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I JUST BOUGHT MY FIRST BIG GREEN EGG

Harleydog77
Harleydog77 Posts: 217
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I just purchased my first big green egg!!! I am super excited to use it. I am building an oak cart for it right now. Does anyone have any suggestions for my first time using the grill?

Comments

  • B & C
    B & C Posts: 217
    Spatchcock chicken, easy & quick. Tastes great, best chicken I've ever had. Light your egg get it stable at 350F, wait until the smoke clears (until the bad smoke is gone), Stable egg without bad smoke takes about 30 minutes. Buy a whole chicken, remove the backbone of the chicken, and pull open the round chicken at the backbone until it flattens out. Lay the flattened chicken on the grill direct heat (without a platesetter / heat barrier) bone side down. Cook for 1 - 1.25 hour.
    We love this cook and it is so easy, especially for the first timer.
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    Harleydog77,

    Congratulations, you will never look back. For the first cook, I would keep it simple, spatchcock chicken, steaks or chops. You will be able to tell the differrence with those. Light the egg early and fool around with the controls until you get used to it. Remember, the egg will get hot fast and cool down slow.

    STeve

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Break it in before you run it up to really high temps.

    Probably 8-10 cooks below 500 degrees will work.

    The temp will get away from you when you start the fire, so keep a close watch on it. Like stated above, it is MUCH harder to bring the temp down than push it up.

    Have fun - you'll never want another type of grill. :woohoo:
  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    Get any accessories with your new Egg? A platesetter and a grill extender will make lots of cooks much easier.

    Before your first cook, you might like to just play around with temperature control. Rule of thumb is the bottom vent is for 10's of degreesd, the daisy wheel, 1's of degrees. Both wide open, and the thermometer will pass 750. All but shut, and you will run around 200.

    Pork steaks, or a similar cut of meat about 1/2" thick are very easy first cooks. They can be done direct, without grill extender or other accesory. They cook nicely at any temp from 300 to 400.
  • I got the plate setter. Other than that no accessories. I do however plan on getting the cast iron grate for the grill (unless the grate that came with the grill really impresses me). I am a big fan of cooking on cast iron. I own a dutch oven and lots of other cast iron cookware that could be used in the egg.
  • vidalia1
    vidalia1 Posts: 7,092
    Welcome and I love the fact that you said "I just bought my first Big Green Egg" because like a lot of us here there is a chance you will buy another Egg. Maybe a small for camping or a mini for tailgating... B)
  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    The platesetter is probably the number 1 most used accessory. Myself, I find the grill extender more useful, with a drip pan on the lower grate. Having the cooking surface up at the lip level is handy. The extra distance from the coals, even cooking direct, makes it easier to avoid charring food.

    I bought a cast iron DO to Egg with. Instead of a cast iron griddle, I got a soap stone griddle. I'm sure you'll find a whole bunch of things to use with your Egg.
  • DryFly
    DryFly Posts: 351
    Check out the Ceramic Grill Store before you go crazy buying accessories. CeramicGrillStore.com. Stuff designed for the Egg by a fellow Egghead. Good luck. You will become equally obsessed as we all are.
  • I second (or third, whatever the count is) the idea of spatchcock chicken. B&C's directions are spot on, although you might want to add your favorite BBQ rub or other seasoning to the skin when putting the bird on the grill. Another nice touch is to rub the bird with olive oil, as it will help the skin develop attractive color and crispiness.

    If the term "spatchcock" is new to you, here's a video showing how it's done. The video shows the keel bone being removed, but you don't even really need to do that. Just use shears to cut out the backbone, and flatten the bird.

    Here's a picture of the results:

    IMG_5074.jpg

    In the Egg world we usually cook not to time but to internal temperature, so you might want to use a thermometer to verify doneness, or verify doneness by whatever method you prefer for oven-roasted chicken.
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
    Congratulations and welcome to the forum.

    Suggestions... Get a good thermometer, most here will recomend a Thermoworks Thermopen (no substitutes or scrimping on this). You will find a remote display dual probe thermometer. The Maverick ET-73 is a great product.

    Learn to cook to temperature using time as a guide. Your cooks will be much better.

    If you have questions, ask.

    Glad you are aboard, GG
  • I would make something simple and not to costly. There is a bit of a learn curve with these grills. Plus it will allow you compare the food to your old grill.

    Enjoy
  • reelgem
    reelgem Posts: 4,256
    Congratulaions and welcome to the family. Believe it or not my first cook was a brisket. I only had a Maverick. I didn't have a guru or stoker. To me it was very easy and it came out fantastic. I know others will disagree with this but it worked for me. A long low and slow cook is also a good way to break in your gasket.
  • Wow! Thanks a lot everyone for all of the information. This is truly a great forum. Everyone is so helpful.
  • batt
    batt Posts: 40
    My first cook was Baby Back Ribs. I had been cooking ribs on a crappy grill. The BGE ribs even on my first cook were way better. Themopen is a good investment, most of us cook by temp and not by time. No guess work as to when the meat is done. This is more important when dealing with chicken.

    You probably could use a grid lifter and a ash tool as well.
  • Thanks for the advice. As for the grid lifter and ash tool. I'm going to make my own as I am a welder/fabricator by trade. Who knows maybe I will make an improvement and have something other eggheads are interested in. I put my egg together today, but I'm still waiting for the lumber that I ordered so that I can build my cart. I really want to get this bad boy fired up but I am trying to wait until I get my cart so that I don't have to transport a used dirty egg. I think I may do some pork tenderloins for my first cook.
  • Just sit the d### thing on some pavement and start egging. :laugh: :laugh: I waited 3 weeks while I was having my outdoor kitchen built and thanks to this forum I just set it up on a safe spot on my back steps and did some chicken and haven't looked back since. Even had company over while they were in there temporary home.

    DSC01363.jpg
  • Wow! Awesome outdoor kitchen. I am sooooo excited to use this thing. I have seriously been on this site for like 3 hours today. And I'm not done yet. I really want to start egging right now. I will probably bring it home and use it on Saturday night. I have a wedding to go to tomorrow so I can't really use it tomorrow. I can't wait to put up some pictures.
  • Beli
    Beli Posts: 10,751
    Welcome to the club buddy..... many great moments are ahead of you... ;)
  • BBQMaven
    BBQMaven Posts: 1,041
    Harleydog77
    Enjoy, don't take it too seriously... have fun with friends and family, there is nothing like learning on the EGG, every cooks is an adventure! Send pics
    Kent Madison MS