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Brand New to Egging

Hello Everyone!

I have been reading these forums for a few weeks now as I have just recently bought myself a Medium Egg W/ Platesetter, but have yet to use it!

My first investments were a Thermapen as well as the High Que Grate and some lodge Cast Iron cookware.

I was just wondering if anyone had any other suggestions as to things that would be helpful/useful or even a recipe/idea for the maiden voyage.

Thanks in advance!
Grand Rapids, MI
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Comments

  • Welcome.  Good luck on your first of many cooks.  I love lodge cast iron stuff!
  • Solson005
    Solson005 Posts: 1,911
    edited March 2013
    First off welcome! Where are you from? I'm a oklahoma egghead here. 

    It really depends on what you want to cook more often or try out on the egg. 

    If you will be doing lots of low and slows a controller setup like the DigiQ or CyberQ are really nice to take all the work out of maintaing your egg temp. 

    Pizza is really good and a favorite of mine on the egg so a pizza stone would be a good investment. I have the medium / small big green egg stone that I use for my small egg. 

    As @Owossoegger said anything cast iron works great in the egg. 

    Firewire is a great skewer to get that bends to the shape of the eggs. Here is shrimp on my small egg, I just had to flip it once instead of putting a couple on skewers and turn a bunch of them.
    image

    The Ceramic grill store sells Woos and Wok rings for the medium egg that can allow you to cook on a "raised direct" that you will see mentioned in cooks quite often. 

    There are lots more fun stuff some expensive some not but those are pretty much the basics. 

    Spatchcock chicken is a great first cook. 
    Large & Small BGE, CGW Two-Tier Swing Rack for BOTH EGGS, Spider for the Wok, eggCARTen & and Cedar Pergola my Eggs call home in Edmond, OK. 
  • Hotch
    Hotch Posts: 3,564

    One of the first things I cooked was a pork butt. Simple, low and slow. It helped me gain experience in temperature control. You can search the forum for info on the how to. I would look for a small one and start early in the morning. It could take anywhere from 10-14 hours. Depending on size and temp.

    Large BGE, MiniMAX BGE, 2 Mini BGE's, R&V Fryer, 36" Blackstone Griddle, Camp Chef Dual Burner 40K BTU Stove
    BGE Chiminea
    Prosper, TX
  • CPARKTX
    CPARKTX Posts: 2,095
    +1 spatchcock chicken...very forgiving of temperature as you learn to control it.  See AmazingRibs.com for good instructions.   
    LBGE & SBGE.  Central Texas.  
  • grege345
    grege345 Posts: 3,515
    + 2 spatchcock ease into getting that temp controlled.
    LBGE& SBGE———————————————•———————– Pennsylvania / poconos

  • Haws72688
    Haws72688 Posts: 41
    Sounds wonderful, I'm going to have my parents over for the first cook so the spatchcock chicken should be a good fit.

    Thanks!

    Also, I am from Michigan so it's a little saddening to see a large majority being from the South since I wouldn't be able to hoof it for events.

    The Kebab skewers were something I was looking at manufacturing like the thread currently on these forums.  Although the wire ones might save a lot more time and hassle.

    I can't wait to get started!

    If there are any more Michiganders around here, any chance someone could point me to a decent butcher?  My usual is located a few hours away and quite hard to make it to sometimes around a work schedule.

    Only 2 posts in, and already heartened by the community and support for future eggdeavors!
    Grand Rapids, MI
  • @fred19flintstone is in flint @michiganjason is outside Detroit if I remember right. Both upstanding dudes There are several others
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • @Haws72688 - Hi there and welcome!  What part of the mitten do you hail from?  As Cen-Tex said, I'm in Flint.  michiganjason is from metro Detroit I think near Lake St. Clair as he has mentioned going there a few times.  @Owossoegger is my BGE dealer.  He's in Owosso and a super guy.  Give me a shout.  I'd love to hear from you.

