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New Dealer/Big Green Egg Customer

Wendy_Beachcomber
Wendy_Beachcomber Posts: 23
edited July 2012 in EggHead Forum
Hi there,  we are a brand new dealer with the Big Green Egg in the Coquitlam, BC area.  I am hoping there might be someone in the neighborhood who might want to spend some time with us cooking.  We have fired our demo model up a couple of times but only tried the basic hamburger and hot dog fair.  We would also appreciate any suggestions anyone might have on recipes for simple yet tasty foods that would really help to showcase the Egg but not take alot of attention.  Super excited about being involved with such a great product!
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Comments

  • Newville
    Newville Posts: 84
    Good luck Wendy!
  • you'll find some folks out there that will help you out. Shocking what we will do for a deal on lump ;)
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • BYS1981
    BYS1981 Posts: 2,533
    I think pork butt would be a good showcase food.
  • cortguitarman
    cortguitarman Posts: 2,061
    Pizza. I don't know about Canada, but here in the States if you show an American a way to have awesome pizza he'll buy it.
    Mark Annville, PA
  • Thanks for the suggestions.  We did a pizza party and I have to say the pizza was the best I have ever made.  Tried some veggie ones and meat lovers from scratch.

    Also tried the "potatoe chips" but I think I sliced the potatoes a bit to wide as it took a while to cook.

    Any suggestions on how to bring the temp down on the egg faster?  I have shut the top and bottom but seems to take quite awhile to cool down.

     

  • What is better.. pizza peel or pizza screen?

    Favorite accessory or must have tool?  We are trying to stock as much as possible and would appreciate knowing what are the "must have" items.
  • Kristinnn
    Kristinnn Posts: 133
    not a BGE eggcessory but i love the super peel for pizza..
    love the thermapen now that i finally got one..


  • You have already done pizza, now you need to cook a pork butt and make pulled pork pizza! Try a couple of whole chickens, soak them in a brine if you want them extra juicy! Good luck!!

     

  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    edited August 2012
    it takes a long time to cool down because the egg holds heat well.  this is why you can go overnight fairly easily and hold 250 with a natural fire. 

    the fact that it holds heat in is also what helps preserve moisture in the food.  when you cook at 400 on a metal grill, most of the heat is radiated AWAY from the meat by the thin metal cover (which also gets too hot to touch).  in order to maintain this level of heat, the metal cooker needs to burn more fuel, and faster.  that means more air moving through too, and that all helps to dry out your meat.

    in the egg, the fuel burns far more efficiently, so there's much less need for air to fuel the fire, and that means much less draft, and so much less drying.

    the egg may feel 'hot' when it closes down, but it isn't using any fuel.  if you have assembled it correctly, it will be air tight.  the fire dies quickly. you aren't wasting fuel. that's just the ceramic taking a while to cool off.

    don't be alarmed.  it's cooler than you think.  i would have no qualms touching an egg that was running at 700.  not so with a metal gasser or weber.  metal cookers may cool off quickly, but that only illustrates how poor they are at running efficiently.  they give up heat too fast.  no chance of doing an overnight cook in the middle of winter with a metal cooker. not without a blanket for it and constant tending

    congrats only deciding to actually use and learn about the egg as a dealer.  i we have a number of dealers in my area, and i have yet to meet anyone who used their egg consistently and knew the product inside and out
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,669
    My advice is to put in an iPad or laptop in your Egg area and have this and the other forum running so you customers can see what they can learn from. Just do not understand why dealers will  not use this FREE sales aid. THat and cook something each day.
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    mickey, most dealers don't know the product, let alone know of the forum.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • travisstrick
    travisstrick Posts: 5,002
    Mickey said:

    My advice is to put in an iPad or laptop in your Egg area and have this and the other forum running so you customers can see what they can learn from. Just do not understand why dealers will  not use this FREE sales aid. THat and cook something each day.

    + 10 trillion. Show a guy who doesn't know how to cook squat and let him see how quickly he gets help on the forum. Instant sale.
    Be careful, man! I've got a beverage here.
  • Hillbilly-Hightech
    Hillbilly-Hightech Posts: 966
    edited August 2012
    Any suggestions on how to bring the temp down on the egg faster?  I have shut the top and bottom but seems to take quite awhile to cool down.
    The best way is to not let the Egg get over your target temp in the first place ;)

    Not being snarky, but I think one of the biggest problems newbies face is temp control.  More than likely, they're coming from a metal grill background, and they have no "Egg-sperience" using a ceramic kamado-style cooker. 

