Green Egg barbecue grill??

[BLACKJACK]

Anybody on here have the Green Egg type of barbecue grill? How do you like it? Is it worth the money? I've seen some articles that rave about them, so when the local appliance store ran an ad that said they had them, I went and checked it out. It looks nice but very spendy!!!

Let me know what you think of yours. Can you use it with regular barbecue briquets?

[Lisa Almquist]

Green Egg Informational Post Here's a link about this grill. Hope it helps. An FMer named thirdeye is a wiz at this grill so I'm sure he'll chime in too.

[BLACKJACK]

Thanks!!! I did a search here on 'Green Egg' and didn't find anything. Lousy search engine...

[Jim Almquist]

Search by poster and look for thirdeye. He cooks some great stuff on his and has made it a must for my wish/birthday/christmas list.

[thirdeye]

Thanks for the kind words everyone.

Blackjack,

I have a large and small Big Green Eggs and have cooked on them for over 6 years. I love them, they are expensive, but worth every penny. Like all ceramic cookers, they burn natural lump charcoal because is has no fillers and leaves less ash behind. Lump also does not require a 100% ash-over before cooking like briquettes do, so for long cooks, (and you can get 18 or 20 hour burn times when cooking at 250*) you start the charcoal in one or two spots only. In an hour, the Egg is up to temp and the fire slowly spreads through the fuel during the rest of the cook.

In a nutshell, an Egg can do high temp grilling (500*-700*) of steaks. Medium temp cooking for things like chicken or chops, and lo-n-slo barbecuing for ribs, briskets and pork shoulders. You can also smoke things like turkeys, salmon, cheese etc. It is also an oven for making bread and pizzas. Pizza will take on a "brick oven" type of flavor. You can also cook in a Dutch oven or any other oven proof pan.

The grilling is done directly over the coals, the lo cooks and baking use a ceramic heat shield called a plate setter which sits between the coals and the cooking grate. There are several other accessories for different grill heights and double layer grills too.

The thing I like the best is that Eggs are truly a year-round cooker. I will use mine all winter long. I allow more time for the cooker to come up to temp, but once it's there it is rock solid.

The downside is these things are heavy and to some degree fragile. The internal components can and do crack on occasion, but they are covered by a 100% guarantee to the original owner as long as it is purchased from a dealer (not over the net)

Whew, I said a mouthful..... If you have more questions, just ask. I can share a lot of recipes and have a ton of cooking pictures too, both to post here and also on a personal web page devoted to outdoor cooking.

Just to be fair, there are a couple of other brands of ceramic cookers out there. One even makes an oval shape which has more square inches of cooking space. Other brands come in colors other than green.

[Down to Earth]

Blackjack,

I am still in the same position as you as I haven't bought my grill since inquiring back in January in the post Lisa linked you to. Though I haven't bought yet, I am definately going with a ceramic cooker. Thirdeye mentioned the oval brands and with that said, you should really check out the Primo brand. WHen I do buy, the Primo will most likely be the one I go with.

Andy

[BLACKJACK]

Thanks for the response Thirdeye!!!!

A couple of ?????

1) When you are done cooking, is it tight enough to 'choke out' and save your leftover charcoal?

2) How hard is it to get and maintain a constant temperature like 250?

3) Are yours in the 'steel cradle' that they sell or in the wooden stand? Which works best for you?

4) Do you leave yours outside all year or do you pull it in and out after every use?

[Craig Plummer]

5) How do you locate a dealer?

[Down to Earth]

You can go to either of their websites and use a dealer search option. Primo has multiple dealers in and out of the Twin Cities area. Many of them are Pool & Spa dealers. Big Green Eggs I believe are now available at ACE Hardware stores I checked Woodbury for you and BGE can be found at Warners Stellian Appliance Co according to their HSOforum.

[Down to Earth]

 Originally Posted By: BLACKJACK

Thanks for the response Thirdeye!!!!

2) How hard is it to get and maintain a constant temperature like 250?

Blackjack,

Thirdeye will be able to give you first hand experience, but one of the things that has drawn me to the ceremic grills is their ability to hold a constant temperature. I've heard that there is a bit of a learning curve with the venting, but once you have that down you can pretty much repeat on a consistent basis.

andy

[BLACKJACK]

 Originally Posted By: Down to Earth

You can go to either of their websites and use a dealer search option. Primo has multiple dealers in and out of the Twin Cities area. Many of them are Pool & Spa dealers. Big Green Eggs I believe are now available at ACE Hardware stores I checked Woodbury for you and BGE can be found at Warners Stellian Appliance Co according to their HSOforum.

Down to earth, why are you sold on the Primo brand? What advantage does it have over the BGE?

Jeez, all this talk and with summer right around the corner, this is really giving me the lust for a new grill!!!! Might have to forego some of my other planned purchases!! Always something bigger and better to get!

[chaffmj]

Gertens sells the green egg. Has anybody looked at Smith and Wesson grills? They use wood pellets and you cook with indirect heat. I was curious if anybody has one of these and what you thought of them. They looked real good for smoking but a little spendy compared to my $80 weber.

[Down to Earth]

Blackjack,

I can't really lay a finger on it. We have dealers for both down here in Rochester, and after looking at both, I felt more swayed towards the Primo. I do like the layout of it a bit better and the firebox divider that is used for indirect cooking. I think they are both really good quality ceramic grills.

