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Does it taste better on a BGE vs. Weber (charcoal) Kettle?
Comments
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Great questions,
Yes, the ceramics hold the heat and maintain temps way easier.
Yes, you will be able to see temps in the 600-700F range easily maintained for pizza cooks
Yes, you are losing heat out of the thin metal.
Yes, you will use less lump.
No, the egg stays hot for hours after cooking, my infrared gun therm usually reads in the 250-300 range on the outside of dome during cooking, you sometimes will have to forgo the cover until much later.
Hope this helps!
Using a MBGE,woo/w stone,livin' in Hayward California," The Heart Of The Bay " -
Taste subjective and depends on many factors. Webers are great cookers, and I love my Performer the most of all my kettle grills. One big difference in flavor would be noted if you use briqs in your Weber vs. lump in a BGE. Of course, you can use lump in your kettle too.
IMO, the BGE wins out on versatility. Lo n slo smoker? Yes. Grill? Yes. Tandoor-style cooker? Yes. Pizza oven? Yes. Does it beat any one of those cookers by themselves? No. But a large BGE is about $700-800 in my neck of the woods, and all of those cookers together would be several thousands of dollars minimum.
If you get a BGE, you won't throw away your Performer. I still use mine for things that it does well. Your gasser will still be a storage cabinet though.
#1 LBGE December 2012 • #2 SBGE February 2013 • #3 Mini May 2013A happy BGE family in Houston, TX. -
Agree with above, but don't even own a cover. Don't see the need. I have a stainless cap because I broke my ceramic. Even before, put the ceramic on with cast inside. No problem.
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IMHO, the BGE is super-awesome. The best analogy is with the three wolf moon t-shirt reviews. These reviews are all true, and apply both to the t-shirt and the BGE.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Mountain-Three-Short-Sleeve/dp/B002HJ377A#customerReviews
Next, if I may add, you will find you use less fuel, and have a faster refractory time (wink wink), both with your cooking in the backyard and the bedroom. Your mileage may vary, but trust me when I say you'll be inundated with compliments.
______________________________________________I love lamp.. -
nolaegghead said:IMHO, the BGE is super-awesome. The best analogy is with the three wolf moon t-shirt reviews. These reviews are all true, and apply both to the t-shirt and the BGE.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Mountain-Three-Short-Sleeve/dp/B002HJ377A#customerReviews
Next, if I may add, you will find you use less fuel, and have a faster refractory time (wink wink), both with your cooking in the backyard and the bedroom. Your mileage may vary, but trust me when I say you'll be inundated with compliments.
**** you and your links. I follow every time, I can't help myself. That's some funny auto-censored excrement. -
theyolksonyou said:nolaegghead said:IMHO, the BGE is super-awesome. The best analogy is with the three wolf moon t-shirt reviews. These reviews are all true, and apply both to the t-shirt and the BGE.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Mountain-Three-Short-Sleeve/dp/B002HJ377A#customerReviews
Next, if I may add, you will find you use less fuel, and have a faster refractory time (wink wink), both with your cooking in the backyard and the bedroom. Your mileage may vary, but trust me when I say you'll be inundated with compliments.
**** you and your links. I follow every time, I can't help myself. That's some funny auto-censored excrement.
Using a MBGE,woo/w stone,livin' in Hayward California," The Heart Of The Bay " -
My pleasure, and trust me I have that shirt and some eggs and they will change your life. Add some cats and you'll be smiling all the time. Also, may I add, I am super wasted right now and lights out, nola out, peace out, happy new year my brothers.
