Egg Indirect

AD18 · April 2015

A nagging question I have is going indirect on the large Egg. If you setup your Egg for indirect grilling can you really achieve indirect cooking because of the size and shape of your fire box? I have done various items such as chicken, pork ternderloin, etc. that calls for a relatively quick time directly over the coals and then move it away and let it cook/roast some more to desired temperature indirect. To do this I was told to simply close the top and bottom vents to shut down the air flow and thus you were now indirect as the fire would start to cool. Any time I have done this I have to be extremely carefull with any type of sugar based rub as it burns since the coals are still very hot. I have a Weber kettle that I can physically stack the hot coals on one half or third of the kettle and have a totally indirect area adjacent to the hot coals. I did a couple of pork tenderloins last night on the old Weber and they came out absolutely perfect. I've never had much luck doing this on the Egg. I don't see how you can do this with an Egg unless you either remove or use very little charcoal in the bottom of Egg, or remove your cook while the coals cool down and put back on to finish. Am I missing something? I still have a very large soft spot for my Weber kettle, but want to master this on the Egg if I can. Thanks!!!

Jeremiah · April 2015

I'm a little confused here. Do you not have a plate setter??

BigGreenBamaGriller · April 2015

It sounds like you need to either, purchase a convEGGtor (plate setter), or some sort of aftermarket heat deflector stone setup (try ceramicgrillstore.com).
One negative to closing both vents is that trapping the smoke inside the egg can give your food somewhat of an acrid flavor.

DMW · April 2015

Indirect on a Large egg requires some kind of heat deflector between the burning lump and the food. The plate setter is the most common option, other options include setups from http://www.ceramicgrillstore.com or rigging firebricks, etc.

If you want to sear first, then roast to finish, you would remove the food after the sear, then add the ceramic setup and lower the heat, then put the food back on to roast finish.

In browsing around you will find that many prefer to "reverse" sear on ceramic cookers. With this method you start out indirect and slow roast the food to 10*-15* below finish target temp. Then remove the indirect setup open the vents to get a nice hot fire. At this point, put the food back on to sear and finish. You will find that raising the temp in the egg is much easier than lowering it. Once a ceramic cooker absorbs all that heat, it takes much longer to cool it down vs a thin metal cooker like the Weber.

Now considering you still have your Weber, you also have the option of multi cooker for jobs like this. Have your egg setup for indirect with deflector and have a hot direct fire in the Weber. Choose to sear first or last based on what you want to do.

Chowman · April 2015

To get indirect, you will need a pizza stone, firebricks, or a plate setter, or even a water pan or drip pan to put between the coals and the meat. I have an extra 18" grate from Home Depot to support a pizza stone. Then I added bolts to my main grate to raise it over top and tthe the meat goes on top. Do a search on This forum for indirect cooking and you will see lots of examples. So you will begin indirect, then close the bottom vent while you remove the meat and place your stone, etc, then replace the meat.

AD18 · April 2015

Clarification. I do have a plate setter that I use for smoking all the time. However, I always put it in as my smoking fire builds temp to pre heat it slowly. If I build a normal grilling fire, place the grate in its normal grilling position, do my sear, insert cold plate setter, put grate back on top of plate setter, I have achieved my indirect. I have thought of that, but my concern with that has always been the cold plate setter going over hot coals. Not knowing my physics I was always wary that the quick temp change my crack the plate setter. I should be good with this setup? Thanks.

fiver29 · April 2015

I always put my platesetter on my Large with coals upwards of 400-500 degrees. I've had that platesetter since 2001 and it's still going with no issues.

Egg Indirect

Welcome!

Comments

Welcome!

Welcome!

Quick Links

Categories