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Size?

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Comments

  • 1911Man
    1911Man Posts: 366
    I have a medium (my first BGE) and I'm able to do a family pack of chicken breasts, a whole turkey breasts section of up to about a 14# turkey on it (not all at the same time, pick one of those at a time). I'm looking to add a large (or maybe XL) at some point, once I can justify it.
    For fuel consumption, I find that if I load it up to the maximum for a whole bird, I have plenty left over. About 4-5 hours cook time there (running about 300F) with flavor wood. At this point, I know that I'll use about 50% of the fuel in the BGE during one of those sessions. So I don't need to max it out.
    Basically, within a couple of cooks you'll figure out how much fuel it will consume for the different methods. One of the great things about the BGE (and this style of BBQ/smoker) is how you keep reusing the fuel the next time you want to cook on it. Until you want to completely clean it out, you'll pretty much never fill it from zero.
    Compared with the smokers I've had before (side firebox), I'm using at least 1/2 to 1/4 the fuel and flavor wood to get the same meats out.
    Once you do get your egg size, look at the Ceramic Grill Store for some valued accessories. The Woo Ring setup is beyond excellent. I have one of the conveggorator rings (got it with the egg) which I'm no longer using after getting the woo ring (with pan and stone). MUCH easier to use. I also cook with the grate at the higher level (on the ring without the stone or pan) when grilling.
    My BGE is going to put my gas grill out of a home pretty soon. I don't think I've used the gas grill in about a month now. When I typically used it every week. Oh well. I like using the egg more, and I can get good charcoal year round from a local store. :)
    Large BGE with CGS Woo Ring, stone with stainless pan, Smokeware chimney cap, Kick Ash basket and Kick Ash can.
    Living free in the 603 (Pelham).
  • RedSkip
    RedSkip Posts: 1,400
    edited January 2019
    @neumsky Go big, the circular shape of the egg doesn’t leave much room for rectangular shaped cuts (ribs and brisket).  This may be blasphemy but I’d look into an oval shaped ceramic cooker.
    Large BGE - McDonald, PA
  • My porch is small & I will be relegated to one unit. Owning 3 large in the past has brought memories of running out of grill space on occasion. If I get the XL & build a big enough table...maybe I can convince the wife there's enough room on that table for an additional small 😆 TY all for your input. Your a great bunch! 🍔
    3rd Large Eggs =)
    20 inch Yoder Offset
    16 & 20 inch Horizon Offsets
  • six_egg said:
    My son had this questioin less than a month ago. I told him XL and don't look back. He thanks me all the time for my input. IMO it is not about how much you cook at once it is how many diferent things on one grill you can cook. The large with out a second tier can't do what an XL can on the grill.
    I totally agree, in fact I'm buying another XL this spring. When I first starting using my XL I was amazed how much ,ump I was going through then I found these: 
    https://ceramicgrillstore.com/collections/big-green-egg-xl-accessories-by-ceramic-grill-store/products/xl-ang-l-brackets-pair-bge

     Now I can use as little as 1 LB of lump, these brackets also help in cooking indirect, put the lump in the back and have the sides in the front, when ready to cook the steak plop it directly over the lump. To me it's all about the real estate and the XL suits us just fine. 

    Here is a recent cook for 2 people, we split the rack of ribs, a potato each and some beans and it filled up the XL pretty quickly.

    Chicago, IL BGE XL BGE Mini Webber Charcoal / Elmhurst, IL
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 25,880
    To each his own, but I'm a avid defender of the L and S camp! In these passed 19 years as a multiple egg owner my L and S have served our needs both singly, and together! My M is my baking egg which I only use during the Summer. And my Mini is my traveling egg.

    As the say goes...YMMV!






