Some inputs for NEO's-(New Egg Owners)

lousubcap

There was a recent thread (can't find it) that contained some great inputs for NEO's.  I have noticed several NEO's of late so I will offer the following and hope the above referenced thread or contents makes its way here.

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.  And within reason you cannot load too much lump.

Good smoke-when it smells good, it is good.  Takes some time to burn off the VOC's (bad smoke) upon lighting.  There are about as many ways to the light the BGE as posters.  

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.

Welcome to all and enjoy the journey. 

Mosca

Good stuff, lousubcap, I wish I'd had it when I started. Especially the part about chasing temperatures. 

I would add the site http://www.nibblemethis.com to the resources, as it is kamado specific, with lots of photos and videos to help, and it is written by Chris Grove, who has participated here at the egghead forum. He is also the author of the very useful Kamado Smoker and Grill Cookbook, available at Amazon.

NPHuskerFL

Good Newbie Egging PSA. 

JethroVA

I think it may have been @caliking who posted that thread for newbies. I wonder if the mods could create a separate For Newcomers list where things could be posted.  Who knows a mod? 

blind99

Nola and John...

JohnInCarolina

I thought they were called "FNGs", short for new guys.  At least, that is what we call them behind their backs.

jeffwit

JethroVA said:

I think it may have been @caliking who posted that thread for newbies. I wonder if the mods could create a separate For Newcomers list where things could be posted.  Who knows a mod? 

I saw a mod on a trip out west. Here's a pic

jeffwit

ErnieMcCracken

caliking

@Jeffwit - you'll fit in quite nicely here

YukonRon

Cap leads the minions into OCD! I am baling what you are cutting @lousubcap
By the way, need to chat with you regarding a previous interest we had chatted about.

lousubcap

@YukonRon - PM sent.

Darby_Crenshaw

If only zippy would post the link to steven's post linking to Grandapa's link to his own post linking to helpful links. That would he helpful

(old in-joke)

JethroVA

I did send a message to the moderator to create a For New Guys separate list.

HeavyG

I would add to a FNG checklist:

1) Don't be afraid to use the forum search function. Chances are whatever question you have has been answered many times before thus you are likely to obtain a more timely response to your question/problem.

2) Don't post a new topic asking "Which is better - YETI or Rtic?". The answer is obvious. 

Darby_Crenshaw

HeavyG said:

Don't be afraid to use the forum search function. 

If you can stand the wait.

I agree that most topics have been discussed before, but two things

the search function sucketh

and

there is rarely anything posted that is original and hasn't been posted before


As trying as ot can be sometimes to see the same stuff over and over, it is often new to someone. See 'canadian bacon' for ex.

we'd have to delete more than a few posts here on the front page if the rule were 'new only'. 

HeavyG

Darby_Crenshaw said:

HeavyG said:

Don't be afraid to use the forum search function. 

If you can stand the wait.

I agree that most topics have been discussed before, but two things

the search function sucketh

and

there is rarely anything posted that is original and hasn't been posted before


As trying as ot can be sometimes to see the same stuff over and over, it is often new to someone. See 'canadian bacon' for ex.

we'd have to delete more than a few posts here on the front page if the rule were 'new only'. 

Well, to be honest, I never use this sites internal search function.

I use Google's site specific search function. For instance:

"best lump site:http://eggheadforum.com/"

JohnInCarolina

It would be nice to have a separate are of the forum where all the FNGs could go to find threads that answer frequent questions.  I mean, how many "What's Wrong With My Egg It Can't Get Hot?!?!?!?" threads have we seen?  

THEBuckeye

I do use the search feature and it is way too slow. I do usually find what I'm looking for given the wait.

bgebrent

THEBuckeye said:

I do use the search feature and it is way too slow. I do usually find what I'm looking for given the wait.

 I use the search function as well because I'm lazy.  Allows perfect time for sipping my beverage of choice, several times.

HeavyG

THEBuckeye said:

I do use the search feature and it is way too slow. I do usually find what I'm looking for given the wait.

Sometimes a leisurely approach isn't a bad thing but sometimes my ADD wins out.

Google has a lot of functionality that most people never use. One of those abilities, as I mentioned a bit ago, is to limit your search to just one specific website.

The format is to simply add this to the end of your search term "site:websiteURL"

So if you were looking for posts on the Egghead Forum with best lump in them the entry would be:

best lump site:http://eggheadforum.com

Google returns about 10,000 results in a half second versus this websites internal search function taking most of an afternoon. I kid.

The search as shown above would return posts with either the word "best" or "lump" in them. However, that may lead to less useful results since it is not limiting itself to finding posts where "best" and "lump" are adjoining - "best lump".

To limit the results to post where "best" and "lump" are together just put quotes around the terms you want to find:

"best lump" site:http://eggheadforum.com 

that returns just 264 hits which may be more useful and certainly easier and quicker to sift through.

Darby_Crenshaw

Gotcha

but most people here dunno that

They need to fix the search function 

cajunrph

They can add that functionality to the search feature. Many websites do that. Amazing Ribs is one.  

JohnInCarolina

HeavyG said:

Google has a lot of functionality that most people never use. One of those abilities, as I mentioned a bit ago, is to limit your search to just one specific website.

My favorite feature of Google is lmgtfy.