Ok, you've helped me decide, but I have a few questions

Unknown

So, we've decided to join the BGE family. We decided to get a medium egg. I know many of you use a large, but I consistently cook for just me and my wife so we should be fine with a medium.[p]I have a few questions though. Does anyone here use the egg mates? I would like to have some workspace next to the Egg, but I don't really want to invest the money or space on the table. How sturdy are the egg mates? Also, do any of the covers fit over the egg with egg mates attached? Do I even need a cover? What about the stainless steel doors... what benefit do they offer? Are they worth the upgrade? Along the same lines, is the auto-lock band a worthwhile investment? Finally, what about a starter? Does the electric work well, or what about a chimney?[p]My thoughts were: BGE Medium, Nest, Egg Mate, Temp Gauge, Dual Function Metal Top, Ash Tool, Electric Starter, Auto-Lock Band, and Stainless Steel Doors. Does this sound like a good setup?[p]Yeah, I know I have lots of questions, but from what I have seen, you guys have a lot of answers. And, when I am making a purchase this big for a grill, I want to make sure we get just what we need.[p]Thanks again for all the help.[p]Todd

Tim M

<p />Todd,[p]Your setup sounds great. You might drop the electric starter but that is a personal thing. I would add a BGE pizza stone (accept no other brand). [p]I have an egg mate and I love it. You know, the tables do fold down. Most people don't know that - this picture show one up and one down. Its a nice feature. [p]Welcome - check out my site sometime for some ideas.
www.c21virginia.com/ebay/bbq.htm[p]Tim
[ul][li]--Tim's BGE place --[/ul]

Nature Boy

Todd,
Sounds like a great setup! Like Tim, I would also pass on the electric starter. I have not used one, but the fire starters (available in many forms) are very easy, and always work. I break off a piece as big as a hershey kiss. Sometimes 2 or 3 spread around if I want a bigger fire. Cheap. Easy. More control.[p]A roasting v-rack, and assortment of drip pans is also a good idea. Also check out the extended grate BGE sells (looks like it would fit the medium).[p]Get ready for some fine cookin'
NB

Spin

Todd,[p]Congratulations on the medium. It will serve you well. Both of my Eggs are in nests, covered, and I have the Egg mates for the large (not available for the small). [p]The Egg mate is quite sturdy and very convenient. I have had no problems with it. I have covers for both Eggs. The use of the Egg mate requires a lareger cover. I live four miles from salt water and in 19 months of Egging, I have no rust. The auto-locking band is a worthwhile purchase. It allows the dome to open wider.[p]Spin

Gfw

<p />Todd, welcome to the world of the BGE, I know that you'll love the adventure. Personally, I love the electric starter. Unfortunately, I dropped mine when it was hot and
broke it. Now that I've gone through all of my Y2K stater cubes, I'll buy another real soon.[p]BTW: I have a medium BGE and cook mostly only for 2.
[ul][li]Gfw's BBQ[/ul]

Unknown

Todd, [p]I'm in the same situation, just my wife and I, but the medium Egg is just fine. The auto lock band and stainless steel doors weren't available when I purchased my Egg so I really can't comment. As far as the rest:[p]Nest & Egg Mate: After investing that much money on the Egg my wife said go for it all and get the table. Best thing I ever did! You'll find that things are a lot easier with all that work space and the lower level gives you storage space for all those things you don't even realize you need, depending on what you're Egging. If your Egg and table are going to be outdoors when not in use you should get the cover. [p]Temp Guage: Got to have it. And it really works. In addition, you should invest in a Polder thermometer. It's really helpful when Egging butts and briskets and you don't want to keep poking them with an instant read thermometer and interrupt your brewski.[p]Dual Function Metal Top: Soumds like a good idea but my Daisy Wheel works just fine.[p]Ash Tool: A waste of money. All it does is move the ashes to the front of the door opening, and it never gets all the ashes. I use a small hand held vacuum with a tapered nozzle and it works just fine.[p]Electric Starter: My personal preference, but the firestarters work pretty well. The electric starter from BGE is angled and therefore customized for the Egg, but less expensive models are commercially available.[p]Admittedly, it's a lot of money to put out. In my case, after two years of drooling about getting a BGE, and complaining about the cost, my wife said enough already. Either get the BGE or get a life! I did and it's worth it![p]Good luck and welcome to the BGE family.

Cornfed

Todd,[p]Sounds good to me. I have the Small, grill gripper, nest, cover, daisy wheel, and dome therm. I've honestly never used the grill gripper. I have a nice set of BBQ tongs that I picked up at Home Depot along with a heavy duty spatula and some big pokers. I use the tongs to lift the grill. This way, I can remove the grill without putting my hand anywhere near the fire.[p]As for the ash tool, it's too big for the Small BGE so I have no use for it. When I get my Large, I'll probably buy it since I hear people use it to stir the charcoal to send some ash through the grates then the sweep the ash out the door. I currently remove all charcoal and ash by hands covered by plastic bag before each cook. This 2-3 minute practice allows consistent airflow.[p]I don't have the autolock band but would LOVE to have it but unfortunately it's not available for the Small. I played with it at E2K and now I'm REALLY looking forward to my Large.[p]I use Weber starter cubes and before that I used newspapers to light my BGE. I like the cubes better since they're widely available near me and super cheap and are easy to light a blazing fire (start with one cube under the grate) or a low and slo fire (start with a cube on top of the charcoal). Newspaper is attractive to me since I love my NYT subscription and will never cancel it so I always know I'll have newspaper around. Also, with a tiny bit of practice, you can arrange the papers so you can light a blazing fire every time with only 1 match. That being said, it does cause some extra ash.[p]I don't have the Egg Mate but that's something I'll look into when I get my Large (depening on whether or not I want to build a table).[p]I have the regular doors with no rust presumably since I use a cover. I'd probably spring for the SS doors on my new Egg, though, just in case.[p]I use a cover since it came with my package deal from my dealer and it looks perty.[p]Those are my long winded thoughts. Listen to these Eggsperts on this forum and you won't go wrong. I have relatively little experience but am happy to offer whatever I can and will always be blatantly honest and even blunt (perhaps to a fault).[p]Soon you will be saying, "heee" like the rest of us fools!
Cornfed[p]

JimW

Todd,
That looks like a good setup. The only comments I would make are:[p]Get a table (buy or build). The workspace is great and the storage underneath is a real plus. [p]Go ahead and get the electric starter. It's real good to get a hot fire in a hurry. Saturday night I had a 350F fire after 22 minutes from the time I walked out of my kitchen to get the bag of lump until the fire was stabilized. But get some starter cubes too. I use them when I want a low and slow fire or when the power goes out. Incidentally, I go through an electric starter about every 6 months. WalMart has them for $10. [p]The slide daisy lets you get up to about 550F. The regular one will only go to 400F or 450F. For higher temps you have to take the top off. [p]I would get a cover, particularly if you get the table. It just extends the life of the whole setup.[p]Hope this helps, JimW