XL vs Large - what downside to XL besides price? 2015 discussion

chuckwoo

First off, I want to say how amazing this forum seems to be.  Generally speaking, most comments seem to be extremely helpful and friendly, with the occasional harsh note mixed in.  I am looking forward to learning from my fellow BGE peer group as I have a long way to go before I consider myself anything but a novice.

My wife surprised me for my 40th birthday with a new egg, leaving the choice of size to me.  After inspecting both XL and Large in a store, and even upon hearing that Larges outsell XL by 4:1, we both agreed that grill space is a premium and that there doesn't appear to be many downsides to the XL other than price.  In reading other forum posts on this topic (and sorry for starting a fresh one), there do seem to be many more people who obviously own the Large.  The one factor that is so often left out of the discussion seems to be price.   I saw one post that suggested people are simply justifying their own decision...certainly makes sense from a psychology perspective.  But everyone has their reasons and I'm interested in facts.  I admit I'm a little nervous about the XL.  I know the large is great - I'm just hoping my XL is a bigger version of great!

So, besides price (which I know is a big issue for people), what are the disadvantages of having the bigger XL model? 

- Several people have told me that you don't really need to use an entire fill of charcoal for smaller grilling meals (i.e. cooking steaks or burgers/brats at 350-500 degrees).  You can generally reuse the leftover charcoal and you can load a smaller pile on one side of the grill or use a charcoal reducing ring.

- Our salesperson and a few people we know also mentioned that the L and XL get up to desired temp at about the same pace so firing up the XL won't really take longer (though several people write that cooling it down takes longer)

- Others have said that eggessories are limited for the XL - but that seems to have been erased over past 3 years since the XL was updated.  Ceramicgrillstore certainly has no shortage of devices with the woo2, adjustable rack, etc.

Taking cost of the unit out of the equation, is there any real downside to the XL?  Does it hold low/slow temps just as well? Is it just as easy to cook routine meals (brats, dogs, burgers, steaks, chicken breast)?  I figure this is a long term commitment so just wanted as much real estate as possible and actually think the routine cooking is when I want more space.  I know on a large you can easily cook enough brisket, pulled pork or ribs for 10-12 people, if not more.  Of course it will be nice to put out 40 lbs for the occasional block party, etc.

Thanks for any comments and I'm looking forward to picking up skills from the many BGE masters on this forum

namo442

I just got the XL and I love, but I go through lump pretty fast it seems. 

Ozzie_Isaac

How many people do you regularly cook for?  Long term are you limited to one egg?  Do you like to fiddle with racks, etc or just cook on a single level?

DoubleEgger

Get the XL. It's an old Cadillac. Roomy with a great ride. A packer brisket will fit without the ends extending past the platesetter. 

WeberWho

I've heard the XL can get hot spots.  I'm not sure if there is any truth to that 

Grillmagic

I can only speak for my self but I have a XL and Love it, I often cook for just 2/3 people and on the weekends 10/12 is the norm, I have the L Bracket lump dividers and they work grate to divide the cooking surface for indirect and direct or to just use one part of the grill. 

UrbanForestTurnings

Go for the x-large. Plenty of room to work with. You can cook for two or a crowd

fishlessman

having a mini, a small, and a large, the lump usage is exponential as the size goes up. first few years with a large cost me 400 to 500 dollars per year in lump and i mainly cook for one or two. i can get 40 pounds of pork butt cooking in my large or two 8 pound butts and two 8 pound brisket flats in one cook

Legume

I only have an XL.  Used to regularly cook for 5+, now mostly for 2.  I like the real estate, not having to pile stuff up if I don't want to.  I will probably get a small or a mini-max in the next year or so, but could easily be happy just chugging along with the XL.  Downside - would be the mobility, so think about where it's going to be, if you want it in a table or not, will you want to move it around the yard, etc.  Mine's in a nest on concrete and I only shift it around a few feet now and then, so not a prob but could be more of an issue depending on your yard and setup.

