New user and first cooks

Paolo

Hi, new user here from Italy. I thought I’d present myself and share my first experiences with the EGG.

Egging is pretty uncommon here. I myself had never heard of BGE until just weeks ago and the first actual unit I got to see is my own one!

That said, I got a Large sitting on a nest with handle with no table or wood mates.
Needless to say the firsts two weeks were total EGG frenzy with 9 cooks out of 14 days.

Let me share the results

First cook: Chicken wings indirect at 250 with lemon/bourbon/honey mopping sauce

First (ever) Ribs: rub and overnight rest, 2 hours indirect at 300, 1.5 hours foiled with bbq sauce

I’m already into the “what accessory do I need” thing, so I got a grilling basket for vegetables
Using the leftover vegetables from the previous cook i made some "pasta al forno", with mozzarella and parmesan (indirect at 400 degrees)

Ribs, second try with some veggies. That’s “cipolla di Tropea”, long red onion I believe. Nice and

sweet

Was suprised by how well this one came out: pizza margherita. Local groceries dough, indirect raised on the multi level rack at 700 for 4 minutes.

And finally burgers and more vegetagles to honour independence day

Lots of fun and, mostly, good meals so far. And the neighbours haven’t already complained which is good.
Hope this wasn't too long
Cheers

Paolo

 

Elijah

Heck of a first post. Congrats. What area in Italy? 

Paolo

Elijah said:

Heck of a first post. Congrats. What area in Italy? 

Thanks Elijah. Close to Milan, so Northern Italy

Mark_B_Good

Good stuff! You're really going to enjoy the BGE.
How did the ribs turn out? What temp and how long did you cook them?

Stormbringer

Welcome! A great opening post! Looking forward to more of your pictures and cooks. 

WeberWho

Wow! What a first post. Welcome!

Paolo

Mark_B_Good said:

Good stuff! You're really going to enjoy the BGE.
How did the ribs turn out? What temp and how long did you cook them?

I tried two times more or less with the same procedure: rub and overnight rest, 2 hours indirect at 250/300 directly on the grid, 1.5 hours foiled with bbq sauce. The first time I wasn't able to stabilize at 250 so I went a bit higher, and it was the best result. They were delicious for my standards, tender and juicy, maybe a bit overcooked as the bones fell off at first touch.
We mostly do ribs in single pieces (I mean separated in single bones, that's how they sell them) fast,  direct and with no cover. So these were great in my view!
The cut was more or less spare ribs with very short bone ends, not easy to get Saint Louis cut or baby backs here. Need to order online from a specialized dealer who knows about american bbq.
So glad that you guys teach us the way

Elijah

I spent some time in Reggio Emilia and the area. The two things I miss most are the mozzarella and prosciutto. I went to a burger joint in Parma and a Mexican restaurant somewhere around there just to say I did. I'll stick with Italian, but your food looks great. 

Gulfcoastguy

Welcome! We are going to get the benefit of Egging from an Italian viewpoint and maybe Italian recipes as a bonus.

unoriginalusername

You win first post award 

Botch

Helluva first post; Welcome!  

Paolo

Elijah said:

I spent some time in Reggio Emilia and the area. The two things I miss most are the mozzarella and prosciutto. I went to a burger joint in Parma and a Mexican restaurant somewhere around there just to say I did. I'll stick with Italian, but your food looks great. 

Prosciutto is great in Parma, we call it just that when ordering at the groceries: "Parma".
And mozzarella is a cult, you need to visit Campania in the south for the best mozzarella ever.
BTW, I used "dehidrated" mozzarella for my pizzas, which has lower water content and is different from the one you are usually served when you eat mozzarella. That's what most pizzerias use from what I'm told (I'm no expert)

SmokingPiney

Off to a stellar start! 

shtgunal3

Welcome to the madness. Way to hit the ground running.

GrateEggspectations

Amazing. And you’re the first member from Italy that I have come across. Benvenuto. 

Really enjoyed Italy and would love to go back!

lousubcap

Talk about rolling in hot!🔥  Great post across the board.  That pasta al forno🍝 wins the day for me.
Welcome aboard and continue to enjoy the journey.  Above all, have fun.

Foghorn

Welcome aboard and keep posting.

AC Milan or Inter?

