What makes the egg great?

sox203 · June 2013

I know, a loaded question.

In all seriousness, I have just purchased my first egg and am still in the break in period and learning my way around. I found that using the egg is not as simple as, say a smokey joe, where it's a direct heat grill. I can see the benefits of the ability to BBQ on the egg as well a high indirect heat for pizzas and such. But, what I'm looking for is a better result then what I get from my gas stove and convection oven for high heat sears and roasting. Yes, in the egg I can add smoke to my grilling and roasting, which is great, but I want more. Maybe I'm just impatient but I want to be blown away, besides low\slow BBQ and pizza what have have people found the egg to be great at?

Thanks, looking forward to becoming an egghead.

Duganboy · June 2013

Go forth and cook and you will have your questions answered.

Nsdexter · June 2013

Cook on it for a few years and do things that seem different, then you'll know

Charlie tuna · June 2013

Cooked many years and many great meals on Weber Kettle, family holidays, ribs to turkeys. Some weber meals were "good". Some "better"! And some "really great"! Why??? Maintaining a constant temperature produces great food products. The egg is nothing more than an indoor oven that i can use in the back yard and can smoke in!! Results are pridictably "great". Oh, i have screwed up some food on my egg -- but due to "operator error"!! Once you get a good meal method on an egg, you can reproduce it over and over. My $.02

sox203 · June 2013

Thanks Charlie, I see where you're coming from. I'm not trying to compare it to the weber really, more to the known good meals I have dialed in my over or stove top. I just picked up a maverick ET732, the temp control with this tool should help. I'm using roasted chicken as my bench mark, I've got 4 in the books, some better then others, but I have yet to better a bird I can cook in my oven. The real challenge I'm having is getting a good crisp on the skin. I went direct last night at 300 for about an hour then brought it up to 450 for a final crisp. It's still not quite rendering all the fat out of the skin, still a work in progress. Now that I have the maverick I'm going to try indirect again and see if I can get better results. I have a feeling the place setter makes a big difference in dome and grill temp. I'm also wondering if there is enough air circulation to crisp the skin on top of the bird? I may need to quarter it for a skin side down approach.

Scottborasjr · June 2013

@sox203, have you calibrated your thermometer to make sure you are actually cooking at the temp the dome says that you are?

sox203 · June 2013

Not yet, if anything it appears low, at least with the PS in place. Last nights direct cook the dome therm and the maverick where in sync.

Mattman3969 · June 2013

For crispier chicken you go direct like you said but you need to get that thing higher in the dome. I have been doin my chickens at 375-400 direct and raised about 3 1/2" above the felt line. Oh and let your bird dry out abit in the fridge uncovered before cooking.
The road ahead of you is a fun one so chillax cause once you find your mojo that thing you call an "Oven" will be referred to "The Overpriced Clock". Read all you can here and then put your own twist on it. Cheers!!!

nolaegghead · June 2013

There not much difference between the temp in an egg versus in an oven insofar as the cooking rate. 400 F in an egg is 400 F in an oven.

The egg has the advantage, even if you don't add smoke wood, of a plethora of flavor chemicals that make it taste like it was cooked on a wood fire. The oven doesn't.

The egg has higher humidity than an oven.

The egg has more convective currents than an oven (unless it's a convection oven).

The egg has a wider temperature gradient than an oven, so you can orient the dark meat in a chicken to cook at a higher rate than the breast.

The egg will do caveman. Oven will not.

The oven will broil, the egg will grill. That's upside down broiling.

You can add wood smoke for flavor in an egg, your wife would kill you if you did that in an oven.

You get to be outside, swillin' and spillin' adult beverage with an egg. Again, your wife would kill you in the kitchen.

There's a reason why people are pumped up about the kamado, and it's not because food tastes like it was cooked in an oven. Just read, learn, practice and cook.

Thatgrimguy · June 2013

Also, unless you are using a very high dollar oven, you can get FAR more stable temps in your BGE than in your average/above average oven.

robnybbq · June 2013

Try this. Get a ~4-6 lb whole chicken. Leave it I uncovered in the fridge overnight. Next day spatchcock it and use a good rub. Cook on egg raised direct at 350. (insides down). Should take about an hour.

For searing - I have a spider and a cast iron grate that sits right on top if the coals ( as close to caveman as you can get without be ash). I cook steak raised direct at 400 then heat the egg to 500 put move the steaks to the lower level to reverse sear them. Comes out great.

