Bought a used (Big Green) Egg

[billybek]

I have been cooking on a nat gas Vermont Castings grill for 5 years or so and have been looking for a BGE to take the ribs that were OK but never as good as I hoped they would be up to the next level.
I really didn't want to pay (expensive in Canuckastan) for a new one and have been scouring Kijiji for the last year or two.
I looked at the Vision Grills version and it looked OK but after researching the country of origin I kind of lost interest in it.
Anyway I found a screaming deal on a large egg and nest (home made but Ok) and a bunch of accessories.
Loaded it up and brought it home and had the best rib eyes and a chunk of tenderloin that I have cooked at home.
Have some ribs in brine waiting for tomorrow.
I have a feeling it is going to be a BGE summer.

If you have something I absolutely need to try, let me know!

[Bill Douglas]

Hi Bill, it's Bill Here. Kind of fun Making home made sausages. Huge amounts of garlic and pepper, NO preservatives, minimal salt, excellent beef/venison/pork. And have some fun with whatever you throw into the mix.

Great for when you are standing around with a beer in your hand, and someone says "These are execllent...

[tabs]

Bought a BGE back in the Summer of 04 as I remember, whenever I want to do a small batch of BBQ Ribs or whatever I use the Egg. It imparts a different flavor than an indirect firebox Smoker, in that with the Egg you are using a direct fire method which gives the meat a charcoal grill taste.

For the quick grill & sear em with high heat nothing beats the charcoal Weber Kettle for shear ease of use and quality of product. Bought mine back in the winter of 82 for $39 and have been using it ever since.

The third component of my trilogy of outdoor cooking appliances is a Klose 36" Drum BBq with offset firebox made of 1/4 steel plate with 1/2 inch plate for the firebox which I bought in October of 05. This is a traditional BBQ smoker of professional quality, as it is the thickness of the plate that retains heat and thus provides a stable temperature for consistant quality of product. this unit will take hardwood logs and is more in line with turning out production than a rack or two. Unfortunately I have not used this unit in the past year or so...

[billybek]

A friend of mine is a big hunter and often distributes some of the sausage he makes to people he knows. I don't know exactly what goes into them but they are great when cooked well.

I couldn't believe how much juicier the steaks were last night. Used a basic balsamic/soy marinade and didn't sauce them at all and they were unbelievable...
Going to buy some more lump charcoal this morning.

Any recommendations here? I used the stuff that came with the Egg last night and added some mesquite lump that I had bought in Mexico when I had the camper down there 15 years ago. Worked well but the guy I had bought it from said that charcoal wasn't as good as the Egg brand.

I have been using the 3-1-1 method for ribs on the gas grill. What do I need to change to adapt this to the Egg?

[KevinTodd]

The BGE can be considered direct heat, but to use it as a smoker you need to buy the plate setter that then allows it to cook with indirect heat and smoke.

Here's a few things to try that have worked incredibly well for me:

Smoked fish---you can cold or hot smoke just about any type of fish and it will be incredible. I have cold smoked trout and catfish often and with great results.

Salmon takes a hot smoke better than almost anything else--it's delicious.

You can also smoke veggies and fruits on the BGE and the flavor is amazing. I have made several desserts on mine from simple smoked peaches and nectarines to baked pies and cobblers. The level of smokiness you desire takes a bit of practice--but that's part of the fun.

Still also amazed at how efficient these things are.



Pork Shoulders and Briskets work very well here, too--but I have had the best ribs in my life from my BGE.

As for fuel--I use any regular natural lump hardwood---the branded stuff is outrageously expensive and I can't see any reason to buy it.

Have fun!

[tabs]

"I have been using the 3-1-1 method for ribs on the gas grill"

What is the 3 1 1 method? Try and find Oak Wood in Lump charcoal..it imparts a cleaner taste, in which you can then add some soaked in water harwood smoking chips into the Egg before closing her up. You only want those Chips to smoke for the first 20 or so minutes, if you go longer the smoke flavor starts to become overpowering. Subtlety of flavor is what you are after.

