Now an Egg owning Member of the Forum, Table Build and first Cook

DrScotch

Well- I've been on the forum for a while, and this is my first post.  You see, I didn't have a Big Green Egg.  My brother did, and I really liked eating the food he would cook for me.  I had a weber smokey mountain, and got to know it pretty well.  I did a lot of ribs, butts, turkeys, etc, but no matter how good they would turn out, they never seemed to be as good as what my brother could do on his BGE.

Then... It finally happened.  My wife got me an XL BGE for Father's Day!  After seeing some pretty awesome tables on the forum, I decided I would try to build my own.  I only had one week to put it together before my egg was delivered.  I spent about $350 on treated lumber at Lowe's and was able to put this together...

At first, all I had were these dimensions I found online, and I calculated and drew out the rest myself




First I made the frame, with wheels:


Then I built the "floor" for the egg, and put on sides and a bottom


Then came the cabinet doors


then the tabletop.  I had some leftover hardwood flooring from when they built our house that I used for the counter.  I'll be putting some epoxy over the top of the countertop this weekend.  As you can see here, I was toying with the idea of having some thin tile for under the egg, but ended up taking that out as the dealer was going to throw in some "feet" for the egg with the purchase.



And last, but certainly not least came my XL Big Green Egg!  The dealer that I bought the Egg from had some of these old "feet" that she threw in for free.  She told me that they used to come with all the Eggs, and she still had a few sets of them.  I have also now installed a hook rack on the right hand side of the table.  My brother said to me that he would have built the table with the egg on the other side, and wondered why I did it this way.  For some of you, the answer will be obvious.  It's because I share something in common with Ned Flanders (I'm a lefty).


Needless to say, I was quite excited to give the egg a try.  For my first cook, I decided to do some basic ribs, and they were great!



Since then, I've done a few other cooks, and am really enjoying learning about how to use the big green egg.  Just today, I bought the Eggspander, and egg'd two Papa Murphy pizzas.  They turned out great.

So how about it- any tips to a fellow just getting started? Anything you wish you would have known?  Thanks!

Hans61

Great first post bro! If any of you guys remember my tomahawk thread from a week or so ago some of those were cooked on this guys egg! So awesome to have @DrScotch and @casslong52 as part of the egghead community! 

HeavyG

Welcome and nice table.
As a fellow lefty, I applaud your table layout decision.

Tspud1

You might put something under the egg to avoid possible fire hazard. Hope to see more cooks. 

Canugghead

Welcome! Great intro, table and ribs out of the gate.

johnmitchell

Welcome.Great job on the table.Have fun!

kennethk

Great Job!

DrScotch

Tspud1 said:

You might put something under the egg to avoid possible fire hazard. Hope to see more cooks. 

I really appreciate this comment.  It is essentially the same thing that @casslong52 had told me as well.  The dealer had assured me that the "feet" were made to be put on wood.  I did research this a little bit, and they allow for about an inch of air underneath the egg.  There was a page dedicated to this on the JJGeorge website, which had stated, "Air is a very poor conductor of heat and removes heat fast and efficiently.  Our eyes were opened to this fact by a friend who is an Egghead as well as a NASA engineer.  Once he explained that two inches of air displaces as much heat as a 14 inch thick piece of concrete..."

https://www.jjgeorgestore.com/grillmaster-tips-1/what-should-i-put-under-my-big-green-egg-when-putting-it-into-a-table/

All that being said, I certainly don't want my house to burn down! Anyone had problems with the feet before?  Perhaps I'll start a new thread on the topic.  Thanks @Tspud1 !

Foghorn

Welcome aboard.  Enjoy the journey.  And there is probably no downside to putting something less flammable under the egg.  

The Cen-Tex Smoker

DrScotch said:

Tspud1 said:

You might put something under the egg to avoid possible fire hazard. Hope to see more cooks. 

I really appreciate this comment.  It is essentially the same thing that @casslong52 had told me as well.  The dealer had assured me that the "feet" were made to be put on wood.  I did research this a little bit, and they allow for about an inch of air underneath the egg.  There was a page dedicated to this on the JJGeorge website, which had stated, "Air is a very poor conductor of heat and removes heat fast and efficiently.  Our eyes were opened to this fact by a friend who is an Egghead as well as a NASA engineer.  Once he explained that two inches of air displaces as much heat as a 14 inch thick piece of concrete..."

https://www.jjgeorgestore.com/grillmaster-tips-1/what-should-i-put-under-my-big-green-egg-when-putting-it-into-a-table/

All that being said, I certainly don't want my house to burn down! Anyone had problems with the feet before?  Perhaps I'll start a new thread on the topic.  Thanks @Tspud1 !

My table burned through below my egg with just feet.

bradleya123

Welcome aboard EggMate!!  I believe in the NASA Engineer but I'd be extra careful myself and put the feet on something besides the bottom of the table.  Just me.
Those ribs look fantastic!!  Great 1st cook!!  Egg on my friend!!

volfan1

I would get a table nest and put a piece of granite or concrete paver under the table nest.

pgprescott

Get a table nest or something similar. Very cheap peace of mind. 

lousubcap

Welcome aboard and enjoy the journey.  Above all, have fun.
Great first post and table build documentation.  I endorse additional steps to reduce the long-term fire or wood fatigue issues below your BGE.  FWIW-

The Cen-Tex Smoker

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

DrScotch said:

Tspud1 said:

You might put something under the egg to avoid possible fire hazard. Hope to see more cooks. 

