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Tell me about Mini Egg

vettman
vettman Posts: 26
edited October 2012 in EggHead Forum

Hey calling on all mini Egg owners.  I currently have a LGE Egg and looking to add a mini but want to know advantages over the price.  I've been seeing prices around $375.00 or higher.  We have family gatherings and we love using Lg Egg but most times its just the wife and I.  Also would it be good for tailgating i.e. mobility and cooking for a crowd of about 5 or 7 people.  Thanks for comments in advance.

Doug

 

Doug

LG, MiniMax BGE

«1

Comments

  • chipman
    chipman Posts: 85
    I think you should be looking at the small.
  • travisstrick
    travisstrick Posts: 5,002
    edited October 2012
    Wait for it. When the don appears, you will have a achieved enlightenment. :ar!
    Be careful, man! I've got a beverage here.
  • If your issues are mobility and cooking for 5-7 people, I think the small would work out better for you.  I own one and take it on the road quite a bit and it is very versitile.  I think you may have trouble cooking for 5-7 people with a mini.  I expect mini fans will now chime in and say I'm wrong.  
    Flint, Michigan
  • We have a large, small and mini.  Most of our (just the 2 of us) cooking is done on the small and the mini.  When we go to STexas and visit family the mini goes with us.  Last STexas meal cooked 4 pork tenderloins (2 at a time) 4 baked potatoes the were mashed and stuffed  and rewarmed on the mini.  Salad was the only thing no done on the mini.  This meal fed 6 adults, with enough tenderloins left overs for sandwiches the next day.  Cooking for more than two using the mini is easy, you just have to plan your time. 
    The mini is easier (weight wise) for us to pick up and transport.   
    Large, small and mini now Egging in Rowlett Tx
  • I might add to the above, if weight is no object then a small might be a better choice for you
    Here are a few pictures of mini cooks
    Twice baked potatoes 
    image
    Cowboy cuts rib eyes (photo by DOW)
    image
    traveling
    image
    steaks for two
    image
    tenderloin and tots
    image
    breakfast pizza
    image
    Large, small and mini now Egging in Rowlett Tx
  • R2Egg2Q
    R2Egg2Q Posts: 2,136
    edited October 2012
    We use our Mini quite often when cooking just for 2. If I were cooking for 5-7 I'd either plan a menu with quick cooking items (like steaks, chops, mini pizzas, or wok cooking) and serve a couple folks at a time or find the biggest items I could fit in the Mini. Here's some things that I would consider for a tailgate: A 2 tier wing cook: Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos Meatloaf: Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos A small pork shoulder (this one was 5 lbs): Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos A tri-tip roast (around 2 lbs will fit): Photobucket Pictures, Images and Photos I think you would have more cooking options with a small but it does cost considerably more and weighs almost twice as much as a mini. I have both sizes but I haven't taken either to a tailgate. I have this fear that folks would be so envious that someone would steal my Egg while I'm in the stadium during the game.
    XL, Large, Small, Mini Eggs, Shirley Fabrication 24x36 Patio, Humphrey's Weekender, Karubecue C-60, MAK 1-Star General, Hasty Bake Gourmet, Santa Maria Grill, Webers: 14" WSM, 22.5" OTG, 22.5" Kettle Premium, WGA Charcoal, Summit S-620 NG

    Bay Area, CA
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    edited October 2012
    I've been considering a mini or small...even a medium.  Does anyone have one of those and a large, and is there any noticeable difference in the taste if you fill up the cooking chamber with your food?  I see from the pics (delicious looking food, btw) that you can displace a large fraction of the egg volume with food much easier on a smaller egg than with a larger.  I'm thinking maybe you have a larger "sponge" relative to your fire and a moisture advantage. 

