Newbie needs recs on how to start

Larrymac · January 21

Always had a gas grill. Life was always hectic --even on weekends it seems--and I thought gas was faster. So I never learned really how to grill on even charcoal. Been retired for over a year and finally saved the dinero to get a BGE large.
So how would you recommend I progress?What should I start with ?
And then what next?
How do you know when you are ready for a long slow fire?

Brownie · January 21

Start with a food that you are comfy making, there is definitely a learning curve for temp control but it is easy to pick up. Long slow fire is not a big deal once you find your rhythm. Some folks find it harder to control higher temp cooks.

Ask lots of questions when you need to. The people here are great! Oh and welcome aboard!

BakerMan · January 21

Start with inexpensive meats like chicken and burgers until you master heat control. Plenty of great info here on the forum to help you with any kind of cook. Once you get the charcoal lit you need to wait 15-20 minutes until the smoke is burning clean and smells good before putting the meat on.

Here is a post I wrote a while back on temperature control to get you started.

http://eggheadforum.com/discussion/comment/1145428#Comment_1145428

Good luck and have fun. Share your cooks.

Larrymac · January 21

Thanks for the info guys.
Especially Bakerman-- the temp control link is invaluable. Getting it to high temps for steaks sounds scary . Definitely will have to graduate there cautiously.

Beeks · January 21

I am also a new Egger. We started with thick hamburgers cooked at 525 degrees let them cook 6 minutes on each side and they were wonderful. Second experiment was with pork baby ribs cooking at 300-325 degrees for a total of almost 4 hours. Got the recipe from you tube and I would recommend watching some of the videos of the veterans . They really helped me alot.

Make all of your friends Green with Envy!!

Good Luck !!

ChokeOnSmoke · January 21

Some tips that should help.

1.) Get a decent instant read thermometer. More important to pull the meat at the right temp than to worry about grill temperature.

2.) Wait until the smoke is coming out of the top "clear". Also, give the smoke a smell. If it's clear and it smells good, the food will taste good.

3.) Make sure you follow tip #1.

henapple · January 21

Welcome. I did a whole lot of searching this site for all kinds of info. Try several ways and decide what's best for you. Share victories and failures and lots of pics. Buy bigger pants. Have fun.

Dave in Florida · January 21

You can research just about any meat on here and get several methods. Just experiment and have fun.

http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/Downloads_files/SmokingFlavorChart.pdf

Chubbs · January 21

My suggestion is to light a fire and play with the vents for a while to get used to what settings get you what temperature.

Once comfortable, start out with chicken or burgers as other have suggested. When cooking on an egg an instant read thermometer is the ticket. Most here use Thermopen from Thermoworks. When you open a hot egg to check temp you want a fast one so you dont lose heat and burn your hand holding it into meat for 20 seconds until you get an accurate reading.

Start saving up money now for eggsessories. In the meantime, go to Lowes and pickup some firebricks. Set them on the inside right on the fire ring. This will allow you to put your grate ont op and get the cooking surface at or near the felt line. This allows easy access to food and the higher in the dome you get the better the results for things like chicken. In a few months you will be searching for some accessories.

Take picutres of your cooks and ask questions. A lot of experience on here. Oh, and your gasket will eventually fail so dont freak out when that happens. Good luck and welcomes.

Larrymac · January 21

Chubbs said:

My suggestion is to light a fire and play with the vents for a while to get used to what settings get you what temperature.

Once comfortable, start out with chicken or burgers as other have suggested. When cooking on an egg an instant read thermometer is the ticket. Most here use Thermopen from Thermoworks. When you open a hot egg to check temp you want a fast one so you dont lose heat and burn your hand holding it into meat for 20 seconds until you get an accurate reading.

Start saving up money now for eggsessories. In the meantime, go to Lowes and pickup some firebricks. Set them on the inside right on the fire ring. This will allow you to put your grate ont op and get the cooking surface at or near the felt line. This allows easy access to food and the higher in the dome you get the better the results for things like chicken. In a few months you will be searching for some accessories.

Take picutres of your cooks and ask questions. A lot of experience on here. Oh, and your gasket will eventually fail so dont freak out when that happens. Good luck and welcomes.

. Firebrick? Are you talking about a regular red clay type brick? Or is there such thing as a fire rated brick? How many? Would 3 be enough ? I see you say being higher up is good for chicken. Is higher up good for everything, or is lower better for cooking other meats? And thanks for the info. And btw have a Thermopen on the way and the Maverick 732 as well.

toothpick · January 21

To echo ChokeOnSmoke's point: The biggest mistake I made early on was cooking on coals that weren't fully lit. Gives the food a funky flavor. The idea of "clear smoke" wasn't something I understood until I played around with it a little. Have a great time with it! Let us know how it's coming!

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