New Table Rides!

OK, so here is the story of my Egg experience. Hopefully you will have some sympathy for this small tragedy, even though it has a happy ending.

I was given a medium egg (by my mother in law, no less)about 7 years ago, and have been an extremely devoted fan and evangelist. I have several friends that have also been converted as a result of my experience. With that extended use, I began to regret that I had a medium Nest, which as most of you know is one of the flimsier setups for an egg. I have longed for a table for many years.

While conceeding to buy my wife a new house, I negotiated with the bargain the purchase of a second egg. (Take note, single men.) She loved the vegetables I cooked, and we had both recognized that the medium was not big enough for big meals and parties. I also saw this as a chance to get the table I wanted.

I saw a sale at the bbq store here in Memphis and so to guard against the inevitable changing of her mind I went out and bought the large egg. The guys at the store agreed to hold onto the egg until I had moved into the new house and built a new table. The egg seemed such a fragile thing that I did not want to risk any extra movement.

Making the table took longer than I thought. The guys at the store called me every once in a while to confirm that I still remembered they were holding the egg for me. They were not used to someone just paying that much money and then never actually taking the product home. But anyway, I finally finished the table, and resisted the temptation of having the new egg delivered until it was completely done. I wanted to be absolutely sure that the egg would not get broken.

On the day of the delivery, the table looked beautiful (pictures below). I could not wait for the guys to come with the large egg, and so I decided to lift the medium egg up into the table myself. I'd like to make a comment here that anyone considering moving an egg by themselves should realize that they MUST grab BOTH halves of the egg while lifting it. If you lift it from the hinge and frame, then the lower half of the egg can slip out of the metal brace and fall. Well, you can imagine my sadness as I looked down at my wonderful egg, smashed to bits on the ground in front of what was to be its shrine.

Well, the eventual happy ending is that I just spent the money to buy ANOTHER new egg. I still feel a little silly, as this completely erased all the money I had saved making the table myself. But I certainly could not just live with a large table with a big hole in it. Now I have several spare parts for my medium egg, and both eggs are brand new and look beautiful. So finally, with that introduction, here is the new table. Built off of a modified Whiz Bang plan, I made it out of Cypress, with an effort keep both eggs at the same height. I used fire bricks under the egg, spaced a little to allow breathing. I also can just fit a plastic bin underneath for storage of charcoal.



Here are pictures of the way I placed the bottom of the medium egg up a little, and the large egg down a little, to make the tops the same height.





Today I am cooking baby back ribs, chicken wings, and brats for the Super Bowl (and my son's birthday). Hopefully no trees will fall on it.

JTGray