    Geaux Saints (we finally won a game!)
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,669
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

  • BBQMaven
    BBQMaven Posts: 1,041
    Large/Mini combo is perfect for us... most of the time cooking on both. I like the ability to take the mini with me. If you get a mini - the Mini Woo Ring is a must!
    The food taste the same on each and cooking time is same also.
    Kent Madison MS
  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,669
    image Have two Mini's and a Large.
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

  • jlsm
    jlsm Posts: 1,011
    We got the mini one winter after getting a large, and we put it right outside the kitchen door (trek into the backyard in the cold got to me). We do our everyday cooking on it, saving the large for when we have guests or do a low and slow. The food tastes the same, but I find the cooking is much different. I need to clean it out before every cook to get to high temps (it takes just a minute or two to clean), and stabilizing is a bit trickier but can be done. The vent and DW settings are very different; you just need to realize that and work with it. 
    *******
    Owner of a large and a beloved mini in Philadelphia
  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,669
    jlsm said:
    We got the mini one winter after getting a large, and we put it right outside the kitchen door (trek into the backyard in the cold got to me). We do our everyday cooking on it, saving the large for when we have guests or do a low and slow. The food tastes the same, but I find the cooking is much different. I need to clean it out before every cook to get to high temps (it takes just a minute or two to clean), and stabilizing is a bit trickier but can be done. The vent and DW settings are very different; you just need to realize that and work with it. 
    I just do not use the DW at all. Works fine.
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,669
    edited October 2012

    We sent a Mini to Afghanistan and they used it to feed a full Company of men for months of Egged food. It can do a lot.....

    imageimage

    No, that is not Travis :ar!  Could have been, but not...

    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

  • jlsm
    jlsm Posts: 1,011
    >>>Mickey: I just do not use the DW at all. Works fine.

    I took my cue from something you wrote a few months back and use only the bottom vent. And it does work well. The mini reacts very quickly to bottom-vent adjustments, another advantage. 

    Boy oh boy the mini looks small next to the serviceman! Tiny even. 
    *******
    Owner of a large and a beloved mini in Philadelphia
  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,669
    edited October 2012

    One other reason for the Mini. I could NEVER use my wok worth a damn on my Large Egg (just tossed it). But the Mini with the 10" wok is so easy to use as a wok and for deep frying.

     

    imageimage

     

    image
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,669

    jlsm the guys we gave it to left it with the replacements and came back to the States. No contact wiith new guys, guess they still are using. We sent lots of lump so the org group did lots of cooking.

    For those of you not around when (this forum was not around) we did this. Here is a note from Chris and take note that it is just not that easy:

    > > Mickey,
    > >
    > > Sorry about the short message day before but didn't want you to think I was ignoring yall or anything. Seems like we are having comm black outs alot lately. I would say atleast once a week. I get off shift in about 3 hours and going to post two threads. One will be the opening of the egg and the second is the two cookings on the grill with steak and
    > pizza. Just a side note had to use flour instead of corn meal for
    > the pizza stone..... Sort of worked sort of not. Had to keep
    > scraping off the burnt flour. lol. But it still did its job.
    > Cooking this friday (hopefully) not sure what though. Planned
    > REAL hamburgers but the cook informed me yesterday night that the
    > meat didn't come in... So maybe chicken breasts or something like
    > that. . . . Maybe some BBQ chicken. Thought about kabobs but
    > don't have the sticks. May improvise those from something. I
    > asked the cook about spaghetti noodles in substitution of the
    > sticks but she said wouldn't be hard enough. Everything else
    > they have come in is pre cooked.. Not exactly good to try to
    > change the taste of pre cooked food. Any suggestions for boneless
    > chicken breasts?
    > >
    > > Well just keepoing you up to date on the newest things going on
    > here...
    > >
    > > Take Care,
    > > Chris  

    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

  • BOWHUNR
    BOWHUNR Posts: 1,487
    I have both a small and a mini and love cooking on both of them, but when we go tailgating or camping it's the small that comes with us.  It's nice having a little extra real estate to cook on and it's still light enough for me to load up by myself.  Either way, I'm sure you'll enjoy.

    Mike

    I'm ashamed what I did for a Klondike Bar!!

    Omaha, NE
  • BOWHUNR
    BOWHUNR Posts: 1,487
    Dang Mickey, you're a brave man deep frying on an egg!  I'd probably burn my house down!!

    Mike

    I'm ashamed what I did for a Klondike Bar!!

    Omaha, NE
  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,669

    BOWHUNR I am fine with the Mini for frying. It is the Large like this guy at Texas Fest that I will not try. Frying chicken legs ----- they were very good.

