Best Rack Expansion Setup

SonVolt said:

Here's an actual concern I have with Tom's unit vs the OEM version and what's stopped me so far from making a purchase at the CGS. I haven't seen one in person so someone please correct me if I'm wrong or not understanding what I'm looking at, but from all the pics it seems like there's a good bit of wasted space around the perimeter. Maybe it's an optical illusion, I'm not sure.   From what I can tell, the EGGSpander doesn't replace your bottom grate so it maintains almost 100% of the original cooking surface.  The pic below looks like a custom bottom grate with big gaps on the left and right; enough to shove a corn cob through.

If you’re worried about the gaps with this setup, then what you really need is another egg. Not an inferior rip-off that lets you squeeze 8 more tater tots in there

SonVolt said: 

Here's an actual concern I have with Tom's unit vs the OEM version and what's stopped me so far from making a purchase at the CGS. I haven't seen one in person so someone please correct me if I'm wrong or not understanding what I'm looking at, but from all the pics it seems like there's a good bit of wasted space around the perimeter. Maybe it's an optical illusion, I'm not sure.   From what I can tell, the EGGSpander doesn't replace your bottom grate so it maintains almost 100% of the original cooking surface.  The pic below looks like a custom bottom grate with big gaps on the left and right; enough to shove a corn cob through.

@sunvolt The picture you posted is the Adjustable Rig......not the Woo with Expander (aka the EggFringer).

On the AR, the bottom grates pulls out, that's why its oval and cant take up the whole perimeter 

This pic below is a Woo and the bottom grate is the full 18" (not pictured).....you use the existing bge grate.  @Shawnodell83 has dibs on this one!

Here is a pic of the woo and expander in action as described by @stlcharcoal and @Legume - not much usable wasted space IMO. 

Never owned a plate setter.  Was used to the KJ system, so I mix and match stones on my Woo, and made the square rack for smaller ABT’s, veggies, etc.  I do a lot of 2-zone cooks on my XL.

I am sometimes frugal (cheap!) so when I bought my XL Egg, I bought an aftermarket 20" grill, added some bolts, and now have a raised grid. I don't need it all the time, so I never bought an AR. But as soon as CGS added handles to the XL Woo I bought one, and it is used every cook. It makes it so much more convenient to the plate setter out and put the grill back on for a sear.

I’ve read the egg version has less clearance than the woo and extender. Having just done four pork shoulders which were almost touching I couldn’t find the same utility in a design that has anything less 

I haven’t checked lately, but I think the woo for XL hasn’t been platesetter friendly.  I use a round and a half moon stone from CGS, you can set it lower in the egg with the woo and there is better airflow, IMO.  Still have my PS but never really use it.

SonVolt said:

stlcharcoal said:

@sunvolt The picture you posted is the Adjustable Rig......not the Woo with Expander (aka the EggFringer).

@stlcharcoal That makes sense, thanks for clearing that up. Unfortunately CGS doesn't make the Extender for the BGE XL. But, it looks like you can set the adjustable rig on top of the stock grate..... so, I may be making a purchase soon. 

The AR is a much better route to take on the XL.  That's why they don't have a Woo Extender for the XL.  The XL is the height of the Medium (its short than Large), with the dome curvature and the plate setter in, you are really limited on height to begin with (and that's AFTER they have modified the heights of dome, fire box, fire ring, and platesetter multiple times, and added the notches.)  I still like the XL woo setup, because you can use it with smaller stones and grids INSIDE the fire ring rather than above it.  You lose a little charcoal capacity, but it buys you several inches in available height unde rthe dome.  Watch the video on CGS's website with the Woo+AR setup on the XL and you'll see what I'm taking about.  

Go take a look at the XL BGE Eggsploiter version before you buy it, I don't think you're going to be happy with the amount of room between the lower grate and the upper grate.....it's minimal.  All the pics online in use with food show them using a Large, but if you look at the only pic of the XL unit, it's bare and I'm curious how much clearance is actually there.  It doesn't look like you could put a pork butt on the bottom, and I'm how many you could get on top....again because of the dome clearance.  Take a balloon or wad of packing material to your local dealer and see where you can place them to get the dome closed.  (That's what makes the AR a better unit--you control the height of the grates so you can set it up for pork butts, ribs, brisket, and any combo thereof.)

You might also consider this set up.....the Smokeware GrateStacker.  Doesn't do anything with the plate setter, but does give you an 18" raised swing grate.  You can use it with the plate setter installed, as long as it's down in the notches.  https://smokeware.com/collections/grill-grates-fire-grates/products/stacker-and-16-grill-grate-combo?variant=40909646478

stlcharcoal said:

You might also consider this set up.....the Smokeware GrateStacker.  Doesn't do anything with the plate setter, but does give you an 18" raised swing grate.  You can use it with the plate setter installed, as long as it's down in the notches.  https://smokeware.com/collections/grill-grates-fire-grates/products/stacker-and-16-grill-grate-combo?variant=40909646478

That's what I'm using now - it's been really handy.  I was just looking for something a little more stable that doesn't bounce up and down or lean down with heavier items, like a cast iron pot of beans etc.  I'll eventually move the GrateStacker to my kettle-style charcoal grill. 

*flagged*

The_Buffalo said:

XF15Loader said:

So, I want to add some cooking area to my LG BGE and I'm looking for suggestions.  I've seen some acronyms thrown around but have no clue as to what you guys are talking about...lol.  

With that said, let the suggestions fly.  Can't wait to check em out.  

Thanks,

--J

As you can imagine there are many aftermarket products that would work but I will recommend our new EGGspander system! Here is a link with a ton of info https://biggreenegg.com/product/eggspander/ Available for Large and XL. 

@The_Buffalo, or anyone that knows, what does the eggspander cost?  

The_Buffalo said:

MSRP is $159.95 for the 5 piece kit 

@The_Buffalo - How much for the XL version? 

Yno said:

Legume said:

I haven’t checked lately, but I think the woo for XL hasn’t been platesetter friendly.  I use a round and a half moon stone from CGS, you can set it lower in the egg with the woo and there is better airflow, IMO.  Still have my PS but never really use it.

@Legume I just bought an XL Woo and my platesetter fits in perfectly. But it the ceramic cracks, I will probably go with a round stone for replacement.

Good to know, could be the design has changed.  I will say, my woo takes quite a beating because I leave it in 90% of the time and while it certainly looks like it’s been in a fire, it’s as solid as it was when I bought it.  Had to be at least three years ago for the woo, I added the AR after that.

Best bet is to call Tom directly at CGS if you have questions.  He won’t oversell you and can speak to the current models where many of us have older versions of things.