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Harvard tries to perfect the egg

Comments

  • Cookinbob
    Cookinbob Posts: 1,691
    A great class project- really. !   So in a couple of years, you will be able to buy a smoker that is optimized for cooking 1 brisket. Price probably about 4k at WS. 

    Wont be be for me, but in the words of my used car sales manager years ago "there's an ass for every seat"
    XLBGE, Small BGE, Homebrew and Guitars
    Rochester, NY
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  • Botch
    Botch Posts: 17,380
    "Harvard" and "engineering", in the same sentence!!!  


    "Dumplings are just noodles that have already eaten"   - Jon Kung

    Ogden, UT, USA


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  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
    Botch said:
    "Harvard" and "engineering", in the same sentence!!!  


    Hey, homie... You gotta keep up with the MIT Joneses.
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  • beteez
    beteez Posts: 548
    Big green egg or big black butt plug?
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  • SmokeyPitt
    SmokeyPitt Posts: 10,490
    Nice refueling hatch there Einstein.  You can fit one big piece of lump through it. 



    Which came first the chicken or the egg?  I egged the chicken and then I ate his leg. 

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  • s_claus
    s_claus Posts: 74
    At least they got to eat lots of brisket...

    So they have re-invented the egg in a dumbell shape. I wonder (quatitatively) how much better it works than the egg. Any improvement in efficiency, heat control, etc., compared to an egg with a temp controller.
    HO HO HO
    LBGE in Lawrenceville, GA
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  • Legume
    Legume Posts: 15,936
    Looks like a single purpose smoker, you're not going to grill steaks or cook pizza in this.
    THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER
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  • Foghorn
    Foghorn Posts: 10,227
    I think that a lot of folks here have already hit on the basic concept without changing the shape of the egg.  When I first started hanging around here, I couldn't figure out why a lot of the more experienced, smarter guys would put a drip pan above the platesetter and raise it on something to let some air get under it.  Plus some use additional foil to block the entire silhouette of the meat.  And other folks use ARs to get the brisket as high as possible in the dome.
    Initially, I wanted to just put on a platesetter, put on a grate and put on a brisket and have magic happen. 
    Then I added a little foil under any meat that was outside the shadow of the platesetter so that part of the meat wouldn't dry out.  It helped some, but one layer of foil wasn't enough. 
    Then I used a drip pan, but didn't raise it off the platesetter.  The direct heat transmission was substantial at times and burned the bottom of some meat.
    At this point, I put my brisket (or any meat I am cooking low, slow, and indirect) above platesetter + foil balls + drip pan + base grid + raised grid and I make sure I have at least two layers of heat blockage between the fire and the meat.
    So, the bottom line is that while I have had a need/want to collect and cook on all kinds of grills over the years, I don't see me personally wanting this one.  It might be superior to doing a brisket with just platesetter + grid, but I think the best it could hope for is being equivalent to my current method. 

    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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  • Ozzie_Isaac
    Ozzie_Isaac Posts: 21,680
    Recognize the goal of the project.  Foolproof brisket.  We can achieve the same quality on the egg, but it is hardly foolproof.  This contraption is like a Kuerig for brisket.  That was the goal.

    I would rather light a candle than curse your darkness.

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  • Fred19Flintstone
    Fred19Flintstone Posts: 8,174
    The wheels look nice.
    Flint, Michigan
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  • Ladeback69
    Ladeback69 Posts: 4,484
    I don't understand why you would want to build something to cook brisket that you have to ope a tiny door to add lump to to keep the fire going.  One reason I use my Egg over my WSM is that I don't have to open it add lump.  Fill it and forget it.  It sounds like fun, but they have over analyzed it and over engineered it.  The part about having to go to hospital because to much smoke in their eyes was funny.  Come on, how many of you have had that happen and just went on about you day.  They are kind of wimpy to me.  Now if this was done this last winter with all the snow, impressive there.  That takes dedication. 
    XL, WSM, Coleman Road Trip Gas Grill

    Kansas City, Mo.
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  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
    Geez guys, I'll bet some of your ancestors were standing in the sand at Kitty Hawk around the 1900's laughing at the antics of the boys from Ohio.  Telling each other the boys were crazy, 'cuz Lilienthal had already developed the perfect flying machine ...

    The kids from Harvard did great.  It looks like they used the egg as a baseline and fine tuned it to cook brisket well every time.

    Washington, IL  >  Queen Creek, AZ ... Two large eggs and an adopted Mini Max

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  • Legume
    Legume Posts: 15,936
    eh, maybe just taking the analysis too seriously or out of context @Jeepster47?  Bring up any smoker or grill on here and the opinions will start flying about the pros and cons, it's just a discussion.  Plenty of the same regarding even the current design and feature set of BGEs - depth of the MM firebox, shape of the XL vs the Large, daisy wheel, etc.
    THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER
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  • Ozzie_Isaac
    Ozzie_Isaac Posts: 21,680
    @Legume this injuneering is serious business!  Impossible to over analyize.

    I would rather light a candle than curse your darkness.

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  • Ladeback69
    Ladeback69 Posts: 4,484
    Ozzie_Isaac said:
    @Legume this injuneering is serious business!  Impossible to over analyize.
    That's true with engineers.   ;)
    XL, WSM, Coleman Road Trip Gas Grill

    Kansas City, Mo.
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  • Legume
    Legume Posts: 15,936
    damn, totally forgot the enginerding factor

    btw, I'm not an engineer!
    THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER
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  • Jeepster47
    Jeepster47 Posts: 3,827
    @Legume ... don't take my comments too seriously on this thread. 

    Since the "con" part of the discussion was already quite well covered, I attempted to provide a small amount of "pro" view point.  It was a neat senior project and the kids nailed it with good research, analysis, testing, and development.  With all of the negatives directed towards kids today, it's fantastic to see reports like this in the news.  Got to tip my hat to them.

    Washington, IL  >  Queen Creek, AZ ... Two large eggs and an adopted Mini Max

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  • lewisj82
    lewisj82 Posts: 184
    Hey Harvard, could I use this for anything else? Chickens, pork shoulders perhaps? 

    NO. JUST BRISKET. 

    BGE XL- Tomball, TX

    "Well let me just quote the late-great Colonel Sanders, who said, "I'm too drunk to taste this chicken" - Ricky Bobby
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