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CheeseheadinAZ · March 2014

I initially was going to go with WSM, Performer and Summit until I saw the BGE in the store. After months of deliberation I finally decided to with the BGE. Then was mentally crippled with the decision of large vs XL. J Why does everyone including myself struggle so bad with this?!? Just last Saturday I went to an Eggfest in Tempe, AZ Fell in love and decided... LET’s DO THIS! Food there was absolutely incredible!! In addition to that, met so many great people with the same interest. Went with the XL mainly for grill space when cooking direct. Yesterday at 6pm the BBQ Island delivery truck was parked outside of my house just as I dreamed of. By 10:30pm and a couple of cold ones later, the masterpiece was created. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

After reviewing the additional toys that I purchased at the same time of the BGE, I do have a couple of questions:

1. Pizza stone: I bought an XL stone but after opening the box it seems massive. Any thoughts from any of the pizza makers out there?

2. Peel: Also bought the peel to go with it. Is this a must have?

3. DigiQ X2: For long cooks I think this is great but afterwards happened to see the Stoker. Liked the ability to keep the temp of multiple items and the little tech geek in me likes the ability to see temps on the iphone. Is the extra $100 worth it?

4. Thermopen: No brainer.

5. Gloves: The sales guy said he never uses them? Don’t I need them?

6. Platesetter: Got one, still in the box. But have been seeing a lot of hype about AR with Woo2. What is the advantage over the plateqsetter

7. First cook I was thinking indirect spatchcock chicken…

Thanks for the help!

Can’t wait to get home and give it a try!!!

lousubcap · March 2014

Welcome aboard and enjoy the journey. A game-changer for sure. As I have a LBGE I will offer some comments on a few of your??

#3. I would strongly suggest you learn temperature control and BGE behavior before going to a controller. That way when something with the controller goes south you are able to salvage the cook. Brand of controller-no comment as I don't use one.

#4-good call.

#5-You need a good set of gloves to handle the hot ceramic or thermal barrier when transitioning from indirect to direct-or just buy another BGE:)

#6-I went down the platesetter road and am fine with it but if I had to do it over I would call the ceramic grill store and go with the AR etc.

#7-most eggcellent start. And here's a great site for all things ceramic;

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

CheeseheadinAZ · March 2014

Thanks Lousubcap!! May I ask why you would go with the AR?

henapple · March 2014

Welcome. ..no gloves. He's a badass. You'll Need them.

coffeeguydenton · March 2014

Welcome. When it comes to indirect cooking, the appropriate comparison is Woo2/spider and stone vs plate setter. AR adds a ton of versatility, but can be used with the plate setter. That being said, I have both the plate setter and Woo2 with pizza stone. I rarely us the PS, mainly because the woo2 gives me the flexibility of raising the grid to the felt line for direct as well as indirect cooks. The only time I use my PS is for pizza because I need the stone for the pizza itself.

lousubcap · March 2014

Why AR-I am quite sure the rig offers more flexibility with indirect cooks-but that may be because many buy quite an upgraded set-up. The advice here is to talk to Tom at CGS as he is a forum member, straight shooter and will steer you right. FWIW-

Cookbook_Chip · March 2014

Welcome! My two cents? Just got a BGE pizza stone for my large and did not get the branded pizza peel ($$) thinking I would try spatulas. STUPID. Cooked pizza comes up with those, but a wet dough sloppy thing needs the nice peel to get on the egg. So, off to get a peel this weekend.

jhl192 · March 2014

Welcome!

1) If you have an XL, the XL stone is the way to go. More real estate for bigger pies, more calzones and more heat.

2) I like the peel. I still use Parchment for the first few minutes. Makes things easy to move.

3)Don't use it for the first few long cooks. I think you should learn how to do it manually you go the lazy route. You will get a feel for how the EGG operates. Temperature management is a key for EGGing.

4)Thermopen will save many cooks that could have gone awry.

5)If you are going to reverse sear you will need them.

6) Platesetter verse the Woo2/AR/ & Stone.... You will get proponents of each. I didn't get the AR until year 3. Added versatility and space.

7) Great choice, although many direct the Spatchcock on a raised grid.

hapster · March 2014

Congrats and welcome to the family...

Get gloves, or don't... It'll only take one time to convince you otherwise

Carolina Q · March 2014

CheeseheadinAZ said:

1.       Pizza stone: I bought an XL stone but after opening the box it seems massive. Any thoughts from any of the pizza makers out there?

