Newbies Ask for Advise

The Cen-Tex Smoker

HogHeaven said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Ever cook over a camp fire or in a webber kettle? or one of those pits that say "low-med-high"? Lots of great food gets cooked on these every weekend with no clue what the temp is. I could pull the dome thermo off my egg and it would make zero difference in the quality of 90% of my cooks. I'm glad to have it as a reference but I know I can cook a great steak over a hot fire as long as I can control the internal temp

I can drive better when I'm drunk and especially at night without my headlights on too... We are both ridiculous. Even the most accomplished Chef has a temp thermometer in his kitchen these days. I bet you say that you can figure out the done ness of a steak with just your fingers too. Try cooking a loaf of sourdough bread that you've been proofings and fermenting in the refrigerator for days in a BGE without a temp gauge. Do you check the air pressure in your tires by fell too?

I'll check amazingribs.com and get back to you with my (his) answer.

Little Steven

Can you cook a loaf of bread in your oven? Temp swings are ridiculous. I have a Wolf and I know it's true

tazcrash

back to the OP: 

the thing i love about bbq and grilling over baking is it doesnt have to be exact. its food not rocket science. 

temp a bit too high.... done quicker. 

touch too low. longer.......

I will still use my maverick for a general idea on low and slows from my living room. but at the end of the day its done when its done.

welcome to the manson family.

SmokeyPitt

It's starting to smell McNuttly around here.   :-?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

tazcrash said:

back to the OP: 

the thing i love about bbq and grilling over baking is it doesnt have to be exact. its food not rocket science. 

temp a bit too high.... done quicker. 

touch too low. longer.......

I will still use my maverick for a general idea on low and slows from my living room. but at the end of the day its done when its done.

welcome to the manson family.

Well said Taz.

tazcrash

thanks but its nothing but a regurgitation of everything i heard here and then put into practice to learn from. 

zen and the art of the egg. 

B-)

HogHeaven

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Ever cook over a camp fire or in a webber kettle? or one of those pits that say "low-med-high"? Lots of great food gets cooked on these every weekend with no clue what the temp is. I could pull the dome thermo off my egg and it would make zero difference in the quality of 90% of my cooks. I'm glad to have it as a reference but I know I can cook a great steak over a hot fire as long as I can control the internal temp

I can drive better when I'm drunk and especially at night without my headlights on too... We are both ridiculous. Even the most accomplished Chef has a temp thermometer in his kitchen these days. I bet you say that you can figure out the done ness of a steak with just your fingers too. Try cooking a loaf of sourdough bread that you've been proofings and fermenting in the refrigerator for days in a BGE without a temp gauge. Do you check the air pressure in your tires by fell too?

I'll check amazingribs.com and get back to you with my (his) answer.

Everyone has a reference point... Let me see who I should use as a mentor? A former Cordon Bleu professor that says cooking on a BGE without knowing what you cooking temp is, is like driving at night without your headlights on or some backyard griller that tells me the temp your meat is cooking at is irrelevant... I think I'll stick with Meathead. He owns a BGE by the way.

Eggcelsior

Hogster, you're going all Depeche Mode with your rigid ideology by making some "stuffed chicken" professor your Personal Jesus.

Lighten up. There is more than 1 way to cook stuff. Cooking is "guidelines" compared to the "science" of baking. If there were only 1 right way to cook something, there would only be 1 restaurant cooking it since they are the only ones cooking it the "right" way. There seems to be a lot more burger joints than just McDonalds.

Don't get me wrong, I like amazing ribs and the info you post. Just because someone posts something that is different doesn't mean they're wrong. The best part? I have the freedom to choose what I want and test all options. That's the fun part about a cooker that makes it so easy to cook well.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

HogHeaven said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Ever cook over a camp fire or in a webber kettle? or one of those pits that say "low-med-high"? Lots of great food gets cooked on these every weekend with no clue what the temp is. I could pull the dome thermo off my egg and it would make zero difference in the quality of 90% of my cooks. I'm glad to have it as a reference but I know I can cook a great steak over a hot fire as long as I can control the internal temp

I can drive better when I'm drunk and especially at night without my headlights on too... We are both ridiculous. Even the most accomplished Chef has a temp thermometer in his kitchen these days. I bet you say that you can figure out the done ness of a steak with just your fingers too. Try cooking a loaf of sourdough bread that you've been proofings and fermenting in the refrigerator for days in a BGE without a temp gauge. Do you check the air pressure in your tires by fell too?

I'll check amazingribs.com and get back to you with my (his) answer.

Everyone has a reference point... Let me see who I should use as a mentor? A former Cordon Bleu professor that says cooking on a BGE without knowing what you cooking temp is, is like driving at night without your headlights on or some backyard griller that tells me the temp your meat is cooking at is irrelevant... I think I'll stick with Meathead. He owns a BGE by the way.

we just prefer you have an original point of view. We can all read the internet for free. Your buddy Meathead (who is great and I Highly respect) would be horrified that you are copying and pasting all his proprietary information on another forum. you should ask meathead if it's ok that you read this. he might get mad.

