In a country far far far away

Unknown

Hope you folks can give me a bit of straight advice. I'm a kiwi (New Zealander - and bbq is one of our three national sports!) living in Bolivia, South America, with my American wife who is a fish-eating-vegeterian. Its my birthday coming up and I'm keen on getting a small egg out here, but its going to cost a lot (in money or favors) to get it down here, and once its here there are a couple of issues:[p]1. We live above 11,000ft here, does anyone have experience with how well the BGE burns at higher altitude?
2. Since I'm not going to have the opportunity to see a BGE in the flesh, I was wondering if anyone could tell me how practical it is to be cooking fish and meat at the same time WITHOUT THE MEAT DRIPPING ONTO THE FISH! and how easy is it to remove and clean the surface the meat lies on so that that surface isn't "contaminated" by meat juices.
3. People on the forum talk a lot about great service from the factory, which is great, but since I live way far away, I don't want to have a problem and then have to wait a couple of weeks or months for the solution to arrive (a new part or whatever), so what I need to know is... how reliable and problem/failure free is the BGE, can I expect reliability and no-problem life for a long time?
4. Buying pre-packaged charcoal is probably going to be a problem, but out here there are plenty of folks who hand-make charcoal without addatives ... are we talking the same thing (it looks roughly the same) or is there some magic about the pre-packaged stuff?
5. I'm guessing there is no substitude for the packaged wood chips and chunks ... like natural dried wood chips and chunks? Any thoughts?[p]The only reason I'm considering the BGE despite these obvious difficulties is the enthusiasm/evangelism you guys have shown on this forum ... so if you can help me out with some information I would be most appreciative.[p]Thanks

Citizen Q

Alistair,
I cook on a large, whick has plenty of room. I've seen small Eggs, and though it might be tight, you could cook meat and fish at the same time on the same grid though I don't know your wife's definition of "contaminated". You might want to cook one meat and then the other while the first "rests". As for the other issues:[p]1.Higher altitiude-if you can light a match, you can light an Egg[p]2.Cleaning is simple, just burn it off while you dine, then shut it down for the night.[p]3.Very problem free, if you do need replacement parts, under most circumstances the Egg will be usable while you wait for shipping. It would take catastrophic damage to render the Egg unuseable.[p]4.No magic to packaged lump charcoal, just updated methods for the ancient art of handmade charcoal.[p]5.Packaged wood chips/chunks are a huge scam. We only buy them because us Yanks are too damn lazy to go out into the woods and pick the stuff up off the ground. Limbs and cuttings from any hard woods will do the job. Edible fruit and nut woods are the best, just be sure that the wood is well seasoned (air dried) for at least 3 months if cut late summer to early winter and at least 6 months if cut late winter to early summer. [p]Cheers,
C~Q

QBabe

Alistair,[p]You can certainly fit both meat and fish on the cooking grid of the small, but the meat juice contamination issue might present a problem, unless you fashioned or purchased a raised grid to cook the fish on. Or, you might consider the medium instead. [p]I live at sea level, so can't help with the altitude question.[p]As far as cleaning the cooking surface, you'll get a lot of advice to "let 'er rip and burn it off", but I feel that 1) increases the risk of you melting the gaskets and 2) doesn't work as well as simply spraying the grid with Pam (or some kind of cooking spray) each time you use it, and then afterwards, washing it just like you do your dishes and pots and pans, with a little hot soapy water. It'll clean up beautifully and there'll be no question of contamination, since you're giving it the same treatment as your eating utensils and dishes. But, the secret to making it easy is using the cooking spray beforehand.[p]The BGE is VERY reliable and for me has been virtually problem free. I have a large, medium, small and mini. I've had my eggs now for about 3 years and only one of them has had a firebox crack. And, frankly, that's not an issue, either, since it doesn't prevent me from using it at all. Next time I go to Atlanta, I'll get a replacement under warranty, but it really is not a big deal. I've never had a problem with any of the other components, except for replacing the gasket on one of them (the oldest).[p]I believe there are a few eggors out there who make their own charcoal, so I imagine you'd be fine using what you have there, as long it is hardwood charcoal and not something like pine.[p]We use our own dried wood whenever we can. We have oak and hickory trees in our yard, so when we get a limb down or are doing trimming, we keep them and let them season and use as we wish. You can also use fruitwoods like apple, cherry, plum, citrus, guava, etc. ABSOLUTELY no reason not to! And, personally, I like chuncks MUCH better than chips. The chips burn up way too quickly.[p]Tonia
:~)

BlueSmoke

Alistair,
Good advice below. The only thing I'd add regards cooking meat beside fish - I'd put aluminum foil under one or the other (probably the fish) which keeps it "clean" as well as aids turning.[p]Ken