Decision Large or XL Big Green Egg

lahlooha

I had the same question and went with an XL. I even find that I need space when having guests.
No problem with small cooks either.

THEBuckeye

dstearn said:

You will be using the same amount of lump whether it is a LG or XL. If you go with the XL I can assure you that will be glad you did. 

How is that possible? All things being equal.

Ladeback69

lahlooha said:

I had the same question and went with an XL. I even find that I need space when having guests.
No problem with small cooks either.

I had the same question about 3 years ago and went with the XL, because it was going to be my only grill.  I replaced my 20 year old gad grill with it.  I love it and glad I went with the XL even though there are only three of us, but I do a lot of big cooks like I did this weekend and I had to use my Weber Smokey Mountain to help out, because I couldn't have gotten it all done in time with out it.  I would like to have a  large or medium to go with it and sell the WSM, but it is handy for smoking baked beans on.  If you are just cooking for the family the large is great and if you get something like the adjustable rig you could cook for quite a few.  Good luck on your choice and welcome to the Eggdiction.

fergi

sjm1027 said:

I have a small family but am the type that hem and haw about purchasing something. I am ready to buy my BGE in the next week and am really battling over L or XL egg. I figure this will be my only Egg and want to make sure I am making the right decision. I was thinking about the amount of lump coal, the height of the grill for making pizza... Surface area, do I really need the XL? Does anyone have a Large and wishes I got an XL? Anyone get an XL and wishes they got the L? Interested to hear the pro's and conn's
Thanks

I first purchased a large BGE and very quickly realized it wouldn't do what I wanted to do without purchasing over $200 worth of accessories from the Ceramic Grill Store. The first time I tried to cook multiple racks of baby backs I had to cut them in half to make them fit on the 18" grill. The ends of the ribs always get more done than the center ribs and I doubled the number of ends by cutting them in half. The first time I cooked a 15 pound brisket I had to drape it over a roasting rack to be able to shut the lid. Take your tape measurer to your local meat market before you buy. I think you will find that most ribs and large briskets are too long to fit on the large 18" grill. I like my large BGE but since purchasing the X-large life has been much easier for large pieces of meat. I really enjoy having both.

smokeybreeze

I bought a Large BGE and I was given an XL Primo. The Primo works great, but I use the BGE 99+% of the time.

sjm1027

I finally made the move and now a proud owner of an XL BGE. Plan on lighting it tomorrow and let it break in at around 350˚ per the instructions. 
Couple of questions:
- Did anyone get a manual with there BGE or is everything just on-line?
- What accessories dod you find to be the most useful? 
- On your first time lighting it did you actually cook anything or just let it run around 350˚
Thanks for everyone that helped me make the decision to get the XL I think it will be just right for my needs. 

WeberWho

sjm1027 said:

I finally made the move and now a proud owner of an XL BGE. Plan on lighting it tomorrow and let it break in at around 350˚ per the instructions. 
Couple of questions:
- Did anyone get a manual with there BGE or is everything just on-line?
- What accessories dod you find to be the most useful? 
- On your first time lighting it did you actually cook anything or just let it run around 350˚
Thanks for everyone that helped me make the decision to get the XL I think it will be just right for my needs. 

Wait on accessories and see what you really need. Time with the egg will tell you. I do recommend a good thermometer for temperature readings. I wouldn't worry about the 350 temp. Cook at whatever temp you are planning for your first meal. I'd start off with something simple and cheap like chicken. Play around with the vents to feel out the temp control. All is good! Enjoy

tikigriller

Congrats and officially welcome to your new lifestyle

Mosca

I have a Large, sometimes I've wished I had an XLarge, never wished I had a Medium. (Except as an additional BGE.)

GoldenQ

GET the XL and the smaller fire ring from the ceramic grill store to use for smaller direct cooks.      I have this and still want a smaller one but the smaller would be a large not medium. My son in law has a XL and a medium and wishes his wife had gotten the large for the second on as the medium is marginal for 4 steaks unless small steaks.

