pilgrim's progress

char buddy

I'm one of the newbies to eggland and in my case I am migrating from a weber charcoal grill to a large egg. I thought the transition would be easy - one grill is like another. The surprise is how different the two are. I found it easy to get high heat - lots of lump, add hot chimney coals, open up everything - but hard to get low heat. After I got the hang of low heat (thanks to my new net buddies), I realized what folks mean when they say Weber grills don't really do low heat. No matter how low or high I wanted to go on the Weber, it usually got to 350-400, stayed there. If I did a chicken it would take 45 minutes to an hour. When I tried a chicken on the Egg at 300, it got to 300, stayed at 300 and took almost two hours. I lost patience and pulled it off a little too soon - the thighs weren't well cooked.[p]I'm gonna try again tomorrow and do a brined, beer-butt chicken. Anybody got tips on how to get crispy skin on a chicken at 300?[p]

Gfw

<p />char buddy, a little olive oil on the bird does wonders.[p]

Cat

char buddy,[p]Once the novelty of beer-butt chicken wore off ;-} I started butterflying chickens before cooking them. Towards the end of cooking I flip the skin side toward the coals (I do them direct) & the skin crisps beautifully without burning. I think they cook more evenly this way too. [p]Gordon's olive oil tip helps a lot with a whole bird. So does putting some seasoned cold butter under the skin. [p]Cathy

Tim M

char buddy,[p]Glad to see you making the switch to the Egg from the Webber. Its a real short learning curve since you've found the forum. Let me make a suggestion - I see where you are using a chimney starter. I used one years ago and thought I should again with the Egg. I did use one and I gave it up a year ago and I have never missed it. It popped out many hot coals on my deck as it was burning and more than once some made it to the deck floor when I dumped it into the Egg. You'll see a wine bottle in many of my pictures on my web site - its got water in it for any coals that came from that darn chimney starter. I use the Webber fire cubes now and I lite from under the grate for grilling fires, and toss one on top of the lump for low and slow fires. It's way easier than the chimney if your on a deck. [p]Just an idea to kick around.[p]Tim

JimW

char buddy,
FOr a good crisp skin, you might try taking the Egg up to 500-550 for 5 minutes or so. Watch it closely so it doesn't burn.
JimW

Smokin' Todd

char buddy,
what? you are not an eggspert? I apologize...i thought that u were....being that I requested a picture and u replied with such a cocky-ass attitude with "hey! you need to pay me for a picture with you".
Good thing I read this post before asking you any advice.
Anyway, enjoy your BGE. Im sure you will find many more benefits then from Weber brands.
Big Green Egg Rocks!!!!(your attitude does not)
ST

King-O-Coals

Smokin' Todd, how much for dem pikturs. I got seagulls trying to change the color of my boat. I need something to scare them away..:^)

Smokin' Todd

King-O-Coals,
I would give u a ball park figure...but first i must get this char-@SS strait.
ST

Cornfed

King-O-Coals,[p]KOC, anytime you're in NJ...or even near NJ...please feel free to drop on by. You're oh so welcome at my place or at ST's! We'll have more fun than is legal! My brother is an attorney so we'll even have some help getting us out of some of the binds we'd be sure to get ourselves into![p]You and Guru are "our kinda people!"
Cornfed

char buddy

Smokin' Todd,[p]Smokin' Todd did I do that to you? I'm sorry, man. It won't happen again. My whole attitude has changed since I became an eggster. Besides I need your good advice.

char buddy

Cat,[p]Where can I get your butterflied chicken recipe. I want to try it. As we speak I'm brining a beer-butt fryer for this evening.

Cat

char buddy ,[p]Follow the link below. I blush to call it a recipe since it's so simple, but the results are tasty.[p]You probably already know this...brined birds cook a tad faster than unbrined. Go by internal temp (160 in the breast) rather than time. [p]Cathy
[ul][li]Honey mustard chicken[/ul]