Large Egg or XL Egg.

ChefB85

I am trying to decide which egg to go with. My girlfriend and I entertain sometimes but nothing to crazy. I plan on attempting competitive BBQing in the next 12 months. 

lousubcap

You will find many pro's and con's to either choice-the best I can offer is "buy the largest you can afford".  Regarding competitions give the forum a search or use google and add "big green egg" to your query as there a few very successful teams using the BGE but while it shines in the backyard the limited volume per unit is a big handicap on the circuit.  FWIW-
BTW-welome aboard and enjoy the journey wherever you land.

ChefB85

Thanks, I am really excited. The more I read it seems as if I need to buy the L and maybe a small. I might go to my dealer and ask his opinion as well. 

lousubcap

You could expect me to extoll the virtues of the L&S combo as that is what I run with (see my sig).  That said, the benefits are two different fires/cooks at the same time and the flexibility that brings.  
But back to your second point about the competitions, you just need to sort that out-BTW there are many members here who are serious on the circuit or dabble in it and several more who own true smokers.  
Enjoy the journey.  It's a fun ride every time you fire one up.

ChefB85

Thanks I appreciate your help!

WeberWho

I have the Large and XL. I use the large the most. It fits 95% of my cooks. The other 5% I could make work on the large. The XL is nice for bigger cuts of meat. You might want to go XL if you plan on going into competition 

bgebrent

I have a L and XL.  I use the L much more as it's just me and my better half mostly.  I bust out the XL in the summer when college kids descend upon us. Just depends on what you imagine you'll be cooking the most and for how many.

RedSkip

Two Larges,my at way you can share accessories in both.

Davec433

Buy the biggest you can afford.

DoubleEgger

Grill space... Better to have it and not need it rather than needing it and not having it. 

If you want to cook packer briskets and ribs, the XL is better IMO because the entire piece of meat is over the platesetter. 

badinfluence

Not going to say either way with the large or extra large for home use, but I can say comp cooking will. Require multiple eggs either way. If you are cooking all 4 categories pluses a open. 1 egg will not cut it even with the XXL. And portability of the eggs is a struggle.

Tinyfish

If you will be doing some competitive cooks then I say you need two eggs for sure. This way you can run two different temps at the same time. 

dlk7

2 XLs works for me.  The XL is extremely versatile in that you can do direct and indirect at the same time or raised and not raised at the same time or indirect and raised at the same time, etc. etc. etc.

jhl192

I have an XL and a Medium at my home and a large at my cottage.  I use them all a lot.  If I could only have one it would be the XL. Most versatile.  The large is an excellent grill but I spend more time and money getting everything to fit. 

SmokinBuckeye

I just went through this decision last month before settling on the XL. Just yesterday I was thinking how happy I am that I bought the XL. I do a lot of indirect and you lose the outside 2" of your grate for cooking as this is where the heat passes around the plate setter. A large would just be too small for me. I have decided that if I ever run into an issue needing different temps or methods and I can't work around it using the various accessories for the egg I can always fire up the Weber kettle (probably for any shorter/direct cooks) It's not an egg but it's paid for. 

Ladeback69

I asked this same question on here a year and a half ago whether to go with a large or XL.  
1st.  How many do you cook for?
2nd. How much do you entertain?
3rd What can you afford? 
4th is this your only grill/smoker?

I went with the XL because it fit all of these and am happy I did, but the Large is great too.

Now to the completion question, if you want to use BGE's to compete you will need more then one just because of the amount of food you need to cook and the different times they are do for turn in.  I have been helping my brother in law compete and he has one large trailer smoker he uses to smoke the brisket, pork butt and ribs and an ugly drum fir the chicken.  @MeatChurch on here has a large with him in completion, but does most of his meats on a Jumbo Pit.    In completion you will want to cook at least 2 butts, 1 to 2 briskets,  4 to 5 slabs of ribs and 14 or more pieces of chicken just to get 6 good pieces for turn in.  That's a lot of food.  There are many good stand alone smokers for that.  If you are serious about competing I would get a large for at home and a nice stand alone smoker that is easily transportable.  The large should handle most of your grilling needs and the smoker you do a lot of food for a party.  If you just want the most out of an egg, get the XL IMO.  Good luck and enjoy.

