Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

Please help! New "Egger"

Options
PaulieWalnuts
PaulieWalnuts Posts: 3
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
I was given an egg as a birthday gift from my fiancee ysterday. I have known about the egg for some time because my father used to cook a lot of meals for me on his.

I have the Large egg and I attempted to cook a beer can chicken last night. Attempted is the key word here. I cooked it for an hour and a half at 375 degrees ad when I remove the chicken from the grill, the outside was golden brown but the inside was still very rare in spots.

Has anyone ever had an issue with their thermometer not reading properly? Any ideas?
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • Misippi Egger
    Misippi Egger Posts: 5,095
    Options
    Fantastic Fiancee ! :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

    Possible problems:

    1) It would be a good idea to calibrate your dome thermometer. Stick the tip in boiling water. Can adjust using the nut on the back to get close to 212*, assuming you're not at high altitude.

    2) Other common mistake by "Newbies" is cooking by time. You should get either an instant-read thermometer (Thermapen at thermoworks.com) or a continuous-read thermometer (Maverick E-73 at Amazon). Cooking by internal temp will assure you of consistent results cook after cook.

    Good luck and welcome to the "cult".

    Post questions, successes and most importantly, pictures!

    Merry Christmas.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • AZRP
    AZRP Posts: 10,116
    Options
    I've seen them off when they are brand new, check here to see how to calibrate it. -RP

    http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramicfaq.htm#calibrate
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • civil eggineer
    civil eggineer Posts: 1,547
    Options
    First, you have one great fiancee although once you master it they will benefit greatly.

    Second, you need to get a dependable meat themometer. Most hard core eggers have thermopens that are a very fast digital device. Food needs to be cooked to the proper temperature and cooking times are meaningless.
    A thermapen costs around $80 and worth every penny in serving perfectly cooked food.

    Make sure you smell the egg exhaust before placing meat in it. The smoke should smell yummy although at first it will smell very acrid as the VOCs burn off of the lump. It generally takes 30 to 45 minutes to get the lump smelling good.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • axelfoley
    axelfoley Posts: 30
    Options
    All good points were made and a thermometer is something you will need to keep check on the meat. The egg thermomemter on top is really to maintain temp in the egg itself and is not an indication of how well the meat is cooked.

    A few points to look at. Over the next few weeks cook for yourself and wife, dont do any large parties, my family love to see me fail! and it saves on the emmbarressment. Once you have a little cooking time under your belt you can understand how the egg operates and how sensitive temp can be.

    Spend some time stabalising temp also, dont light the fire stick on the meat and leave it be, you need to get to temp first then put on meat.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • PaulieWalnuts
    PaulieWalnuts Posts: 3
    Options
    Thank you all for the info!!!

    I will try chicken #2 tonight. I'll also check my dial against the boiling water and check the temp in the chicken tonight.

    I think my fiancee is excepecting a good meal tonight after starving us last night! ;)
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Wise One
    Wise One Posts: 2,645
    Options
    "rare in spots"? If you were worried because the meat appeared to be dark red near the bone, it may not be that it was undercooked. Today's chickens are raised so fast (i.e. the time from hatching to market is much faster) that their bones are much thinner than before. As a result, marrow often seeps out of the bone when cooking. As other people have said, having a good thermometer is the best way to tell if it is done. If your thighs are 180, you may still see what looks like raw meat near the bone - but it is not raw or undercooked.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • PaulieWalnuts
    PaulieWalnuts Posts: 3
    Options
    Good point! I put a meat thermometer in the thigh and breast and it read 180 degrees. When I say the chicken was 'rare in spots', it was on the bone. The meat looked very very pink off the leg. The breast was actually cooked well(I know this because I nimbled off of it because the flavor was fantastic).
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Smoking Coles
    Smoking Coles Posts: 230
    Options
    You might want to try the Spatchcock Chicken instead of "beer can". I used to do chicken the beer can style or just a whole roaster, but once I tried it Spatchcocked, I won't do it any other way now. It seems to cook much more evenly and even seems juicier. I'm not really sure why it makes suck a difference, but IMHO it does. Link below for you.

    http://www.nakedwhiz.com/spatch.htm
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
    Options
     
    Make sure you calibrate your thermometer.

    Wise One hit the nail on the head.

    At your time and temperature any whole chicken cook should be done.

    Cook the chicken to 165° breast and thigh (USDA guidelines for chicken or turkey).

    Look for clear juices in the bone joints and you are done.

    Whole, bear can or spatchock Chicken off of the egg should always be moist when the breast is cut.

    This was a whole chicken, direct at 400° cooked to 165°.
    chickspud3.jpg

    Here is an article about bloody chicken.
    http://www.hi-tm.com/Documents/Bloody-chik.html

    GG
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Celtic Wolf
    Celtic Wolf Posts: 9,773
    Options
    Not having read the rest of this thread; Do not cook to TIME. Time will bite you in the butt. Cook to temp. Get yourself a cook instant read thermometer *Theremopen) or a remote one (Maverick Et73). Chicken Breast should be cooked to 170, and dark meat to 175-180.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Teach42
    Teach42 Posts: 219
    Options
    If the reason you say it was still rare was because you saw some pink in the meat, then you may have actually been totally fine without realizing it.

    Check out this link from the USDA:
    The color of cooked chicken is not a sign of its safety. Only by using a food thermometer can one accurately determine that chicken has reached a safe minimum internal temperature of 165 °F throughout. The pink color in safely cooked chicken may be due to the hemoglobin in tissues which can form a heat-stable color. Smoking or grilling may also cause this reaction, which occurs more in young birds.

    Surprised the heck out of me as well.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Go Bucks!
    Go Bucks! Posts: 53
    Options
    Congrats on a great fiancee!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • field hand
    field hand Posts: 420
    Options
    Have got to try spatchock chicken. Looks wonderful.

    Barry
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Lei'd-n-Egg
    Lei'd-n-Egg Posts: 289
    Options
    Hey pj, sorry if I missed this, but did you cook on direct or indirect heat? Direct will certainly char the outside quicker, and may not allow the meat enough time to cook.

    Just a thought.
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories