You only want to use lump charcoal and you do not want to ever use lighter fluid...the first two important things! Next...congratulations on you marriage and the last grill you will ever need to buy! Royal Oak makes a decent lump charcoal at a fraction of the price of BGE charcoal...and its actually the same thing...just branded for BGE. There are a lot of brands of charcoal out there and experimenting is fun...Royal Oak gets it done though...The worst brand in my opinion is Cowboy. I suggest you purchase a Looft lighter if you have power adjacent to your grilling area. This is like a turbo heat gun and works very well....if no power is around in your grill area...there are several brands of starter blocks that you place within the coals and light that have no solvent based smell of taste. A must have is a plate setter from BGE...this will allow you to cook convection style without direct heat/fire to what you are cooking. BGE makes a nice long lasting "l" shaped tool that helps clean out the used ash that will fall to the bottom...this is a must. The nest by BGE is ok for occasional users but a waste in my opinion for every other day users like myself... It just doesn't hold much as far as table space and gadget space...as an avid user, I have built a table to house the egg and wood chips, charcoal, and gadgets...Another plus purchase would be an instant thermometer and a Bluetooth remote thermometer...there are infinite products out there as you will soon find out...these suggestion will get you going....Have fun!
Bluetooth remote thermometer for the win. By far one of the best investments for smoking meat. Know the exact temp while setting in the house watching a game drinking a cold one.
Kick ash basket...get a large...a good torch head with the coleman propane green tanks work great. Platesetter or a device that lets you utilize a round stone for indirect smoking.
Thanks for the help. Curious why no lighter fluid?
It will adversely affect the taste of whatever you cook in the new egg forever. The ceramic interior is porous to a certain extent and will absorb the odor and distribute the odor into the food. Never even in an emergency situation ever use lighter fluid or cubes of charcoal or ever use self starting charcoal....only real wood chunks or lump charcoal. If you run out of starters and forget to get more...you can use cotton balls soaked in rubbing alcohol which will work without contaminating the egg shell. Clif's idea works well as long as you are ok using a torch and are aware of you surroundings...he is another wonderful source of knowledge here on the forum owning multiple eggs! Do not be scared of the price of lump charcoal....whatever does not burn when you shut the egg down can be used for the next time you fire it up...that is why Clif has suggested the Kick ash basket... its nice and helpful in saving left over coals... and I have one as well...just forgot to mention it to you...This as you will soon find out...is a new way to cook on a grill that will involve some devoted time to perfect, with each method you give a try to...after some saddle time, you'll never go back to a conventional grill! Make sure that you properly register the new egg and you will be able to get warranty assistance on almost anything that wears out ...the shell, the grates, the seals, etc. with excellent customer service provided by your selling egg approved dealer...
When I want to get my knock off egg going its torch time. I can have it lit in 20 seconds. Yeah a little extreme but I'm impatient and it works
Ok, that's good to know. I'm going to pick it up this afternoon. They got me the Large egg. Just wondering, how the hell I'm going to get that big SOB out of my truck alone.Originally Posted by edw
OMG! You won't do this alone! Its very heavy and cumbersome enough to need three people...If you do this alone you are much more of a man than I will ever be. I have a large also...it was very difficult to get up and into our home and out the rear exit door to the deck...and even more difficult to lift it into the nest....and then again into the table that I built...I had two of my crewmen here to get it into the table along with myself...good luck! Keep me posted!
If you take everything out of it you can bear hug it to move. Open up the lower vent(place hand) and arm under all the hinges. Squat...do not use your back.
Clif, You are much more of man than I am! I also have two bad disks in my lower back! LOL
I'm probably just dumber
Got her picked up, yesterday afternoon. I had my dad help me get it out of the truck. I see on the BGE website, they recommend cooking below 350 the first couple times to seat the gasket properly. Do I need a platesetter to keep the temp low like that or that is just for smoking? I guess I will roast a chicken, or maybe throw a rack of ribs on it the first time.
You need a PS for indirect cooking. You'll burn the bottom of meats on slow n low cook with out one.
Anything over 400 no daisy wheel...just use the lower vent for control.
http://www.jjgeorgestore.com/grill-t...rcoal-starter/
Spatcock a 3 to 4# chicken and inject it with cayenne creole butter. Add your favorite rub to both sides of the bird. Set your egg to 325 and put the bird on the grill gate breast side down for 15 to 20 minutes. Flip the bird and cook til the internal breast temp is 155. Pull and let it rest for about 5 to 10 minutes. Dig in. May need to foil the wings when you flip to keep from charring.
Got it. Thanks.
that sounds really good. I may just do that.
well....what do you think so far????
Does the internal temp come up enough resting to be safe. I always thought safe for birds was 165-170
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