Considering an Egg

Unknown

I am single and I have never owned a grill before. I bought a cozy condo with FOUR of the most sensitive smoke detectors ever built and a non-vented range hood. I can hardly cook anything without setting them off and last night's cast iron searing episode with intermittent smoke alarms until 1:30 AM convinced me I need to buy a grill. I was thinking of get a gas grill with a side burner and using that instead of my stove-top, but in my internet searches I stumbled across this. I am intrigued by the idea of cooking pizza and paella on a large BGE. But it is a lot of $$$. Plus I wonder about if I will really be willing to regularly go start a fire before cooking a meal for one. Are there any single people, especially women, who own one of these and use it at least twice a week? How much effort does it take someone who has never started a charcoal grill to get one of these started? Is it safe to leave these things unattended when they are lit? Could I start it and take my dog for a long walk while it gets up to temp? Run to the store for the ingredients I ran out of? Leave it banked overnight to it will be quickly ready for breakfast in the AM? (I can't even fry an eggs and bacon without smoke alarms)

Thanks

Salguod

LOL, lots of questions there! First, do you have a good fire-safe place to put an egg in a condo (not a wooden deck or right against the building)? If you do, I think you would be fine leaving the egg unattended for dog walks and store runs or even overnight. But I wouldn’t run out with the vents wide open “getting the egg up to temp”. Close the vents to an approximate temperature or wait for the temp to be stable before leaving. I personally don’t think it is a big deal to fire up the egg, but then, I’m a guy. Suffice to say that my wife can fire it up with no problem. Certainly a gas grill would be easier, quicker, and more convenient. But it isn’t an egg, food won’t taste as good as what comes off an egg, and you can’t really do many “egg things” like REAL pizza or REAL paella or REAL bread, etc a gas grill. As long as you are outside away from the alarms, you will certainly be able to cook anything you want without the fire trucks showing up.

Richard Fl

First thing you should find out is a grill allowed in the condo you have. Many do not allow due to fire regulations.
I have a friend here in florida in a condo who got caught by the fire marshall with 2 grills on his balcony in a building which does not allow grills. He feeds his neighbors on a regular basis. His response was that they were emergency cooking units for when the power goes out during a hurricane. The fire marshall just grinned and never said any more.

lowercasebill

check the price of gas grills with side burners at a big box store and figure in the expected life span vs. bge life time warranty,, cheaposdon't last long.
dog will get a short walk it heats up fast.
un attended depends on proximity to combustables.. mine sits near the breeze way on concrete and the house is brick.so no problem . others have had disaters with egg and wood decks.
many easy ways to start that will not be a problem.
single father use egg 4- 5 nights a week all year after work 1 son home now but i did the same when i was alone. i rarely use the stove and bought a stand alone propane burner from cabellas for bacon and anything that smells

hopefully this will help your decision

ibanda

I am single guy and live by myself. I bought a small a month ago and I am exceptionally pleased with my purchase. I have mine on sitting on a concrete second floor balcony, but because it's next to the house I am not really comfortable leaving the house for an extended period. I do go hang out with the dog in the backyard for a few minutes. If my BGE was in the backyard 15 feet from the house I wouldn't mind leaving it for a while.

I can get mine started in about 2 minutes with 3 strips of lit knotted paper towel soaked in vegetable oil spread out in the charcoal. The egg will heat up and be giving off clear smoke in 20 minutes anywhere from 250° to 600° depending on how I set the vents in about 20 minutes, which is about the same amount of time I usually need in the kitchen anyway to prepare whatever is going to get cooked.

2EggTim

Definately check the condominium documents and the fire code first. You may find you can't use gas or charcoal grills.

Unknown

Thank for the replies.

I have a concrete patio (1st floor) and there are no regulations against grills. But my patio is not huge. I don't think I could put it 15 feet from the building. I will have to measure when I get home.

Jenn

lowercasebill

concrete is good also check height to ceiling if there is one and what it is made of
bill

Semolina Pilchard

Regular grills last about 5 years at best, the egg will be in your will. In the long run it will be one of your least expensive purchases. It would not be a big deal to use it for one, but the food coming out of it will be so good I believe if you will be dining alone it will be by choice. :laugh: It is very easy to light, and there are many easy methods. I would not put it next to the wall because of wood or vinyl siding on the soffit and fascia. Other than that it should be very safe. I can say with all honesty the egg is the only thing I have ever bought that has lived up to the hype.

BullyC

Hi Jenn

You never said if you even knew how to
bbq? If haven't bbq'd before, start off
cheap,either gas or small weber and see if
you like it. Then if like it, and have the
bucks, buy the ferrari,LGBGE, if not, then
your not out that much money with a cheap
grill. First, like other gentlemen said is see
if you can have one. Good luck BulyC

Morro Bay Rich

I have three on a balcony and none of them are more than 1 foot from the house's stucco wall. The wall NEVER gets hot or even warm. The Egg contains the heat so well I have no concerns.