    As such, they'll usually overshoot their target temp, then they'll freak out & start closing off the vents (usually they'll close the vents TOO much), and then the temp will drop BELOW the target temp, and then they'll freak out & open the vents (again, usually TOO much), and then the temp will overshoot again and... well, you see the vicious cycle. 

    As Stike said above - the beauty (and curse) of the Egg is its ability to retain heat.  As such, it'll retain heat so well that you can do a 10+ hour cook on ONE lump & not have to worry about adding more lump.  But on the flip side, it'll retain heat so well that if you get the Egg up to 700+ degrees, it'll take awhile to get 'er back down. 

    When I first got the Egg, I was "Egg-cited" to be able to sear steaks - so I got my Egg up to like 700+ degrees, and boy did the steaks sear well.  Then I took the steaks off & let them rest, but while the steaks were resting, I was having trouble getting the Egg back to roasting temps.  Long story short, it took me like 2 hrs to get the Egg from 700 to about 400, and obviously, that was WAAAAY too long to rest the steaks. 

    After lamenting my woes on the forum, I was given the great advice to use the heat of the lump itself & not worry about getting the Egg up to super-high temps (yes, obviously the Egg can handle the temps, but if you wanna go from high-heat to lower-heat quickly, it'll be difficult.  But if you wanna do a high-heat pizza & not worry about bringing the temp back down quickly, then by all means, crank the heat up)!! 

    Anyway, what I mean by using the heat of the lump is:  the lump burns at like 1000+ degrees (Stike or someone should be by shortly to give a detailed dissertation on the exact temp).  At any rate, let's just say it's freakin hot & leave it at that :P

    So, I bought a smaller cooking grid (I think it's like 13" diameter), and just throw that directly on top of the coals.  Then I put my steaks on that grid & sear them.  Then I remove the steaks & grid, and put in my default BGE grid & shut the lid & start adjusting the vents to get to my roasting temp (~375-400).  While I'm doing this, the steak is resting, in parallel (thus, I'm not wasting any time as I'm doing 2 things @ once).  By the time the steak is done resting (~10 min), I've gotten the temp to where I want it, and then I can throw the steaks on the default BGE grid & finish them off. 

    I think 4 of the most important things to teach newbies is:

    1. Make sure your dome thermometer is properly calibrated (teach them how to do it). 
    2. Don't overshoot the target temp
    3. Cook your food to internal temp and NOT time (w/ a few rare Egg-ceptions such as pizzas, veggies, etc - foods which are obviously very difficult to stick a temp probe into)
    4. Don't get too anal about hitting the EGG-SACT target temp (for egg-sample, if your target temp is say, 350, and your Egg wants to hover, for whatever reason, at say, 360, then just let it).  My opinion is that being off 10-20 degrees won't make that much difference over the time of a cook, and it's a HECKUVA lot easier to just let the Egg hover a few degrees away from the target temp than to try to fight it by chasing the temp up & down trying to hit that exact target temp.

    If you can instill these tips into folks, they'll be "Egg-sperts" in no time, and they'll go from being casual backyard grillers to BBQ chefs in NO time!!

    HTH,
    Rob
    Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup... Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee
  • Hillbilly-Hightech
    Hillbilly-Hightech Posts: 966
    edited August 2012
    P.S.  here's a pic of using the heat off the lump, as well as a pic of getting the Egg to super-high temp to sear:

    (Also, I didn't mean to imply you could NOT sear steaks by getting the Egg up to super-high temps - in fact, I think lots of folks do it, but they do NOT close the lid while the Egg heats up, thus, the ceramic itself doesn't get overly hot.  Personally, I prefer the method of throwing a cooking grid on the coals, as I described earlier - just wanted to make it clear that folks can do it either way, cuz you might lose a sale if a potential customer thinks he has to spend $$ on accessories like an extra cooking grid.  However, your question was about getting the Egg back down to a lower temp quickly, and my suggestion was in response to that).
    Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup... Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee
  • stike
    stike Posts: 15,597
    well said, HH.
    ed egli avea del cul fatto trombetta -Dante
  • Thanks so much for the info.  Hillbilly-Hightech would you mind if I copy your notes onto our website?  We are definitely still learning and could use all the help we can get.  Be nice to meet an "Egghead" in the Coquiltam area.  