Depends on the size of your pies. The Large stone is 14". My pies are usually 12".

2.       Peel: Also bought the peel to go with it.   Is this a must have?

I wouldn't be without one. Don't like parchment paper. Get some semolina to sprinkle on the peel. Like tiny ball bearings. Just a pinch will do.

3.       DigiQ X2: For long cooks I think this is great but afterwards happened to see the Stoker. Liked the ability to keep the temp of multiple items and the little tech geek in me likes the ability to see temps on the iphone. Is the extra $100 worth it?

If I had discovered turbo cooks before I bought my DigiQ, I would never have bought it. Put a butt on at noon (at 350° dome), have pulled pork for dinner. No need at all for an electronic crutch to babysit the fire. And as for REMOTE babysitting, spare me. And anyway, you should learn to control it manually before you decide on the crutch.

4.       Thermopen: No brainer.

Yeah, I guess. Though their ThermoPOP would probably suit me if I had it to do again. $25 instead of $100. 3-4 seconds difference.

5.       Gloves: The sales guy said he never uses them? Don’t I need them?

I have a pair of welder's gloves. Have probably used them 2-3 times. In 4 years. If you need to rearrange stuff, of course you need them. I just don't do that often.

6.       Platesetter: Got one, still in the box. But have been seeing a lot of hype about AR with Woo2. What is the advantage over the plateqsetter

I have yet to see a need for an AR. FOR ME. Great product, by all accounts. I bought the PS before I knew of the AR. It has been just fine. I have a home brew way to raise the grid for direct cooks. You do need a way to do that, but it can be as cheap as three carriage bolts.

7.       First cook I was thinking indirect spatchcock chicken…

I do mine at 400°, raised direct. Never tried indirect for that cook. But plenty of others have. Either is fine.

Good luck!

cortguitarman · March 2014

I agree with @lousubcap‌. My 2 cents is to take the BGE branded peel back and buy one from American Metal Works. I bought mine from Amazon. I think it was around $25. It's bigger than the BGE peel and made of aluminum so it won't rust. Mine stays outside all of the time. It has a wood handle but mine has enough creosote on it from use that I don't think it'll rot. If it does, I'll just attach a piece of dowel with screws.

Also, the use of parchment has worked best for me. IMHO, 550 is the ideal pizza baking temp.

Egglegal_Alien · March 2014

Welcome aboard.

Good call on the XL: very little extra room needed for it and you get almost twice the grilling area.

On your questions:

1. Don’t sweat it, just get a pizza mat with different diameter circles printed on it (or draw them yourself on any food safe mat using a string/pin/pen) and make pies the size you like.

2. You can use the back of a baking pan if you want, but the peel is totally worth it.

3. I agree with @lousubcap on you needing to get a handle on manual temp control even if you have a controller, I’d probably stick with a DigiQ or go for a CyberQ rather than the Stoker, but that’s just me.

4. Right on target.

5. You definitely could benefit from good long gloves, not just for handling hot stuff but to prevent discomfort/burns when doing high temp cooks (Pizza, steak sears, etc.)

6. I use the PS, but AR does seem lighter and more versatile.

7. Good call, go for a few low-mid-temp cooks to get started, high temps on new eggs can scorch the gasket… you can go direct and get crispier skins without worrying about flare ups, limited airflow to maintain temperature also means little extra oxygen for fire to flare.

Cheers!

grege345 · March 2014

Circa mic grill store has a couple vids on you tube. Watch both to grt an idea of what they are doing. I have a platesetter but wish I had an AR. With that being said if I started with an AR I probably would have been a little overwhelmed. Your going to have this thing for years so take a deep breath and cook something. Everything will work out for ya. If you buy too much now you'll realize that some stuff you may buy collects dust. One more thing. Ceramic grill works prolly has the best pizza peel I've ever seen

CheeseheadinAZ · March 2014

Thank you for all of the awesome comments and suggestions. It's awesome knowing there is all of this support. I had my first cook this evening with chicken. In the past with the gasser I knew exactly what I was doing. I forgot what it's like to be a virgin at something. A whole new journey. It was both exciting and a little stressful but that's what makes it so fun... So much to learn. Plan for the rest of the weekend. Wings tomorrow night, pork butt for saturday and pizza on sunday. March madness is awesome!

grege345 · March 2014

Just make sure you let all the voc burn off. Don't rush a cook and have it taste funny

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