    Fred

    Flint, Michigan
  • Haws72688
    Haws72688 Posts: 41
    edited March 2013
    I am from Grand Rapids.

    I used The Flame Center in Hudsonville for my Egg and it was pretty decent thus far.   The only thing I've had a harder time finding is the old school ceramic feet for raising up pans/stones.

    More or less just getting everything together right now for the warmer weather.  I know I could start now, it's been finding time.
    Grand Rapids, MI
  • Go to Lowes and buy these pot feet for about $6.

     

    image
    Flint, Michigan
  • ddegger
    ddegger Posts: 244
    +3 for the spatchcock.

     It was my maiden voyage cook - used the Simon and Garfunkel method with great success..... so good,  in fact,  did it again the next night!   Buy a good bird and make her comfy in the fridge for 24 hours or so ahead of time = extra crispy skin and juicy meat.  From there,  the sky's the limit. Welcome to the occupation! 
  • Scottborasjr
    Scottborasjr Posts: 3,494
    +4 for the spatchcock and I did them for two years before figuring out I wasn't doing them completely right.  Congrats on the new purchase.
    I raise my kids, cook and golf.  When work gets in the way I'm pissed, I'm pissed off 48 weeks a year.
    Inbetween Iowa and Colorado, not close to anything remotely entertaining outside of football season. 
  • grege345
    grege345 Posts: 3,515
    2 years and wasn't doing it right? Mine tasted good the first time I did mine. Maybe wait! Could it be better? What were you doin wrong? What made it better? I'm so insecure :(
    LBGE& SBGE———————————————•———————– Pennsylvania / poconos

  • +5 on spatchcock! (Brats are also a comfortable beginning). Hats off to solson... the best money I spent was on the DigiQ....and his advice regarding CGW is dead on. Hotch is right, Boston Butts are the most forgiving cooks..... it's difficult to ruin one... but takes a bit of time to perfect.

    Welcome!

    BOOMER!
  • Scottborasjr
    Scottborasjr Posts: 3,494
    edited March 2013
    I removed the back bone but didn't remove the keel bone. Still was very tasty but still a important step.
    I raise my kids, cook and golf.  When work gets in the way I'm pissed, I'm pissed off 48 weeks a year.
    Inbetween Iowa and Colorado, not close to anything remotely entertaining outside of football season. 
  • I wait until after cooking to carve the meat away from the keel bone.  My prep for spatchcocking a bird is to remove the backbone, turn the bird over (breast side up), spread out the bird and press down un til the crunch is heard.  I'm a little hard of hearing so sometimes my bird gets a little battered!  Season as desired and into the Egg it goes!
    Flint, Michigan
  • Haws72688
    Haws72688 Posts: 41
    I have never spatchcocked a bird, so that will be a learning experience.

    Great Idea on the Patio stones, I had not thought about that.  I was looking at firebrick for a good while but wasn't sure how well it would be oriented on the fire ring to raise the grid up.

    I had considered a Woo as well, but don't know enough about them to make an informed decision.

    As far as starting goes, is there a burn off period with new charcoal that I should just do upfront to get all the extra gunk out of it?  I have the Big Green Egg lump right now since it came with.

    I also haven't had much of a chance to play with temperature regulation yet, however, my girlfriend will be gone looking at Grad Schools for the next 3 weeks or so.  Ample time to ,hopefully, get a good head start!

    After seeing all the food on here though, not sure this is going to be good for my diet! It's kind of funny because that's what the egg was a self reward for (lost 83lbs since Thanksgiving). So many planned cooks for the future, just need to find more time!
    Grand Rapids, MI
  • gdenby
    gdenby Posts: 6,239
    The lump will give off a heavier white smoke for 10 - 20 min. A little more if there is smoking wood in the mix. If the food goes on during that period, it is very likely the end flavor will be bitter. Put the food on once the smoke clears to thin "blue" wisps.