[billybek]

3-1-1 was a method of cooking ribs that I found online.
3 hours on low heat. Halved the racks and overlapped them on the grill above a pizza stone and rotated the half racks every 45 minutes.
One hour foil wrapped with a bit of apple juice and whiskey in each foil envelope. Flip half way through the hour.
One hour on the grill.
I attempted to use the pizza stone to provide indirect heat to the ribs. I maintained temperature at the ribs by using a high temp Fluke thermistor thermometer at 210-220 F.
It wasn't bad but not exactly what I was looking for.

Thanks all for the advice and good to see you back, Tabs.

[Shuie]

I bought a ceramic cooker similar to the BGE about a year ago. It really only gets used for low and slow cooking marathons and smoking. I also do the holiday turkey on it to free up the indoor oven. I use it more like an outdoor oven/roaster than a grill.

Here are some things I learned about mine:
Use a MAPP torch to start the coals. It's quick, it's cheaper than the fancy one the BBQ shop sells, it doesn't need extension cords, and you probably already have one in the garage if you work on cars.

Do not get real aggressive when starting the fire when smoking something at a low temp. Start a really small fire and slowly bring the cooker up to temp. These things are designed to retain heat and if you overshoot the temp it can take a long time to get them back down to low temp.

Smoking woods and chunks burn hotter than lump charcoal. Be aware of this as you regulate the temp.

If you are smoking, put the food on and close the lid. Do not open it again until you are done. Opening the lid lets moisture out and air in. The coals flare up and the temp swings all over the place. If you really need to look, hold your breath and shine a flash light down the vent on the top.

For me, the cedar plank/fish thing on the ceramic cooker has not worked out well. Too much moisture. I'd rather do that on a gas grill.

[Shuie]

For back ribs, I start a small fire in the center of the coals, throw a couple of chunks on the sides, and put the deflector plates, drip pan, grates in place. Put the ribs on, close the lid, and slowly bring the cooker up to ~200 using the vents. After 1-2hrs, I open the vents a little and gradually bring the temp up to ~300 for another 2hrs.

Pull the ribs and let them rest at room temp. Do not put the coals out if you are going to use the cooker to sauce the ribs. Go make your sauce or cook something else for an hour, but let the ribs rest. After an hour, get the cooker up to ~350, baste the ribs with the sauce and put them on for ~15 minutes

[billybek]

First round with side ribs turned out pretty good!

I watched the temperature for the first hour and a half didn't open the lid and when I was comfortable leaving it alone, I cut the lawn. After I finished the front, I checked temperature and it had ballooned to 320 from 220. It sure takes a bit to cool these things back down again!

Oh well. Half the fun is experimenting and learning how it works.

[tabs]

I use a Paper Chimney Charcoal Stater, filler up and light, when the Oak Lump Charcoal get red hot dump them in the bottom of the BGE with the Vents wide open , ususally put the Grate on (no smoke chips) and let her heat up to 500* to throughly warm er up. Open the lid, throw on the Meat and damp down the vents. The temp rather quickly drops to 300* and falling, usually settling in at 220* to 250*

I keep the lid closed for about an hour and a half then open to flip the Meat. Closer er up for another hour for Ribs..by then the temp is down to roughly 200* I do dry ribs so I don't need that last 15 or 20 minutes to carmelize the sugar in the sauce.

On the David Klose Drum I will sometime wrap Ribs in foil. With Brisket or Pork Butt I find that you have to wrap and lubricate with a Mop Sauce of some type.

When I Mop sauce it is simple, I use the same spice mixture that I use for my Dry Rub, Apple Juice, Apple Cider Vinegar, Oil and Brown Sugar. You could use Mollasses or Honey if ya like. Bring to a Boil.

After a while ya find ya don't need to do all that fancy geee gaw stuff to turn out prime Q. But it does take a learnin curve, to go through all the crap ya find ya don't need to do.