Novice Cook Advice

jwc6160

just purchased a LBGE and it arrives assembled on Monday. I am a fairly novice cook and usually gas grill burgers, chicken, etc. I am excited to try smoking as I have toyed with it a bit on my gasser. I know this is a pretty general question but what would you have liked to have been told before you started?  Could be lighting, cleaning, cooking, anything. Again, I am a novice and will most likely start with burgers and or chicken, but I am curious to see if there is anything I should know right off the bat. 

Thanks

SoCalTim

Temp control. It wish someone would have told me about 'catching the temp on the way up' ... My first cook which was chicken quarters, it got way out of hand. My target temp was 350, but I let the egg get to 600 thinking it would easily go back down. How wrong was I.

Skiddymarker

Fill the fire box to just over the lower edge of the fire ring. Start the lump on the top near the front. Let the fire follow the air down into the lump pile. After 10 minutes or so, close the dome with vents open and watch the temp. When it gets close to what you want start to slow it down - temp on an egg is like driving an oil tanker. The nose knows, smell the top vent, when it is good, put the food on. If the temp drops - do not adjust right away, it will come back. 

Good luck. 

TexanOfTheNorth

Welcome to the forum and to the lifestyle!

Hard to know what to suggest if you are a novice cook. For me it would be to relax and enjoy the process of learning. It's not an exact science and you'll find many ways to get to the same end point; along with many different end points. You'll probably screw some things up along the way but, stick with it. When you have specific questions about something you want to try post them here. There are more than enough knowledgeable, helpful and friendly people here willing to give advice.

THEBuckeye

Don't over or under cook stuff

SoCalTim

@Skiddymarker ... Where were you when I was starting out? lol.

THEBuckeye

Ya, you gotta catch the temp on the way up. 

Have fun and keep cooking.

Practice makes perfect. You'll be offering advice to novice Eggers in no time. 

Carolina Q

Welcome to the zoo! My advice would be... Don't be tempted to buy stuff because people here are raving about it. You can learn and get by quite nicely without all the gadgets people insist you MUST have! After you have some experience, maybe you will decide you really DO want the gadget, but wait a bit. I have several "must haves" that I virtually never use.

For cooking ideas/recipes, go HERE. Page after page of great looking food. Find one you like the look of and go to the recipe. They have a good search function too, if you're looking for a specific dish. To cook it on the egg, you may have to "adapt", but that's where we can help. Just ask and someone will be along to suggest how to do it on the egg. Or just use the oven! LOL!

Mattman3969

There is a bunch of great info on this forum all the way from temp control to how to cook your steak.  You gotta play with it to find what works for you.  
 Like @carolina Q said experiment a while before giving in to the pocket book draining suggestions(some are good ones but you have to figure out how your gonna use your egg). 
  Temp control will get you a long way.  If I was you I would fill it up with lump and fire it up and try to stabilize a 250° fire then work your way up in 50° increments and make notes of where your vent settings are for each stage.   This was my biggest hurdle with the egg.

Don't forget to enjoy the experience and we are all here to help whenever you need it!!

gdenby

I would hope that when its delivered, the dome hasn't gone out of alignment. The Egg ceramics are heavy, and moving them can cause the hinges and bands to get loose. Not to in any way suggest this will happen, but I've done it to myself. There's a practice called "the dollar bill test." That is, if the dome is set down, there will be no place that a slip of paper will easily slide out. Its standard practice after changing the gaskets, and sometimes after extreme high temperature cooks where the metal fittings expand and loosen. Worth checking when the delivery is made. Otherwise, temp control can be difficult.

And so to temp control. I 'spose you will want to get right to cooking. I know I did. But the biggest issue to successful Egging is temperature control. Its not very hard, but the simple mechanics of vent control do not produce quick results, and are somewhat variable.

So, start a fire. any amount of lump you like. have the daisy wheel half open, and the bottom vent 3/4 closed. Let it burn for 30 - 45 minutes. See what temp the dome therm shows. Then open the Dome for a few minutes, as if you were adding food, and maybe some accessories. Close, and wait. Most likely you will see the dome therm reading drop right away. Then increase, to above what it was. The time with the open dome flooded the chamber w. oxygen, and so the fire expanded. But then, after awhile, the temp will drop to about where it was before. These fugitive temp changes throw lots of people off. I certainly was one. I didn't realize that after putting in a big piece of cold meat the heat would fluctuate a large amount, and maybe not settle back in for 45 minutes or more.

Oh, and #1, don't put the food in till the thick white smoke has cleared. At lower temps that can be around 30 - 45 min, at higher, 15 -20. Food put in before will likely have an acrid taste.

stemc33

Take your time, especially when putting the food on. Like what @Skiddymarker said "the nose knows". My first few meals had an acrid taste due to food going on before the bad smoke (high in Volatile Organic Compounds or VOC's) cleared. Hold your hand over the top vent for a second or two and then smell it. Good smell equals good food. Bad smell equals bad food. 

You'll want a good food thermometer if you haven't got one yet. I agree with Carolina Q about buying stuff, but a food thermo is a must need. I use a ThermoPop from Theroworks. 

Most important tip: Have Fun!

pgprescott

Go to the BGE main website. They have videos under "getting started" tab.  I think they are very helpful to the newbie. 

hapster

Most important thing... remember to have fun first, and make sure and take plenty of pictures. Share your cooks, good and bad, that's how we learn, plus posting pics takes care of all the food porn addicts here

AD18

Be patient, smoking is an art to be acquired.  Be persistent, if something goes wrong learn and try again with fixes applied.  Have fun, if your not having fun why bother:)  Best of luck!!!

lousubcap

Welcome aboard and enjoy the journey.  What follows is a collection of info ( some of which has been mentioned above) that may be of use:

Here’s a link to all things ceramic-chances are if you have a question the answer is within this site somewhere.  Check out the recipe section for some great ideas. http://www.nakedwhiz.com/nwindex.htm 

For additional links to cooking/recipe sites; here are two very good ones, depending what you are cooking:  This site contains a wealth of the science behind Q cooking along with info on about every type of meat cook you would attempt: http://amazingribs.com/

Here’s the second one:  http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/ 

After-market toys- With the BGE there are three basic styles of cooking;  “direct”-where the cooking grid is on top of the fire ring; “raised direct”-where the grid is elevated at least to the gasket-line (this setup requires after-market stuff-easiest is to get another grid and then use three fire bricks (or three empty aluminum beer cans) and place them on the grid at the fire ring and then put the second grid on top. The third is “indirect” where there is a heat deflector (platesetter or some other type stone) between the burning lump and the cooking grid.  This is the setup for low&slow long duration cooks.  I would get comfortable playing around with the BGE before any major after-market investments.  Will save you $$ in the long run. 

Some observations-make sure you calibrate your dome thermo-boil some water, then insert the thermo and check the temp.  If not around 210*F, then note the off-set and use the nut on the back to correct.  Then recheck.

Temperature is a controlled by the volume of lump burning.  The volume is controlled by the air-flow thru the BGE.  In thru the bottom vent and out the top.  Make sure when you set it up that the fire box opening is aligned with the lower vent. 

When adjusting the vent(s) to change temperature, the feedback loop can take some time.  Changes in air-flow are reflected in the dome thermo temp.  Don’t chase temperature; +/- 10-15*F is close enough.

“Stable temperature” is a relative term.  Means you haven’t moved the vents and the temperature is steady for anywhere from 30-60 minutes.

That's more than enough for now.  Bottom-line don't over-think it and have fun.