BGE XL or L & MM?

distanceman · January 2017

Good Evening,

I'm looking at a few options, and wondering if anyone has (or has contemplated) the following set up: BGE XL or a Large and Mini-Max?

I'd say 80% of my cooks are for a family of 4 (albeit 2 growing boys). We normally do 5-6 burgers, 3-4 steaks, 3-4 chicken breasts. I'd say maybe once every 6-8 weeks we'll have folks over and do steaks, burgers, or I'll smoke a pork butt or do 3-4 racks of ribs. Maybe once or twice a year, we'd have a larger crowd.

I feel like the XL would just be overkill to mostly do burgers/chicken/steak. I have an Akorn JR (same size as MM) and have had no issues feeding my family w/ the above items (I also like how I use about 1lb of lump/cook). Quick to start up and get going.

On the Large, I believe I can do about 4 racks of ribs, 3-4 butts, a packer brisket & ribs if I'm using the Adjustable Rig. If I use that, plus a MM, it seems I could feel a fair amount of people--or worst case, I have to do multiple rounds or cook in advance.

My final constraint is that I move around every few years, so I need something portable, and smaller would probably be better since I never know how much porch space I'll have, if any. It may live in my garage and come out a few times a week to cook.

Thanks and sorry for the novel--just not sure which would be best!
Mike

GrateEggspectations · January 2017

Many here have the L and MM combo and love it. My MM lives in the garage and gets placed on my covered front porch in heavy rain or snow (I am in Canada and get lots of the white stuff!). Very happy with the versatility of this combination.

With respect to your comments about moving frequently - the L can be moved by one person alone fairly easily when disassembled.

CTMike · January 2017

I actually have all three, XL, L, and MM and I find that all three have their niche. The L will probably be fine for your family, but do you ever entertain? If so, give some serious thought to the XL - you will find that the extra real estate comes in handy more often than not.

Chubbs · January 2017

L and mini is nice combo

THEBuckeye · January 2017

L and MM will serve 95% of your needs. Plus, you can't maintain 2 temps at once w/ an XL.

WeberWho · January 2017

I have a large and XL. I use my large 9 times out of 10 over my XL. My favorite combo would be XL and small if I had to pick two

Killit_and_Grillit · January 2017

Large and a Minimax. I cook for a family of 3 but at least once a week have 8-12 mouths to feed and my Large almost always has enough room.

I leaned toward a minimax a few times but never pulled the trigger. Spent the money on a Blackstone instead.

If you don't have one, it may be worth getting a Large and a Blackstone and waiting on the MM.

NPHuskerFL · January 2017

L & MM work for us.

YukonRon · January 2017

I have the XL and the MM. Love them both, easily meets our needs, whether it just two of us or 12 of us.

GoldenQ · January 2017

Has anyone compared the Blaze SS to these

six_egg · January 2017

I have an XL and L combo. I cook almost everyday on at least one of them. The XL I love for it's space. I find on the large there is no real cold area. The XL on the other hand lots of extra room for cold and hot areas. When I do brats and burgers. I do six burgers and ten brats. I get a good sear on the burgers then go to the cooler area while brats cook on hot. Just My two cents.

texaswig · January 2017

I really like the room of my XL. Especially when smoking. The MM is good for smaller cooks. I didn't really need it. But it's fun to cook on. I will sooner or later have a large also.

TideEggHead · January 2017

I have a LBGE and normally cook for 2-4, 90% of the time I am pleased with the amount of real estate it has! I've done a brisket and butt at the same time as well as 3 spatch chickens another time (we had 10 people over). There are times I wish I had an XL, but as others have said, I may go for the MM if I add another!

Photo Egg · January 2017

GoldenQ said:

Has anyone compared the Blaze SS to these

I have been very interested in the Blaze Kamado.
Last week I stopped into my local BGE dealer and they also had the Blaze in the showroom. I really liked it. The fit and finish were nearly perfect inside and out. The main cooking grate 20" makes it a little larger than the Large BGE and includes 2 cooking grates so you can cook at 2 different levels and the lower lump grate is also a thick stainless grate.
The online videos showing it being shot with a gun, blown up and hit with a hammer are really stupid but it honestly looks like a great kamado.

JMCXL · January 2017

I have an XL and MM. Love them both and use them both.

PSC · January 2017

I have an XL, wouldnt trade it for a L and MM or any other combination

If you cook for 4 or even for 1, you can use firebricks to divide the egg and only use charcoal on 1/2 the egg

but you can NEVER increase grid real estate if you have 15 people for burgers

19Sunny45 · January 2017

I have a Large and a MiniMax. I am not happy with the poor control on the MiniMax. If I had to it over I would go for the Kamado Joe Jr. or a BGE Small or Medium. The Kamado Joe Jr comes with a diffuser stone and is easier to reverse sear on.

