Bought a Medium, Does anyone love theirs?

Wingtcoach · January 2019

I use to own a large egg. Sold it and bought a pellet grill. Dumb. I start missing grilling with charcoal and almost pull the trigger on pk grill but find a good deal on craigslist for a Medium Egg, never used. I pull the trigger. I got it for less than 500 bucks. Its pretty much just me and my wife at home now and the most I will grill or smoke for is 5 most of the time. In y'alls opinion would you sale or keep the medium? I think if i sale i could make a quick 100 bucks or more but the size of it does intrigue me.

Kevinboatright · January 2019

I say stick with the medium unless you just happen to see a great deal on a large and really feel the need to upgrade sizes. My FIL has a medium and will do cooks for 10 people so you should be good.

StillH2OEgger · January 2019

If you have it under warranty, and even if you don't, I can't imagine why you would ever sell it for 100 bucks when that would hardly put a dent in buying a large.

Woodchunk · January 2019

Yep, perfect for 2. Love ours

Wingtcoach · January 2019

With the 100 bucks made that would put me at close to 600 bucks to put towards a large. The guy I bought it from won it in a raffle at his company. He didn't want it. I called BGE and inquired how I would handle the warranty. The guy I talked too said shouldn't be a big deal even if I didn't know where it came from(he assumed I won it) and that the warranty dept would take care of it. I still don't know what that mean but took a chance. The guy I bought it from said if i needed he would take care of any warranty claims I had but obviously I would rather not go that route.

Theophan · January 2019

I have a Large and a Medium, and it's just me and my wife, most of the time, and I LOVE the Medium, and it's by far the one I cook in the most. It's just perfect almost all of the time.

However, if you have people over, there sure isn't a lot of grill surface for a bunch of folks. And I like being able to just throw a rack of ribs on the Large, whereas in the Medium I'd have to cut them in half. Not a huge deal.

If you already have the Medium, and you don't have people over a lot to grill for, I'd keep the Medium. I really love mine.

Grousehunter · January 2019

I like my medium. You do
have to cut ribs in half though. And use a rib rack if cooking for many people.

RRP · January 2019

Over my 17 years as an egger I have seen this very same question raised MANY times! It all boils down to what you cook and how many that you REGULARLY cook for.

DoubleEgger · January 2019

You won’t find a medium owner that doesn’t love it.

Gulfcoastguy · January 2019

A medium is my only Egg and it suits me perfectly. It is just me so large butts or briskets aren't needed anyway. I've done 14 lb turkeys spatchcocked in it for family gatherings and a whole pork loin at other times cut into two pieces.

Wingtcoach · January 2019

The only slow cook i generally do is a butt 8-9 pounds at the biggest. It looks to me like it will handle that. Will it? I will do spatchcock chicken but only one at a time. I still have the pellet so i guess anything that won't fit or if I need more space I could put it on there.

1911Man · January 2019

I bought the medium in the fall, and have been using it pretty much every weekend and have been using it during the week too instead of the gas grill. Got the the Medium Woo Ring from the ceramic grill store and use that instead of the platesetter. Love that addition and wish I didn't get the platesetter with the egg now. I got the stone and stainless pan with the ring (well worth the $$). Today the cap from Smokeware arrived, which I've installed. Looking forward to using that instead of swapping rings around. Depending on how tomorrow's session goes (smoking a 14# turkey as well as about a 7# turkey breast section before the snow arrives) I might get the flat cap for the chimney cap.

I was thinking about getting a large BGE too. I'm going to hold off on that until later in the year. IF I want to cook more than the medium will hold at a shot, I'll give it more serious thought. But, it's only me 99% of the time here. The rest of the time, I'm not cooking enough that I need more capacity. So the large is probably going to be a ways off.

I know I'm not alone here (obviously) but I've been pleasantly surprised at what I can do on the BGE. As I mentioned, I'm not even using the gas grill anymore. I used to use that a couple of time each week (year round). Now it's just sitting there not getting any attention. Well, other than a place to put the different caps from the BGE (ones not being used at the time). I'm actually offering the gas grill to a friend since he's moving to a new place this weekend. As long as he comes over to load it into my truck, I'll let him take it for free.

Photo Egg · January 2019

DoubleEgger said:

You won’t find a medium owner that doesn’t love it.

