Large vs X-Large BGE

Unknown

I have read through the various discussions on the forum about lg vs. x-lg and unfortunately it has not helped me decide yet.[p]I have a family of 4 and we generally have 7 or 8 on weekends and then perhaps 15-20 on holidays. I understand the thought process of getting multiple eggs so that you can cook different types of dishes, etc. at the same time.[p]For the large - if we're talking about feeding a main dish (e.g. steaks, fish, or ribs, etc.) and some sides (e.g. bake potatoe, corn, and vegetables), how many people can the large really handle? I see some of those tripple stack racks, etc. and would like some input here....do those make it feasible to feed 15+? [p]When I look at the x-large, it's wider, but squatier, so how big a bird can you cook in it vs. the large standing up?[p]I have a weber kettle and the grill size is the same as the large...I cannot come close to feeding 8+ people on that.[p]I'm considering having a gas / large bge combo, but I want to know my large will suffice.[p]tangible examples are appreciated, as I'm not questioning the cooking quality of the BGE...really focused on what is going to drive me from the large to x-large and if I can refrain from that BIG BEAST

Dimple's Mom

Scottrob,
We have a family of five. The only time the large hasn't been big enough is when we do burgers for a crowd (say 15 or more). Then we have to do them in batches. Except for burgers, the large has always been fine. We regularly entertain anywhere between 10-20 people and less often much larger groups.[p]You don't have to cook *everything* in the egg when you're having a large party. Some things (non meat items) can be done in the kitchen. [p]Gwen

Eager Egger

Scottrob, I have had my Lge BGE for several months now. We have a family that numbers 6 to 20 when we get together. I have never felt like the Large Egg was crowded when cooking for them. These are older kids with teenage grandkids etc. We do the sides for the most part in the kitchen though, but in a pinch we use our 3 burner propane for back up. I would think the best advice I can give is to go with a large. In the future, after you have some experience with it, you can add a small or medium. In ay case, as someone who was always an indirect smoker cooker, you cannot go wrong.

mb168

Scottrob,[p]I have a family of 5 sometimes six on the weekends my son is here and that doesn't count if I'm cooking for others. I read here that the best thing to do is buy the biggest you can afford, and I pretty much think thats true, especially if you don't know if you'll add a 2nd egg. I (within a week) bought a medium also and think that is a pretty good setup too though having both. I cooked an 8lb butt on it last night for 16 hrs and now I've got shrimp and ABTs on there. But when I do my bigger cooks like 3+ slabs of ribs I love laying 3 full slabs flat on the XL AND being able to place 10+ ABTs around it to eat in the meantime, and I haven't bought any of the stacking systems. I may get a Woo2 for my medium though.[p]So my thought is, if money and space aren't an issue, and you aren't going to be attempting to drag it with you, go for the XL. Of course I will use the Medium to go mobile if needed.

mb168

mb168,[p]Let me rephrase that after thinking about it. After cooking with the XL, I never wish I had bought a L, just wanted an additional egg. I can't imagine ever wishing I had a smaller one unless I was trying to move it a lot. But that's another reason why I added the medium.

Unknown

Scottrob,[p] I own two XLs and two large eggs. My large gets used much more then either of my XLs.[p] I use the XLs when I am catering. My family get together their are always 20+ people and the large does just fine. With the extended grate I can easily cook enough burgers for everyone.[p] The large will easily do a 20 pound bird. The XL up to 30 pounds. That is a bunch of turkey no matter which.

Grill With Bill

Scottrob,[p]I think the large is good for most situations. You may want to get the large for smoking, baking, dutch oven cooking and all the other stuff the egg is great at. Then get a weber kettle for the times when you need to make more hamburgers then can fit on the large BGE.

UGAVET

Scottrob,
I have an XL, large and small. I use the large 40% of the time, small 50% of the time and the xl 10% of the time which is usually just around the holidays. I dont entertain as many as you do but i do often cook for my company picnics and the large does most of the work. The large just seems more efficient and you dont have to use 3/4 of a bag of lump to fill it.

Crawdaddy

Scottrob,
Size does matter. Whatever you can do on a large (and that's quite a lot) you can do easier on the XL because of the space.

Thermal Mass

Scottrob,[p]The Weber kettle has something like a 22 inch grid, whereas the L-BGE is 18 inches. However, these are not really comparable diameters, since food heats unevenly across the Weber's grid, at least when I used mine. Because of the unevenness of the grid heat on the Weber, I rarely used more than 30%-40% of the grid at once.[p]The BGE heats much more evenly, so you can use the entire surface of the grid to cook. Add an extended grid, and the cooking potential of the Large is impressive.[p]Mark

SmokinGuitarPlayer

Scottrob,
I had a customer with this same dilema on Friday. He considered the BGE large, Primo XL Oval, and the BGE XL - He walked around from each one of them ...measure, lift the lid , etc. then we talked... finally after a couple of hours of going round, he decided on just going for it and took the BGE XL. I later spoke to him and he isn't sorry he bought it. Personally , I think 2 Larges is the best setup but as you can see, most of us here on this forum want as many eggs as we can get. Shameless plug coming right now, if you are anywhere near eastern Pa. stop by our showroom and you can see all three side by side. (as well as all the others)