Convince me to get BGE

1. Yes, but its a good idea to have something for a fireproof barrier directly underneath.
2.Both but I primarily use it as an oven.
3. It is really easy.
4. No, the water pan in smokers is used to stabilize temps, not necessary in the Egg.
5. The plate setter is used for indirect cooking, ie oven.
6. Since a large BGE can go over 24 hours on a single load, you won't need to refill. -RP

Worste case: You buy an Egg and hate cooking on it.
1. The Egg will always be a conversation piece on your patio.
2. The Egg holds a very high resale price.
Used eggs move fast on the open market.
Just buy one, you will like it.
Darian

If you get an egg you will be throwing away both smokers you currently own or use them for storage. The egg has the ability to maintain even temperatures, low temp cooks, high temp cooks, and baking like no other cooker can. It maintains an extremely moist cooking environment that creates terrific flavors and textures. Careful, it is a dangerous path that no one has ever come back from. The only thing it can't do is help to loose any weight. It spoils your taste buds and creates an "I can cook better then that" mentality. I can safely say you would never regret the purchase. Find someone who owns one and have a little sample of the magic!!!

Andy_B

I have three eggs.... I cook on a deck.

I had a weber Silver Genesis.. sold it to buy second egg small. It is a Grill, Smoker, and oven all in one!

Easy temp control visit www.nakedwhiz.com

water pan is not necessary because egg is so efficient at heat retention food moisture locked in.

Platesetter excellent for indirect cooking.\

My Large egg goes 22+ hours without needing to be refilled when cooking at 250.

Buy the Egg... your only regret will be that you bought your Weber Genesis or WSM.
~Pharmeggist

First of all since you are researching take some time and scroll through these forum pages & read the responses and look at the pictures. While there are many ways to use BGE you will see the wealth of information and help here. You will also see a lot of people like yourself who had water smokers, gas grills and once they have learned to use their BGE's they have, for the most part given the others up. Here is why:

The BGE is an outdoor cooking utensil which will have a temp range from 150 to 1000 degrees. You use all natural lump charcoal NOT BRIQUETTES...You can smoke, bake, sear, sautee, use cast iron, pans, bakeware, almost anything your mind can come up with. (it seems ice cream is one of the few things you can't cook on an Egg). The versatility is limitless...

1. Yes you can cook on a deck but you will need to have some type of table, legs, fire mat etc under the BGE. DO NOT PUT THE BGE DIRECTLY ON A WOODEN DECK.

2. I explained this above...it is a smoker, oven, grill, baker, etc

3. Controlling the temp is one of the easiest things to do with the Egg. The ceramics allow it to hold and maintain heat better than other cookers.

4. No water pan necessary. A good load of lump charcoal can last for 24+ hours without adding any lump or wood for smoking.

5. Yes you do need the platesetter or some type of item to displace the heat for indirect cooks. A pizza stone is a must for the best pizzas you will ever eat.

6. If you load it correctly you will not need to do this....

just keep reading as you will get lots of helpful ideas and when you get your first BGE be sure to set aside space for the second one....you will love it so much you will get another :P

I was not well versed in either cooking,smoking, or grilling when I decided to buy a BGE. I had the same series gas grill you reference, and was not pleased.
Right out of the gate the BGE changed everything in my cooking world: people actually insist that I do the cooking at all kinds of functions now. This forum is a tremendous help to me as I learn.
Since you already know how to smoke/grill, you should have a very short learning curve. Evidence of how satisfied owners are with their eggs is the fact that most of them purchase additional eggs to handle all the extra food they end up being requested to cook.

The results are amazing. I live in Wyoming, which equals a lot of wind, especially since I'm at the top of a hill and wide open. I've had to use boards to block my gas cooker just to keep it lit. Also use a space blanket to smoke in the winter. I haven't lit it once since I got an egg. I do however have a nifty storage rack. :laugh:

you didn't ask about support, but you might consider just how many answers you got here, in the space of 15 minutes.

it's easy. you don't need convincing. you were already hooked and are just looking for a little justification to put you over the top.

welcome, and remember to join in. we already have plenty of lurkers!

stike

I love cooking stir fries in my wok on the EGG. A large holds a 14" wok perfectly with the right setup. Last night was cauliflower, broccoli, mushrooms, carrot, onion, sliced yellow squash and turkey for the meat. It was outstanding! Mark

Hi Andy,

The others have answered your specific questions, though I'll give you my take on those too. From my perspective, the reasons to make this switch are:

1) The versitility. You can use your Egg as a low temperature smoker that can cook at stable temps for a long time on one load of charcoal. You can use it as a grill, and hit temps that you could only dream of on a gas grill, or you can use it as an oven, and make great bread, pizza, paella, etc.

