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second Egg - med or small?

skihorn
skihorn Posts: 600
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I have gotten great advice on here, so here I come back. Got my first Egg (large) in July and love it! Use it 2-3 times/week. I want to buy a second Egg to go with it. I have seen lots of posts on here stating that the Large and Small make a great combo. However, I am leaning toward a Medium. Tell me if I am going wrong.

First off, portabilitiy is not important to me. Neither size will be moved or transported. Also, initial cost is not a concern, since I view this as a long term investment.

For most cooks I am sure I will continue to just use my Large. My main times I will need the second Egg are when I am cooking either very large amounts or small amounts of food. For the former, will the Medium handle a brisket so that I can do two briskets at once (one in Large and one in Med)? I am assuming that a Small can not handle a brisket?

Can a Small handle a few extra racks of ribs that overflow from the Large?

Is one better at maintaining temp? I had heard there were problems with the Med (fire ring not being right fit?) but that it was supposedly being addressed for future manufacturing.

Will the Medium handle a typical pizza? (I assume the small won't.) The BGE pizza stone fits on the Medium but would that leave enough room around the edges?

I have heard that the Small is very miserly with lump. That would be a good thing for when I am just firing up for two steaks. How does the Medium fare?

As always, thanks in advance for the great advice.

Freddie
League City, TX

Comments

  • Richard Fl
    Richard Fl Posts: 8,297
    I asked the same question 2 1/2 years ago and hands down the small was the preferred second egg, which I got. I can cook 4 nice size steaks and do them around 550-600F. Pies/cakes, veggies chili,works real nice on the small, while the large is doing ribs roast or whatever.
  • If price and portability are not an issue, get anohter large. If you don't want one that big, most here have large/small combos and they are outstanding.

    Of course my large/large/small is slightly better :-)
  • Hoss
    Hoss Posts: 14,600
    I have been pondering the same conundrum.I have a large and want another to assist on larger cooks.I have just about talked myself into another Large.All the accessories will interchange and they will cook the same so there is no learning curve and the price ain't all that much more.Just a thought.To each his own,I'm sure there are very valid reasons to have different sizes.2 larges just make more sense to me. ;)
  • skihorn
    skihorn Posts: 600
    Like both of you posting here, I did consider a second Large. I was just trying to conserve lump for some smaller cooks or when just cooking some veggies. However, if the responses on the Medium say it won't handle a briket, pizza, or ribs then I probably will go with a second Large.
  • grEGGor
    grEGGor Posts: 109
    I have a large and a small - have been really happy with the combo. Very versatile...

    although two larges or a large and medium would work as well - sorry not really helping... :)
  • Freddie,

    The medium ring having a large gape is is mostly from me. On my medium the gap is close to 2 full inches between the outer diameter of the fire ring and the inside of the fire ring. I think it is just a sloppy design. Food, ash, lump, wood chips and or small pieces of smoking wood can fall in the outer side of the fire ring.

    If you are at lower altitude the gap probably won't be much of an issue for you. At my altitude the gap causes lower temps and very slow start and heat up. It can take longer than an hour to get the egg stabilized and cooking. I have developed some ways around the problem but a proper sized fire ring would be a proper resolve.

    There is a newer fire ring (about 6 months ago) out. If you get a medium my suggestion is to make sure you get the newest fire ring or don't accept that egg.

    You can cook several butts or several brisket's or a mix on your large at the same time.

    For my wife and I, I love the large and the mini. When the kids & grand kids come over I like having all 4 eggs. It sure is nice to be able to cook different items and at different temps.

    If you often cook for a lot of people probably the medium.

    For you and your wife, then the small. But I would seriously consider the mini. The mini isn't very expensive. But you didn't put a mini in the mix.

    Just some thoughts for you.

    Kent
  • the medium is more versatile than the small, & the large is certainly better than the medium. Buy the largest you can comfortably afford. They are all really efficient on fuel. FWIW, the small has the same draft door as the mini (very small) where the medium has the same draft as the large.
  • jeffinsgf
    jeffinsgf Posts: 1,259
    I've had a medium for 9 years and just recently added a large. The medium has done everything I've wanted to do for 2 people (and sometimes more) for 9 years. I've sort of forced myself to use my new large for the last month, and honestly there have only been a couple things that I could not have done on the medium. I had a huge rack of ribs that would have been troublesome on the medium without cutting them into sections. I did a huge brisket that I would have had to curl into a "C" on the medium. Other than that, the medium would do it all. You can't use the same size pizza stone one the medium, but BGE makes one specifically for the medium.

    I like Dutch oven cooks better on the medium, as there's less fire nipping at my wrists when I stir and attend.

    I have no experience with the small, but I do love my medium, and it will do those things you asked about in your first post, albeit slightly smaller than the large.
  • PhilsGrill
    PhilsGrill Posts: 2,256
    Large and small works good for me.
  • WessB
    WessB Posts: 6,937
    Small..hands down..I don't own a medium ( the only size I dont own ) so I cant argue, and wouldn't the validity of owning a medium....but my take is the medium is a smaller version of a lrage...the small on the other hand is a whole differnet animal....the cooking grid is SO much closer to the caols over a large that it makes it the ultimate grilling machine...I don't look at my small, which I have 2 of, as extra grill space for the large..but more so a burger, steak, pork tenderloin, etc.....searing machine...that said it can in fact do "some" of the things your large does, but not what it was intended for..once you own a small you will never cook a steak or burger on the large again.....and it uses WAY less lump..

    Wess
  • BobS
    BobS Posts: 2,485
    Nothing wrong with another large! All the Egg toys work.
  • I went through the same thing. I got a small to accompany my large. I soon got frustrated the small wasn't quite big enough. So I ended up buying a medium using my small to travel with. I really like the med. - can cook big stuff, but don't use the charcoal of the large. Good luck. U can't go wrong either way.
  • Bob-O
    Bob-O Posts: 211
    I sure enjoy my combo of a large and a medium. I use the medium about 70% of the time when cooking for up to four people. Every time this question is asked, it is normally the same people that say the large and small is the only way to go and then the rest of us that say the large and medium is the only way. To me, if you are not interested in moving your egg around to different locations, then why not have the larger cooking area the medium would give you.
  • Jupiter Jim
    Jupiter Jim Posts: 3,351
    Hi Freddie,
    I have a large & medium and very happy with them. My fire ring is a bad fit but I see no effect when cooking, but looking at it makes me crazy. I will get a small next so I can take it camping.
    It's an Egg ya just can't go wrong.
    Jim

    I'm only hungry when I'm awake!

    Okeechobee FL. Winter

    West Jefferson NC Summer

  • skihorn
    skihorn Posts: 600
    Kent: Thanks for the advice and congratulations on the new addition to your family!

    Freddie
  • skihorn
    skihorn Posts: 600
    Thanks guys! Got some great advice as always.