First time recipe: what do you recommend??

etomczak

Hey all, large egg being delivered this weekend--hellz yeah!

What do you all recommend as a great starter 'recipe' to dazzle my wife and show her that this was wel worth the money? Burgers? Some sort of steak? Ribs? Fish?

Keep in mind that I am very new to the Egg (and cooking with charcoal!).

Thanks!

RVH

I started out in the same boat as you and did simple burgers for a first cook. A lot of people with more guts have cooked a spatchcocked chicken, which was my second cook. It should have been the first selection, just for the WOW factor. I was afraid that controling temps would be a huge curve: it wasn't. Good luck with your first cook.

h20egg

My first was a beer butt chicken...excellent. I'd just recommend that you don't overdo the smoke chips on chicken, and let the fire get going good first to burn off the volatiles from the lump. Some lump can add plenty of smokiness on its own.

Just....cook. Expect some disappointments but from those come experience. In no time you're laundry hamper will smell like burning charcoal!

Morro Bay Rich

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

Hitch

I TOTALLY agree with the Spatchcock route. I do em all the time, and everyone loves yard bird.

Main reason...it is SO FREAKIN SIMPLE and SO FREAKIN TASTY. Take the time to get to know your grill a little bit as far as lighting it, letting it get a little hot, bringin it down, etc. Then, once you are done messin around, get it settled at 375*-400*. Let it stay stable for a good 20 minutes.
Look up a good thread here on spatchcocking (bet Naked Whiz has it somewhere), and prep the bird prior to lighting the fire.
Once you are ready to throw the bird on, It will be the best grilling hour of your life...to this point. I PROMISE! You will be smokin in your back yard, throwin off some seriously great smells (especially if you throw some onion in the lump), and if it were me, enjoyin some nice suds while I sat back admiring the best purchase I had ever made.
Good luck, take pictures, and welcome to the cult! Everyone here is AWESOME, and a wealth of help and knowledge.

Carolina Q

You might consider a spatchcocked cornish game hen (or two). Just cut out the backbone and spread it open, brush with olive oil, add salt, pepper and herbs/spices of choice (I like Herbes de Provence - a lot!). Go easy with smoke wood. I like cherry, but a little goes a long way.

Raise the grid to gasket level, direct heat, skin side up for about 20 minutes at 375-400° dome temp. No flipping needed. Make sure to cook to desired meat temp, not time though. 20 minutes is approximate.

Hint... don't let the dome temp get away from you. It takes a long time to bring it down if it gets too high. When it gets close to desired temp, start closing down the vents.

Good luck! And welcome to the madness!!

Mr. & Mrs Potatohead

My first cook was a smoked turkey!
But, I would go with a chicken or even a pork roast as it will take much less time! And still have a major WOW factor!

Jeffersonian

Kebabs:

SmokeyPitt

How much time do you have to cook? If you have 5-6 hours I would go with ribs. If you want to eat in a hurry I would go with some nice steaks. Corn in the cobb cooked int he husk is a great and easy side item. Baked apples make a great dessert.


Of course, as everyone else mentioned chicken is also phenomenal on the egg. Chicken is actually my wife's favorite meal I've cooked. I suppose my initial reaction were the things I wanted to try first .

Hitch

Geez...hard to disagree with SP here. Ribs or steak? Two of my (and EVERYONE'S) all time favorite. They also turn out so well.

Be careful if you do steak though. I doubt that the gasket would like a T-Rex'd cook this early in life. Ribs though.....hmmmmm

ledmond

Can't go wrong with a whole chicken if you have the time.