Take a look at the recipes posted in the BGE section of our blog - http://www.fearlesskitchen.com/big_green_egg_recipes/index.html - for an example of the versitility of the Egg. Also check out the recipe section of this site, and some of the other great sites out there, such as the Naked Whiz's site, for more insight into what you can do with a BGE.

2) The quality of the food. I've never made anything bad in my Egg, and pretty much everything I've cooked comes out better than any other method I've used in the past. For example, last Thanksgiving, I brought the Egg along and smoked the turkey. It came out remarkably juicy, and had a geat flavor. All my relatives said they never wanted it done in the oven again.

3) The quality of the product. While the Egg is a bit on the pricy side, with a LBGE going for about $700 plus some necessary accessories, this isn't more than you'd spend on a medium-quality gas grill nowadays. However, unlike a gas grill, the Egg comes with a lifetime warranty, and the company is very focused on strong customer service, though I've luckily never had to use it myself. Also, because of the design of the Egg, it is very efficient in its use of charcoal, which will save you $ in the long run as well.

My thoughts on your specific questions...

1) I only cook on a deck. Is the BGE safe for cooking on a deck?

Yes. Mine lives on my deck, which is made of Trex. Not so much as a black spot in 2 years of cooking. As others have mentioned, you need to lift the Egg off the decking. You can do that with a table, an Egg Nest sold by BGE, or even with a few paving stones, which is what I did. For less than $10 and a trip to Home Despot, I had a decent looking, sturdy stand for my Egg. If your deck is wood, a fire retardant mat under your stand is probably a good idea.

2) Is the BGE primarily a smoker that can also grill or is it primarily a grill that can also smoke?

As I said above, the versitility of the Egg is one of its selling points. For most multifunction devices, I've found they are OK at everything but good at nothing. Not so for the Egg. It works great as a smoker, grill, and oven, and for each use, has useful features that standalone products do not.

3) How hard is it for a newbie to control temperature and are the temp gauges fairly accurate?

Temp control is pretty easy, and you'll get used to it quick. Because of the ceramic mass, once the Egg gets up to temp, it tends to stay there with little manual intevention needed. A lot of people here do long overnight cooks successfully. The temp gauge is a thermometer that can easily be calibrated by testing in boiling water once in a while.

4) As mentioned earlier, I have only cooked with a water smoker before. Do I need something similar
(a water pan) to smoke in the BGE?

No. The design of the Egg keeps food moist while cooking - I'm not really sure why, but it works great. You may want to use a drip pan when cooking indirect.

5) I see that for smoking they recommend that you buy what looks to be a ceramic plate. Is that
really needed if the food is high enough up from the heat source?

It's called a plate setter, and it is a very useful accessory for cooking indirect, though there are some other ways to do this as well, such as the Spider setup from eggaccessories.com. For some cooks, you can do them direct at low temps without burning the food, but for other recipies, such as chicken, you want to get the temp a bit higher to crisp the skin without burning. An indirect setup helps here. It is also essential for using the Egg as an oven, as it blocks the direct heat from scorching your bread or pizza, while still getting that smokey brick oven flavor.

6) How easy is the BGE to refill with charcoal if I am doing a long smoke of say a pork shoulder?

No need to refill for most cooks. I've done 12 hour brisket cooks and still had more than half of my charcoal remaining. Many people here have reported doing 24 hour cooks without refilling.

Hope this helps in your decision.

-John

With add ons you can create multiple levels. I have no problem with 6 butts on the large

http://www.eggaccessories.com/adjustableRig.html

It's been around for a year or so. I just keep forgetting to mention it in discusions of versatility. If you have any suggestions for filling in some of the gaps, email me.

Morning Andy:

Where are you located? I'm sure any EggHead in your area would be happy to have you come by to watch the Egg in operation.

it comes standard with one level, but you want the option to go with multiple levels on some cooks. this is a homemade version using a couple of regular grills and a raised rack, there are better options out there now that we didnt have years ago to make this much more simple

couple of briskets and a couple of butts.