    Re-gasketing America one yard at a time.
  • Ozzie_Isaac
    Ozzie_Isaac Posts: 18,942
    XL and Medium.  Medium doesn't get much love around here, but it is my favorite and most used Egg.  Cooks are usually 4-6 people.  XL gets used for big cuts, and anything in a dutch oven or big pot.
    A bison’s level of aggressiveness, both physical and passive, is legendary. - NPS
  • stlcharcoal
    stlcharcoal Posts: 4,684
    XL and Medium.  Medium doesn't get much love around here, but it is my favorite and most used Egg.  Cooks are usually 4-6 people.  XL gets used for big cuts, and anything in a dutch oven or big pot.
    I grew up using a Medium.  I had one here at the house for many years next to my large and xl, but it never got used.  Its kind of an awkward size if you don't have have something bigger.  Can't do a whole brisket, whole racks of ribs, larger spatched birds, etc.  Hardly anyone makes accessories for them is the other bummer.  Not knocking it for cooking, I would just always try to talk people into the extra $100 for a large.....especially if that was their only egg.  They were so close in price, why not just get a large and have many more options.  But if a cheap one pops up on craigslist.....buy it!
  • Ozzie_Isaac
    Ozzie_Isaac Posts: 18,942
    XL and Medium.  Medium doesn't get much love around here, but it is my favorite and most used Egg.  Cooks are usually 4-6 people.  XL gets used for big cuts, and anything in a dutch oven or big pot.
    I grew up using a Medium.  I had one here at the house for many years next to my large and xl, but it never got used.  Its kind of an awkward size if you don't have have something bigger.  Can't do a whole brisket, whole racks of ribs, larger spatched birds, etc.  Hardly anyone makes accessories for them is the other bummer.  Not knocking it for cooking, I would just always try to talk people into the extra $100 for a large.....especially if that was their only egg.  They were so close in price, why not just get a large and have many more options.  But if a cheap one pops up on craigslist.....buy it!
    I see the point with only $100 difference.  I think I have a bit of a contrarian streak.  The large is probably more practical, but the medium heats so fast, hold temps so well, and is a great size for week night cooks.  At times you do need to get creative with it. 
    A bison’s level of aggressiveness, both physical and passive, is legendary. - NPS
  • stlcharcoal
    stlcharcoal Posts: 4,684
    XL and Medium.  Medium doesn't get much love around here, but it is my favorite and most used Egg.  Cooks are usually 4-6 people.  XL gets used for big cuts, and anything in a dutch oven or big pot.
    I grew up using a Medium.  I had one here at the house for many years next to my large and xl, but it never got used.  Its kind of an awkward size if you don't have have something bigger.  Can't do a whole brisket, whole racks of ribs, larger spatched birds, etc.  Hardly anyone makes accessories for them is the other bummer.  Not knocking it for cooking, I would just always try to talk people into the extra $100 for a large.....especially if that was their only egg.  They were so close in price, why not just get a large and have many more options.  But if a cheap one pops up on craigslist.....buy it!
    I see the point with only $100 difference.  I think I have a bit of a contrarian streak.  The large is probably more practical, but the medium heats so fast, hold temps so well, and is a great size for week night cooks.  At times you do need to get creative with it. 
    I'm with you.....if you can get a deal on one, buy it.  When it was just the 2-4 of us, it was fine for quick grilling, but burger for 6 needed the Large which is why I moved away from it.  Just wasn't enough for parties or larger cuts of meat.  

    My Large and XL would heat up just as fast though.  More charcoal = more fire, even though the draft door on the Medium is the same size as the Large.  I never saw a noticeable charcoal usage difference between the Large and Medium.  Definitely see one between the Large an XL though.

    Didn't your dad do a post about this a long time ago???
  • Love my medium, my favorite egg. Wouldn’t recommend it as the solo egg, but it’s a great daily driver if I could use the car analogy again. 
  • TN_Egger said:
    matters.

    Stole my line. Darn it ;)
    Chris
    St. Louis, MO
    Unit 1: LBGE, cedar table Unit 2:Akorn
  • DoubleEgger
    DoubleEgger Posts: 17,125
    I use the medium 5x per week at a minimum. It’s an awesome cooker for 2-4 people. It uses so little lump that it has almost paid for itself in a few years in lump savings vs the XL. I think the medium is the best weekday cooker made. Anything smaller than a medium doesn’t fit my cooking style and I don’t need mobility.