    Do not fuss too much with getting exact temperatures. W. practice, you will get very close to what you want. For most cooks, any temp 10F +/- is fine, and even 25F doesn't make much difference.

    One thing to beware is letting the temp get too high. 1st, it can take awhile to bring back down to where you want it. 2nd, the rate of temperature increase is exponential. It might take as long as 45 min to reach 450, but then 10 to reach 700. Don't walk away when the vents are full open unless you want a blue flame coming out of the top.

    Have fun. Even if everything does not come out eggcellent, it will almost always be better than average.
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,162

    Welcome aboard-lots of good info here.  What follows is a great intro site for all things ceramic.  And his recipe section explains the spatchcock chix cook and many others that are favorites here.

    http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramic.htm enjoy!

    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
  • I do the same a Fred. I don't do the keel before the cook. I'll try it but I've just always done the backbone
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
  • six_egg
    six_egg Posts: 1,110
    Welcome and enjoy.

    XLBGE, LBGE 

    Fernandina Beach, FL

  • RoundTowner
    RoundTowner Posts: 125
    Jump in with both feet....don't get overwhelmed....
  • Haws72688
    Haws72688 Posts: 41
    Trying not to.  Just in the stage right now of trying to get anything and everything together for a standard kind of Egg Kit.

    That way I can be a little bit more whimsical with what I pick out at the grocery store to cook for the night/leftovers.

    I should be able to get everything together for the Spatchcock chicken for Thursday.  Work has been rather hectic the last couple days.  I will definitely try and get some good pictures!
    Grand Rapids, MI
  • 500
    500 Posts: 3,177
    Welcome Haws.  From now on, all your clothes will smell like smoke.
    I like my butt rubbed and my pork pulled.
    Member since 2009
  • Haws72688
    Haws72688 Posts: 41
    After a lot of rescheduling and issues with finding time with work I finally got tired of waiting and fired it up just for a steak!

    Alas, it will never wear the pure white again!

    image

    image

    image



    Grand Rapids, MI
  • Welcome aboard.  Your steak looks great.  How did it taste?  My advice would be to start slowly with the eggcessories until you really know what you like cooking, but you've made some good first choices.  Some great people on this forum, you'll learn a ton.

    Damascus, VA.  Friendliest town on the Appalachian Trail.

    LBGE Aug 2012, SBGE Feb 2014

  • Haws72688
    Haws72688 Posts: 41
    Well the goal is going to be to never use my oven.  I have a Woo on the way hopefully pretty soon here so I can make a better go at the chicken.  I also have a spatchcocked bird still in my fridge that's awaiting its chance in the egg.


    I am going to make a run at trying to cook outside every day, whether it's just veggies or a whole meal.

    Played with the daisy wheel and temperatures last night after I was done cooking and I think I have a pretty good idea of where things need to be to get the results I want.  The only thing now is finding a way to organize all of it.

    Stuffed Burgers tonight.
    Some kind of fish tomorrow.
    Going to shoot for ribs on Saturday!

    I was a little hesitant at first, but after that maiden voyage of a cook I can't wait to get home and try something else!
    Grand Rapids, MI
  • Haws72688
    Haws72688 Posts: 41
    I got a nice set of baby backs at the grocery store this morning to cook tomorrow.  I found the carwash recipe and some rib rub by Meathead.

    Anything else I should know or shoot for?
    Grand Rapids, MI
  • dlk7
    dlk7 Posts: 1,053
    Welcome - you are going to love Carwash Mike's ribs - the are awesome.

    Two XL BGEs - So Happy!!!!

    Waunakee, WI

  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    Haws72688 said:
    I got a nice set of baby backs at the grocery store this morning to cook tomorrow.  I found the carwash recipe and some rib rub by Meathead.

    Anything else I should know or shoot for?
    Better put more lump in than you have. It's common for people to think less lump less waste but the egg snuffs it out so fast you lose very little.

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON