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Newby - 1st try last night...

Whittsend
Whittsend Posts: 20
edited August 2011 in EggHead Forum

My Big Green Egg report: Success story #1


Ribeyes on the Big Green Egg were awesome last night (sorry, no photos of the food - it was gone too fast... ) -- it was amazing how fast that grill got to temp (Less than 10 minutes from lighting the lump charcoal to steaks on the grill at 750+ degrees -- and steaks were done perfectly in 6 minutes). And after shutting the vents and killing the fire, I took a look at how much charcoal I used... I barely scratched the surface with how much it burned, even with an 800 degree fire. Waaay more efficient with way less ash that those clay and binder-filled briquetes...

Start to finish, the Egg actually was faster than my old gas grill. And I won't even begin to try to compare the taste difference (its just not fair to the gas grill...)

Homemade pizzas on the Egg tonight -- and a pork shoulder slow cooked for 12+ hours is on tap for this weekend.

 

BTW, if anyone has any recommendations for cooking a "country rib" (aka pork butt, but really the shoulder), that would be great.  If not, I'm sure I'll find a recipe very quickly on this forum.

Cheers!  :)

Comments

  • ChokeOnSmoke
    ChokeOnSmoke Posts: 1,942
    Really, nothing easier than cooking a pork shoulder.  I get my grid level to between 225-250 (dome temp 250 or so).  Slather in cheap yellow mustard, apply favorite rub, put it on the egg indirect until the internal reaches 195.
    Wrap in foil, then in towels for 1-4 hours in a cooler depending on when you want to eat.
    By the way, don't open the dome much (if at all) during the cook, test and then trust your thermometers!
    Packerland, Wisconsin

  • Welcome to the world no one else really gets.  Just keep an eye to make sure that temp doesn't creep up on you.  I like to start mine the night before, but the only problem with that for me is that I never wind up going to sleep(too psyched for pulled pork I guess)
  • For your first lo/slo butt cook, you can find a wealth of helpful info in the detailed ElderWard article on nakedwhiz site here:

    http://www.nakedwhiz.com/elder.htm

  • Second food attempt --- We made 4 pizzas on the BGE last night. Other than burning up my gasket, they turned out great! :)

    1.jpg 73.9K
  • Spoon
    Spoon Posts: 328
    edited August 2011
    Hey Whittsend. Congrats on the successful 2nd cook. Thanks for posting a pic. The egg makes even frozen pies taste that much better, and home made pies are otta this world!
    "Pork so tender you can pull it with a spoon." ~Spoon
  • Spoon
    Spoon Posts: 328
    edited August 2011
    Ooops, double post.
    "Pork so tender you can pull it with a spoon." ~Spoon
  • gte1
    gte1 Posts: 379
    Second food attempt --- We made 4 pizzas on the BGE last night. Other than burning up my gasket, they turned out great! :)



    Burnt mine up doing pizza also. I think it might have been the 16" stone deflecting the flames outward in conjunction with not burping.
    George
  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    Whittsend,

    Congratulations !  Start your exercise regime now, because you're going to gain weight with the BGE.  
    =D>
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Egg Juju
    Egg Juju Posts: 658
    Well done... Keep posting those pics
    Large and Small BGE * www.quelfood.com
  • Cinder
    Cinder Posts: 3
    Hi everyone,
    Just got my egg Wednesday......like Newby did ribeye first, amazing!  buried the temp gauge in about 10 minutes!  of course had a little problem with the gasket, but all is well now.  

    I will attempt not to ask stupid questions, but just want to use this thing every day....tonight, home made pizza.  I have read so much about how to do the pizzas, wanted to ask Newby how you did yours?  they were beautiful......

    l love your forum. so much great info here.
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,170
    Hi Whittsend-the pork shoulder-everything above is great info-but for me the one thing I would pass on is the time it will take.  Every pork shoulder/butt etc I do low&slow averages about 2.1hrs/lb to the 195-200*F range with a calibrated 250*F dome temp.  Just be ready and load the lump up into the fire ring so you have plenty of fuel for the cook.
    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.
  • RFB
    RFB Posts: 6
    I have made homemade pizzas many times. My first lesson-make sure you have 2 pizza peels. That way you can prepare one pizza on the peel while using the other peel to take off the pizza that is cooking! If you do not-you waste a lot of time. I found $10 wood pizza peels at Bed Bath and Beyond. Also, using a fork poke into your rolled out pizza dough so it won't puff up while cooking. I also found that using your plate setter with feet up and then placing the grill and then the stone on top if it works best. That way you get airflow and crisper crust.
  • Salty Hogs BBQ
    Salty Hogs BBQ Posts: 171
    edited August 2011
    My preferred pizza set-up method is to put the place setter feet down, then use the 3 green BGE feet that came with your large BGE (space them apart), put pizza stone on top of that (great airflow between the pizza stone and place setter), get Egg stabilized at 500-550, make your pie and put on parchment paper, put on pizza stone, take parchment paper off after 2-3 minutes (should slide under the pizza fairly easy after 2-3 mins), and cook until done.  Perfect every time.
  • CrazyHarry
    CrazyHarry Posts: 112
    Man... I must suck.

    I've made some amazing food on my Egg, but my first steaks were awful.  The steaks were overcooked (I've never cooked food at 800+ degrees before, hehe), and I made the mistake of cooking before the "bad smoke" went away, so they had sort of a nasty flavor.

    Congratulations on the successful first (and second) cooks, guys!!
  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 15,432
    Man... I must suck.

    I've made some amazing food on my Egg, but my first steaks were awful.  The steaks were overcooked (I've never cooked food at 800+ degrees before, hehe)
    I've yet to get a truly rare steak off my Egg, too; it just cooks so much quicker than I'm used to.  
    _____________

    "I mean, I don't just kill guys, I'm notorious for doing in houseplants."  - Maggie, Northern Exposure


  • Second food attempt --- We made 4 pizzas on the BGE last night. Other than burning up my gasket, they turned out great! :)



    Burnt mine up doing pizza also. I think it might have been the 16" stone deflecting the flames outward in conjunction with not burping.
    I will try it with the platesetter legs up next time... But I think you are right - the huge XL stone probably deflects that heat right towards the gasket.  Might consider getting the next size smaller stone and putting it atop the grill for future 'za.

    Dealer came out and replace the gasket with the high temp gasket the same day I called.  Eggcellent service.  :)
  • Spoon
    Spoon Posts: 328
    @Whittsend (funny) I'm glad to here you have a good dealer that took care of you. Let us know how you like the new gasket.
    "Pork so tender you can pull it with a spoon." ~Spoon



  • @Whittsend (funny) I'm glad to here you have a good dealer that took care of you. Let us know how you like the new gasket.
    Rodgers that.

    :)





    (Go Pack!)