Semolina Pilchard

I am not a fireman, but I don't think you need 15 feet. There are 2 concerns, a ceiling getting blasted with heat and sparks, mainly if you are cooking at extremely high heat as in 500 degrees and above. Also, the possibility of a spark popping out of the bottom vent. In the last few years the eggs now have a screen over the lower vent. As for sparks coming out the bottom vent, you can face your egg in any direction you want so even if a spark pops out, it will go where you want it to go. You can go with cheaper grills, and grills that will be a little quicker to use, but the food will not compare. Add to that the fact that you can cook anything on the egg. Great pizza, bread, and on and on. I have bbq'ed for years, but with the egg everyone thinks I am a great bbq'er, and the only variable is now I have an egg.

Little Steven

Jenn,

It appears you like to cook. You won't find a better piece of equipment than the egg. You mention paella, a dish traditionally cooked over wood fire and pizza. Think about artisan breads, naan, traditional barbeque, chili, stews, fish and such with the authentic taste of a wood fire.
And you don't need to dirty a pan for bacon. (eggs tend to fall through the grate though)


Steve

Mike in Abita

Most of your technical questions will be answered here

http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramic.htm

A wise Egghead once said " An EGG costs more than it should, but is worth more than it cost".

Chef in the Making

Jenn

as the Nike ad states "just do it" you won't regret it, however be sure your condo assoc allows grills on the patio. As to lighting the fire. allow a half hour prep the food and have a glass of wine or two

emmagee

For the past 10 years or so I have had both a gas grill, not a super high $$ one, but a decent on from Lowes that was $800 or so when I bought it; not great, but not a $200 special, either and a great OLD Oklahoma Joe's offset smoker. I used the smoker for smoking, obviously, and some grilling, but 90% of my grilling was with the gas grill, I never really liked using a gas grill, but it was convenient.

I started looking at eggs as a Christmas gift for my da, well, I bought him a large, but my wife bought me one for Christmas as well. I generally use it 3-5 times a week, sometimes 6-7 days, but the gas grill and OK Joe's hasn't been used since. I can see using the smoker again, but I have a feeling the gas grill is gonna end up on craigslist pretty soon. Actually, I don't know how much use the smoker will get, but I can't bring myself to sell it.

Get an egg, it's almost as fast as gas and the food is much, much better!

lowercasebill

double smoked bacon the closest thing to a perfect food

Unknown

Rules for condos, link homes and semi detached homes are different than detached homes becuase many decisons are made by committe "for the community" rather than by or for the individual.

You should find out:

Can I have a BBQ/Grill/Smoker?

Can I store propane or other combustables on my balcony - even if I'm on the ground floor?

Am I allowed to have a large fire, sparks, and/or smoke from my balcony.

If it's o.k. with the condo corp. will it be o.k. with my neighbours or will they constantly complain?

If everything above is o.k., then look at gas, charcoal and / or a wood fire.

Food will taste different depending on the fuel (wood, charcoal, gas).

Whichever solution you choose, your food will taste better than from your stove.

As a single person, do you really need a large? If you're cooking for one person, maybe a mini or a small would be best. Less fire, less smoke, etc.

If you like to entertain (larger groups) a large is great idea.

Lastly, when it comes to cost - asked yourself "how much does it copst for a stove?" Considering that you will cook on your bbq, grill, smoker, (as much --> maybe more) than your stove, you should spend at least the same amount of money on your BBQ/Grill/Smoker as you did on your stove.

At the end of the day, if you are allowed to have a BBQ,/grill/smoker, welcome aboard, if you aren't allowed, save up your money, by a detached house and then buy an amazing BGE.

That's my two cents worth...

MOS

Little Steven

bill,

Haven't done bacon in a while. My arteries are getting hard just thinking about it. Pig candy..mmmm

Steve

Crimsongator

Let us know. Somebody may be able to suggest a good dealer.

Unknown

I am in St. Louis MO

There is a wood deck above my patio. It is 9 and half feet from the patio floor. Is that an issue?

My community regulations read "Barbecue grills or other types of outdoor cooking equipment and apparatus shall be located only to the rear of a Residential Unit and shall not be visible from any of the Common Ways (other than alleyways)."

Now my patio is on an alley between parallel buildings with condo units. So it seems kosher. That was in the regulations are for the larger Homeowners Association with has a mix of building types. The condo association was just financial stuff and didn't have those sorts of rules. This is new construction and not completely sold so the "Condo association" is currently the same board members of the Homeowners association. So there isn't a different set of rules for the my condo association.

Jenn

Semolina Pilchard

At normal temps I don't see the wood deck above being a problem. At nuclear temps with blue flames coming out the top vent it could be an issue. But you don't strike me as a "Tim The Toolman Taylor" type, so I doubt that will be an issue.

Cactus Doug

Jenn, if you cannot tell by the flurry of responses, another great feature of the egg is the support system (forum) that comes with it. Chances are if you want to cook it, there will be someone on the forum who has cooked it, and can help you out. I wish you luck in your decision.