KC_Steve

I went through this very debate yesterday on Black Friday.  I started with a Medium this summer and quickly determined that I wanted something bigger.  I could not decide between having two (XL and M) or just one (L) as a replacement.  I decided on the Large, thinking that one Large will suit the needs of my small family.  I'll see how it goes over the next 6 months. 

The great news is that the Medium will continue to have a place on my deck, because I am not selling it.  And, if I want to go to an XL in the future, BGE's sell amazingly fast on CL, so I can always sell the Medium or the Large.

westernbbq

Welcome!
Get a cgs adj rig, spider, stone, oval grids, slide guides, crossbars plus round grid for up top

Get a bbq guru setup with pit viper and air inlet adapter

Get some cgs ceramic spacers

Get a wok that fits in the spider


Egg on brotha!

Spizzi

To anyone reading these threads,

I've had my XL for 4 years and just sold it to downsize. It all depends on your needs and what you'll do with it - not what you imagine you'll do with it that you're not doing now. Example, I always envisioned I would need the XL for entertainment but really never did. I actually found that when I entertained, I wanted to grill different meats requiring different temps - the XL didn't fulfill the use case. So this required me to cook a brisket overnight, throw it in the oven, and then free up the egg for some chickens the night of a party.  

I also originally followed the philosophy that you should go as large as you can because you can always use less than full capacity -- to each their own but in the end I always felt the XL was a little wasteful for my needs.

My use case is 98% of my grilling is a chicken or some steaks - the XL was excessive and yes I would burn through a lot of unnecessary lump as a result. Briskets were challenging to maintain a rock solid grill temp with the XL - hopefully the Large is a better option. Now I'm looking at a Large / mini max combo. Undecided for now. 

YukonRon

Late to this party.
We have an XL, which is the first BGE I bought. It is, by far, the best purchase for outdoor cooking I have ever made in my life. The second best purchase I have ever made for outdoor cooking is the MM.
My Beautiful Wife and I entertain large gatherings, and we do so, frequently. The XL has been able to provide consistant, top notch results, everytime. There are 6 we feed every night, and 4 of the 6 are walking bottomless pits.
The MM is used for the seldom meal My Beautiful Wife and I have together,when alone, or when we camp/tailgate.
Get an XL. You will never regret, not getting a larger size, especially when you have guests.

KennyCJR

I’ve been reading a lot of old threads regarding L vs XL BGE’s.  This one seemed to be the most recent and informative thread, so I thought I’d give it a bump and see what folks think today.

I currently have a medium and love it, but do feel I need a bit more room and or options. I think the large would likely be a great choice, if I get the adjustable rig and other accessories from the CGS, but then comes the question of accessories cost vs just getting the larger cooking grid with an XL?  

DMW

KennyCJR said:

I’ve been reading a lot of old threads regarding L vs XL BGE’s.  This one seemed to be the most recent and informative thread, so I thought I’d give it a bump and see what folks think today.

I currently have a medium and love it, but do feel I need a bit more room and or options. I think the large would likely be a great choice, if I get the adjustable rig and other accessories from the CGS, but then comes the question of accessories cost vs just getting the larger cooking grid with an XL?  

Just get the XL. And also get the XL adjustable rig. The Medium is 15" and the Large is 18". Not that much difference. The XL is 24", makes it worth the floor space.

Ozzie_Isaac

DMW said:

KennyCJR said:

I’ve been reading a lot of old threads regarding L vs XL BGE’s.  This one seemed to be the most recent and informative thread, so I thought I’d give it a bump and see what folks think today.

I currently have a medium and love it, but do feel I need a bit more room and or options. I think the large would likely be a great choice, if I get the adjustable rig and other accessories from the CGS, but then comes the question of accessories cost vs just getting the larger cooking grid with an XL?  

Just get the XL. And also get the XL adjustable rig. The Medium is 15" and the Large is 18". Not that much difference. The XL is 24", makes it worth the floor space.

 Or the XXL.  The price on that is now in mere mortal territory.