1move

Go for the XL, I love mine and had it for about three years. Have had no issues and most of the time I cook for 4-5 people and still find that I need more room. I picked up a mini Max recently for quick steak or chicken cooks but the XL is a real workhorse and I an usually get 3-4 cooks out of one load of lump

Dobie

If I did it over again I would get the XL instead of my large. I see an XL being added one day. 

jimithing

Kinda in the same boat as the OP.  Saw the L and XL in stores and couldn't believe the L still outsells the XL.  Maybe it's because I was coming from a 22.5" grate on a Weber but I couldn't stomach moving down in grate size.  I had to get the XL.  I'm sure it uses more fuel than the L but I'm happy with my choice.  I was thinking about getting a reducer rings to concentrate the coals when I'm just doing a couple of steaks or something.  Not sure if that really will work or not.

r8rs4lf

The downside for me when I HAD the XL was that I didn't really use it all that much after I got my MBGE. I had all the CGS accessories for it as well. It was just too big for me. 

If if I had to do it all over again I would get the LBGE with the rig from the CGS. That would pretty much cover all the bases for me. Currently I have a MBGE and the MM which is the perfect combo for us right now. 

I think it all comes down to how many people you will be cooking for most of the time. When I purchased my XL, I figured it's best to have more and not need when it came to space, but I just never really used it like that. It almost seemed like a hassle to fire it up for some brats or burgers. I have a pretty big extended family where I thought the XL would come in handy, but I only did one big cook on it for them in the 2-3 years I had it. Best advice I can give is figure out how many people you will be cooking for "most" of the time. Then base your decision on that. 

Legume

@jimithing I've been wanting to buy reducer rings for a long time, just haven't yet.  Until I get a woo for cooking with a wok where I would want the fire concentrated in the middle, I just bank the lump against the back when I want to cook with two-zones.  Plenty of room to do that effectively on the XL.

SmokingPiney

jimithing said:

Kinda in the same boat as the OP.  Saw the L and XL in stores and couldn't believe the L still outsells the XL.  Maybe it's because I was coming from a 22.5" grate on a Weber but I couldn't stomach moving down in grate size.  I had to get the XL. 

That is why I went with the XL. I was cooking on a Weber and a gasser. I figured I was laying out serious coin for the EGG and I may as well get the larger cooking surface. I'm glad I did. 

Foghorn

"Taking cost of the unit out of the equation, is there any real downside to the XL?"

No.


"Does it hold low/slow temps just as well?"

Yes.


"Is it just as easy to cook routine meals (brats, dogs, burgers, steaks, chicken breast)?"

Yes.  Although you may need to compensate a little for its extra large size if you want to get it up to temp quickly for a short weeknight cook.  When I'm in a hurry, I use 4 Rutland firestarters in ONE place in the back to get the fire going for a quick, small cook.  In 10 minutes it is ready to go.  The XL is big enough to be able to put 2-4 meat portions toward the back directly over the hottest part of the fire and move them to the cooler front of the grill without using a charcoal ring or bracket.  If you are cooking for more (and it is a weekend and not in a hurry) and need the entire surface to be roughly the same temp - say for a dozen chicken breasts - you can light a single firestarter in 4 DIFFERENT places around the grill and wait about 30 minutes for the entire firebox to be hot.

It took me a while to figure out tailoring how I light the grill to my needs on that particular cook really makes the cook go better.  Someone mentioned earlier that the XL has hot spots.  It definitely has a large enough firebox and grate that it can have non-uniformity of temperature.  Once you know your grill well enough you can use this to your advantage - or overcome it as you see fit.

ryantt

I know everyone says the XL uses more lump, but coming from weber OTG I seem to be using less lump than  before.  I will admit it looks kind of funny with 6 hotdogs on it.  I love my XL but can see a medium in my house sooner or later. I bought one as a house warming gift for B-I-L and it is amazing.  

onedbguru

I have an XL and have fired it up to cook just one hot dog.  So, for me, there is NO downside whatsoever. 

chuckwoo

Wow, what a terrific group of people to reply with so many helpful comments in three to four hours.  Thank you all so much.  Particularly laughed when ryantt said it feels odd to cook a couple hot dogs on a giant XL.  Oh well, I will have to get used to it.  I can easily see why people might go with a large and small or some combo.  Live and learn.

no clue how I will figure out hot spots and not sure how to calibrate the thermometer on the dome.   Also still trying to figure out what on earth the woo2 is.   I get the adjustable rack (known on this acronym heavy site as the AR) but what does the woo do?  Also massively  intrigued by the half dome pizza tray or heat dispenser, whatever looks like a half moon and blocks heat on half the grate.   

i have to openly admit that it is highly unlikely that i won't be buying a DigiQ guru device.  Just seems like the biggest benefit of the BGE is maintaining perfect temp for low and slow and any device that enables me to sleep and cook some mean barbecue is perfect for me.  I had such struggles keeping 250 on the webber kettle that I can't believe my egg will hold 250 without tinkering.   But willing to try