    I would still appreciate any feedback on "must have" accessories.  I have had ppl looking for rib racks which I did not have in stock - disappointed customer :(  Possibly a lost sale, although I have them on order now so hoping they will come back.  
  • smokesniffer
    smokesniffer Posts: 2,016
    HI Wendy, where about's is your store?? We are out in the "Wack" Fairly new to the Egg, but loving every meal, got ribs and corn going on one, and baked beans going on the other egg.  :-c
    Large, small, and a mini
  • Hillbilly-Hightech
    Hillbilly-Hightech Posts: 966
    edited August 2012

    Thanks so much for the info.  Hillbilly-Hightech would you mind if I copy your notes onto our website?  We are definitely still learning and could use all the help we can get.  Be nice to meet an "Egghead" in the Coquiltam area.  

    I would still appreciate any feedback on "must have" accessories.  I have had ppl looking for rib racks which I did not have in stock - disappointed customer :(  Possibly a lost sale, although I have them on order now so hoping they will come back.  
    No, I don't mind at all, mostly because they are not "my" notes, but a collection of information I've garnered as a result of all the folks on the various forums regarding cooking on the Egg.  I've picked up tid-bits of info here & there & have amassed my own knowledge from that.  And you & your customers should use this forum for what it is - a repository of ALL kinds of knowledge, "Egg-sperience," techniques, recipes, etc. 

    Also, as far as the "rib rack" - well, there are many different brands & types, but one thing you could do is steer the conversation to the fact that you do not need to purchase a rib rack if you use the Egg (although many folks do indeed use them). 

    However, as part of my "learning curve" - I've done ribs several different ways before I found a technique that works for me.  I've done them using a rib rack, I've done them by the 3-1-1 method (3 hours on the cooking surface w/ no foil, 1 hour foiled & sauced, then 1 hour un-foiled again), and I've done them the "KISS" way (Keep It Simple, Silly) - which is just to add your favorite rub, then place them directly on the cooking grid. 

    Personally, I like that way (the KISS method) the best.  I think it's the easiest (just throw 'em on & forget about 'em for at least 4-5 hours).  I found that I prefer the taste of a "dry-rubbed" rib over a "sauced" one, but if I want to add sauce, I do it after I've plated it, on the side, and not while it's cooking.  The "bark" produced by a full "dry" cook is different than the bark produced by a cook where you've foiled & added sauce during the cook.  My preference is the bark produced by a full dry cook.

    That's the beauty of the Egg, cooking BBQ, and being on this forum - is that you'll get many different opinions on how to cook something, and you should (as well as suggest your customers should) "Egg-speriment" w/ different techniques so that they can find one which they like the best. 

    Many aspects of BBQ are subjective, such as:  which rub to use?  do I foil or not?  Do I add sauce or not?  Do I inject or not?  Fat cap up or down?  Brine or not?  water pan or not?  Do I get the Egg up to super high temps to sear, or do I sear by throwing the meat on the coals?  etc, etc, etc.  And every time I think I have heard someone give the "be all, end all" argument for one way over the other, then inevitably someone else will come in & propose why the *other* way is better. 

    Which is why I say to let you & your customers use this forum to learn, and to think of BBQ-ing as a "journey" - the way I look at it is this way:  anyone can throw some meat on a gasser or briquette grill & squish it w/ the spatula.  That's a backyard griller.  But if you're gonna invest the $$ into an Egg, you should also invest the time into learning how to actually produce quality BBQ so that you move from being a backyard griller to a BBQ Chef. 

    JMHO
    Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup... Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee
  • Baysidebob
    Baysidebob Posts: 489
    Just read this forum until your eyes bleed.
    My actuary says I'm dead.
  • There is certainly a ton of info here and definitely lots of opinions. You could spend hours and hours reading but it sure is helpful.  We try and cook on the egg as much as possible but there is a learning curve and while you are trying to run a business, it is not always the priority to prepare food/watch the grill and experiment.  That is why we need to find someone local.  Someone had said I would be amazed a what a person would do for a bag of coal... still hoping to find that person :)
  • HI Wendy, where about's is your store?? We are out in the "Wack" Fairly new to the Egg, but loving every meal, got ribs and corn going on one, and baked beans going on the other egg.  :-c
    Hi there,  We are at 1140 Westwood Street in Coquiltam.  You have two eggs?  What sizes?  Can I ask why you invested in two?  Any accessory you just can't live without now?  
  • Baysidebob
    Baysidebob Posts: 489
    What is better.. pizza peel or pizza screen?

