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Why is the XL disliked?

ChokeOnSmoke
ChokeOnSmoke Posts: 1,942
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Hello,

Been reading on the site for many weeks. I'm prepared to purchase my first BGE. I've been smoking meat for years with a WSM, but I want to move to an egg. I was STRONGLY considering the XL but everyone (forums, egg owners, grill store owners) tries talk me out of it. They all say "get the large". Some say it burns too much charcoal for smaller cooks. Others say there are problems with the lid hinges and the larger size isn't worth the trouble.

My WSM has the same grid size as the large and I'm always wishing I had a bit more room (although I've never gone vertical).

Does anyone else have an opinion against the X-Large?

Thanks for any input before I make my purchase!
Packerland, Wisconsin

Comments

  • cookingdude555
    cookingdude555 Posts: 3,188
    I dont have an XL. But, I have made the obsevation that people recommend what they have (like telling someone to get a Big Green Egg in the first place). I have a large and love it, but I have never seen an XL owner on this forum long for a Large instead.
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    personally I have nothing against them but have no desire or need to own one. We don't entertain so much that I need that kind of capacity. OTOH some people I know who went directly to an XL are the same who in life have to have the biggest, fastest whatever for sake of their egos.
    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • BigGreenDon
    BigGreenDon Posts: 167
    I love mine. That isn't to say I will not get a smaller one for secondary use. I always seem to get a hankering for a steak while the XL is doing a low & slow!

    Sometimes I will use a "lump reducer ring" on the smaller cooks between my L&S's and get by without adding any more lump. Depending on the cook, this sometimes involves getting a smaller grid closer to the lump using a spider. I probably use a little more lump than if I had a large, but with the size comes versatility and the ability to do very large cooks when the need arises.

    I have not had mine for quite a year yet, but I have had no issue with the hinges. I did need to re-adjust the bands once, however, but it was no big deal.

    Even though my household is only my wife and I, I have had the XL filled to capacity on occasion. When you own and egg, you make friends ;)
  • I don't know of anyone that dislikes the XL. I think some folks just prefer the Large - it certainly is the biggest seller. I have an XL and like it a lot but my Small and Mini get more action - cooking for just a couple folks. If I were starting over, I would get a large. But I'm not starting over and not complaining that I purchased an XL and don't plan on getting a large.

    I don't know of any hinge issues on the XL. If you are tossing on a few thighs or a couple burgers, it will certainly burn more lump. There is probably a difference on large cooks but I doubt if it is significant enough to influence your decision.

    I can't comment on a WSM's size or capacity or ability to cook on more than one level, but it's my impression that you can fit a lot more on a Large Egg doing multi-level cooks with better control on temps as compared to the WSM - again, I may be wrong on the WSM.

    Whatever you decide on, you will be glad with the results.

    Remember - Every mama thinks their baby is the prettiest.
  • Car Wash Mike
    Car Wash Mike Posts: 11,244
    I don't know if it is disliked. For the money, I would rather have the Large-Small combo.

    Mike
  • Capt Frank
    Capt Frank Posts: 2,578
    The XL is a wonderful piece of equipment, my son and my best buddy both have one. I think most of us see the versatility in the LGE due to the amount of accessories available for it. Compare that to the cost savings over the XL and the LGE is a better value.
    The XL shines if you normally cook lots of burgers, steaks, hot dogs, whatever, that need to be cooked on one level. The LGE is perfect for the average family and has the capability of cooking huge amounts of food on multiple layers. I do think the XL has some hinge problems, [my buddy does, my son does not]but I'm sure BGE will get that worked out. Most of us wind up with two or more EGGS, and a LGE and Small or even Mini make a great combo for not much more money than a single XL
    Hope this helps a little B)

    Capt Frank
    Homosassa, FL
  • cookingdude555
    cookingdude555 Posts: 3,188
    ChokeonSmoke, there was one thing I forgot to mention. I have a WSM, and it still sees action even though I have three eggs now. The default load of the WSM holds more than the egg because it has two levels of cooking space. It also has a taller cooking area, so even going three grids on the egg only works with something like ribs. My point is this, if you find the WSM lacking in space, you may find the same frustration with the Large. The Large holds a ton, but I wouldn't say more than the WSM. If you are out of space on the WSM, I would recommend an XL. Unless you are keeping your WSM like I did, and then you pull it out for really big cooks, or when you want to take BBQ with you easily. Since the WSM is set it and forget it like the Egg, you could do a really big overnight with both chugging along.

    Or get the XL :cheer: ....
  • Grandpas Grub
    Grandpas Grub Posts: 14,226
     
    When reading suggestions of what to get I would put more credence in the responses from folks who have and use the XL's. I would suspect a somewhat different perspective.

    GG
  • florida Nick
    florida Nick Posts: 101
    ChokeOnSmoke,
    I love, repeat LOVE, my XL. I have had it a little over 2 years I think and love it just as much as the day i bought it.
    As for burning too much charcoal/lump: if you fill the firebox completely your talking about maybe $6 dollars worth of lump and you can get alot of use and repeated use out of the initial load of lump. I'm talking like 30hrs straigh on a slow-n-low cook. For smaller cooks I highly recomend the lump reducer from the ceramic grill store (.com). It basically corrals the lump. Works great, and you can still cook at whatever temp you like with out having to use the amount of lump you would when normally filling the firebox.
    Only problem I ever had with the hinges was fixed with a little WD-40.
    To me the extra room is worth the extra money. You can pack quite a bit of food on the large. You can pack more on the XL.
    If the XL is what you want then I say go for it. You will not be dissapointed.
    The BGE is an great cooker regardless of which size you have.
    I have an XL and a small. Love em both.
    When I was going to buy my XL alot of people tried to talk me out of it, a couple people told me how much they loved theirs and had the same thoughts as I did on the convenience of the extra grid space.
    Now go get your XL.
    Nick
  • Bash
    Bash Posts: 1,011
    I used think it was funny too, how biased the forum is for the large over the XL.