Charleston Dave

Welcome to the egghead forum, Jenn, I'm glad you found us.

As far as locating your Egg, the usual insurance rule is that portable barbecues are not to be within 10 feet of any combustible part of the building. Your HOA rules may be more or less strict, so as stated upthread you should explore that issue. If an insurance inspector walks the property he will note barbecues adjacent to the walls or wooden fences and it will be reported to the underwriter with a recommendation to have them removed, perhaps even as an imminent hazard.

Starting the Egg is easy. Different Eggers use different methods. You'll find which one you like best.

Many of us have (or had) gas grills. Before buying my Egg, I spent enough on gas grills to buy several Eggs. Gas grills wear out dismayingly quickly, even if they are expensive ones. Since buying my Egg I have not used my pricey gas grill. The running joke here is that the gas grills are useful for storing your Egg accessories.

In addition to participating in the forum here, Eggfests (BBQ events featuring Egg cooking) are fun and any would be delighted to welcome your attending. The biggest is in Atlanta in October (Eggtoberfest), but you can click on any of the banners above for regional events.

I'm usually cooking for one to four, but sometimes like to cook for large groups. For me, the large was the best choice. One advantage you would have with a small is the lighter weight, so that you could move it into your car if you wanted to tailgate. The small weighs 65 pounds, but the large is 140 pounds. Either can be easily rolled (pulled) along flat surfaces using an Egg Nest (custom-sized metal stand with wheels).

If you don't like cooking on an Egg (very unlikely) I think you will find that your depreciation if you want to resell via Craigslist is not anywhere near as bad as if you try to resell a used gas grill.

BENTE

i don't think the one above you is a issue.. although never forget about them!!!


it sounds like you have a great spot for a egg or two.. let me recomend a large. i am a male an i had my large before i had a wife and kids.. if you have the large you can tell (whoever) you are bringing the thanksgiving turkey. that is all you will have to bring (although get ready to bring it everytime) just follow these directions
http://www.nakedwhiz.com/madmaxturkey.htm


you will not always need the space but it is nice


BTW if you have the time if you spend some time around here you will be a better cook than you ever imagined... so sign up and welcome to a new lifestyle..

have fun with your FIRST egg :evil:

Ripnem

Bill
I tried cooking bacon on the Egg and won't do it any other way. Give it a whirl. 350 or so and it happens pretty fast so stay close. I'll do a few pounds of the thicker bacon every week or so and store in a zip lock in the frig.

WokOnMedium

Jenn,
I've had my Egg for a month. I am a single woman and have no problem lighting the Egg and cooking on it. I'll have to qualify that and also tell that my sister and her six year old daughter live with me. However, I would have chosen the BGE regardless of the size of my family. You may want to choose a smaller one, but if you entertain a large with be worth the investment.

I LOVE MY EGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ripnem

Buckboard? Thats one of the next on my list to cook/smoke.

[Deleted User]

I was a Gas user before my Egg. The change was challenging but very rewarding. I am in a whole different league from when I started!

Allow 20 - 30 minutes from the time you start your fire until you cook on it.

For 1 - 2 people a small is fine. I don't have one (but I wanted one) but I think you can cook ribs on it and that. to me, is what takes up the most space.

I now have a LBGE and a Mini. I can usually cook enough entree on my mini for 2 adults and 2 kids. I know others here who regularly cook for 2 and 2 on the Small. A small should be fine for you, it has a 13" grid.

Only problem I see with your situation is that you are on the ground floor so your Egg may be stealable if you leave it out. Is it possible that you could have it in the nest, store it indoors and just wheel it out when you want to use it? That could be a pain in the neck. Moving a 65lb grill around is possible but not easy unless it's on wheels. Take a look at how big of a step/threshold you'd have to move it over. Eggs can tip over in transit- you don't want that to happen.

Good luck!

E-mail me if you want, I can bore you with the details of what I went thru so you don't have to.

Single Action Egger

Jenn -

When I lived in Fairfax County Virginia, per the county, grills/smokers/etc. had to be 15 feet from the building for apartments and condos. It didn't matter that my patio was concrete surrounded by brick and my gas stove inside was surrounded by wood cabinets. $500 fine for each incident...

So, I would double/triple check on regulations. The fire marshall will explain if you are at risk. If you call them, they may even come out and give you some ideas on how to keep things safe.

I would recommend the egg on a nest or table to move away from the building when necessary. I use a MAPP torch to light mine, which is MUCH easier to use than cubes, chimmneys, etc.

One advantage of the egg is you will be encouraged to spend some time on your patio, and if you are cooking, is a great way to meet new neighbors.

As noted, you will have limited depreciation with your Egg if you find you don't like it and decide to sell it. So there is limited risk.

I am willing to bet that you will use it a LOT.

I am single and have a Large. I may also purchase a Mini, but the Large seems (to me) to be ideal if you are going to have only one.

Good Luck.