Anybody start with a small?

Jersey Doug

This whole size business has us going around in circles. After thinking about it for quite a while, we've decided to buy a BGE to replace our rusted-out Weber gas grill. We've settled on where we're going to put it. I'm looking at plans on the BGE and TNW web sites for tables. We even signed up for the Waldorf EGGfest. What we haven't settled on is what size BGE to buy.

Most of the time I cook for just two people and we watch our portion sizes pretty closely. At least nine times out of ten I don't come close to using the capacity of our small 2-burner Weber gas grill or the 13" Smokey Joe I cook on when we are camping. But a couple of times a year we have people over for chicken and ribs and I have both Webers going. Another consideration is that I would like to make pizzas on the BGE too.

The sensible approach is probably to buy a medium BGE. It wouldn't be quite as wasteful of lump as a large when I fired it up to cook half a dozen country style spareribs or four chicken leg quarters. And I've seen photos her of wonderful pizzas baked on a medium. If we had lots of money (and we don't) I'd be tempted to buy a large and a small right off the bat. Which brings me to my question, did anyone here start with a small? It would be the right size for 90% of what I'm doing now, but there would be no room to expand (literally or figuratively).

What to do? What to do?

The Naked Whiz

Well, I always recommend the large. You have already mentioned pizza. You can do a 14" pizza without any trouble on a large. On a medium, I would only do a 12" pizza. Then there is how big a paella pan do you want to be able to use when you make paella? (Ok, I threw that in for fun. I made paella last night on a ceramic cooker, lol) How many burgers or chicken parts if you throw a party? How big a turkey maybe for a big Thanksgiving meal? Also, it seems that slabs of ribs are about the same size as the large. So if you want to to do whole slabs without cutting them up, the large is a good size. That's my take on it....

I'm coming to Waldorf, so I hope to see you carting home a large! :-)

vidalia1

In my opinion even if you do most of your cooks for two people i would still get a large as my first BGE. I am in the same boat you are as the majority of time it is the Mrs. and I. I went with a large first and I am glad I did.

What I never expected would be how much I like showing off the BGE and its capacity for cooking to friends & family. In the 9 months we have had the Lg BGE we average guests at
least twice a month. Probably more than that really.

If I only had a small I could still have the guests but the cooks would be more cumbersome. Yes I did just recently get a small also but again that was more for expanding the cooking repetoire the BGE has.

The bottom line you can't go wrong with any of the BGE's but my vote would be to start large and work your way down...

AZRP

Glad to hear you're coming to Waldorf, we will finally meet. Don't remember if Dale had any porta potties last year, are you bringing your wife? -RP

Chubby

Actually...we started out with a Small.

I had a couple Webers, a Smokey Joe and a 22" Kettle

I had heard great things about the BGE's, but not used one!
I began to lurk around here, and later went to an Eggfest and got a chance to actually cook
on one, and was hooked.

I used the Small for about a year, and then at the Texas EggFest picked up a second,( Large Egg).

The Large and Small combo is ideal for the two of us, though we use the Small about 75% of the time!

My wife is Italian, and we do "pies" on the Small quite often.

I can't imagine why you wouldn't love it!

Evans

PS...The additional capacity and option to cook at different temps,(with the second)Egg is nice when guests come.

The Naked Whiz

Yes, Mrs. Whiz is coming! (Let's not mention the "you know what." I don't think she'd appreciate the number of times she'd have to hear about it. I guess I should never have started it, lol.

Weekend Warrior

Buy a large if you can swing it. There are only 3 in my family, but I would really be hankering for another Egg right now if I had bought a medium or small. Many more after-market accessories available for the large also. And just because you CAN put a lot of lump in the large doesn't mean you have to. Most of my weeknight meals are hamburgers, chicken pieces, pork chops, etc. and you only need to use a very small amount of lump to do those types of quick cooks. Good luck. Mark

fishlessman

the large is the one you want. i dont believe it burns much more than the medium and you get some extra grid space as well as more distance from the coals for certian cooks. im only cooking for 1 or 2 mostly and i like the added space and height that my small doesnt have. i own both sizes, small is a mizer on lump, large is just more practical for pizza, turkey, low and slows, you will want to do all the cooks and the large is easier to do it on.

dhuffjr

I'm thinking T-shirts may be in order.......picture of a portapotty and the caption "Have you seen my phone?" :woohoo:

The Naked Whiz

Just as long as it doesn't mention me or her, lol!

bobbyb

I think most people get a large to start, followed by a small after getting some cooks under their belt. If you start with a small, you will probably add a large after some time. My advice is to start with the large. Either way, the results, in the end, will be the same.
Regards, Bob

Chubby

I can't see how that'd ever get back to you Doug!!

