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fletcherfam
fletcherfam Posts: 935
edited April 2012 in EggHead Forum
Morning Y'all,

Been on this site off and on for about a year now and to my surprise (and my wife's) my parents bought me a Large BGE for my birthday yesterday! They got the nest, side tables, cover as well. Bought it at an authorized dealer (not Costco!) I have seen a few threads on this forum about the gasket that comes with the BGE and some other things can you fill me in on some of these beginner things? What is a good basic first cook on the egg?
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  • DOCED
    DOCED Posts: 69
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    Chicken, whole or spatchcocked. Delicious and forgiving.Enjoy!
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  • Doc_Eggerton
    Doc_Eggerton Posts: 5,321
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    If your looking, your not cooking.  Got to learn to cook by time and temperature and open the dome as little as possible.

     

    Make sure you let the dome heat up and the gasses burn off before you cooks.


    XXL #82 out of the first 100, XLGE X 2, LBGE (gave this one to daughter 1.0) , MBGE (now in the hands of iloveagoodyoke daughter 2.0) and lots of toys

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  • brianwdmn
    brianwdmn Posts: 371
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    + 1 on the Chicken.  Possibly thighs?  Also very forgiving.  I kept my first four cooks at or below 300 and all seems fine with the gasket.  I live in GA and had the occasion to speak with representatives at the Mother Ship in Tucker a couple of weeks ago.  They are working on a new gasket material that should be ready right about the time yours and mine give up the ghost.
    Marietta, East Cobb, GA
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  • Buckdodger
    Buckdodger Posts: 957
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    Not sure what difference it might have made but I started out with low temp cooks. 400* or less. Did burgers, dogs, brats and chicken. Then I did high temp cooks. When using wood chunks or chips I wait till the smoke has a bluish tint or the smoke has a good smell to it...putting meat on too early will not leave a desirable  flavor in the meat. Also as the Doc said cook to internal temp not by time.

    Welcome to the wild bunch !!  

    Opelika, Alabama
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  • boatbum
    boatbum Posts: 1,273
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    Fire it up -

    Key skills - learn how to get the fire started, when to close down the vents, put the top on.

    Learn temp control, how to start it and hold at 250-300,   How to stabilize the temp. 

    Once you get temp control down - the world is your palette ...

    Chicken is a good start, Pizza's are easy,

    Low and slow - under 300 - do a boston butt ( pork shoulder first )   ( mustard is optional depending on opinion --- hahahahaha )

    Have fun with it.

    Cookin in Texas
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  • tazcrash
    tazcrash Posts: 1,852
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    My first cooks were a pork loin, and a small butt. Both forgiving IMHO.

    Here are some things I knew from my smoker, and learned along the way here:
    • Learn to light a good fire
    • Learn to control temp. 
    • Cook to temp not time, 
    • Get a good instant read thermometer (love my thermapen), 
    • Let egg temp stabilize so you don't chase it, 
    • Giving it time to let the egg stabilize will take care of bad smoke 
    • when you read a recipe temperature, automatically put the word "about" in front of it


    Bx - > NJ ->TX!!! 
    All to get cheaper brisket! 
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  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 32,337
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    Couple of other bits of info-almost all cook temperatures reference the dome temperature, so calibrate your dome thermo-basically boil water and insert the thremo-should read about 212*F-if not adjust with the nut on the back.  And for indirect cooks the dome temperature can read 20-40*F hotter than the grid temperature when you get started.  Factor this in when dialing in your low&slow cook temp.  Most people run low&slows at around 250*F (+/-).  The longer the dome is shut the less the difference.  Welcome and enjoy-awesome gift!
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood. # 38 for the win.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period.
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  • The Cen-Tex Smoker
    The Cen-Tex Smoker Posts: 22,961
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    You guys and your mustard attacks this morning! I got up at 4:30 am to fly to LA to sling some clothes to pay for my bad habits and this is what was waiting for me when I landed.

    People in the admirals club are wondering what I've been laughing at. Nice work.
    Keepin' It Weird in The ATX FBTX
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  • ChokeOnSmoke
    ChokeOnSmoke Posts: 1,942
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    Best piece of advice I ever got is to get yourself a good "doneness chart" for meat and cook everything to temperature, not time or looks.  A good instant read thermometer will be the best investment you can make to go along with your egg.


    Packerland, Wisconsin

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  • burr_baby33
    burr_baby33 Posts: 503
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    + 1 for spatchcock chicken.  Make sure you have a temp guage.  Cook at 300 - 350 to 165 breast and 180 thigh. Don't try smoke yet, just fire it up, burn off the bad stuff and cook. A cold adult beverage of choice will help.
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