Downr@nge

I went with the XL and I am happy I did.  The extra grate space is worth it!  I'm getting ready to smoke a 18# brisket today!

rifrench

First one was a Large, next came a Small. Sometimes I wish I had bought an XL, money wasn't the problem, I am rather conservative, LOL.

YukonRon

Initially, I was going to buy the L. Then MBW, ( my beautiful wife ) brought up the notion of grill space. We do a lot of entertaining, and I just did not think a large would get it done. We decided to go with the XL, and on more than one occasion we looked back upon our decision as extremely wise. It is the most versatile and solid cooking tool I have ever purchased. 

littlerascal56

My large was always running out of room, as I cook multiple things at once.  I use my XL for everything, and love it.  No more shortage of room, and easy to control temperature.  I do have various shelves and stones, so I can do about anything I need to with the XL as far as heat zones. 

badinfluence

@littlerascal56 care to explain yourself as to what you disagree with my other statement above?

stompbox

XL XL XL XL

I cannot recommend it enough.  I am now seeking out in the next year or two to get a mini or medium to do small cooks.

ChefB85

Thanks for all the feedback, my cousin has two mediums because I don't know what he was thinking. Money is not a problem I am just concerned with wasting charcoal if I buy the XL egg. Is that a possibility, or am I just overthinking this? I plan on buying mine in the next 3 weeks so I appreciate everyones feedback. You guys are all great, and I cannot wait to buy mine. 

stompbox

You can use fire bricks or dividers like Ceramic Grill Store sells to reduce lump use.

DoubleEgger

Just get the XL and be done with it. 

Ladeback69

ChefB85 said:

Thanks for all the feedback, my cousin has two mediums because I don't know what he was thinking. Money is not a problem I am just concerned with wasting charcoal if I buy the XL egg. Is that a possibility, or am I just overthinking this? I plan on buying mine in the next 3 weeks so I appreciate everyones feedback. You guys are all great, and I cannot wait to buy mine. 

Depends how often you cook, but my XL doesn't do to bad on useage.  I can do 14 hour L&S shut it down and reuse the lump for quite a few times before adding more.  The XL is pretty efficient, it just takes more then to fill it.   

littlerascal56

Use a "lump reducer" which is a 12" expanded mesh I welded up.. I use it for weeknight cooks, and slide it over to the side if want to cook direct on one side.   Use a 19" half moon stone for the side I cook "indirect" with the Woo2.  Also have the BGE 1/2 grate w/drip pan, so I can get my cooks up into the dome easily.  Cooking pizzas are done with 2 19"half stones on the Woo2, the BGE SS grate at felt line, then 3 large springs that push my 21" BGE stone up into the dome. Lots of ways to cook makes the XL the grill of choice for me. 

A31unit

Large

ceramic_cooker

Ladeback69 said:

ChefB85 said:

Thanks for all the feedback, my cousin has two mediums because I don't know what he was thinking. Money is not a problem I am just concerned with wasting charcoal if I buy the XL egg. Is that a possibility, or am I just overthinking this? I plan on buying mine in the next 3 weeks so I appreciate everyones feedback. You guys are all great, and I cannot wait to buy mine. 

Depends how often you cook, but my XL doesn't do to bad on useage.  I can do 14 hour L&S shut it down and reuse the lump for quite a few times before adding more.  The XL is pretty efficient, it just takes more then to fill it.   

For what it is worth, I went through the same thought process as you about a year ago. I spent a lot of time talking with the dealer. They thought the large would meet most of my needs. We use the BGE a lot, 3-4 times a week. One thing the dealer mentioned was that a lot of the people buying the XL were trading up from a large after using it for a while. We like to cook larger items which include turkeys, brisket and large slabs of ribs. I finally decided on the XL to make sure I didn't have buyers remorse later and glad I did. Knowing there would be a slight increased cost in the amount of charcoal that it holds, I purchased the Ang-L brackets from the Ceramic Grill Store (http://shop.ceramicgrillstore.com/ang-l-brackets-pair-xl/) that we use to manage the charcoal use for a lot of our day-to-day cooking. This setup has worked great. good luck. 

littlerascal56

Picture of lump with fire starter in center.  Not any more that a my large would take.  

chef_jeff

I just sold my XL Egg and went back to a large.