Observations after owning an egg for 3 years

eddyg · May 2016

For roasting and grilling it's hard to beat. Wood fired pizzas- some of the best pizza I have ever eaten. For Smoking, however, not so much. In fact my 50 dollar charcoal bullet smoker produced better results.

Here is my opinion on what the problem is. Feedback and solutions are welcome.
When I do large cuts of meat or even smoked chicken ( vs grilled chicken) using my partyQ,because the egg is so efficient at keeping a low temperature it also keeps a low flame. As a result, the wood chunks don't properly smoke. In fact, I can keep 250 deg for 10 or more hours and still have unburned wood chunks. Initially I get a good smoke but then it stops. Mostly because I have to choke down the dampers so much to keep the temperature down or it gets too hot. IMO larger cuts of meat require more smoke at least for my liking. I could mix the coals up in the middle of the cook to get the smoke moving again, but we all know what a pain that is. Pulling off the roast, the water pan, the plate setter etc. or trying to work around it which is not real easy.

One thought I had was to purchase the amazen products smoker box with wood pellets and allow that to smoke and burn separately to give me the amount of smoke I desire. Has anyone else had this issue or are there any more obvious solutions to this problem? Thanks for your feedback.

RRP · May 2016

hey - what ever floats our boat! May I ask a question? I'm not being a smart ass OK? Do you smoke? cigarettes, cigars, pipe or bong? If so how many a day? I always wonder when I see posts such as yours. Again - no offense - just wondering why your taste buds MIGHT be different than others of us.

DieselkW · May 2016

As far as I know, and I am not a smoking expert; the meat will take on smoke flavor for "X" amount of time before it reaches "X" temperature and then all the smoke afterwards will not benefit anymore.

Old wives tale, perhaps, but that's my understanding.

bgebrent · May 2016

Appreciate the premise. Never need a water pan in the egg. And it's not a vertical! It will smoke well if you add appropriate smoke wood. Review @Darby_Crenshaw's comments on getting smoke on your protein. I get great smoke on my cooks. Today was 45 day dry aged prime ribeye cooked over Rockwod and one chunk of white oak. Plenty smoky with my neutral lump.

EggNorth · May 2016

I don't like too much smoke flavour, having said that I found using wood chunks gives a nice smoke flavour. We had a maple tree cut down last year (it split) and using that. When I use chips I layer it and add a little more at the 'hot' spot.

I guess it would be hard to duplicate the smoke of a dedicated smoker. Don't give up! Best part is all the great food you get while trying.

eddyg · May 2016

Hey Ron, you are a good dude. You've helped me out in the past. In fact your gasket has been a godsend but you are being a total smart azz. I am being completely serious. Maybe I'm doing something wrong like back to the basics. Am I building the fire wrong? Do the dampers need to be set differently? Etc. How bout some legitimate feedback?

matoch · May 2016

eddyg said:

Hey Ron, you are a good dude. You've helped me out in the past. In fact your gasket has been a godsend but you are being a total smart azz. I am being completely serious. Maybe I'm doing something wrong like back to the basics. Am I building the fire wrong? Do the dampers need to be set differently? Etc. How bout some legitimate feedback?

I Don't think he's being a smart ass. It's a legitimate question and he's trying not to be offensive with it. My dad smokes and he honestly can't taste anything and overloads all of his food with salt. Rule that out as a potential reason that the smoke flavor is weak and he might have more ideas. I unfortunately can't give you any pointers but I'm interested in the answers. I had a bradley smoker and the amount of smoke it put into the food was much higher then I've seen on the BGE. I've only had it a short time though so I have much to learn.

johnkitchens · May 2016

@RRP was not trying to be smart. Like you said he is a good guy. He is honestly trying to help you. Most of us don't have your problem so he was trying to help you figure it out.

There are some real smart asses here, but Ron isn't one of them.

bgebrent · May 2016

@RRP will get back to you brother.

Biggreenpharmacist · May 2016

johnkitchens said:

There are some real smart asses here, but Ron isn't one of them.

So why you gotta drag me into this?

Darby_Crenshaw · May 2016

DieselkW said:

As far as I know, and I am not a smoking expert; the meat will take on smoke flavor for "X" amount of time before it reaches "X" temperature and then all the smoke afterwards will not benefit anymore.