Andy

[Down to Earth]

 Originally Posted By: chaffmj

Gertens sells the green egg. Has anybody looked at Smith and Wesson grills? They use wood pellets and you cook with indirect heat. I was curious if anybody has one of these and what you thought of them. They looked real good for smoking but a little spendy compared to my $80 weber.

The Smith & Wesson's are a line put out by Traeger. Our butcher shop in Rochester carries them and they are nice grills. A lot of versatility with them. If I wouldn't have gone ceramic, I probably would have gone with a Traeger.

[thirdeye]

 Originally Posted By: BLACKJACK

Thanks for the response Thirdeye!!!!

A couple of ?????

1) When you are done cooking, is it tight enough to 'choke out' and save your leftover charcoal?

2) How hard is it to get and maintain a constant temperature like 250?

3) Are yours in the 'steel cradle' that they sell or in the wooden stand? Which works best for you?

4) Do you leave yours outside all year or do you pull it in and out after every use?

Blackjack,

1. Yes, the seal is tight enough to snuff out the coals. All you do later is shake off the ash and you can re-light them or add fresh lump to them.

2. Once the temp settles in, the cooker is actually resistant to spikes. It takes about 15 minutes to notice a change from a vent adjustment. After a few cooks, it is easy to maintain your target temp. (there are also some electronic temperature controlled fans that insure constant temps, like for all-night cooks)

3/4. I have the "nest", and mine stay outside all year round.

 Originally Posted By: Down to Earth

Blackjack,

I can't really lay a finger on it. We have dealers for both down here in Rochester, and after looking at both, I felt more swayed towards the Primo. I do like the layout of it a bit better and the firebox divider that is used for indirect cooking. I think they are both really good quality ceramic grills.

Andy

Yes, take a look at both and decide what is best for you. I'm active on the member forums for both brands, mostly to learn the techniques folks use for cooking, but there is also plenty of info for someone considering a new purchase.

[LABS4ME]

Thirdeye...

looks like the kids can really say they walked to school, up hill, in knee deep snow!!! hehehe

Good Luck!

Ken

[BLACKJACK]

One more question: They both highly recommend the lump charcoal. Where can you get that charcoal, besides the store where you buy your grill?? How does it compare in cost to regular charcoal?

I'm always a little cynical when someone is selling a product and then the only place to buy supplies is also thru them....

[thirdeye]

Lump, "hardwood" or "natural" charcoal is more popular than you think. WalMart carries Royal Oak lump for about $6 a bag. (Royal Oak is the same company that makes the BGE charcoal) Many big box home improvement stores carry at least one brand of it too. Safeway stores carry Lazarri brand mesquite lump (I really like it) and it runs around $9 for a 15 pound bag. A smaller market, I think in the Kroger chain, carries Best of the West and one other brand of lump.

It is possible to order and have it shipped to you, but that really drives up the price.

It is a good idea to buy 6 or 8 bags toward the end of the summer to get you through the winter. Sometimes I get it on close-out prices which is really a deal.

[BLACKJACK]

thirdeye, I guess I misunderstood what lump charcoal was. I thought it was an actual chunk of coal, not the fabricated charcoal briquettes. I've seen those bags of hardwood chunks at Menards but have shied away from them thinking that they'd burn a lot faster than charcoal.

I also try to stock up on sale briquettes in the fall, the prices have really went up. Now what they've done is instead of selling in the standard 20 pound bags, they sell 18 pounders, 2-15 pounders, 2-22 pounders, etc to throw you off.

[thirdeye]

 Originally Posted By: BLACKJACK

thirdeye, I guess I misunderstood what lump charcoal was. I thought it was an actual chunk of coal, not the fabricated charcoal briquettes. I've seen those bags of hardwood chunks at Menards but have shied away from them thinking that they'd burn a lot faster than charcoal.

I also try to stock up on sale briquettes in the fall, the prices have really went up. Now what they've done is instead of selling in the standard 20 pound bags, they sell 18 pounders, 2-15 pounders, 2-22 pounders, etc to throw you off.

It's not fabricated briquettes .....And you might have it confused with bags of wood used for flavor when cooking. Lump is just pieces of wood that have been turned into charcoal. Here is a picture of Royal Oak in the firebox of my BGE. It is hand sized and smaller pieces. The smaller splits of wood are the amount I use for flavor. I think these are apple splits.

Lazzari has more serious pieces, some so large I smack them with a welders hammer to break them. Here is some in a charcoal basket from my drum cooker. You can still see the bark on some of the pieces and easily pick out limbs. This is mesquite lump.

There is one brand called Cowboy. I is all hardwood, but made from mill scraps. It is not uncommon to recognize trim patterns among the pieces. Because of the size and the density (I think it has been kiln dried somewhat) it burns faster than other brands.

[ozzie]

The BGE is amazing...I have a freind that invites us over for cook outs and he has the BGE and I am impressed.....he cooked some pulled pork last year that he started at 8am and was done at 8pm slow cooking all day...phenomanol(sp)!!! If you love to grill and do different tech. this is a must!!

[Down to Earth]

Thirdeye,

Just letting you know I'm ordering my Primo on Monday. Was going to get it today, but they were out of stock. I've also joined the Primo forum under the screen name Ironman. Lots of good things on there and will be a good resource I think for many of my questions. Saw some of your posts and found your HSOforum off it as well.

Thanks for all your help during my purchase process.

Andy

[IFallsRon]

A former coworker didn't have the Egg but preferred the charcoal. He said it gave better, more consistent heat and better taste than Kingsford.