    Favorite accessory or must have tool?  We are trying to stock as much as possible and would appreciate knowing what are the "must have" items.
    Thermapen, Adjustable Rig, Woo, and Swing Rack are at the top of most lists, certainly mine. These guys may not wholesale and if they do it might be more than what you can spend for inventory. What they do very well is display the versatility of the BGE. It may be worth getting one of each just to show off the BGE. A wok demo would be a crowd pleaser and reach beyond the usual Bar-B-Que demographics. What you want to do is move eggs and hopefully create a local BGE community. Tables are a huge deal. Perhaps a competent local cabinet maker would contribute. Grill-guy’s wife sees fine furniture and suddenly it’s all a go. He sells tables, you sell eggs. Stike’s comment hit home for me. I got my BGE at a mega-bar-b-que store and they knew NOTHING about their product. It’s good to see a retailer with interest in what they sell. If you were in my town I’d hang out in your store until you got sick of me.
    My actuary says I'm dead.
  • Hillbilly-Hightech
    Hillbilly-Hightech Posts: 966
    edited August 2012
    Aside from the usual accessories anyone w/ any kind of grill would have (tongs, grill brush, spatula), the only other accessories I have are a Maverick ET, a plate setter & a pizza stone, an additional smaller cooking grid, and a torch - and the torch is really a luxury - the others I couldn't see myself without. 

    I guess you'll have to size up each customer as to his budget & level of commitment, but I know if I walked into an Egg dealership, and, after having been told the price of the Egg was upwards of $1000+, then I'd need to buy another $500-600 worth of accessories (ie, $100 meat thermometer, ~$350 worth of additional cooking grids, wok, etc), just to be able to make it do all these "great" things, I would've just walked out.  

    This is just my opinion, but If it were me, I'd show how much can be done w/ just the Egg by itself, then let them know that these other accessories are icing on the cake rather than must-haves.  

    As far as being "busy" & not having the time to tackle the learning curve - if this is your business & your livelihood, you'll MAKE the time.  That's where I agree w/ Stike & BaysideBob - don't be another clueless "joe shmoe" selling a product that you don't understand or can't answer questions about - become a student of it, know it like the back of your hand, that way you can become a guru & mentor to your customers.  You'll be able to answer all their questions, and you will make them LOYAL customers who come back a few months later to then purchase things like the Thermapen, or the adjustable rig, etc.  If you know what you're talking about & you can show them how to cook on it, they'll keep coming back to purchase additional things - They won't be one-time customers - I can guarantee that!!  

    Honestly, making food on the Egg & having it there for folks to taste is really one of the best things you can do to market it - once they taste the food that comes off the Egg, it'll sell itself!  You could make it fun & do things like "Tri Tip Tuedays" or "Moink ball Mondays" or "Trex Thursdays" - have fun w/ it & let the Egg work its magic!!

    Unless of course you just want to try to make a quick buck off as many ppl as you can - then you can disregard everything I just said :))
    Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup... Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee
  • Hillbilly-Hightech
    Hillbilly-Hightech Posts: 966
    edited August 2012
    P.S.  Just wanted to add & piggyback to my point about customer loyalty.  To me, the Egg is less of a grill, and more of a "lifestyle."  Anyone can pick up a cheap-o BBQ grill & overcook a steak or burn hotdogs, but not everyone can become a BBQ "chef"

    Sort of like buying a Harley - yes, there are other bikes out there, some cheaper, some faster, some more economical - but there is only ONE Harley.

    Did you know the average Harley owner adds another $2500-5000 worth of accessories to his Harley?  And you'd better believe that they get their friends & families into it, adding more & more customers.  

    "Eggheads" probably spend close to that amount for their Egg lifestyle - everything from additional "Egg-cessories" to adding MORE Eggs to their collection!!