Matt86m

Here is my XL with 3 racks of St Louis ribs on it. You could add more with a 2nd level rack or a rack that lays them on their side. I love my XL.

cookingdude555

@KennyCJR, I have a medium, large, and two XL's (and the smaller eggs too, but they dont count really).  I think the large is a great egg, but if you are looking for capacity, the XL is the way to go.  I use the medium for almost everything, but the XLs do the big duty stuff.  The large is similar in size to the medium, so going just one size up will not gain you a ton of real estate.  In the end you will love either one that you get.  Then you will come back to these threads and prove to everyone why your set up is the best method  .

NCSmoky

cookingdude555 said:

@KennyCJR, I have a medium, large, and two XL's (and the smaller eggs too, but they dont count really).  I think the large is a great egg, but if you are looking for capacity, the XL is the way to go.  I use the medium for almost everything, but the XLs do the big duty stuff.  The large is similar in size to the medium, so going just one size up will not gain you a ton of real estate.  In the end you will love either one that you get.  Then you will come back to these threads and prove to everyone why your set up is the best method  .

The grid space gain from the medium to large is minimal but the availability of accessories for the large offsets some of the mediums advantage

OshawaDave

I wrestled with the same decision a year go and bought a large. There are three adults in our house and the large works fine. I too have a Weber that I can use if need be and use BGE to cook the protein. I could see myself adding a MM in future.

If I had only one grill, then I would buy an XL.   

DoubleEgger

Here’s a visual representation of the indirect cooking area on an XL 

SonVolt

My XL is already pretty cramped as far as smokers go. Like others have said, I would suggest getting the largest size you can afford.  Once the plate setter's in you've dropped your available cooking area down to the size of the plate setter. 

bubbajack

+1 for the XLBGE

kl8ton

If I were to get a do-over, I would go XL

TEXASBGE2018

To me there are only 2 factors in determining what size you should get and what ultimately made me decide on a large. I've always been taught have the right tool for the job. Just because you can afford it isn't a justification to buy it in my opinion.

1) How many people on average are you cooking for?

Don't buy a larger size because maybe once a year you are going to need to cook for 50-100 people when 99% of the time you cook for 4. There are ways around that with a smaller egg (Medium size or Large) Anything small or less you would have trouble keeping up with cooking for 100 people most likely.

2) What kind of foods do you like to cook?

If you are a steaks,burgers and sausages person you don't need an XL. If, however you like to cook 2 15lb Packer Briskets at a time or 7 Pork butts at a time get an XL or XXL.

The rest is white noise from people justifying their purchase in their own head or wishing they chose differently based on a change in what they end up cooking a lot once they purchase it. If you realize after the fact that you got too small an egg there is a way to resolve that as well. Get another one. 2 Eggs are way more versatile than 1 XL.

SonVolt

You may be overestimating the real estate of the XL : I can only fit 1 large flat in my XL with barely enough room for anything else unless I'm double stacking grates. If I crammed a packer in there things would be really tight, with some of it draping over the convection channels.  I only cook for 2 adults and 2 small children, and I would be hurting if I lost some grill space.  

This probably all comes down to cooking style, but here's a few examples where I'd be less comfy downsizing. 

This is 1 steak, 4 ears of corn, some sausage and a little sizzler platter for reference.  If I needed to cook more steaks I'd be doing things in batches or adding a raised grid, which isn't ideal IMO..
Here's a 17" Lodge skillet. Too much smaller and I'd be worried the lid wouldn't shut.

1voyager

I have owned a Large for 5+ years and love the journey. (Except for the @!&*ing underbite which was finally fixed!)

Having said that, if I had to do it over again I would go with the XL. Even though there are just the two of us, we sometimes go with monster cooks that have to be split with the PGS gas grill.

Cornholio

When I bought my egg 7 or so years ago my wife and I were living in a house at the beach with a patio so the large was as big as I was comfortable going with due to real estate and lugging it up stairs.  Now we are a family of 4 in the foothills with a yard so if I were making the decision today I’d go XL.  Holding off on adding anymore eggs until we build an outdoor kitchen, then it’s a decision to go with an XL for that or set the L in it and get a MM or other size.  

The large suits us well, just gets a little crammed which is why I am getting an adjustable rig soon.

Eoin

TEXASBGE2018 said:

.........Get another one. 2 Eggs are way more versatile than 1 XL.

2 Eggs including an XL is better.