explanation of "raised" cooking - new BGE owner

Raised cooking means raising the grid to gasket level or higher.  There are a number of ways to do that.

It's not necessary to do that for leg of lamb, IMO, since you probably want to do that indirect anyway.  I cooked one last weekend.  Rubbed in salt, pepper, granulated garlic and onion, cayenne and paprika.  Then crusted with a fresh herb mixture of mint, oregano, rosemary and parsley.  Cooked indirect at about 275 to 130.  I think it took right about 2 hours or so.

Came out great.

Here is a shot of some chicken breast and sausage cooking "raised direct" on a large. I am using a pswoo from https://ceramicgrillstore.com

Or you can use what i have used for years ... the elevated grid from Big Green Egg  http://biggreenegg.com/product/folding-grill-extender/

Tennisjon said:
raised cooking; not totally sure how to do that

There several ways to go raised direct. Some folks use long bolts, some use bricks, and just about any other thing that you can think of to raise the grid. 
However for just a few bucks there is the Woo. To me it's the "most bang for the buck". It's cheap, simple to use and durable as hell. It works great for raised direct cooks, and it works equally well for indirect cooks by using the plate setter.  
Woo:

Woo with plate setter installed. (Indirect)

Woo without the PS. Raised direct. 

Then there is the AR (adjustable rig)

AR set up for raised direct. 

The AR will put the full size 17" grid as high as practical in the dome. To go any higher you will have to use a smaller grid. When sitting on the very top of the AR, the full size grid will rub the dome a little until you get it situated just right. Nothing to worry about though. Again there are numerous improvised methods out there, but for just a few bucks the Woo gives you a sturdy, well built, and very easy means of going both indirect and raised direct. As with most things, it's your money my friend. So spend it wisely. If we had Rons money we would not give minor things like this a second thought
And sorry for the crappy pics but it's dark and raining here. 

Other than when I'm searing at high heat, I cook EVERYTHING raised grid because it results in less flare ups, less burns, etc. and it is still plenty close enough to the fire to cook.

g37 said:

Is cooking raised direct really beneficial?  

Absolutely it is beneficial for some things (maybe not all things). But for large cuts such as whole turkey & chicken, whole hams etc, etc, there is no doubt about it. Even for chicken parts there are several advantages to raising the grid. Again, it's not a absolute necessity across the board, but for some things it certainly makes life much eaiser. Try a raised grid just once and you probably won't turn back. If nothing else, one huge benefit of a raised grid is food removal. It's much easier to remove your food at gasket level or higher than it is having to reach down to the factory level. This alone makes it worth it to me. 

bhedges1987 said:

it's not ghetto rigged..

This is priceless my friend. And I know what you really wanted to say. For being a deep thinker, I proudly award you the double seal my friend. 

g37 said:

Thanks SGH. 

My pleasure. 

feef706 said:

Killit_and_Grillit said:

This was my solution. I bought another grate and some stainless steel 4 inch bolts, washers, and nuts and made a second one. 4 inches in a large gets you flush with the gasket, which has been perfect for chicken. Edit: just set it on the original grate

I'm in need of a raised rig also, is the extra grate a aftermarket or BGE? I know Weber makes a few sizes and are cheap in comparison.

It was a BGE brand one. Only because I had a ton of credit at the store after Christmas. I also took a Weber grid and made a 6 inch off of a burnt out older one. 

My buddy ordered a generic one off Amazon and it worked as well. The only thing is 4 inches doesn't give a lot of room when trying to cook on both levels. 

I I wouldn't discount that Woo though. Interesting. 

Smokeware now makes a grate raiser as well. It is of durable construction and, if you have the right size baking stones, it can be used to stack them for simultaneous cooking. It ia also a good fit to hold my wok in place, a little further down into the flames. It's a good option!

fence0407 said:

@Tennisjon of you need a cheap/quick fix, I use 3 fire bricks from Home Depot to get to felt level. Less than a dollar a brick:

Yep. This works great and is cheap and easy.

Here's the AR and I think it's called the AR extender on top of that to get high in the dome for raised indirect. There's an oval stone under the drip pan.