I really appreciate this comment.  It is essentially the same thing that @casslong52 had told me as well.  The dealer had assured me that the "feet" were made to be put on wood.  I did research this a little bit, and they allow for about an inch of air underneath the egg.  There was a page dedicated to this on the JJGeorge website, which had stated, "Air is a very poor conductor of heat and removes heat fast and efficiently.  Our eyes were opened to this fact by a friend who is an Egghead as well as a NASA engineer.  Once he explained that two inches of air displaces as much heat as a 14 inch thick piece of concrete..."

https://www.jjgeorgestore.com/grillmaster-tips-1/what-should-i-put-under-my-big-green-egg-when-putting-it-into-a-table/

All that being said, I certainly don't want my house to burn down! Anyone had problems with the feet before?  Perhaps I'll start a new thread on the topic.  Thanks @Tspud1 !

My table burned through below my egg with just feet.

And welcome. . 

Botch

Welcome, and beautiful job on the table!  

JohnInCarolina

Welcome aboard!  Great first post!

WeberWho

Welcome! The table looks great. 

What's your situation like with an instant read thermometer? They go hand and hand with the BGE. 

The most common instant read thermometers here on the forum are the Thermapen or Javelin Pro Duo. 

It's easily one of the top tools in the kitchen. They're not necessarily cheap but easily worth the asking price. 

bluebird66

Welcome and nice work on the table!

shtgunal3

Welcome

1voyager

Welcome!

JRWhitee

When I bought my large in 2006 I set it up on just the feet. When my egg developed a hairline crack at the bottom this happened. If I had not been outside and saw the smoke I could have lost my table, deck and who knows what else. 

JRWhitee

After the almost disaster I rebuilt my table and put granite under the egg. 

DrScotch

@Tspud1 @The Cen-Tex Smoker @bradleya123 @volfan1 @pgprescott @lousubcap @JRWhitee

Wow- thank you all for the very sound advice, and sorry to hear of some of your misfortunes!  I will definitely put something underneath the egg.  I'll have to get my bro @Hans61 to help me lift it!  Thanks!

DrScotch

WeberWho said:

Welcome! The table looks great. 

What's your situation like with an instant read thermometer? They go hand and hand with the BGE. 

The most common instant read thermometers here on the forum are the Thermapen or Javelin Pro Duo. 

It's easily one of the top tools in the kitchen. They're not necessarily cheap but easily worth the asking price. 

I bought this one from Amazon.  I used to have a Thermapen, and loved it, but it quit working a while back.  I've had the one below now since March, and it has been working well.  I particularly enjoy it being a lefty, as many of the instant reads are made for the right-handed folk


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VPPRZDG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Canugghead

JRWhitee said:

After the almost disaster I rebuilt my table and put granite under the egg. 

And that was with gap between slats for ventilation 😀

Sorry have to ask, how long have you had the granite and do you check under it periodically?

fishlessman

DrScotch said:

Tspud1 said:

You might put something under the egg to avoid possible fire hazard. Hope to see more cooks. 

I really appreciate this comment.  It is essentially the same thing that @casslong52 had told me as well.  The dealer had assured me that the "feet" were made to be put on wood.  I did research this a little bit, and they allow for about an inch of air underneath the egg.  There was a page dedicated to this on the JJGeorge website, which had stated, "Air is a very poor conductor of heat and removes heat fast and efficiently.  Our eyes were opened to this fact by a friend who is an Egghead as well as a NASA engineer.  Once he explained that two inches of air displaces as much heat as a 14 inch thick piece of concrete..."

https://www.jjgeorgestore.com/grillmaster-tips-1/what-should-i-put-under-my-big-green-egg-when-putting-it-into-a-table/

All that being said, I certainly don't want my house to burn down! Anyone had problems with the feet before?  Perhaps I'll start a new thread on the topic.  Thanks @Tspud1 !

get an xl table nest to slip under it and maybe add a ss sheet under it from a local fab shop.  bge said no feet when the xl came out because it needed xtra support and now they recommend the table nest. maybe they changed something

JRWhitee

@Canugghead It has been about two years now, I actually upgraded from the feet to the BGE table nest that gives more air space. Table is fine.

Thanks for asking

Canugghead

JRWhitee said:

@Canugghead It has been about two years now, I actually upgraded from the feet to the BGE table nest that gives more air space. Table is fine.

Thanks for asking

I see. Was wondering about feet and granite combo long term.

Mark_B_Good

OK, everyone's told you about the table nest ... I'd get it.  On another note, put a drip pan on the conveggtor (plate setter) ... and wrap it with aluminum foil.  Will keep that conveggtor clean and also prevent your drippings from burning up, which gives a sour taste to food.

Many also just so slightly raise their drip pan off the conveggtor, using foil balls or I use stainless cable mounts (basically just a half circle to secure cable to walls).  This keeps the drip pan a bit cooler and prevents that burn.

DrScotch

Quick update with some photos- I finally got the table nest, installed a hook rack, and put epoxy over my countertop. Started a brisket last night!