    In my opinion, the Egg is to BBQ grills what a Harley is to motorcycles.  It's not the product, it's the lifestyle.  
    Don't get set into one form, adapt it and build your own, and let it grow, be like water. Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless — like water. Now you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup... Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend. - Bruce Lee
  • smokesniffer
    smokesniffer Posts: 2,016
    HI Wendy, where about's is your store?? We are out in the "Wack" Fairly new to the Egg, but loving every meal, got ribs and corn going on one, and baked beans going on the other egg.  :-c
    Hi there,  We are at 1140 Westwood Street in Coquiltam.  You have two eggs?  What sizes?  Can I ask why you invested in two?  Any accessory you just can't live without now?  
    HI Wendy, just finished eggin with company. We have a large and a small, we first purchased a large, loved the cooking options, from lo and slow, to searing steaks and doing pizza. We bought a second egg, a small, reason being, the small goes with us camping. It is easy to pack up and carry, it also is big enough to do longer cooks, and it can be a little work horse for us. Also two eggs give you the option of two different cooking temperatures. Image doing some appys at a temperature of 250-300, and at the same time, the steaks are searing on a different egg. We really enjoy it. Accessories I couldn't live without, thermopen, platesetter, pizza stones, the list goes on.
    HH nailed it for me as well, it is a lifestyle. A person has to understand what the egg can do, it is versatile. You have to enjoy grilling and food prep.
    Are you out by the mall off of the #7?? What other products do you retail? Maybe you could use a mobile sales person.
    :D
    Large, small, and a mini
  • brycos
    brycos Posts: 137




    Honestly, making food on the Egg & having it there for folks to taste is really one of the best things you can do to market it - once they taste the food that comes off the Egg, it'll sell itself!  You could make it fun & do things like "Tri Tip Tuedays" or "Moink ball Mondays" or "Trex Thursdays" - have fun w/ it & let the Egg work its magic!!

    Wok about Wednesdays?
    Fajita Fridays?
    "Slap your momma" saturdays?

    Okay I'll shut up now.
  • Wow, you've gotten some really good advice here.  What I will add is that egging spreads like a virus.  I was infected about a year ago by a neighbor who brought me some pulled pork that he smoked on his egg.  I live in North Carolina, and have eaten at some famous BBQ joints all over the southeastern US.  My neighbor's pig put them all to shame.  Once you get a few customers, many more will follow.

    I also want to echo some of the earlier comments - send customers and potential customers to this forum.  It's literally a 24 hour BBQ help line.  What did we do before the internet?!?!?!?!?
  • Had fewer great BBQ chefs and a lot more backyard grillers.  The internet and this forum elevates my game and a bunch of others.  I'm no longer a backyard griller, but not quite a BBQ chef.  This internet blessing is the trade off for all the extra porn & gambling.

    Flint, Michigan
  • HI Wendy, where about's is your store?? We are out in the "Wack" Fairly new to the Egg, but loving every meal, got ribs and corn going on one, and baked beans going on the other egg.  :-c
    Hi there,  We are at 1140 Westwood Street in Coquiltam.  You have two eggs?  What sizes?  Can I ask why you invested in two?  Any accessory you just can't live without now?  
    HI Wendy, just finished eggin with company. We have a large and a small, we first purchased a large, loved the cooking options, from lo and slow, to searing steaks and doing pizza. We bought a second egg, a small, reason being, the small goes with us camping. It is easy to pack up and carry, it also is big enough to do longer cooks, and it can be a little work horse for us. Also two eggs give you the option of two different cooking temperatures. Image doing some appys at a temperature of 250-300, and at the same time, the steaks are searing on a different egg. We really enjoy it. Accessories I couldn't live without, thermopen, platesetter, pizza stones, the list goes on.
    HH nailed it for me as well, it is a lifestyle. A person has to understand what the egg can do, it is versatile. You have to enjoy grilling and food prep.
    Are you out by the mall off of the #7?? What other products do you retail? Maybe you could use a mobile sales person.
    :D
    Hi there,  We are close to Coquitlam Centre Mall in Coquitlam.  We sell Beachcomber Hot Tubs, patio furniture, firepits, 
    gazebos, saunas, water care products for hot tubs and pools and misc other products.  We have never had an outside sales person, might be interesting although that is a heck of a ride from Chilliwack.  
  • Maybe it will be better when they finish the bridge. I love the egg and what it can do. I am always showing it to people, and advertising what it can do. It is so versatile and it is just plain enjoyable to use. You need to expose the egg and show what it is capable of doing. Once people get exposure to it, they really appreciate the quality level of the food, then the next thing is to show them the different types of cooks it can perform. Do you ever do trade shows in the area?
    Scot
    Large, small, and a mini