Because most Medium Owners never admit to ownership.

Wingtcoach · January 2019

Thats what i needed to hear. I had an adj rig with my large and was disappointed to see they don't make it for the medium. I looked at the woo and looks like i will order it. I'm thinking the medium will do me fine. What do you mean when you say "swapping rings around"?

cookingdude555 · January 2019

My medium is my favorite egg. The inlet and exhaust are shared with the large, xl, and xxl, but the interior volume of air is smaller. This creates an egg in my opinion that performs better than any of the rest of the sizes when it comes to speed of getting up to temp. This is my favorite egg to use for quick cooks, and to feed my family of five. Although now that my son is 18 and eating meat like an animal, the large and xl are seeing more use.

I'd say keep it if you ever plan on having more than one egg, because the medium is the coolest one in the lineup. But if you are only going to have one egg like a normal person would, I would recommend selling it for an XL, or even a large.

thetrim · January 2019

I can't ever see a reason for selling an egg.

Keep it.

You can always add another egg based on your usage.

Wingtcoach · January 2019

Kinda thinking I will keep it. The warranty issue worries me somewhat but I think i can make that work with some smooth talk. It looks like it might be able to handle all I will use it for. I grill about once a week direct. About once a month I will smoke a butt.

WeberWho · January 2019

Photo Egg said:

DoubleEgger said:

You won’t find a medium owner that doesn’t love it.

Because most Medium Owners never admit to ownership.

Now that's funny

DoubleEgger · January 2019

WeberWho said:

Photo Egg said:

DoubleEgger said:

You won’t find a medium owner that doesn’t love it.

Because most Medium Owners never admit to ownership.

Now that's funny

The only reason he doesn’t have one is that he hasn’t found one YET for $28 #kingofthedeal

WeberWho · January 2019

DoubleEgger said:

WeberWho said:

Photo Egg said:

DoubleEgger said:

You won’t find a medium owner that doesn’t love it.

Because most Medium Owners never admit to ownership.

Now that's funny

The only reason he doesn’t have one is that he hasn’t found one YET for $28 #kingofthedeal

I don't think he's knocking it. The medium BGE has always been known to be the red head stepchild of eggs. I think it was more in jest.

DoubleEgger · January 2019

WeberWho said:

DoubleEgger said:

WeberWho said:

Photo Egg said:

DoubleEgger said:

You won’t find a medium owner that doesn’t love it.

Because most Medium Owners never admit to ownership.

Now that's funny

The only reason he doesn’t have one is that he hasn’t found one YET for $28 #kingofthedeal

I don't think he's knocking it. The medium BGE has always been known to be the red head stepchild of eggs. I think it was more in jest.

I know. I like messing with @Photo Egg

northGAcock · January 2019

I am a fan of mine. All I got.

Wingtcoach · January 2019

is there anything out there that gives you the expanded grilling section like the adjustable rig? Also, do the small and medium egg use the same size nest?

bobroo · January 2019

I have owned a sole Medium for many years and here are the difficulties you will have:

1) Unless you have a KAB, a clog in two or more venting holes dramatically impacts temperature--like, you ain't gett'in no temperature to cook anything. Buying a Medium? You must also buy a Kick Ash Basket.

2) You are living in a Large world. All the cool accessories are manufactured for Larges and then maybe XLs. As a Medium owner you will never have a CI platesetter, Woo, CI table nest, or whatever contraption CGW comes up with that allows 4 or 5 grilling skills to occur at the same time.

3) I have never tried but I'm sure you'll never be able to do a marathon brisket cook without adding fuel. They just plain don't hold that much lump. For example I cook a couple brats or hamberders for lunch and then say "I'm just gonna turn this thing down to 225 or so and in a while I'll throw on some ribs for dinner." I'm adding lump before the ribs go on because there is no way there is 2 1/2 hours of lump left in there. It's always sucks to add lump when your food is 1/2 cooked. Always.

4) You will always be a bastard, red headed step child on this forum. That little brother that never gets any respect.

Here are some positives:

1) Pizza and loaves of bread. A Mediums 15" platesetter is the perfect size for a pizza or a loaf of bread. As a matter of fact, no pizza peel I know of is really wide enough to do ones larger than 13-14" anyway.