______________________________________________I love lamp.. -
I started with a LBGE and then bought a Weber Jumbo Joe as well as a Weber 22.5 kettle. Originally, I bought the Weber's as extra grills for sides with the intent of using the BGE as the main grill.I completely love cooking on all 3 grills and turn out great tasting food on each one.Lately, I've been kind of thinking that the BGE excels for
- Long cooks
- High temperature cooks (sears, pizzas)
- Raised grid cooks for chicken and turkey
But for lots of shorter cooks in the 300-400 range that don't require raised grids (hamburgers, brats, Dutch oven cooks, fish), the kettle is actually easier to use than the BGE and produces similar results. Seems like I can get the Kettle set up faster and up to temperature faster. There's also the benefit of easily being able to create direct and indirect zones by just putting the charcoal on one side. For example, last weekend I cooked salmon on the kettle skin side up directly over the coals for a few minutes to get a good crust and then indirectly skin side down until done. I could do the same thing on the BGE with my AR and half moon stone, but it's a bit more setup than on the Weber.Also, since the Weber has a greater grid area than the LBGE, I can get more food on it, which is sometimes nice. With the LBGE and AR, I can go multi-level and load up more than will fit on the Weber. But, cooking on one level on the Weber is more convenient than going multi-level on the LBGE. It's less setup, and it's easier to access the food all on one level.I'm not meaning to complain about the BGE. I completely love cooking on it. I just find myself lighting up the Weber more and more for the simpler cooks and using the BGE for the more complicated ones. -
@myc5, just go ahead and buy it, you'll love it. It's just better.
If you're already using lump charcoal, I don't necessarily think the flavor will be better, but I think youll get more consistent results and I think the food will retain more moisture. So basically, yes it probably will taste better if your food is cooked perfect to maximize the flavor . If your asking will a steak taste better, probably not. Also, I have had good food off a weber kettle, in fact, better than what Ive eaten off the egg. With that said, I've never ate food prepared by me on a weber that beats the food I make on the egg.
Set the taste question aside( that's subjective). Your cooking experience/ventures will be better. Things like my weber blowing over in the wind don't happen with the egg. The thick ceramic allows me to hold consistent heat. I can cook over 15 hours without refilling with lump. You can cook using a true indirect heat(although I do miss being able to move from direct to indirect and back so easily)I can go on and on.
I think the reason you can't reach high temps on your kettle has to do with airflow. The exhaust hole on the egg is huge compared to your petal adjustment. Once the egg hits about 450°-500° it starts sucking air like mad to feed the fire, the same as your kettle except the weber hits the governor by limiting the exhaust. Cut a hole in the top of the weber and you'll probably wrap the thermo like an egg. It gets scary hot in a hurry if you walk away with the vents wide opened.
You hear a lot of woulda, coulda, shoulda's in life, but not too many when it comes to someone that purchased a BGE. Exceptions to that are things like I shoulda of got a bigger egg, I coulda/shoulda bought another egg to go with my large big green egg. I woulda bought a demo egg, but they sold out. I woulda of went with a different accessory. You just don't hear people say, I shoulda bought a traeger, a gasser, etc etc etc.
It's just better. Don't be the one that says woulda, coulda, shoulda.Steven
Mini Max with Woo stone combo, LBGE, iGrill 2, Plate Setter,
two cotton pot holders to handle PS
Banner, Wyoming -
There's also a classic, nostalgic feeling I get when using the Weber that's very satisfying. It's kind of like putting a 1970s classic rock vinyl album on the stereo. I listen to lots of CDs and MP3s, but sometimes going vintage just feels really good.
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I've had Weber Kettle's for far longer than I've owned BGE's and I can honestly say while I have fond memories of those days I can't think of a reason I would ever not want to cook on my Eggs instead. I do still cook the occasional hotdog or burger mid week on my Weber Gasser when time dictates. Cook a few 10 hour pork butts or spatchcock chickens or a few pizzas and you won't look back. You can't get those results without ceramic sides.XL BGE; Medium BGE; L BGE
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I was a Weber guy for years as was my Dad. Bought an Egg last May. Regret not getting one 10 years ago.New Albany, Ohio
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If I may interject my thoughts. I love my Weber performer. My biggest gripe is the Weber takes forever to warm up. I have only done two cooks so far on the BGE and it reached temperature much faster than the Weber. I love my gasser for a quick cook, but with the quick heat up time of the BGE I may alter that admittance. Also, I love the rotisserie ring I can put on my Weber performer and do some amazing chicken and turkeys on it.1 brand new XL BGE 1-22" WSM 1-Weber Performer 1-Four Seasons gasser West Islip, New York
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I have a Egg and a Weber kettle. As for taste of results, no different in my opinion. I use same charcoal in both. I've cooked everything on the kettle that I have on the Egg except pizza and pretty much everything comes out excellent. The only thing I prefer the kettle for is doing anything requiring indirect setup. Load the coals on one side, do quick seer/high heat direct and toss over on indirect side for duration. I do the majority of my steak on the Weber for that reason. You can do it on the Egg, I just find it easier on the Weber. I too have an extreme soft spot for m Weber and love to watch it chug along with smoke coming out top and sides. As for low and slow the Weber cannot touch the Egg for performance and simplicity. Get it set and forget it. In hind sight if I only had a Weber and could not afford an Egg I would not be disappointed. But I really do enjoy having both.