Charlie tuna · June 2013

sox203 said:

Thanks Charlie, I see where you're coming from. I'm not trying to compare it to the weber really, more to the known good meals I have dialed in my over or stove top. I just picked up a maverick ET732, the temp control with this tool should help. I'm using roasted chicken as my bench mark, I've got 4 in the books, some better then others, but I have yet to better a bird I can cook in my oven. The real challenge I'm having is getting a good crisp on the skin. I went direct last night at 300 for about an hour then brought it up to 450 for a final crisp. It's still not quite rendering all the fat out of the skin, still a work in progress. Now that I have the maverick I'm going to try indirect again and see if I can get better results. I have a feeling the place setter makes a big difference in dome and grill temp. I'm also wondering if there is enough air circulation to crisp the skin on top of the bird? I may need to quarter it for a skin side down approach.

As soon as i got my egg, and had a few overnight problems, i went right out and bought a DigiQ, and it solved my problems --- i used it on EVERYTHING!!! But, as time went on, and i cook four and sometimes five times a week, i got to "know" my egg, and what to expect and only use the DigiQ on certain cooks. Your not there yet, but headed in that direction. Spatchcocked Chicken, is a mainstay in our house. Used to inject them, people would rave about them!! Now, i found out about "brining them" --- major difference!! As someone said "high in the dome" is what gets the crisp on it!! Like "chicken wings" , i like them where they are crisp enough to eat half the "wing tip" --- that requires cooking high in the dome!! Then eat them "neckid" or sauce them with your favorite sauce!!!

dougbacker · June 2013

And cooking on the Egg you will have your neighbors with there nose in the air trying to figure out where the awesome smell is coming from....You don't get that with your Over-sized kitchen clock

Fred19Flintstone · June 2013

What makes the egg great? Absolutely nothing. Now just send it to me...

Boileregger · June 2013

sox203 said:
The real challenge I'm having is getting a good crisp on the skin. I went direct last night at 300 for about an hour then brought it up to 450 for a final crisp. It's still not quite rendering all the fat out of the skin, still a work in progress. Now that I have the maverick I'm going to try indirect again and see if I can get better results.

Do a spatchcocked bird at 400 raised direct with legs facing the hinges. Perfectly cooked and crisp skin every time.

jfarley · June 2013

While an Egg indeed acts like an oven it has another huge advantage over modern ovens. The Egg can hold a constant temperature of 350 degrees with very little variation up and down. A gas oven will achieve 350 with an on/off thermostat and cycling between something like 330 degrees and 370 to achieve an average of 350. The only ovens that hold a constant temp are those with a pilot light, thermocouple, and modulating thermostat like those built in the 1950s or commercial ones today. Ovens also cannot maintain an accurate low temp like the Egg.

I'll take the constant temp of an Egg over an oven any day and that isn't even considering all the awesome benefits of cooking on wood.

Duganboy · June 2013

Boileregger said:

The real challenge I'm having is getting a good crisp on the skin. I went direct last night at 300 for about an hour then brought it up to 450 for a final crisp. It's still not quite rendering all the fat out of the skin, still a work in progress. Now that I have the maverick I'm going to try indirect again and see if I can get better results.
Do a spatchcocked bird at 400 raised direct with legs facing the hinges. Perfectly cooked and crisp skin every time.

Those legs are facing away from the hinges, right?

boatbum · June 2013

A lot of very knowledgeable folks will chime in with the tecnical reasons why the Egg is great, thats all well and good - but my personal experience:

BBQ fan. love to eat it.

Went through 2 other smokers before I bought the Egg. Maybe it was my lack of natural talent - or just general not understanding, but was never happy with results. Won't bore you with the details of my challenges with the other smokers - the water pan fiasco's - checking the firebox every 45 minutes - etc.

Prior to the Egg:

I could do a pretty good boston butt ( but thats easy)

Ribs were hit or miss

Was never happy wiht my brisket ( includes some complete diasters).

With the Egg ( and the education on using it I got from this forum).....

1 or 2 boston butts most months

1 or 2 briskets most months

RIbs

Chicken

It is like a machine - turns out good everytime. So - I am not that much smarter or talented. I tend to give the credit to the Egg...

That my friend - is what makes the Egg great. Makes an amature look good as a cook.

