Med. Egg will burn how long low and slow ?

Unknown

With good charcoal (i.e. Big Green Egg brand) how long will a medium egg burn when its packed full to the top of the fire ring? I am concerned about refilling compared to the large egg(since the medium has a smaller capacity) when I'm trying to go a full 24 hrs. I already have a large and am getting either a large or a medium for my parents.

WooDoggies

Q-BALL,[p]Our resident old-timer egger, GFW, cooks exclusively on a medium.
The link below will take you to his website where you can scroll down the index on the left of the homepage for times and recipes..... this would be a good site for you to bookmark.
His pork butt went 22 hours without refueling.[p]The egg be a very efficient cooking machine.[p]John[p]
[ul][li]GFW's BBQ Home Page[/ul]

Mac in NC

Q-BALL,[p] I can also attest to the cooking capabilities of the medium. It is just the wife and I in our family for now and I did not feel the need to purchase a large at the time of my purchase. Over the past two years, I have had parties in excess of twenty and have had no problems preparing enough pulled pork, beef tenderloin, burgers, hotdogs, you name it...for these groups. Of course, all side items are cooked in the kitchen utilizing the almost forgotten stove/oven.
You will have NO problems reaching a twenty hour burn for pulled pork on a medium. I just finished one over the weekend (18 hours) and had enough charcoal left to cook hamburgers and steaks over the next two days.
Take into consideration what type of cooking they wish to do and how often large groups of folks come by. That may help in your decision. If you feel a large would be better suited for them and you can get to one of the various Eggfests held throughout the year, you could pick up a one day used EGG with accessories for the same price I bought my medium! Just something to think about.
Good luck! Mac

Bob V

I have a medium and can cook pulled pork for 18 hours and still have at least a couple hours' worth of charcoal still left.[p]The Egg is indeed an amazing device -[p]Bob V

ravnhaus

Q-BALL,
I have gone to 20+ on my medium
[ul][li]Ravnhaus BBQ & Grilling[/ul]

Smoked Signals

I seem to only get about 10-12 hours out of mine before I have too fool with the lump. After that it will last another 4 hours without adding any charcoal. Sometimes I have to add just a little bit more to finish a pork butt. Any suggestions? Do you really pack yours in or just pour it in? Does outside temp matter?

Smoked Signals

Ps ... I use BGE lump ... however, I have recently purchased some Wicked good.

QBabe

Smoked Signals ,[p]I've gotten 16+ hours with my Small egg, filled to just below the top of the fire ring. Your medium should go longer without any problem...[p]How full are you filling it?[p]Tonia
:~)

WooDoggies

Howdy Smoked Signals,[p]Not sure why you're only getting 10-12 hours of cook time out of a full load of lump. Are you cooking with a medium?[p]Maybe if you could describe how you build your fire, what temp you're cooking at when you're only getting 10-12 hours, how far you fill up with the lump..... etc.
Do you build up to temp or overshoot and have to cool down?[p]I'm sure we can get to the bottom of this.[p]To answer your questions.... I build a pretty small fire in the bottom of the firebox, let it get really hot and then pour the lump on top of that and slowly bring it up to temp.... downright failsafe for me.
And I don't believe outside temp has any effect on the cook..... however barometric pressure, humidity and the alignment of venus and mars in aquarius just might![p]john

Smoked Signals

WooDoggies,
I do have a med. egg. I use BGE lump, and try to use a variety of peices. I load, unpacked, to the top of the fire box maybe a little more. I light one or two pieces of normal charcoal and place on top. Then remove them once the lump lights. I bring my temp up to 300 then choke off the fire. 1/8 to 1/4 on the bottom and 1/2 open on the adjustable top. Last nights load lasted about 13 hours before dieing this morning. I just bought 33# of wicked good hoping to extend my cooking times. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

QBabe

Smoked Signals,[p]By overshooting your goal temp of 225°-250°, you're burning up more charcoal than you need to. You also may be burning more by using regular charcoal as your starter...I use the parrafin Weber cubes, and often only use half of one and am pretty happy with it.[p]Keep trying![p]Tonia
:~)

Smoked Signals

QBabe,
I'll try not to overshoot my goal. It just seems that my fire chokes itself after awhile. The fire never totally goes out, I can open everything up and she fires right back up. It just seems that the fire is oxygen starved after about 8 hours. If I close the lower vent to the suggested credit card width the fire is sure to die. I have never gotten it closed more then 1/8". Anyway, I have only cooked on my egg about 8 times, 6 of which were overnight cooks. So maybe its just a learning curve. [p]Overall it is far superior to my old ElCheapo Brinkman. I can't say enough good things about the egg. I just want to be as good as you folk and maximize my charcoal.[p]Alas, I ended up loading in another 2 or 3 hand fulls to finish my brisket today. On the good side, the amount to finish a product is going down.[p]Happy Smokin'

cardit

Q-BALL,[p]I, too, have a medium. Read all the helpful hints and then found what works for me. [p]I 'fit' the pieces in the bottom for the first 3" or so of depth. I then add lump to within about 2 inches of the top fire ring. Then I fill a starter chimney with lump, place a Weber starter cube on the pile of lump, light it then place the chimney over it. In about 15 minutes the chimney lump will be glowing bright red, dump it on top of the lump, add the smoking woods. Can easily go 21+ hours on a low and slow.