New Owner-What to cook first ??

renosmirage · May 2013

Brand new egg set up and ready to go this weekend! What to you suggest to start with as a newbie??

Bill_Swerski · May 2013

spatchcock chicken was the first thing I did. tough to screw up

yellowdogbbq · May 2013

+1 to spatchcock chicken or burgers

renosmirage · May 2013

pretty good at cooking ribs on the gas grill, get a good char and then foil, but perhaps the real low and slow cooking for the first second time cooked on egg?

renosmirage · May 2013

What about a good pork butt? Too much for the first time out?

Eggcelsior · May 2013

You can low and slow if you want. There is a bit of a learning curve with the egg so thats why many recommend burgers/chicken since it is simple and helps cure the gasket. I did a pork butt the first time. I recommend a smaller one that you can get up early to cook. Don't do an overnight right away, you'll get no sleep.

Beaumonty · May 2013

If you're going to cook Saturday, I'd do a test run on Friday night. Figuring out how to light, how long it takes to light, how long it takes to "stabilize" (smoke is almost clear), and how responsive the temp is to the width of the vents does not take too long and it will help your cook.

for example, start with small openings once it's stabilized and gradually open, wait, open, wait until you get a feel for general responsiveness. Your general goal would be to gradually get to your target temp. I.E. if you're doing a spatchcock chicken (which you should) your goal may be 425 temp. On Friday, aim for 350 and open until slowly hits 425. then, you'll know how wide to have it open to get there.

Good luck. Have fun. You're in for some good vittles.

YEMTrey · May 2013

For my first cook I did chicken wings. I was mostly firing it up to get used to temperature control and just to get used to the Egg itself. Once I got it going, figure what the hell, might as well throw some chicken wings on there and see what happens. They're cheap, and you get rewarded for your efforts.

dpittard · May 2013

New Egger here as well. Got mine this weekend, too. I'm not new to grilling/smoking though. As with all grills and smokers, you really need to learn how the Egg works. I found that out Sunday. I know how the Egg works in theory, but practice is a different ball game. I'd recommend something that is forgiving like a chicken. It won't take forever if you're way under temp, and won't dry out if things get too hot, and if it ends up as charcoal, it's not $30 down the drain. Once I get comfortable with controlling the temp on the Egg, I'll start low-and-slowing. With a 2 year old running around, I don't have the time or energy to check a smoker every 15 minutes.

Just my $.02

renosmirage · May 2013

Thanks to all ! We have from Wednesday through Monday to expermint. Have a couple of Eggers in our close knit community that we can call on. Will post on Monday with results! Chicken, ribs, and probably some stuffed jalapenos on the list. This is going to be fun and hopefully yummy!!

henapple · May 2013

Welcome both of you to the family.

SaturdayFatterday · May 2013

I did Elder Ward's pork recipe as my first cook: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/elder.htm

At a minimum, read the section on building a fire - it's very, very helpful.

Spaightlabs · May 2013

By no means should you wait until Saturday for a first cook. I did what Beaumonty suggested. Took it for a dry run, just checking temp control and thermo regulation for my first test drive. Ran it for a couple hours with a couple of beverages as a learning experience, and it cures the gasket. Next day did a spatch and a beer can chicken. Next day did burgers. Next did a butt. No reason to let her sit all lonesome for a week...only takes a few minutes to get her heated up.

JaredMD · May 2013

When we brought our egg home from the store the first thing we did was light it up, play around with the vent settings, and then throw some simple burgers / chicken breasts on.. they turned out fine, but my wife was skeptical of the investment.

A few days later I threw a spatchcock chicken on and it was a whole new ball game. The chicken was beautiful, juicy, delicious.. and couldn't have been easier to cook on the egg.

I had used a cheapo drum smoker and made some pretty decent ribs and briskets in the past, and the gasser that finally died (which spurred the egg purchase!) put out its fair share of cookout staples.. but the beauty and simplicity of the spatchcock chicken really opened our eyes.

CharlieTN · May 2013

Bill_Swerski said:

spatchcock chicken was the first thing I did. tough to screw up

This is a great easy cook. And it will be some of the best chicken you will eat.

My first cook was a small pork loin (320 degrees for 1:20) and it was awesome.

lewisj82 · May 2013

My first on my XL was three racks of baby backs. Low and slow, 225-250. Took em off when the meat was pulling away from the bone and you could almost pull them apart. I think the egg had been assembled on my table for about five minute when I was dumping charcoal inside and lighting it up.

I did my first egg brisket this past weekend, most tender brisket I'd ever done!

chris123stock · May 2013

Spatchcock chicken its easy, good and fun to say. welcome to the family.

Charlie tuna · May 2013

renosmirage said:

pretty good at cooking ribs on the gas grill, get a good char and then foil, but perhaps the real low and slow cooking for the first second time cooked on egg?

Forget everything you know about gas grilling when your operating an egg!! You can't just cut the gas down to lower the control temperature. I vote for a spatchcocked chicken on Saturday, but play around on Friday. First try to stabilize at 250 degrees, learn what "stabilized" really means. Then go up to 300 degrees, and stabilize, then back to 250 degrees. Finally bump it up to 350 degrees and stabilize it for an hour!! That will be your spatchcocked cooking temperature. All this will help you "QUICKLY" jump into the middle of this egging experience. I don't want to tell you what i did, because i don't want to lead you astray!! And don't forget the beverage thing too!

:-@ :-@

jccbone62 · May 2013

Whatever you do just remember to be patient and enjoy the experience of cooking on your egg.

New Owner-What to cook first ??

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