Paolo

Foghorn said:

Welcome aboard and keep posting.

AC Milan or Inter?

Very apt question! But it's Juventus in this case.
And thanks everybody for this warm welcome

Foghorn

Paolo said:

Foghorn said:

Welcome aboard and keep posting.

AC Milan or Inter?

Very apt question! But it's Juventus in this case.
And thanks everybody for this warm welcome

That's unfortunate 

SamIAm2

Paolo - welcome to the forum. Grilled eggplant looks killer.  

alaskanassasin

Wow!!

dbCooper

Welcome Paolo.  Ribs look great!

loco_engr

Welcome to this mad house . . . great 1st post
keep them coming plz

Canugghead

Welcome to the club/cult/zoo...what a post to introduce yourself!

Canugghead

GrateEggspectations said:

Amazing. And you’re the first member from Italy that I have come across. Benvenuto. 

Really enjoyed Italy and would love to go back!

We used to have an active member from Italy, @snake701uk

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Wow! Best first post I can remember in quite some time. Welcome aboard, love all the cooks. I learned to do veggies like your eggplant and zucchini on the grill (even though I thought I already knew how) on a trip to Tuscany in 2017. Seeing yours brings back great memories of that trip. We still cook them the same way almost every week and I don’t imagine changing. So simple but so good! 

Cant wait to see what you come up with next. 

johnmitchell

Holy mackerel!!!!! Awesome looking cooks. Welcome.

Paolo

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Wow! Best first post I can remember in quite some time. Welcome aboard, love all the cooks. I learned to do veggies like your eggplant and zucchini on the grill (even though I thought I already knew how) on a trip to Tuscany in 2017. Seeing yours brings back great memories of that trip. We still or cook them the same way almost every week and I don’t imagine changing. So simple but so good! 

Cant wait to see what you come up with next. 

Tuscany is great for learning culinary stuff. Grilled eggplant and zucchini are delicious and simple. I just slice and throw on the grill direct on each side for 2/3 minutes. Then EVO, salt & pepper plus garlic. Many also use chopped parsley.
I find it difficult to get uniform cooking throughout the grill on the EGG, much easier on my gas grill. But I’m still learning 

DoubleEgger

Paolo said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Wow! Best first post I can remember in quite some time. Welcome aboard, love all the cooks. I learned to do veggies like your eggplant and zucchini on the grill (even though I thought I already knew how) on a trip to Tuscany in 2017. Seeing yours brings back great memories of that trip. We still or cook them the same way almost every week and I don’t imagine changing. So simple but so good! 

Cant wait to see what you come up with next. 

Tuscany is great for learning culinary stuff. Grilled eggplant and zucchini are delicious and simple. I just slice and throw on the grill direct on each side for 2/3 minutes. Then EVO, salt & pepper plus garlic. Many also use chopped parsley.
I find it difficult to get uniform cooking throughout the grill on the EGG, much easier on my gas grill. But I’m still learning 

When you are preheating the egg, close the bottom damper completely after the fire gets going and leave the dome open. That will cause the fire to spread.  Once the fire has spread across the fire bowl , open the bottom vent, close the dome, and adjust temps as needed. 

Looking forward to the inspiration that you will bring to the forum. 

Mr_D

That "pasta al forno", with mozzarella and parmesan is going on my must cook list. 

fishlessman

Paolo said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

Wow! Best first post I can remember in quite some time. Welcome aboard, love all the cooks. I learned to do veggies like your eggplant and zucchini on the grill (even though I thought I already knew how) on a trip to Tuscany in 2017. Seeing yours brings back great memories of that trip. We still or cook them the same way almost every week and I don’t imagine changing. So simple but so good! 

Cant wait to see what you come up with next. 

Tuscany is great for learning culinary stuff. Grilled eggplant and zucchini are delicious and simple. I just slice and throw on the grill direct on each side for 2/3 minutes. Then EVO, salt & pepper plus garlic. Many also use chopped parsley.
I find it difficult to get uniform cooking throughout the grill on the EGG, much easier on my gas grill. But I’m still learning 

also with the even cooking, the design sends a little more heat towards the back of the grill, rotate the cooking grid as you cook, pizzas need to be rotated 180 degrees as well, with ribs i usually start the thicker end aiming at the hinge section toward the rear as well