Old wives tale, perhaps, but that's my understanding.

Smoke will flavor the meat at anytime actually. It's the smoke ring which stops forming around 140. But you can add smoke flavor at any point during the cook

eddyg · May 2016

Thanks. I thought that was a little out of character for him. No I don't smoke cigarettes, etc. One question I would have though have those of you that are happy with the egg as a smoker ever use any other kind of smoker? I can't seem to produce the same kind of taste. Also as I said earlier, the wood chunks don't seem to burn much at very low temps.

johnkitchens · May 2016

Biggreenpharmacist said:

johnkitchens said:

There are some real smart asses here, but Ron isn't one of them.

So why you gotta drag me into this?

Haha. I couldn't help it. How is your little egghead doing?

blasting · May 2016

The guys with quality offsets will tell you that you get better smoked Q off their units over the egg. I have a decent offset, and would rather egg because of the set and forget factor.

Try different smoke wood, more smoke wood, inter space your smoke wood.

FYI - If i might speak for Ron. I'm fairly confident he was not being a smart asss.

RRP · May 2016

john kitchens

@RRP was not trying to be smart. Like you said he is a good guy. He is honestly trying to help you. Most of us don't have your problem so he was trying to help you figure it out.

There are some real smart asses here, but Ron isn't one of them.

Thank you KIND sir and other people who have posted statements basically in agreement with me. Guess I should have been more clear...WAY back in 1984 when I quit a 3 pack a day habit of Marlboros (NO SH*T 3 to 4 packs many days) I PROBABLY could not have tasted a dog turd!

But I knew at age 40 I had to quit or die too soon!

Now do any of you still mis-understand why I asked him?

johnkitchens · May 2016

@RRP Damn Ron you were giving the Marlboro Man a run for his money!

Biggreenpharmacist · May 2016

johnkitchens said:

Biggreenpharmacist said:

johnkitchens said:

There are some real smart asses here, but Ron isn't one of them.

So why you gotta drag me into this?

Haha. I couldn't help it. How is your little egghead doing?

Man he's doing great. I appreciate you asking.

eddyg · May 2016

Sorry Ron. Seemed kinda strange coming from you. For a second I thought your kid commandeered your computer. Now I see where you were going with that.

YukonRon · May 2016

If you can't get enough smoke flavor from a BGE, you are not using enough wood chunks in your cook. On L&S, (8 hours plus) I use several fist size chunks for the cook. H&F I use more.
I am always concerned about being too smoke heavy in flavor instead of not enough.

Smokin_Trout · May 2016

I know if I stay by the egg while it's doing it's thing, I have a hard time tasting the smoke. Try having someone else check the food and pull it off.

SmokinTiger81 · May 2016

Here is what works for me and no wood chunks unburned. Using spider, stone, and adjustable rig with largest drip pan Tom sells--16 inch I think. For Low and slow., clean out egg well and fill with fresh charcoal to about bottom of spider. Stone and rig out, light 2 places, lower vent full open and daisy wheel off. Get up to 350 to 400. Put in stone, adj rig with large drip pan, daisy wheel on and vents top and bottom almost closed. Choke temp down to 250. Pull it all out and put in 3 chunks of wood (usually cherry or apple) about halfway between center and outer edge. Stone and rig back in, meat added to top rack and pit controller installed and set for 250 degrees. After 18 to 20 hour cook, some charcoal left, no wood left. IF you still need more smoke, nest time do a second ring of 3 wood chunks beyond the first ring. Since your problem is wood not burning, you probably are fine with 3 that do burn.

eddyg · May 2016

Thanks all for the great input. Hey Tiger, do you have a link? I'm not exactly sure what you are talking about. Spider,stone,adjustable rig, etc. I think I have seen them on here but don't remember much about them. Thanks.

