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New Egger...Suggested First Tries?

h20egg
h20egg Posts: 168
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Well, I don't actually HAVE the egg yet, but did make the cypress table for a large egg last weekend and expect I'll get the egg this week, an early birthday present to myself!
I've been browsing the site (wow, I'm impressed!) and I must admit I'm intimidated at the depth of experience I see, and all the tricks of the trade. I'm a former Weber Kettle user who switched to a gas grill, but long for the "smoke ability" of the Egg. It also just...well...fascinates me (hey, I'm an engineer and I like things that are, well, different!). I love ribs but one goal is to achieve a great briskit;my wife actually does a great one in the oven but, well, I don't need to say that brisket should be smoked! That's been confirmed by my trips to Houston where my daughter took me to Goode's BBQ. She's since moved, but now I have a quest. I'm in NC where all BBQ is expected to be pork (and it's great, but not my FIRST choice, and I will be doing a Boston butt in near future)

OK, meanwhile I've searched the site and WILL engage in the quest of great brisket .....later. Looks like I need to start "Egging" with something maybe a tad simpler. Now my question to the experts, and maybe NOT so expert, what do you recommend as a first try with my Egg? Basically, something that will be sure to end up with my wife and I concluding that, "Wow, this thing is really something!"

Thanks, and if there are threads my search missed on the topic of egg virgins, sorry and I'd appreciate the direction...

Comments

  • Chefbw
    Chefbw Posts: 17
    Welcome to the forum & the world of some fantastic BBQ.
    I am a relatively new egger myself but have already experienced what I consider really great food cooked on my large egg. There are some really great people on this forum who are willing to share their advise with you.The best way to learn is to just cook away & post questions! My personal favorite so far is baby back ribs. I don't think you can get any better ribs anywhere! Enjoy your new Egg!!!!!!!!!!!
  • Village Idiot
    Village Idiot Posts: 6,959
    You can't get better brisket (and sauce) anywhere than Goode & Co., except on your egg. :)

    My problems with briskets were that they take a long time to cook if you cook a nice size packer. My last one took over 21 hours. Down the road, think about getting a Stoker http://www.rocksbarbque.com/ or equivalent. My last brisket went unattended for the entire 21 hours and the temperature remained within 2 degrees the whole time. You can do that without a Stoker, but I could sleep confidently, knowing that the fire wouldn't go out or creep up.

    Welcome aboard !!!
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Jasper
    Jasper Posts: 378
    Spatchcock chicken. Super simple and the results are amazing. I followed Naked Whiz's "Dead Simple Spatchcock Chicken" method (except I got the butcher to spatchcock it for me ;) )
  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    Ditto spatch'd chicken. Very hard to mess up, and with a little care, makes some of the best chicken around.

    I'd suggest a few weeks of playing around with simple stuff that might be done on a kettle. Burgers, brats, chicken pieces, etc. It takes most people a little practice to learn to control the temperature through vent adjustments. Often, folks don't realize that with the vents open all the way, a 300 degree fire can be raging at 700+ during just the time it takes to go inside and get the food for cooking. Learn to make small adjustments, and give the Egg time to stabilize at the desired temperature. While the Egg can give you a precise temperature, don't fuss. Its more likely that the temperature will start wavering up and down way more than is good. If you want 250 dome, but you have a stable temp of 260, there is no need to alter the vents more than a tiny tap will move them. Really. During a lo-n-slo like a brisket, the difference between a 250 dome and a 260 may be as little as a 32nd of an inch opening of the bottom vent.

    Good luck. Even failures are likely to be quite good.
  • One thing Ive found lately is that if it gets away from me like that 6-700 degrees, if I shut it down to my 350 or 400 setting whichever I was after, it goes down quite quickly. Only if you shut it down quickly after it gets there, once the ceramic heats up all bets are off and it will take a long time to cool down.

    As to the original question I agree with the spatchcock chicken. But ribs are nice too.

    Doug
  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 32,671
    its pretty easy going from a kettle to an egg, same basic principles. if its been a while go with the chicken, your first goal is learning temp control. heres the difference with the kettle and egg, with briquets you wait til they all turn white before cooking with them or you get that foul taste, with the egg you need to wait til the lump smells nice and clean or your chicken will pick up that foul taste.
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
  • I would say splatchcock chicken is easy and tasty. Another easy cook is pork tenderloins. Get you a thermapen to check temperature for doneness on all of your cooks and do not overcook and all will be tasty.
  • kmellecker
    kmellecker Posts: 332
    I did the Naked Wiz's Spatchcock chicken last night. Simple and delicious, far better than chicken parts. Pork tenderloin is also an easy cook. Light up that Egg and have some fun and good eats too. Welcome aboard.
  • AzScott
    AzScott Posts: 309
    Burgers were #1 for me then ribs were #2. If are one that can follow a recipe, watch the Egg video, and follow a few basic directions you'll have the best ribs you have ever had.
  • h20egg
    h20egg Posts: 168
    Just got home to the computer, thanks all for the hints and suggestions. Looks like a chicken it is! Spatchcock it shall be! Great site, thanks!
  • JBUG99999
    JBUG99999 Posts: 263
    Our first cook on the BGE was steak. Our second was sweet & spicy chicken breasts.

    We have not had a bad meal out of the Egg once. We had some pork chops that stayed on the Egg a little too long and were slightly dry, but still very good. We had some veggies that got a little black, but they tasted GREAT!

    My suggestion: Don't worry about tackling a low-n-slow cook right off. Get a little practice with the vents, first.
  • EggerDan
    EggerDan Posts: 105
    It is good. You won't be sorry.

    Congrats and have fun.
  • Basscat
    Basscat Posts: 803
    Congrats on the new Egg! The answer for the first cook is the Naked Whiz's Dead Simple Spatchcock Chicken. It's truly dead simple, and a great introduction to temp control and such.