     

    imageimage
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Plus a couple Pit Boss Pellet Smokers.   

  • Frying on the egg is a delicate subject, IMHO.  Stir frying is A-OK, because you are using a tablespoon or two for your stir fry.  Pan frying (as I call it) is OK too.  I think of that as having enough oil to cover about a half shrimp.

    But, deep frying is an invite to disaster.  Once, I had a skillet that was full of oil to about 1 inch of the brim.  There was a blazing fire beneath, and I tried to lift the skillet away from the fire.  Just a small spill would have caused an inferno.  I was lucky, but I learned a lesson.  Frying on an egg produces no better results than frying on a deep fryer.
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    Gary, I respectfully disagree. I have had a fire and have C02 extinguishers at the ready. To qualify, I use a big dutch oven, no more than half full, remove and drain over the pot and have the lid close. Worst case, I can shut the dome and closethe vents. The exterior of my house is extremely fire retardant as well. Better than in the kitchen. There is no grease smell inside and I generally do fish and chips so the fish smell isn't a problem either. Like anything else, common sense should prevail

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • travisstrick
    travisstrick Posts: 5,002
    I fry chicken on my XL. I use a 20 wok. It is very dangerous but I dont care. It's better than stanking up the kitchen. 
    Be careful, man! I've got a beverage here.
  • SkinnyV
    SkinnyV Posts: 3,404
    edited October 2012
    Mini is my one and only egg, feeds the wife and my young son multiple days a week. Just did a 4lb pastrami yesterday.
    I fry also, feels safe enough the wok is not going anywhere if you set it in right I prefer without thge woo, feels more stable. Extinguisher present just in case but I always play safe and respect the fire, no smell is the biggest factor for frying outdoors.

    image

    image
    Skillet burgers grease and smell outside
    image
    Seattle, WA
  • Gary, I respectfully disagree. I have had a fire and have C02 extinguishers at the ready. To qualify, I use a big dutch oven, no more than half full, remove and drain over the pot and have the lid close. Worst case, I can shut the dome and closethe vents. The exterior of my house is extremely fire retardant as well. Better than in the kitchen. There is no grease smell inside and I generally do fish and chips so the fish smell isn't a problem either. Like anything else, common sense should prevail
    Steve,

    Thank you for your drunken response.  After difficulty, I was able to discern what you were trying to say.  I use the Egg for the purposes that it excels in (and they are many).  However, there are some tasks that are better done on other appliances than the Egg.  Such is true with deep frying.  I have a table just outside my backdoor, off the kitchen, that has an electrical plug.  I plug in the fryer, and there is no smoke or smell inside the house when I use it.  Most importantly, it is perfectly safe.

    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,102
    If I were that guy frying on the LBGE, I'd try a rope to the lid handle for safety, cause you ain't goin' anywhere near if if that oil spills into the fire.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    Geez Gary, I re-read my comments and they make sense to me. Haven't been drinking today as a matter of fact

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Geez Gary, I re-read my comments and they make sense to me. Haven't been drinking today as a matter of fact
    Just kidding, my friend.  Must hab ben da rum talkin'. burp.
    __________________________________________

    Dripping Springs, Texas.
    Just west of Austintatious


  • Little Steven
    Little Steven Posts: 28,817
    We're cool. BTW I lied about the not drinking bit ;)

    Steve 

    Caledon, ON

     

  • Lit
    Lit Posts: 9,053
    All the pictures are great and I love my mini but for 5-7 people get the small. I bring my mini places when it's like 2-4 people and small when theres more. If you take the insides out of the small it weighs about the same as the mini with everything in it.
  • Griffin
    Griffin Posts: 8,200

    Nothing against those that use their Egg to fry, but I prefer to use my turkey fryer/crawdad boil thing-a-ma bopper. Easier for me to control the heat. Probably just as dangerous if not used safely, but its how I fried things pre-Egg and still do on occasion. This set up was for some shrimp, hushpuppies and fried mushrooms we did awhile back.image

    Rowlett, Texas

    Griffin's Grub or you can find me on Facebook

    The Supreme Potentate, Sovereign Commander and Sultan of Wings