SmokinTiger81 · May 2016

It is from Tom at the Ceramic Grill Store--you can google it and he has a page just for accessories for the large showing you everything. I suggest the pre-assembled package with the customer combo rig with upgrade to large 16 inch drip pan, and get an extra pair of crossbars too. This lets me do about anything I could ever think about doing on the egg--and his products last forever as they are stainless steel. I don't think I have ever seen anyone that is not extremely pleased with his products for the Egg. Here is link https://ceramicgrillstore.com/collections/shop-large-adjustable-rig-for-large-big-green-egg

SmokinTiger81 · May 2016

And you have to figure out which spider you need--3 or 5 leg--it depends on the number of notches in your fire ring as older eggs are 5 and newer eggs are 3 notches for spider to sit on. (PS--when you turn spider upside down, it holds your wok for wokking on the egg at high temps--the way it is supposed to be done). When you click on the combo to order it, it gives you these options to select. Again, you need the 16 inch drip pan--it keeps edges of your food from burning when you load the grid fully

saluki2007 · May 2016

Not really sure what if any help this would do as far as smoke flavor, but have you tried eliminating the water pan? It is not necessary in the egg. Now, a lot of people will use an empty water pan to catch the dripping.

SmokinTiger81 · May 2016

Agreed, I dont' use water pan in the Egg. Did use one when I cooked on stick burner. I forgot to mention, I do put a larger grease pan, like a foil lined pie pan on top of the shallow drip pan as butts do lose a lot of fat in a 18 hour cook and I don't want the shallow drip pan overflowing and dumping grease in the egg. The drip pan is more of a larger heat shield in this situation, need something deeper to catch the grease on a lo/slo butt cook.

lousubcap · May 2016

As you note, for L&S cooks, the volume of fire burning at any one time is quite small, but the temperature of that fire is hot. The fire travels around the lump load seeking fuel throughout the duration.
Load your smoke wood in the center and closely out from the center to pretty much ensure interaction with the traveling fire. At the end of a L&S look at the lump burn pattern and you will get an idea of where not to put smoke wood for the next cook. FWIW-

SPRIGS · May 2016

lousubcap said:

As you note, for L&S cooks, the volume of fire burning at any one time is quite small, but the temperature of that fire is hot. The fire travels around the lump load seeking fuel throughout the duration.
Load your smoke wood in the center and closely out from the center to pretty much ensure interaction with the traveling fire. At the end of a L&S look at the lump burn pattern and you will get an idea of where not to put smoke wood for the next cook. FWIW-

Great advise right there. I had the same problem as the OP initially. When i light in the center for low and slows, my egg tends to burn down and back. As such, when doing low and slow now, I load some lump, then circle my chunks around the center and to the back. Then more lump. Light the middle and then add a chunk or two on top of the lit lump. My larger cuts get plenty of smoke for me.

As previously pointed out, I have found that if I am outside lighting the egg and checking on it (smelling the smoke), and don't change clothes and take a shower before first trying the meat, I can't taste as much smoke. The next day though, the leftovers have plenty of smoke flavor.

Just some thoughts.

johnkitchens · May 2016

As previously pointed out, I have found that if I am outside lighting the egg and checking on it (smelling the smoke), and don't change clothes and take a shower before first trying the meat, I can't taste as much smoke. The next day though, the leftovers have plenty of smoke flavor.

I notice the same thing. It seems to be that way with my chicken. I don't taste much smoke after I egg it, but the next day I taste a lot!

EggPerfection · May 2016

blasting said:

The guys with quality offsets will tell you that you get better smoked Q off their units over the egg. I have a decent offset, and would rather egg because of the set and forget factor.

Try different smoke wood, more smoke wood, inter space your smoke wood.

FYI - If i might speak for Ron. I'm fairly confident he was not being a smart asss.

My father-in-law has an off set and always achieves more smoke but only when he uses all wood in the fire box. I've come close to matching him when I had big hickory chunks that I hand snugged right into the hot spot before setting up indirect and choking down the fire. That made a lot of smoke for a long time but still fell short of his offset.

pgprescott · May 2016

Darby_Crenshaw said:

DieselkW said:

As far as I know, and I am not a smoking expert; the meat will take on smoke flavor for "X" amount of time before it reaches "X" temperature and then all the smoke afterwards will not benefit anymore.

Old wives tale, perhaps, but that's my understanding.

Smoke will flavor the meat at anytime actually. It's the smoke ring which stops forming around 140. But you can add smoke flavor at any point during the cook

Yeah, the ring is a chemical reaction and isn't a flavor profile. I have not tested this but I would think in a blind taste test, it would be undetectable.

Observations after owning an egg for 3 years

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