Thnaks to this amazing community of egg people

luckyboy

I bought the extra large.when I bought I t I was in it for the long haul.I thought it would be big enough to cook whole shoulders  if I chose.the fact that there was only my wife and myself wasn't a factor. The price was a thought but you get what you pay for besides you won't get at that price again (inflation).The only issue I had was the nest it sat in, to me it looked like tip over waiting to happen so I bought a table for it and then I saw a picture where the egg table cought fire.pick one and enjoy yourself.as far as burning to much lump, I don't think so.

1move

I have done low and slow cooks as low as 160* below that it was very difficult to maintain even with the CyberQ. I usually do a brisket and ramp down to 180* where I want to hold the temperature until the party gets started. 

I Was surprised how little charcoal I used on a 22hour cook (about half on the XL) my biggest investment after the egg was the CyberQ and the plate setter

stevesails

I bought my XL 5 years ago.  I love it.  I always figure too much grill is better than not enough.   
In hindsight I would register the warrantee in my sons name so the warrantee will continue after he gets it.   

Crimsongator

I believe the 2 tier system for the XL is better and the gap between the platesetter and fire ring is less. If you like the size then go for the XL. The large is the most popular egg due to size. Almost every accessory that will fit in the large can also be used in the XL. Go for it, I did (after owning a large I upgraded)

GATABITES

XL all day baby:

BYS1981

I have a medium and XL. I bought the medium and about 2 years later the XL. nowadays I primarily use the XL, if I want to only do 2 chicken breasts I load up only one side of the XL and leave the platesetter out. I have 3 children and got the XL with the thought that eventually I be doing bbqs for teenagers etc.

I like the option of having 2 eggs going at once, sounded great, but in reality I have ran them both at the same time about 3 times. 

stlcharcoal

I'm one of the few that doesn't like his XL.  I use it to grill, but not to smoke.

I'm a 20-yr BGE guy and the XL cooks a lot different than a large or medium.  Look at it--it's shorter than a Large.  It looks like someone took a Large and squashed it.  The firebox is only 6 inches deep and has a 18" diameter fire grate opening, so the fire moves around on low and slow cooks.  It's not like a Large, where the opening is only 9", then flows up through a foot of charcoal.

The other thing I have never liked about the XL is the radius on the dome.  It needs to be much taller.  It used to be that you could put a turkey in it, but only in the middle with no drop pan or plate setter.  They changed the radius on the dome, made the firebox and fire ring lower (which caused new problems), then notched the fire ring.  They should have just made the base 6" deeper so it matched the Large's profile--then the firebox, fire ring, platesetter, dome, etc would not have been an issue since the base was plenty deep.  Looks like they fixed it on the XXL.

For grilling, you'll notice that the fire is always much hotter on the back side of the grill.

For as much as I complain about it, I still use it.  But I like my Large and Medium much better.  If I had it to do over, I'd probably just have three Larges.  That way you could share all of the accessories, and mix/match parts as needed.

Thatgrimguy

I'll never buy a large. Having cooked on both, the XL is better for me in every way.  The old XL was a pita apparently. But the new one is great. I have cooked on every size and find the XL to be the easiest and most versatile. But it's what I started with and cook on the most, so it's what I'm comfortable with.

pescadorzih

I love my XL, especially for l&s cooks. I just recently purchased a minimax, as it is just the wife and I for midweek cooks.
My sister has a lg and it just seems too small to me.  If it was about 2-3" larger in diameter it would be perfect. 
As far as charcoal usage, the XL uses WAY less charcoal than what I was using in my bullet smokers.

Big_Green_Craig

The extra room the XL is great, but I went through a ton of fuel using it as a daily cooker. I burned through so much fuel that I was able to justify adding a Medium which paid for itself in fuel savings alone. 

andersa

Hello everybody, I've had the XL for a year and love it. I just want to add that don't overlook the weight of stuff, like the plate setter. I doubt my wife or kids would be happy messing around with it. It's certainly a two hand operation, which is a major PITA when doing e.g. reverse sear and taking out a seriously hot plate setter. With proper protection and muscle, it is of course mainly a nuisance!

YEMTrey

I absolutely love my XL and the cooking real estate it provides.  Would never consider getting rid of it for something smaller.