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First cook

Cooked up a nice spatchcock chicken for my first BGE meal. It performed beyond my expectations - can't wait until next weekend!  Any suggestions for my second cook? (Sorry about the blurry pic)

Comments

  • Woodchunk
    Woodchunk Posts: 911
    edited August 2017
    Nice looking chicken and new smoker. Maybe raise the grate and try some kabobs with chicken and filet cubed up and peppers and onions mixed in
  • lousubcap
    lousubcap Posts: 36,897
    Welcome aboard and enjoy the journey.  Above all, have fun.
    For the cook-fire up something you did on a cooker before BGE and compare the taste and texture.  
    Louisville; Rolling smoke in the neighbourhood.  Life is too short for light/lite beer!  Seems I'm livin in a transitional period. CHEETO (aka Agent Orange) makes Nixon look like a saint.  
  • Theophan
    Theophan Posts: 2,656
    Chicken looks GREAT -- great job!

    Don't worry about raising the grate, by the way.  Many people do and love it, but I've been cooking for years on two BGEs and they're both at the level they came with.  You may indeed want to try raising the grate, and trying all kinds of accessories, and nothing wrong with any of that -- I'm just saying you can cook wonderful stuff and be happy as clams year after year without needing to do so.  I'd urge you to get comfortable cooking with it the way it is and then consider whether you want to try other options.

    As far as other things to cook, I don't know if you have a plate setter or Adjustable Rig (two ways to do indirect cooking), so, sticking with direct cooking, here are a few things I've made with some recipes:
    • Blueberry BBQ Chicken was really unusual but delicious.  Not something I want all the time, but if you get tired of "regular" chicken, it was really good.
    • My wife's favorite grilled chicken is super simple, fast and easy.  Melissa Clark made the recipe, said that one of the problems grilling chicken is the uneven thickness of the breasts, so she suggests pounding the chicken breasts so they're the same thickness (1/2") all the way across, and then grilling them hot and fast like steaks, and with a rub for added flavor.  It works like a champ, and again, isn't better than a nice spatchcock roast chicken, but is quite different and a nice change.
    • Jerk Chicken, again is really different than "regular" BBQ chicken (which is also good, but somehow regular chicken with BBQ sauce on it isn't my favorite chicken)
    • "Fiery Asian Shrimp" is super easy and really good.
    • "Gulf Coast Shrimp" is a Steve Raichlen recipe that is a little more involved than some other ones I've cooked, but has gotten RAVE reviews from everyone who's tasted it.
    • Good old steak is always a favorite, usually just with salt and pepper, but occasionally I'll use a rub just for a change (here's one, just for an example).  For steaks an inch or less, I usually grill them at 500° or 550° and flip them every minute or two until they're done (usually 120° or even a little less on my Thermapen).  For nice, thick steaks an inch and a half or more, I like reverse sear: I cook them direct but over a very low fire (250°), flipping, moving them around once in a while till they're around 120° or even a little less, then take them off the fire, and crank the heat up to 600° and sear them one minute a side.
    There are many much more experienced cooks than I on this forum, and TONS of recipes and information.  Poke around, and have a ball!
  • I agree with @Theophan I've never felt a need to raise my grid,  you can still achieve amazing results at stock height.  
    As for your next cook... that egg needs to get a litttle dirty with a low n slow smoke lol
    try a pork butt, super easy piece of meat to nail down, or go for the gusto and smoke a brisket or prime rib.  
    The low and slow smoking factor is probably my favorite part of cooking on the egg 


  • EggMcMic
    EggMcMic Posts: 340
    Fun to see a 'clean' egg get burnt in. It'll never be that clean again. Nice job on the chicken. Steak is one of my favorites, along with low-n-slow pork butt. Pretty forgiving.
    EggMcMcc
    Central Illinois
    First L BGE July 2016, RecTec, Traeger, Weber, Campchef
    Second BGE, a MMX, February 2017
    Third BGE, another large, May, 2017
    Added another griddle (BassPro) December 2017
  • Kent8621
    Kent8621 Posts: 843
    I would go reverse sear ribeye or some baby back ribs which are some of my favorite things to cook.  ribs are an easy 5hr smoke to learn on.  I follow the 2-2-1 method, 2 hrs indirect smoke, 2 hours in foil, 1 hour back on the indirect. 

    2 Large Eggs - Raleigh, NC

    Boiler Up!!