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Big Green Egg Newbie!

PIZZADUDE
PIZZADUDE Posts: 1
edited July 2012 in EggHead Forum
Hello from east Texas!  My wife got me a large BGE for my birthday and have been giving it some test runs.  Most have been great but a few not so much.  I am assuming there is a learning curve with the egg.  I tried some filets last night and I noticed that one area was very hot so some of the steaks seared much faster than the others.  Should I light the lump in several different areas when cooking steaks?

Comments

  • booksw
    booksw Posts: 470
    Welcome pizzadude!  All your answers will be answered here (by people with a lot more experience than me).  Naked Whiz has a lot on his site about lighting lump.   SOme people light in several different places. I made amazing steak a few days ago and I just lit the middle but I let the lump get good and flamey before closing the egg and then I let the egg get up to 700 degrees before searing the steak...  Check out the TRex method on the Naked Whiz's site.  http://www.nakedwhiz.com/trexsteak.htm/  Enjoy the journey!!
    Charleston, SC

    L/MiniMax Eggs
  • michigan_jason
    michigan_jason Posts: 1,346
    If you are going to sear, it is a good idea to light in multiple places to get an even fire. Cast Iron grates also help distribute heat.



    "Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference between obstacle and opportunity, and are able to turn both to their advantage."

  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,162
    edited July 2012

    Welcome and congrats to you for a great wife who got you a fantastic present.  As you head down this BGE journey (and you will never get to the finish-line) should you have any questions, ask away.  There are many here who will help.  What follows are a few things I have learned from the "school of hard knocks" that should help you avoid those lessons:

    Misc info-on indirect cooks (platesetter in) your dome temp will initially read around 20-40*F hotter than the temp at the cooking grid-gaps narrows the longer the dome is shut.  If not specified, cooking  temperatures reference the dome temp.  Check the calibration of your dome thermo before you start.  Always wait til the smoke is burning "clear" before putting your food on..(if smoke smells good then all is well, if not-wait)

    No need to worry about time to get to the low&slow cook temp-a few minutes delay on the many hour cook is not a deal-breaker.  Key is to not grossly overshoot your target temp-if you leave the dome open to initially get a good fire going-set the lower vent and DMFT to about where you expect them to be when steady-state at the time you shut the dome. Then adjust as necessary-and don't sweat "dead-on" temps for the low&slow cooks. 270*F+/- 30* is close enough.  Just get the BGE stable and then let it do the work. 


    A couple of things-BGE fire is air flow controlled (assuming you have enough lump and got it going).  So, temperature control (aka fire volume) is a function of the amount of air flow through the bottom and out the top.  You can control by top or bottom vent or combinations of each (preferred for low temp cooks).  With any BGE (I have a LBGE) the trick is to catch the temperature rise on the way up to the desired end-point.  You have a lot of ceramic mass and if it gets heated above the target temperature it takes a while to cool down.
    So, with that-get a good mass of lump burning and then shut the dome and set your vents for the approximate final desired temp.  Minor adjustments as you go.  And remember, the feedback indicator to any adjustments is your dome thermo-and that will take a while.  So, patience is the name of the game at the low & slow temps.  Read all you really need to know here-<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
    Best basic info site going- http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramic.htm 
     
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • ChokeOnSmoke
    ChokeOnSmoke Posts: 1,942
    I light with an electric starter and gently stir the coals after I pull it out for an even distribution of heat.  I do it this same way whether I'm doing a low & slow or high heat.  My goal on every cook it to have even heat across the grid.
    Packerland, Wisconsin

  • LizzieSamps
    LizzieSamps Posts: 894
    Congrats, and welcome to the club!  My advice is to use the search function, it works Ok.  If i doubt, ask away!  I have been helped so much by people on the board! 
  • BYS1981
    BYS1981 Posts: 2,533
    edited July 2012
    Congrats, and welcome to the club!  My advice is to use the search function, it works Ok.  If i doubt, ask away!  I have been helped so much by people on the board! 
    Search is your friend, and as you said do not be afraid to post questions. We all started where you did, lol I have had my egg for 3 months.
  • Jai-Bo
    Jai-Bo Posts: 584
    Your wife is a good woman!!!   Best gift she could have given ya, except a child of course......   Cooking takes a bit of trial and error.  Your biggest thing to learn is the temps you cook and where your vents should be open/closed to achieve this.  I usually electric light the center of my coal stir a bit.  Just make sure you understand YOU WILL LOOSE arm/hand/finger hair at some point while cooking on your egg!!!!   Welcome to the easy life!
    Hunting-Fishing-Cookin' on my EGG! Nothing else compares!
  • Newville
    Newville Posts: 84
    Welcome PizzaDude! Enjoy the journey
  • JanH
    JanH Posts: 1
    'nother Newbie here.  I put mine together on the 4th, and fired it up today for lunch.  I had two large chicken breasts (much thicker than I'm happy with), some chorizo sausages, and baby zucchini.   Put some dry rub on the chicken and started it first, tossed the sausages on, and then the zucs sliced thin in a small pan with butter and some herb mix.   Oh ... and maple chips.  

    At an hour, the  chicken looked just like a cooking magazine cover, sausages were this gorgeous smoky reddish brown color, and the zucs looked like ... well, zucchini slices in butter & stuff.  Took a knife to see if the chicken was done thru, and juice was all over, and YES!!!!  smoked to perfection.   I brought everything in, and my husband went to town.  

    Chicken was juicy & smokey, and the rub gave it this really cool flavor.  The sausage was snappy & smokey.  Zucchini?  Actually was delicious!  Yes, it was still a bit firm, but flavorful and a nice touch of smoke with the buttery goodness.  Which I had pulled out the left over cornbread from the freezer ....

    Tomorrow ... red snapper, more sausage, and try some fennel bulb on the smoker.   It was a lot easier than I had expected, will be far more forgiving than I had hoped.    Anyone try clams?

  • Aviator
    Aviator Posts: 1,757

    Hi there, welcome. Many of us here are new recruits since the 4th this year.

    Have cooked a bunch of stuff already and am just now starting up on second time cooks due to family demand. :)

    ______________________________________________ 

    Large and Small BGE, Blackstone 36 and a baby black Kub.

    Chattanooga, TN.

     

  • Thanks for the help everyone!