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First Time Egg Owner!

the_alchemist83
the_alchemist83 Posts: 84
edited July 2012 in EggHead Forum
Hey Guys, my name is Tyler and I've been lurking for a little while (took about a week to get approved).  I live in Minneapolis, MN & I am now the proud owner of a new large size Big Green Egg (was delivered last Friday).  I've already used it 5x making pulled pork bbq, ribs, beer can chicken, turkey burgers and what turned out to be calzones tonight.  I look forward to sharing & learning in my time here!

Comments

  • ChokeOnSmoke
    ChokeOnSmoke Posts: 1,942
    Welcome and enjoy the learning process.
    Packerland, Wisconsin

  • LizzieSamps
    LizzieSamps Posts: 894
    Pics pics we want pics. Welcome
    To the obsession!!
  • Welcome. Was just talking with someone else about this earlier today. This is the biggest influx of newbs since I've been here for sure. I actually have only been on here 5-6 months but seems like 4-5 people a day are joining up. I'm assuming the combo of father's day, summer holidays, and summer in general is moving some eggs at retail out there!

    Great to have all of you and let us know if we can help
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • the_alchemist83
    the_alchemist83 Posts: 84
    edited July 2012
    Pics pics we want pics. Welcome
    To the obsession!!
    Well, it just so happens I have some pictures!  See below!
    My first cook wasn't exactly photo worthy, but still tasty (I had some trouble with temperature stuff)

    These were the ribs from my second cook:  Braised, with plate setter legs up, for 2 hours at 300 F.
    image


    This was the beer can chicken: 1 hr 10 min at 350 F, plate setter legs up w/ grate, rosemary potatoes are in the small foil pan
    image

    These were homemade turkey burgers, done at 425 F, direct heat for about 6 min each side
    image


    Finally, this was supposed to be a pizza but I had some trouble with the dough sticking to my pizza peel (a metal one) so it turned into a calzone.  600 F, for about 10 minutes with the plate setter legs down with the baking stone on top of the ps.  The egg is still coming down in temp.
    image


  • mrjwhit
    mrjwhit Posts: 83
    The pics didn't show up, but your descriptions were good. Did you put the pizza stone ON the PS on the PS on the stone? 
    Large BGE as of Father's day '12 http://www.jwhit.com
  • the_alchemist83
    the_alchemist83 Posts: 84
    edited July 2012
    The pics didn't show up, but your descriptions were good. Did you put the pizza stone ON the PS on the PS on the stone? 
    Fixed them now, I'm used to just inserting the [IMG] tag.  Yep, had the stone on the plate setter.  Also did about 15 minutes of pre-heating at 600.  My problem was more with the dough being too sticky on the metal pizza peel despite being heavily floured.  After some further discussion, I think my dough might have been too hydrated, but I'm not totally sure.  I started with a poolish and then let that rise overnight and then added water, my "00" flour & sea salt.  Taste was good, but the results weren't quite what my wife & I were hoping.  Additionally, I had a hard time getting the egg to stay at 600 F after the first "pizza" despite the bottom sash being fully open and the top being fully open as well.  I think maybe the lump started to decrease after a while and it was a little difficult to maintain 600, I was staying pretty close to 585-590 throughout the rest of the cook.  I've been keeping detailed notes on each cook (a lab notebook if you will, as I am a chemist by training).  I figure, hard to make changes if you don't remember what you did the first time!
  • jleon401
    jleon401 Posts: 33
    Welcome to the world of Egging!!! I too am new to Egging.
    LBGE, Smoke Hollow 4-in-1, Charbroil Big Easy, and Weber Smokey Joe.
  • Use your Egg feet between the PS and the stone. You need some air circulation between the two. (if you didn't get feet just crumple up some tin foil and use as spacers)

    Welcome! I live in Minneapolis (Minnetonka) too. It is always a lot of fun to learn new things from others, so ask away on your questions!
    2 Large Eggs and no chickens. How's that work? :)
  • the_alchemist83
    the_alchemist83 Posts: 84
    edited July 2012
    Use your Egg feet between the PS and the stone. You need some air circulation between the two. (if you didn't get feet just crumple up some tin foil and use as spacers)

