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Weber Kettle to BGE

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Justin
Justin Posts: 35
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I have been enjoying this forum for quite some time now, and I am going to take the plunge and get my first egg this week. A large BGE with all the standard accessories. [p]I have been cooking on a Weber kettle for several years, actually cooking a rack of ribs right now using the 3-1-1 method. I was wondering if anyone else out there has converted from a kettle to BGE and what there expierence was like.[p]This forum has convinced me that I am making a wise decision.
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Comments

  • Capt. Dan
    Capt. Dan Posts: 14
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    Justin,
    You will wonder why you took so long to get an egg. Try cooking a pork butt for 20 hours on a kettle. Especially after you realize how much less charcoal you will use.
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  • drbbq
    drbbq Posts: 1,152
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    Justin,[p]I'd venture a guess that almost every one of us had a kettle at some point. I still have about four of them, but they never get used anymore.
    Ray Lampe Dr. BBQ
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  • Morro Bay Rich
    Morro Bay Rich Posts: 2,227
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    Justin,
    I cooked on a Weber for more than 30 years. Got my large BGE, cooked on it once and promptly gave the Weber away. The biggest impact was being able to control the temperature. Every try cooking a Thanksgiving turkey for 15 people with the outside temp at 27 deg with the wind blowing? That turkey was 6 hrs late getting to the table and I was so humiliated I didn't even eat. I swore I'd never do that again. With the BGE it has not happened even once in the last 6 years.
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  • Justin
    Justin Posts: 35
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    Capt. Dan,[p]I can say that as I write this, I am struggling to keep the temp of my kettly between 220 and 250 with an ambient temperature about 10, and 45 MPH wind gusts. I am very much looking forward to better temperature control. Also, I have had to reload with lump twice in less than three hours.
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  • JM3
    JM3 Posts: 272
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    drbbq,[p] Gee Ray the guys at the Outdoor Kitchen store were telling me how you rubbed it in about how much sleep you were getting at the BBQ competition over in Lakeland while the team next to you were up all night reloading their kettles with charcoal and working to maintain the temperature.[p] I actually found the egg before I had a chance to buy a Weber. I've never regretted that decision.[p]John
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  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
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    Justin,
    Never had a kettle, but had a WSM for three or four years before switching to the Egg. -RP
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  • J Appledog
    J Appledog Posts: 1,046
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    Justin, [p]I "bought" my first Weber kettle with 75 books of S&H Green Stamps around/about 1978. A few years later, a friend's beau - a guy named Charley, in Vail, showed me how to cook a turkey on one. I was hooked! I learned how to cook everything I could think of on my Weber kettle after that. I lived in Florida so it was mostly seafood. I eventually married and the red Weber kettle & I moved to Michigan. One day my husband saw an ad in a new (and soon-to-be-defunct) magazine featuring a Big Green Egg. After a bit of investigation we discovered that a dealer had just opened up shop not too far way. We bought a BGE the day he opened & the rest is history.[p]I've always thought of the BGE as "graduate school" after "Weber college". We still have 2 at home that we loan out on a regular basis, and 2 at our cottage (without BGEs). My husband's ribs on a Weber still can't be beat...[p]JCA[p]
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  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    Justin, To me that is one of the coolest things about the BGE. You can BBQ 365 days a year through blizzards and rainstorms and maintain superior temp control the whole time. Have fun !!! Oh yeah, keep the kettle around, it's handy for storing your charcoal and accessories in. Ha Ha..

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  • KevinH
    KevinH Posts: 165
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    Justin,[p]I still have a Weber kettle in my attic, disassembled in a box. Since I got my BGE, I have learned a lot of techniques from reading this forum, asking questions of the experts, and experimenting. I bet I could cook on that Weber much better than I used to, but I'm not in any hurry to try. Maybe sometime I will wind up in an emergency situation trying to cook on one and I will really find out if.[p]I'm in no hurry to find out. The egg is a fantastic tool.
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  • Shoe
    Shoe Posts: 67
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    Used my Weber kettle - the same one - constantly from 1985 until I bought my BGE three months ago. Cooked many a great meal on it, including pulled pork. Never could sear a steak worth a damn on it, pulled pork = no sleep, and Michigan winters made it hard to use for a couple months of the year. I'm still working on mastering the BGE, but the only thing I imagine I'll be using the kettle again for is as a second vessel to generate smoke for cold smoking.

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  • WooDoggies
    WooDoggies Posts: 2,390
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    drbbq,[p]There are two Smoky Joes in the barn that haven't seen the light of day in years.... just can't bring myself to get rid of them, tho. [p]john

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  • Davekatz
    Davekatz Posts: 763
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    Justin,[p]I've owned a couple of Weber kettles over the years and pretty much cooked everything you could cook on them. I've had my large BGE for just 6 months, and in that time I've cooked more often, cooked more types of food, and had way better results than I ever did with the kettle. Is that enough of a recommendation? [p]The big change I've noticed is being able to "dial in" a temp and hold it for extended cooks. It's opened up a whole set of recipes that I would have normally done in an oven because they were too much of a hassle on the Weber. [p]Enjoy your BGE,[p]Dave[p]
    [ul][li] Our Big Green Egg[/ul]
    Food & Fire - The carnivorous ramblings of a gluten-free grill geek.
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