HogHeaven

I've chatted with Meathead in the last few days about this thread... I even sent him a copy of my original post. He made one correction. He said that he doesn't have any awards for BBQ awards because he is usually the judge. He loves a good strong debate about Reverse Sear VS the T Rex method. He finds it humorous that people think they can cook without knowing what temp their meat is cooking at, as do I. If people ask a question or respond to one of my statements I feel a need to respond with what I feel is the best information I have. Some people might be offended if it is different than their way of doing things. Everyone is entitle to their opinion and methods but there is nothing wrong with a good debate is there?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

there is nothing wrong with a good debate assuming you are using your own thoughts, experience and ideas. All you do is tell everyone what meathead says and that is the only way to do it. That's not a debate, it's regurgitating others original thought that we can all easily access..................I'll tell you what. I'll pull my dome thermo today and I'll do a hot cook for lunch and I'll totally change set ups and do ribs low and slow for dinner. I would do an overnighter but I'm flying out at 6am tomorrow. I won't use any temp measuring device at all. You name the meat to grill for lunch. I'll document everything and I'll be 100% honest on the outcome of each with photos. Even if you and Meathead think it humerous, I bet this lowly backyard griller can pull it off without a hitch. he could too....with his eyes closed (I'll even do that if you want). ...................... Then we'll have the debate you are after using original thought and experience. I'm not sure if you knew this, but mavericks and thermopens are a realitively new phenomenon. people have been cooking over fast or slow fires for thousands of years with no thermos. Did you enjoy your grandmother's food? did she have wires coming of her oven and say "oh, my roast is 203....3 more degrees and she'll be done"? Of course not. ......................so let's have that debate. You in?

GK59

Re: tightning the bolts. Did anyone ever put a torque wrench on those bolts for good reading? Or has BGE given those numbers?

The Cen-Tex Smoker

and i don't really want to make this about me. there are dozens of people on here who could easily do this. I hope others will jump in as well and have a "Thermo free saturday". Could be fun.

SmokeyPitt

Im in!

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Me too!

Eggcelsior

Cen-Tex, I just got my new large. I won't even install the thermo. I'm in too. Pork Tenderloin tonight.

canegger

Dont know what im cooking yet but i'm in.

RV10Flyer

GK59 said:

Re: tightning the bolts. Did anyone ever put a torque wrench on those bolts for good reading? Or has BGE given those numbers?

For the XL, the manual says 10 ft lbs. and goes on to discuss (in length) how to do it without a torque wrench.

henapple

if you kids don't stop I'm pulling over!.... and believe me, I will.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

henapple said:

if you kids don't stop I'm pulling over!.... and believe me, I will.

You are just looking for an excuse to pull over and buy beer.

henapple

no... just need to pee. :((

Little Steven

I would be in but it's very windy here and as we all know you can't control temps accurately in wind. I will say that I went without dome thermos altogether for at least a year. The old BGE ones were useless. Didn't burn or undercook anything the whole time.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Little Steven said:

I would be in but it's very windy here and as we all know you can't control temps accurately in wind. I will say that I went without dome thermos altogether for at least a year. The old BGE ones were useless. Didn't burn or undercook anything the whole time.

Well some people would find that humorous )

.

Little Steven

Humourous. Ok I'll try but you owe me if I burn dinner.

Foghorn

My son are cooking over a campside firepit - just as we did last night.  The caveman filets were remarkably good as was the morning bacon.  So clearly we are in.  We are doing filets again tonight as we are cooking for company so we wanted to work out the kinks last night.  We're also cooking Granny Smith apple pastries wrapped in crescent rolls with cinnamon and brown sugar - and a dutch oven apple pie.

CajunEggHead

On my LBGE I told the dealer if he wanted to make the sale he would have to put it together and deliver it. He said no problem with no charge. You might get to deliver with extra $$ My dealer made the first burn in mine and I got a large bag of Green Egg charcoal, and some lighters.. Good luck and learning to use it is half the fun.........

:-*

Fred19Flintstone

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

and i don't really want to make this about me. there are dozens of people on here who could easily do this. I hope others will jump in as well and have a "Thermo free saturday". Could be fun.

I would, but I've been trying to be a kinder, gentler egghead.  Pulling my thermo and cooking successfully would be simple for kettle vet because that's done all the time.  Dome thermos are not standard equipment on a Weber kettle.  Plus I would gloat and be obnoxious and like I said, I'm trying to soften my image here. 

Little Steven

You pulled "The Donald"!

Fred19Flintstone

Little Steven said:

You pulled "The Donald"!

Are you insinuating that I was jerkin' my gerkin?

Little Steven

No, although who doesn't, I meant you took Grapes down as your avatar. Probably something to do with your kinder, gentler image