Just my $.02 worth

BYS1981 · June 2013

jfarley said:
While an Egg indeed acts like an oven it has another huge advantage over modern ovens. The Egg can hold a constant temperature of 350 degrees with very little variation up and down. A gas oven will achieve 350 with an on/off thermostat and cycling between something like 330 degrees and 370 to achieve an average of 350. The only ovens that hold a constant temp are those with a pilot light, thermocouple, and modulating thermostat like those built in the 1950s or commercial ones today. Ovens also cannot maintain an accurate low temp like the Egg.

I'll take the constant temp of an Egg over an oven any day and that isn't even considering all the awesome benefits of cooking on wood.

my Wedgwood holds temperature pretty accurately.

Egghead_Daron · June 2013

I can't add much more than what has already been said but even if all things were equal between a stove and the Egg, the flavor that comes from cooking with wood makes all the difference in the world to me. Some of the things that have amazed me the most from the Egg have been desserts. The CI skillet chocolate chip cookie, the apple pie, they have been just amazing with a whole new layer of flavor I never have gotten from any other method of cooking.

YEMTrey · June 2013

What makes the Egg great..........hmm.........

1. Beer
2. A good butcher
3. Family and Friends

Charlie tuna · June 2013

There are some wood fired cookers that can cook very much like the egg, only problem is they burn about $60.00 in wood to cook a butt, where the egg does the same butt for four bucks.

Thatgrimguy · June 2013

Flexibility. You can pizza, wok, grill, blacken, bake, broil, cold smoke, smoke, sear, sauté, grill, tandoori, teppanyaki... you get the idea. I've seen people on here cooking everything that can be done inside, outside and with a unique (read: better) result and all on one piece of equipment.

With a beer, in your yard. My yard is my favorite place to be.

Arbucklej · June 2013

+ 1 on flexibility and for meI have never found a grill tha can lock in the moisture and flavor of a bge. Just cooka spatchcock chicken and u r sold for life

hapster · June 2013

Because you look like a tool sippin bourbon and puffin away on a good stick while standing in the kitchen with your wife's apron on using a ceramic spoon rest with kittens on it...

Get yer junk outside and next to the egg, fire it up, and then yell for the little woman to fetch you a cold beverage.

Jk of course...

Food just turns out better cooked over real wood and fire.

Boileregger · June 2013

Duganboy said:

Those legs are facing away from the hinges, right?

Yes, it's an older pic before I learned that extra tip. The folks on this board teach me something new all the time.

FanOfFanboys · June 2013

Boileregger said:

Those legs are facing away from the hinges, right?
Yes, it's an older pic before I learned that extra tip. The folks on this board teach me something new all the time.

wait, what way are legs supposed to face?

gdenby · June 2013

Something that I don't see mentioned in the thread. Its an all climate cooker. I can 'Q when its too cold for propane.

My old house cannot have central air, no air ducts. If I want to use my kitchen range during much of the summer, I have to often cook before dawn. The Egg lets me make most everything outside, and keep the house cooler.

It keeps food moister than what I can get from my oven. The only thing I don't use it for is pressure cooking stocks.

Skiddymarker · June 2013

The OP indicated the use of a gas range and convection oven (which depending on the brand can equal a Kamado for high humidity cooking).

The bottom line, IMHO, comes down to smoke. Just not possible with the oven/range combo.

Although I like the reverse sear for steaks done on the egg, I must admit a low and slow indirect with some smoke on the egg followed by a CI pan sear using the gasser side burner produces a better result. Other than the smoke, the same result could be obtained using an oven and CI pan on the range top.

SmokeyPitt · June 2013

Skiddymarker said:

The OP indicated the use of a gas range and convection oven (which depending on the brand can equal a Kamado for high humidity cooking).
The bottom line, IMHO, comes down to smoke. Just not possible with the oven/range combo.
Although I like the reverse sear for steaks done on the egg, I must admit a low and slow indirect with some smoke on the egg followed by a CI pan sear using the gasser side burner produces a better result. Other than the smoke, the same result could be obtained using an oven and CI pan on the range top.

Not in my oven

. My oven should double as a dehydrator.

Skiddymarker · June 2013

@SmokeyPitt - our old GE oven was very well vented, in other words, it was a dehydrator. The new Electrolux "big White Clock" has double ovens with the smaller on the top. The result is the lower convection oven vents well but also has a slide adjustment to recirculate the air and conserve energy (guess on my part).

When roasting or baking, with the vent closed, stuff stays very moist.

What makes the egg great?

Comments

Categories