my first egg

yellowneck · June 2011

I was looking into smokers. I found the weber smokey mountain cooker and did some research and found that many people own this and have had a lot of success with it. Then I came across the Big Green Egg. My manager at work is walking by while I am looking at smokers online instead of working. He mentions that he has always wanted an egg but was not willing to pay the premium that these go for. By happen chance a co-worker has an egg and its been sitting around for years without being used. I asked him if he was willing to sell it to me and he said yes. I asked him how much, thought it was a fair price and took delivery of it that following weekend.

I liked the feature of the weber in that I could add more coals, wood and/or water for water smoking without having to remove the food that is cooking on top. This is only a minor inconveniece and I am just nit picking.

So far I have smoked ribs, chicken, tuna steaks, and most recently a brisket.

My next victim is going to be a couple wagyu rib eye steaks I saw at a local boutique butcher. I am thinking of using some smoke to cook this but am a little hesitant. Any suggestions?

skihorn · June 2011

Welcome aboard!

What size is it? The reason I ask is you shouldn't be having to add more lump during a cook. If you need a long cook, just fill it to just below where the plate setter sits so that there is just a little space between the bottom of the plate setter and the lump. On my Large I have gone 20 hours and had plenty of leftover lump. On my Medium it did run out at about 16 hours and I just finished the pork butt in the oven. All of these were at about 250 dome temp. When you cook at high temps it will burn much faster but then I can't think of any meat that cooks at high temps for long periods of time. Bottom line you rarely, if ever, have to add lump.

I have never done that kind of steak. I usually use hickory or mesquite for regular ribeyes. You cold try Jack Daniel's Oak chips for a more designer taste. I use that for prime rib.

I couldn't tell from your question if you were asking general smoke question or not. If you meant to be more general here is my guide.

burgers, steaks - hickory or mesquite

prime rib - Jack Daniel chips

ribs or pork butt = hickory and apple combo

chicken/turkey - pecan and apple combo

fish - alder

vegetables - cherry

breads, pizza, dessert - maple

Basically, this is listed as strongest to mildest smoke. However, I like things fairly smokey.If your family doesn't, then drop down to a milder smoke. Cherry is always safe when you are unsure.

FSM-Meatball · June 2011

yellowneck wrote:

I liked the feature of the weber in that I could add more coals, wood and/or water for water smoking without having to remove the food that is cooking on top. This is only a minor inconveniece and I am just nit picking.

Welcome to the club!!

The good news is that the Egg does not need any water, it retains moisture naturally and you also do to need to add lump during a cook. The ceramic retains heat so well that I have gone 14 hours and only used half of what I put in, I could easily go 24 hours and I only have a medium I suspect an XL could burn for days.

I have added smoke when cooking steaks but you have to be careful, if you are using a high temp to sear the wood chips will burn instead of smoking and that leaves a nasty taste in the meat. Lookup the TREX steak method, it works great.

my first egg

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