New to the Egg

Earnest T Bass

I got the large egg for fathers day. I haven't used it yet but have some questions before trying it out this weekend, if anyone can give me a little advice.[p]The only accessories I have basically are the temp guage and daisy wheel. I plan on smoking ribs and cooking steaks mostly at first, other accessories I should pick up. What is the best way to start the lump?[p]The grill sits pretty far down in the egg. This is how the manaul shows it but is it supposed to be that low?[p]What is the best way to clean the egg (if you clean it), the drippings I guess are supposed to fall on the coals or is there a drip pan I should get. The descriptions on some the accessories in the manual are a little vague.[p]Recommended first meal?[p]Sorry for the long post. Just want to get started right. Any tips would be greatly appreciated. thanks[p]

MickeyT

Earnest T Bass,[p]Welcome to the BGE world.[p]I think you can cook about anything you want with what came with your egg. You may in time want a plate setter, grid extender, pizza stone and a variety of other fun things.[p]The grid does sit that low.[p]I haven't cleaned my eggs yet and they are going on 4 years. No need for a drip pan, just let the juices fall at will.[p]Recommended first meal??? Why spatchcocked chicken of course.[p]TNW may chime in here but it is essentially a butterflied chicken cooked on a raised grid for 60 minutes or so. Burgers are always a fun and simple cook.[p]Hope some of my blabbering helped.[p]Mick[p]Some of us start the lump with Mapp gas. Hold on lump for 20 seconds or so should do it.

Unknown

Earnest T Bass,[p]Welcome! You'll find a lot of answers by reading through this forum. To answer a few: The preferred way to light it seems to be with a MAPP torch. I personally bought the electric fire starter and use it. Others use various firestarter squares or a gel. You can even wad up some newspaper under the lump and light it. That said...If you buy something, I'd get a MAPP torch.[p]The most useful accessory IMO is the platesetter (you can see it on the link above...click "Whats New"). If you have firebricks you can do without for now, but if not, I'd get one asap. [p]This post is good:
Down the forum there is a
[ul][li]banker john for new owners[/ul]

Shelby

Earnest T Bass,
Eggs seem to have been a popular Father's Day item. Guess I can't complain, I got my small for Easter.
I'm one of those who still uses an electric starter. I've got some starter cubes in case the starter breaks or we lose power.
You can wipe down the exterior with a damp towel. A couple times a year, I take out the firebox, etc and clean out all the built up ash where I can't reach with the ash tool. Best way to clean the grill is to cook steaks. Bring it up to 700 degrees and anything on the grill will burn off.
Best accessory...as already mentioned...the plate setter.
Oh and since nobody has mentioned this lately, to all you new eggers, kindly disregard the instruction manual. It's somewhat out dated and this forum provides much more accurate info on a wider variety of subjects.

tn slagamater

Earnest T Bass, an egg for papa!!You are a fortunate father! First cook should be spatchcocked chicken as mentioned below. If you go through old posts, you will see over and over, "spatchcocked chicken", why is it so good etc., etc.Try it first,you will know this cooker is an AWESOME MACHINE after one taste!