    Welcome! I live in Minneapolis (Minnetonka) too. It is always a lot of fun to learn new things from others, so ask away on your questions!
    Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely try that next time.  This was the first time attempting pizza and I was just going with what the big green cookbook said.  That would definitely make sense though.  My wife and I live in St. Louis Park, definitely looking forward to picking up more tips & info!  Thanks again!
  • Use your Egg feet between the PS and the stone. You need some air circulation between the two. (if you didn't get feet just crumple up some tin foil and use as spacers)

    Welcome! I live in Minneapolis (Minnetonka) too. It is always a lot of fun to learn new things from others, so ask away on your questions!
    Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely try that next time.  This was the first time attempting pizza and I was just going with what the big green cookbook said.  That would definitely make sense though.



    Lose that cookbook and dig in here. That book has some dubious advice. We'll steer you right
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • Use your Egg feet between the PS and the stone. You need some air circulation between the two. (if you didn't get feet just crumple up some tin foil and use as spacers)

    Welcome! I live in Minneapolis (Minnetonka) too. It is always a lot of fun to learn new things from others, so ask away on your questions!
    Thanks for the tip, I'll definitely try that next time.  This was the first time attempting pizza and I was just going with what the big green cookbook said.  That would definitely make sense though.



    Lose that cookbook and dig in here. That book has some dubious advice. We'll steer you right
    That's what I'm starting to see!  
  • Newville
    Newville Posts: 84
    Enjoy the journey Alchemist!
  • I ditched the metal pizza peel and use wood with generous sprinkle of corn meal and it works like a charm. Welcome!!
  • ncbbq
    ncbbq Posts: 257
    Looks like you are well on your way. Way to adapt on the pizza. Nothing like turning a potential failure into a success. I like calzones, ha ha. The BGE only knows how to win.

    There are definitely some knowledgeable eggheads on here and they have helped me immensely with the learning curve. I felt like a pro from day one thanks to these guys since I was reading this forum for about 2 weeks before I decided to take the plunge. You are definitely in good hands on this forum. Welcome to the club.
  • 10Driver
    10Driver Posts: 88
    Don't ditch the metal peel. Get a wood one for prepping and inserting pizza and use the metal one for removing. That way you can be working on your next pizza while one is cooking and then you are ready to put the next one on as soon as one comes off. You sacrifice some reheating of the stone that way, but I find it doesn't affect the cook too much. The whole egg starts to cool for me after a few pies anyway.
  • Baysidebob
    Baysidebob Posts: 489
    Go for spatchcocked chicken!  Remove the breastbone as well as the back bone.  Can't beat that for economy and convenience. Then go to tri-tip.  Once you have two reliable winners start experiminting.
    My actuary says I'm dead.
  • Used my egg for the first time in a week (I know, it feels wrong that I went that long without using it!).  In my defense I was waiting for my Dizzy Pig stuff to arrive.  It's here and we started the weekend with chicken wings, tomorrow will be pork shoulder & Sunday I'm going to do my first brisket.  Anyways, here are the results of the wings.  I covered the majority of them with Swamp Venom, some with Dizzy Dust & some with Jamaican Firewalk.  Grilled with direct heat at 350 F for 30 minutes on the first side & 20 minutes on the other side.

    Here are the seasonings:
    image

    Wings seasoned:
    image

    At the flip:
    image

    At the end:

    image

    Finally, a couple coated in Franks Red Hot Wing Sauce:
    image


    The wings were definitely a hit.  The swamp venom, coated in the Franks Red Hot Wing Sauce seemed to be the winners of the evening so we will be using that from now on.  Here is a preview for tomorrow, seasoned the pork shoulder in dizzy dust.  Hoping it won't dry it by seasoning so early.

    image









  • Here is the final result of my pork shoulder today.  3 hours at 300 F w/ the PS legs down.  Still having some trouble really dialing in a temperature but the longer pre-heat period really helps (45ish min).

    Dizzy dust w/ 1/4 cup red wine vinegar (not sure it really added anything, probably won't use it next time)

    image