LOL!!!

Maybe Dale can put screening over the bowls...just in case!!

Evans

Pharmeggist

Hi Jersey Doug,
My Mom and Dad have a Medium BGE and they have had it for about three years. They cook mainly for just themselves but they are talking about buying a Large. Don't get me wrong they Love their medium it makes great egged food. However, they have enough people dropping by that they realized they would have been better off to have bought the large egg in the first place. My Bachelor Brother has a medium BGE it does everything he wants it to do. He has no plans of buying another egg. However, I started with a Large and loved it so much I bought a Small to go with it. I have 2 81b botston butts in the large right now. For easter my wife bought me a mini for camping and tailgating. I cooked hot dogs on it while the Large was doing its job. Anyway, if I could just own one egg it would definately be the Large hands down because of its functionability and capacity. Before I got the small I used to cook 3 burgers on it when it was just me and the wife no joke. The mini is my toy
~Pharmeggist
P.S. If money is real tight I would settle for no less than a medium like I said it will handle a job for two real easily. Hope this helps!

porterhouse64

i started with the XL.

I live by myself, but cook for large groups often.

I can see myself with the complete set in a few years. :P

BBQonJ

We have a medium and it is fine for two and perhaps four for steaks, chops, etc. Wish we had the large when doing an overnight or for a crowd. The mediuim just holds a 14-15lb turkey IMHO. Would love to do someting larger at Thanksgiving.

KS Cheryl

I started with a small, and am now waiting for delivery of a large. I have done a lot on my small, bread, pizza, ribs, butt you name it I think I have tried it. I just want that extra space that I can get on a large. The small will still be my main egg to use. If you can afford it go for the large. KS Cheryl

Unknown

Heres my story. Bought a large and got hooked. We then wanted an egg for our weekend place and decided on the small, as it is so much more portable. We planned to leave it in the house when we were not there. The first cook was 3 slabs of full size spare ribs...that cook did not go too well, spacewise. Even when we cut the slabs in half and put them in a vertical rib rack, it was just too much food under the dome. That cook would have been easy on the LBGE. So we went out and bought another large to go with the small. As we now have both out there, we find we use the small 75% ot the time. It's that other 25% that will kick your teeth in. Like you, I usually just cook for two, and when its just a few chicken pieces or a couple steaks, the small is fine. But, just like others have stated, having the extra room is a very good thing many times, and almost a necessity on some dishes.
And, oh yeah, people WILL find their way over to your place when you are cooking.

Michael B

I started with a medium and very soon had a bad case of buyer’s remorse. Mothership offered me a great deal to trade up for a large, and I jumped at it. That one large terracotta Egg served my family for 19 years. There were many times I thought that a small Egg would be really nice to have, as firing up the large for a couple burgers seemed such a waste. OTOH, the rest of the time I had the space I needed.

If you start with a large:
- A lot of the time you are going to want for a small, but you’ll be able to do all the cooks you want.
- You can always cook tomorrow’s lunch along with tonight’s supper.

If you start with a small:
- There will be times you will want to do a cook, but can not.
- Turkey cooked on the kitchen oven is almost as good.

Jersey Doug

Thank you all for your thoughts and advice. We're pretty much convinced now that we should buy a large and see where we go from there. We've left it too late to buy one at Waldorf, so we'll get some prices locally and see if we can swing it. The next issue will be building a table, but that's a topic for another thread.

Pork N Stein

Here's a good place to start for table ideas:

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/TableGallery/tables.htm

Best of luck and happy Eggin'