19Sunny45 · January 2017

It is also lighter than the MiniMax.

DoubleEgger · January 2017

Get the XL to pair with the akorn jr and forget about the MM

Ladeback69 · January 2017

I am with @DoubleEgger, if you are happy with the Acorn Jr keep it and get an XL for those big parties. I chose the XL, because it was replacing my old gas grill and I wanted something that could put out a lot of food. There is only three in my family eating each night I feel the XL is not to big for me. I did buy a egg knock off called the Kahuna, but wish I would have saved my money. It is about the size of the Mini, but it takes about as long to get to temp as the XL does. It does use a little less lump, but not much. I haven't used in a long time.

I would like to get a Medium or Large to go along with my XL, but for now I use my WSM when I have do bigger cook then my XL can handle and that has happen more then once or twice.

distanceman · January 2017

Thanks all for the great feedbck! Doesn't make my decision any easier, but good stuff to think about. I may consider @Ladeback69 and @Doubleegger suggestion and go XL and keep the Akorn (it actually works really well--esp for just grilling/searing). When the Akorn Jr craps the bed...the major XL purchase may be in the rear view enough to justify another Egg to the wife!

Again, thanks!

fishlessman · January 2017

for what you want to do the large is fine. with an adjustable rig added in you can feed pulled pork to a crowd of 60 to 70 folks with a large

DoubleEgger · January 2017

fishlessman said:

for what you want to do the large is fine. with an adjustable rig added in you can feed pulled pork to a crowd of 60 to 70 folks with a large

By the time you buy an AR, you've spent half of the difference between the L and the XL. The AR is for folks who didn't buy the XL the first go around

fishlessman · January 2017

DoubleEgger said:

fishlessman said:

for what you want to do the large is fine. with an adjustable rig added in you can feed pulled pork to a crowd of 60 to 70 folks with a large

By the time you buy an AR, you've spent half of the difference between the L and the XL. The AR is for folks who didn't buy the XL the first go around

if i had an xl, then i would be buying an xl woo rig combo

and seeing if i could feed 200 folks with pulled pork. its wicked overkill

DoubleEgger · January 2017

fishlessman said:

DoubleEgger said:

fishlessman said:

for what you want to do the large is fine. with an adjustable rig added in you can feed pulled pork to a crowd of 60 to 70 folks with a large

By the time you buy an AR, you've spent half of the difference between the L and the XL. The AR is for folks who didn't buy the XL the first go around

if i had an xl, then i would be buying an xl woo rig combo and seeing if i could feed 200 folks with pulled pork. its wicked overkill

In full disclosure, I have the AR for my XL.

jaydub58 · January 2017

I have a Large and a Kamado Joe Jr. Any more, the KJ does the vast majority of our cooks (just two of us) like tonight's pork chops, but we still get good use from the Large. Good combination and love them both.

DoubleEgger · January 2017

jaydub58 said:

I have a Large and a Kamado Joe Jr. Any more, the KJ does the vast majority of our cooks (just two of us) like tonight's pork chops, but we still get good use from the Large. Good combination and love them both.

did they ever put a screen on the lower vent of the Jr? That was a deal breaker for me when I looked at one early last year.

keepervodeflame · January 2017

i am thinking you could quite a bit of food on a large and a MM. However, you can cook an exceptionally large cut or a huge turkey on an XL. If you ever entertain the idea of cooking large cuts I'd go XL.

onedbguru · January 2017

how about all three??? I have an XL, sometimes I think I want something smaller for, say a couple of burgers or dogs. Or just an XL. Go big or stay home.

Photo Egg · January 2017

DoubleEgger said:

jaydub58 said:

I have a Large and a Kamado Joe Jr. Any more, the KJ does the vast majority of our cooks (just two of us) like tonight's pork chops, but we still get good use from the Large. Good combination and love them both.

did they ever put a screen on the lower vent of the Jr? That was a deal breaker for me when I looked at one early last year.

I will double check tonight, but I think the screen for my small also fits my KJ jr. I did buy an extra one from my dealer for my older Small and it was less than 15 bucks out the door. The screen was not an option on my first 3 Eggs but I did add them.

bboulier · January 2017

I have the equivalent of the large (a KJ Classic) and a medium egg. That's a very nice combination and plenty of space for your family. You can cook small meals on the medium. It has great temperature control and very efficient use of charcoal. And you can do large cooks. With extenders, I was able to cook six racks of ribs on the medium and KJ combined. A good thing about two eggs is that you can cook foods at different temperatures. I would also recommend that you get half moon baking stones, so that you can cook direct and indirect at the same time, or that you can reverse sear - cook (say) a steak indirect and then move it over to the direct side for a final searing.

BGE XL or L & MM?

Comments

Categories