Large BGE, Weber 22.5 kettle, Weber Genesis
Cobourg, Ontario -
I also have both. My egg is the XL. At that size I can also do direct and indirect zones with just the regular grid setup. I produced some great food using the Smokenator attachment for my Weber over the years before I got my egg. The Weber is like having good reliable car (Camry or Accord) that will get you pretty much wherever you want to go safely. But it can't go off road. The egg is like having a Land Rover with autopilot. It will get you to a few places (like pizza land) that the Weber can't - and it will do so with much less effort.
I don't find that my best cooks are any better on the egg, but I do find that airflow control is easier and as a result my cooks are more consistently excellent.
I also tend to dread having to remember to go out and cover a grill after it cools down. With the egg, that is not an issue. I have a cover for it, but I haven't used it in months. It is weatherproof. That is a very attractive quality for me.
XXL BGE, Karebecue, Klose BYC, Chargiller Akorn Kamado, Weber Smokey Mountain, Grand Turbo gasser, Weber Smoky Joe, and the wheelbarrow that my grandfather used to cook steaks from his cattle
San Antonio, TX
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the only cook that i had problems with from switching over from weber kettle to bge was chicken parts, it was easier to get crisp skin off the weber. all other cooks were better and easier on the egg, especially when it gets cold up here.the amount of cooks with the egg per week skyrocketed when i got the egg compared to the kettle
fukahwee maineyou can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it -
Why not have both? I have a 22.5" Simpsons kettle and BGE's and they are both great. You can cook anything on a kettle that you can on an egg but its so much more work. I do my wings on my kettle because thats less work to me. I also will fire it up for burgers or dogs etc and sometimes I use the kettle on longer cooks just to see if I can. With much more maintenance you can do longer cooks on the kettle but you have to be watching it all the time.
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+1 on versatility and temp control but I also think moisture retention is better on the Egg. I've had a Weber kettle for almost 30yrs (I think I'm on my third or fourth now) and I still use it a lot. As said in this forum many times, the Egg is "just another weapon in your arsenal." To StemC33's "woulda, coulda" comment, I wish I had a large. I have a medium but there are those times when I wish I had a large. Budget at the time did not allow as larges at the time were north of $1100...
In the Hinterlands between Cumming and Gainesville, GA
Med BGE, Weber Kettle, Weber Smokey Joe, Brinkman Dual Zone, Weber Genesis Gas Grill and portable gasser for boating -
Thanks for all the great feedback. Really appreciate it.I gather the BGE could keep the food more moist. Taste wise they seem to be the same. I feel I'll add a LBGE at some point, hopefully soon. I'm keeping my eye on craigslist, sometimes they show up. Here in Canada a LBGE is north of $1100 plus accessories.Happy New Year everyone!
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Just be careful buying used. A big chunk of that price is the lifetime warranty on the ceramics. They will eventually crack(a bit of an overstatement but it's common) and they are not cheap to replace.
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The egg has taught e the importance of cooking with the top closed and to use good quality lump charcoal. Man that makes more of a difference then I ever imagined. Wow.
You can do so much more with the egg than a Weber, but if money is tight, you'll have fun on your Weber also. Read the tips on this forum and know you may not make the long low and slow cooks that burn for 8+ hours on the Weber, but you will still have a lot of fun. (and keep your eye on Craigslist for an egg...they go up all the time. Based on what others said re. warranty, just buy one on fire sail...at a significant discount...like 30% of the retail cost. then you can take the warranty risk.)
LBGE/Maryland -
Especially in the "Great White North"
"Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community [...] but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots."
-Umberto Eco
2 Large
Peachtree Corners, GA
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