New BGE owner intro

IPA - I am new as well.  Just got an XL delivered this week, firing up for test run tomorrow (no food, just fire) and then doing Ribs for 6 adults on Saturday.  I'm insane so rather than work with what I have, I spent hours on the ceramicgrillstore website reading about their products and ended up buying yesterday the Adjustable Rig/Woo2/Stone/Drip Pan combo.  It took all the strength I had to avoid spending on the DigiQ Guru device as well but that's in my future as I want to cook overnight and not worry about temp control while sleeping.  It took me a while to figure out but the ceramic store has excellent photos and explanations on how their devices work. 

I liked the idea of the woo2 to lift up my grate to the felt line so I wasn't reaching into the grill to cook direct (or indirect) and I like the adjustable rig to give me vertical space and for cooking pizzas up high in the dome.  This place makes great stones as well for pizza and heat deflection.

However, for the Large, I have been told the best stone is their 13 x 17" Oval stone so that you can cook brisket/rib racks without any charring.  The XL has a 17.5" round stone so I get same coverage but Oval better for Large for some people.

Finally, this is all based on research with absolutely zero experience.  Its actually knowledge I've picked up from some amazing folks on this site.  Thus I wanted to share my rookie knowledge with you from 4 days of intense research and sleepless nights!

Here’s a link to all things ceramic-chances are if you have a question the answer is within this site somewhere.  Check out the recipe section for some great ideas. http://www.nakedwhiz.com/nwindex.htm  

For additional links to cooking/recipe sites; here are two very good ones, depending what you are cooking:  This site contains a wealth of the science behind Q cooking along with info on about every type of meat cook you would attempt: http://amazingribs.com/ Here’s the second one:  http://playingwithfireandsmoke.blogspot.com/  

After-market toys- With the BGE there are three basic styles of cooking;  “direct”-where the cooking grid is on top of the fire ring; “raised direct”-where the grid is elevated at least to the gasket-line (this setup requires after-market stuff-easiest is to get another grid and then use three fire bricks (or three empty aluminum beer cans) and place them on the grid at the fire ring and then put the second grid on top. The third is “indirect” where there is a heat deflector (platesetter or some other type stone) between the burning lump and the cooking grid.  This is the setup for low&slow long duration cooks.  I would get comfortable playing around with the BGE before any major after-market investments.  Will save you $$ in the long run. 

Some observations-make sure you calibrate your dome thermo-boil some water, then insert the thermo and check the temp.  If not around 210*F, then note the off-set and use the nut on the back to correct.  Then recheck.

Temperature is a controlled by the volume of lump burning.  The volume is controlled by the air-flow thru the BGE.  In thru the bottom vent and out the top.  Make sure when you set it up that the fire box opening is aligned with the lower vent. 

When adjusting the vent(s) to change temperature, the feedback loop can take some time.  Changes in air-flow are reflected in the dome thermo temp.  Don’t chase temperature; +/- 10-15*F is close enough.

“Stable temperature” is a relative term.  Means you haven’t moved the vents and the temperature is steady for anywhere from 30-60 minutes.

That's more than enough for now.