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BGE vs Klose Smoker - Failed Comparison - but with pics

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Foghorn
Foghorn Posts: 9,842
in EggHead Forum

Two weekends ago my son and I tried to accomplish 3 things: 1) Teach my New Englander brother-in-law some BBQ basics that he could use to improve his efforts on his gas grill and/or his electric smoker, 2) Directly compare smoking different kinds of food on a BGE vs a Klose smoker, and 3) Prepare a great meal (and a lot of leftovers) for family and friends while my brother-in-law and his wife were in town.

We decided that each smoker would get 1 pork butt, 1.5 racks of babybacks, 4 chicken thighs and 3 chicken legs.  We also did some beef ribs and pineapple bacon shrimp on the Klose (it had plenty of room) and a beef tenderloin on the firepit.  Smashed potatoes, brussels sprouts and asparagus were the sides - all cooked on the gas grill.

The bottom line is that we got distracted by some family drama and ended up overcooking the ribs and chicken (slightly) and both pork butts were awesome.  I can't say which device produced better food as it was all quite good, but the BGE required much less attention - which is no surprise. 

 The pictures aren't particularly helpful except to illustrate the capacity of each. Overall,it was a really good day with fire and food.

XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle

San Antonio, TX

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  • henapple
    henapple Posts: 16,025
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    I love drama....
    Green egg, dead animal and alcohol. The "Boro".. TN 
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  • caliking
    caliking Posts: 18,731
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    Sounds like my kinda party! What fun would family gatherings be without drama??

    Your brother -in-law is going to have a hard time unless he has a son like yours.

    #1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February  2013 • #3 Mini May 2013
    A happy BGE family in Houston, TX.
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  • Focker
    Focker Posts: 8,364
    edited April 2013
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    I will more than likely get bashed for this, but when it comes to traditional BBQ, I reach for the WSM over the egg.  If I had a stick burner, then I would take it over the egg.

    To me, it's all about flavor, and I believe the increased airflow on stick burners and the WSM, gives it a more traditional, meteorite-like bark and BBQ smoke flavor.

    Yesterday my buddy requested a couple of shoulders smoked for a party this weekend.  If my back wasn't jacked, I would've pulled out the WSM.  It was a cold, damp day.  The egg is much easier to control and setup in these conditions, so on the egg they went.  I placed 5 fist-sized chunks in the lump and maybe two burned due to the egg's efficiency.  Lately, I have been thinking about using chips over chunks because of this.  Or taking my axe and splitting the chunks into smaller pieces to disperse more in the lump.  

    Aside from the family drama, glad you guys had a good day.  :)

    Brandon
    Quad Cities
    "If yer gonna denigrate, familiarity with the subject is helpful."

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  • Foghorn
    Foghorn Posts: 9,842
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    "Your brother -in-law is going to have a hard time unless he has a son like yours."

    He's definitely my best accessory.  He allows me to run 4 grills at a time.  This weekend he and I are packing up meat, beer (Dr. Pepper in his case), and charcoal and heading to a campground on the Guadalupe River.  Life is good.

    XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle

    San Antonio, TX

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  • Foghorn
    Foghorn Posts: 9,842
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    @Focker, that is really what I have been trying to sort out.  I've produced food off of all of my charcoal grills that has made people say "Wow!" when I pay attention to the details, but I've never had the opportunity to simply cook duplicates of the same food on two different cookers.  This food also made people say "Wow!" even though it wasn't my best effort so the only thing I can conclude is that both grills produce some great food - which I already knew because BGEs and Klose smokers have done very well in BBQ competitions over the years.  Part of the problem was that I messed up the "spraying with apple juice" and "glazing" portions of the cook on the ribs and chicken.

    XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle

    San Antonio, TX

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  • thailandjohn
    thailandjohn Posts: 952
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    Focker, I agree with you regarding the difference in the types of cookers turning out different tasting BBQ.......for the real BBQ flavor, I much prefer my off set stick burner over the Egg.......I use the Egg and my Stoker for all my long slow cooks with good results but my method is different than most of the people that cook on an Egg....I like the Egg and my Stoker because I can load the meat and go to bed without having to get up during the night checking the fire and temps all night.


    http://jvp.smugmug.com/Barbeque




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