DON\'T SHOOT-But I Don\'t Get The Grilling Part.....

You've made an excellent point with the Argentinian example--the skill of the cook is more important than the kind of cooker. A savvy cook can pull off excellent results with the most rudimentary materials. BUT, the ability to precisely control temperatures and quickly adjust them up & down is why I really value my egg.

My starting point for pulled pork was Elder Ward's method, also to be found on the Whiz's site. Its a classic approach. The main thing is to maintain a steady low temperature, about 250 degrees for a very long time with as big a hunk of pork shoulder as you can find. Usually done as an over-nighter, because it rarely takes less than 1.5 hrs/pound, sometimes over 2 hrs.

The thing I consider flops are usually caused by me being a little too reliant on the Egg's moisture retention, and ending up with dried out and/or burnt smaller items. Hot dogs exploded by too much heat, for instance. Occasionally, when cooking to temperature, I fail to test the tenderness of the item by touch, and so end up with things that are not as tender as they should have been. Most recently, that was a small portion of fresh picnic that I removed at 195 internal, but was still firm enough that I couldn't pull the bone out by hand, but had to cut it out.

I proudly learned to keep the temperature steady and would love to know the pulled pork recipe you use.

Pulled pork is one of the simplest cooks you can do. Here's what you need:
1.) Bone-in boston butt - around 8 pounds
2.) Rub (I prefer Dizzy Pig's Dizzy Dust)
3.) ~15 hours of time

Here's what I do:
1.) Coat meat in rub - some people first coat the meat with mustard and then cover the mustard with rub.
2.) Preheat BGE to 225* - I let it settle for about an hour before throwing the meat on
3.) Setup: Inverted plate setter with water pain beneath grid.
4.) Keep an eye on the dome temp - it'll bounce around a bit but just don't let the fire go out. You may need to wiggle the bottom grate to loosen any ash.
5.) I personally cook to ~190 but I'm in the minority here. Most prefer to cook 200+ to get a little more bark on the meat. All personal preference.
6.) Remove and wrap to let it rest. I wrap the butt in aluminum foil, and then plastic food wrap to seal the moisture. Wrap in a few blankets and place in a cooler. I let mine rest for at least an hour but I don't think you'll obtain better results by letting it rest more than that.
7.) Pull and enjoy! I bought a set of insulated food gloves for pulling the pork - too hot to handle otherwise. You can always use a fork but find that it's easier to remove portions of fat with your fingers.
8.) During the pull process, I'll throw some bbq sauce into the mix - I prefer something sweet to offset the kick from dizzy dust.

You'll find tons of different methods - some inject the meat first, sear the roast before smoking, adding smoke to the fire. These are all great ideas but I would start off simple. Master this cook and starting trying out new ideas.

Tweev_tip wrote:

Maybe I'm just awesome.

Speaking of over-hyped .......... :laugh:

I'm sorry you took my response as defensive...it was not intended. As for recipes, just look to the right column and you will find hundreds developed by Eggers far more talented than myself.

The difference is that the BGE doesn't hype itself. The people who use it do. LOL.

Professor,
One of the best tips I've read came from Jeffinsgf. Cook the burgers with the dome open. I did not do this for the last two years and had so so burgers that you seem to be producing. I get my egg up to 400 with the dome down and then I open it, put the burgers on and never close it. Avoid moving the burgers around and make sure you do not squish em down with a spatula. Cook them on one side for about four minutes and flip. Do the same on the other side. The flames will be whipping all around, but thats what you want. You will get the light char your looking for. When you flip it see how you like the char. If it's not enough, then go longer the next time before you flip. The goal is to move the burgers the least amount of times you can and try to flip once. My burgers have really been impressing folks since I started doing this. I would say to do your chicken breast the same way if your looking for a char. Give it a try and see how you like it.

Another good one is to dimple the center of the patty prior to cooking it. Keeps it from inflating like a balloon. I always do burgers and steaks (roasting aside) with the dome open. You will be cooking with the radiant heat or from the bottom up. With the dome down, you're cooking from all directions and makes it easy to overcook things.

Yes, you'll get some "hype" but here's the thing: can you get smoked results as good on a good quality smoker as you can an Egg? I'm sure. Can you get as good charcoal cooking results on a charcoal grill as you can an Egg? I'm sure. Can you get as good wood-fired pizza results from a wood-fired pizza oven as you can an Egg? I'm sure.

But can you get ALL those results from ONE piece of equipment, while being able to maintain a consistent temp? NO - the only thing that can do all that & maintain a consisten temp is a kamado-style cooker (which is what the BGE is). There are a few other competitors out there, but one or more of the following is lacking compared to the Egg: the customer service, price, user community (forum).

So yes, what I tell folks is that you can do smoking on a smoker, you can do charcoal grilling on a charcoal grill, you can do most of the stuff that you can do on an Egg on various other components - but there's very few items out there where you can do ALL of them on ONE machine, and be able to maintain a consistent temp (either consistently low for a "low & slow" or consistently high for a "high heat sear).

So for me, the value was in the "all-in-one" aspect. Otherwise, I'd have to buy a grill, a smoker, a pizza oven, etc.

So, while there's "some" hype, I think it's well worth the money, as you'd have more than that in the various pieces of grilling/smoking equipment you'd need to buy in order to be able to do what the Egg can do.

Anyway, about the only other piece of advice I can offer, as you've had many good bits of advice from folks is regarding the pizza. I have a Super Peel - http://www.superpeel.com/. It makes putting on & getting the pizza off easier. I also use cornmeal on this pizza stone: http://www.amazon.com/Old-Stone-4461-16-Inch-Oven/dp/B0000E19MW/ref=sr_1_2?s=gateway&ie=UTF8&qid=1285274219&sr=8-2.

Since I buy 16" pizzas (haven't tried to make my own dough yet), then this 16" stone seems to work quite well!!

HTH,
Rob

NJProf,

Pretty much everything above is true, the best advise I can give is something I read early on when I was lingering here right before getting my first egg. Buy a thermapen, buy a notebook, I am sure you tell your students that, and start with one thing at a time, write down what you did, what temp and how it came out. We have all had great cooks on our eggs, we have all also had our share of failures, either way, be patient, remember it is feel as much as method and very much NOT a scientific formula for success. You have to get to know the egg and use the tool to it's best attributes, versatility. Keep asking questions and most will give you straight answers. Try TRex steaks first than go from there.

Let us know how you make out.

Cheer,

SS

After reading most all of the replys to this post I must say I have been quite lucky. Never had a charcoal grill, always gas, who had time to fiddle with charcoal blah, blah,blah. Got my egg in July. I don't know why, never knew anyone who had one. But I seen it in the store one day and went home and did some research. BAM had to have it. Took a little work to convince the Mrs that she'd never tasted anything like it, ( forget the cost, if she knew then I wouldn't be writing this post.)Got it home and the first I cooked was Porterhouse T Bones 11/2" thick. Droped on grate at 800 deg. Steaks were done in less that 15 min PERFECT! Man I was wound up. Following weekend 17lb of pig butt lo & slo, 225 about 17 hrs. Scared to death to go to bed as I knew the lump would be on the grate instead of under it. Got up at 8:00 the next morning BGE was steady 225 Final outcome perfect. Still got some in the freezer. Last weekend I did a london broil using mrs potatoheads directions for a marinade, cranked up BGR to about 700 deg seared both sides and pulled to side finished cook at 145 deg. Next day was turkey came out VERY good. As I stated earlier I have been lucky. But I see where one has to develope a whole new set of cooking skills with the BGE. Patience is the key. And if all else fails have another beer and try again!!!