    I have an XL (for about 15 months) and love it, for the reasons stated by Photoegg:

    http://www.eggheadforum.com/index.php?option=com_simpleboard&func=view&id=904003&catid=1

    It is big, but if you want lots of grill space, it is nice. I like and use mine. I use my medium more, as I cook a lot of stir fries, fish, spatchcock chicken, etc that don't take much room.

    After having both the XL and the medium, I can more understand the reason for the bias, in that you can cook more than you think on smaller sizes. But still, I would not trade my XL for a large. Many times I use all the grid space (when doing main meal and sides all at once), or when doing ribs, or when doing lots of burgers, wings, etc.

    Richard
  • Blizzard58
    Blizzard58 Posts: 35
    I just got an egg and an xl at that. I have always had a pretty big gas grill (larger than most anyway) and I have Bradley smoker which has been great. I always cook for 2 to 3 days worth at a time. I like leftovers I guess. I have cooked 4 meals on the xl and when cooking main coarse and veggies or mushrooms ect. for me the xl is tight. I know I can go higher if needed which will be great when that time comes. I'm just guessing because like I said I'm a new egger, but I think personally the one reason many have lrg over xl is that up entil this year I guess the xl dome was flatter which kept you from going higher or as high as the lrg. End result you could cook close to the same amount of food on the lrg. Now though the newly designed xl has a dome like the other eggs. Just my opinon which when added with $5.00 you are lucky to get a cup of coffee. So far though love the xl egg.
  • Mike in Abita
    Mike in Abita Posts: 3,302
    I can't answer for the rest of the forum but I have an XL, MED, and MINI. I love my XL, it was the first one I bought, and it does most of my BBQ cooks. I will fire up the MED when it's just the wife and me, otherwise it's the XL that gets the call. My grilling experience came from a kettle a few gassers, an offset and my dads WSM. I ran out of room on them, and needed to grill more items. Thats what lead me to the XL.

    I would not swap my XL for a LGE. I like the larger grilling surface of the XL. I like being able to lay full slabs of babybacks on the grill adding a grill and more full slabs. Does it burn more lump than a LGE? Probably, but it burns a lot less than the kettle I was use to. One thing I know for sure, is you CAN cook more on the XL than you can on the LGE. Question is will you.
  • zflava
    zflava Posts: 43
    I spent at least 2 long weeks trying to choose between the XL and Lrg. I finally pulled the trigger and got the new new design XL and love it. I have no problem with charcoal consumption. Because of the amounts of money spent on these great cookers, I figure I should have the ability to do everything from a load of pork butts to a single grid full of burgers, steaks, sausage, veggies, corn....... :P I also like being able to lay full slabs flat out on the grid. Getting it up to temp is no different than getting my medium up. I agree with the other members that I haven't seen anyone regret the XL. I was almost swayed to the Large, which I would have loved also, but I'm glad I stuck with my initial need.
  • berrygood
    berrygood Posts: 372
    Grandpas Grub wrote:
     
    When reading suggestions of what to get I would put more credence in the responses from folks who have and use the XL's. I would suspect a somewhat different perspective.

    GG
    Agree with GG. But, ideally, listen to the advice of the people who have ALL sizes. Celtic Wolf comes to mind. Ping him. There are more, too. WessB?

    Anyway, they can give you better advice than your dealer even. Good luck.
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    ChokeOnSmoke,

    I have the large and extra large. The XL is great for single grid cooking and shines in ribs, briskets and butts. The new design XL looks like it will be an awesome cooker and even more so when there are some accessories available. If I were getting my first egg right now, that would likely be my choice.

    Steve

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • eenie meenie
    eenie meenie Posts: 4,394
    ChokeOnSmoke, I love my XLG BGE. :) My XLG egg has been very, very good to me. I entertain quite a bit and I have a large family nearby. The XLG provides great flexibility.

    I happen to grill quite a bit and the large grid surface area comes in handy. I also like to make ribs and thus the XLG is particularly handy in allowing me to sauce and serve large quantities of ribs.

    The dome contour has not been a great liability. I have the old style dome and was able to accomdate 15 slabs of baby back ribs the other week. The newer dome is higher and that should been a further advantage.

    I realize you can cook large quantiies on smaller sized eggs. However, the XLG minimizes the mental gymnastics I have to go through to figure out how to get everything to the table at once. I am probably lazier and not as smart as the average egger, lol. :(

    I can place in my 'lump reducer' ring from Tom at The Ceramic Grill Store http://www.ceramicgrillstore.com/ceramicgrillstore/ if I am doing smaller cooks and thus conserve even more on lump. There are many accessories available for the XLG and Tom would probably customize something if you thought of something you needed. I own a lot of toys which allow for further adaptations.

    If you do not grill for large groups and only do low and slows, I would not see an advantage to owning an XLG. Even though I live by myself and own a small egg, I am happy to have the XLG.

    "I shall be telling this with a sigh
    Somewhere ages and ages hence:
    Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
    I took the one less traveled by,
    And that has made all the difference."
    Robert Frost
  • ChokeOnSmoke
    ChokeOnSmoke Posts: 1,942
    I appreciate all the great insight. Thanks to everyone who responded. I'm most likely going with the XL. Will talk to my dealer this week. Can't wait to get cooking! :)
    Packerland, Wisconsin

  • Marc  from IL
    Marc from IL Posts: 499
    I soon will add an XL to the deck.....
  • Crimsongator
    Crimsongator Posts: 5,797
    Don't listen to boneheads. Buy the largest BGE you can easily afford and be happy with it.