2) Less lump. I'm sure L and XL users are secretly jealous how far a bag of lump can go. Like, I think they must only get four or five cooks out of a bag. <snort, giggle>

3) Less time and fuel to get it started. When I used cubes one would work, two if I was in a hurry. How many cubes does it take to get a XL going? 4????

But at the end of the day, always remember: BGE's are just overpriced flowerpots and it's not the tools that that make a good cook, it's the skill of the person using them. Buying expensive tools is not going to make better food.

Wingtcoach · January 2019

Thanks for the reply. Biggest problem I’m having is locating a good cheap used nest. They just aren’t out there. I have two large nests that were given too me with side tables. I can’t see spending 150 bucks on a nest. Have you used the woo for the medium? On the fire grate what about just the simple grate that looks like a grill grate. No holes just bars that allow coals to fall through easier

WeberWho · January 2019

Wingtcoach said:

Thanks for the reply. Biggest problem I’m having is locating a good cheap used nest. They just aren’t out there. I have two large nests that were given too me with side tables. I can’t see spending 150 bucks on a nest. Have you used the woo for the medium?

Have you checked Craigslist? My small BGE nest was also hard to find used. I had no luck until I placed a wanted ad on Craigslist. The seller ended up being monniemoh from the forum. It might be worth throwing up a wanted ad. You might get lucky

Wingtcoach · January 2019

Yea been on there daily. I live in rural west Tn so not many sellers. Had to drive two hours to Memphis to pick up this medium egg. May have to put up a wanted ad like you said.

Tony_T · January 2019

Wingtcoach said:

….Its pretty much just me and my wife at home now and the most I will grill or smoke for is 5 most of the time.

I've had a medium for over 15 years.
A medium is perfect for 2 people, even for 5 its big enough.

Skrullb · January 2019

Have a medium and Xl. The Medium gets a ton of use for weeknight cooks, I love it. It’s especially good for using the wok.

Wingtcoach · January 2019

And I just happen to have a wok! I’m going to burn her in tonight whilst having a few cold beverages. I put an ad on Craigslist for a nest so we will see what pops up. I may get our ag teacher to let his class build me a simple table. Should cost next too nothing from some I’ve seen.

Skiddymarker · January 2019

bobroo said:

I have owned a sole Medium for many years and here are the difficulties you will have:

1) Unless you have a KAB, a clog in two or more venting holes dramatically impacts temperature--like, you ain't gett'in no temperature to cook anything. Buying a Medium? You must also buy a Kick Ash Basket.

2) You are living in a Large world. All the cool accessories are manufactured for Larges and then maybe XLs. As a Medium owner you will never have a CI platesetter, Woo, CI table nest, or whatever contraption CGW comes up with that allows 4 or 5 grilling skills to occur at the same time.

3) I have never tried but I'm sure you'll never be able to do a marathon brisket cook without adding fuel. They just plain don't hold that much lump. For example I cook a couple brats or hamberders for lunch and then say "I'm just gonna turn this thing down to 225 or so and in a while I'll throw on some ribs for dinner." I'm adding lump before the ribs go on because there is no way there is 2 1/2 hours of lump left in there. It's always sucks to add lump when your food is 1/2 cooked. Always.

4) You will always be a bastard, red headed step child on this forum. That little brother that never gets any respect.

Here are some positives:

1) Pizza and loaves of bread. A Mediums 15" platesetter is the perfect size for a pizza or a loaf of bread. As a matter of fact, no pizza peel I know of is really wide enough to do ones larger than 13-14" anyway.

2) Less lump. I'm sure L and XL users are secretly jealous how far a bag of lump can go. Like, I think they must only get four or five cooks out of a bag. <snort, giggle>

3) Less time and fuel to get it started. When I used cubes one would work, two if I was in a hurry. How many cubes does it take to get a XL going? 4????

But at the end of the day, always remember: BGE's are just overpriced flowerpots and it's not the tools that that make a good cook, it's the skill of the person using them. Buying expensive tools is not going to make better food.

MBGE since 2012, love it, my experience is different than yours. I use the High-Que grate, never had a clog issue. Before picking up the HQ a wriggle rod was a must, the OEM grate sucks. I don’t use a KAB, never and still do not see the need.
BGE plate setter is ideal and it is small/light enough to move in and out even when hot. CI setter, no need, lots of CI around if you feel you need a “metal” setter.
Cooked lots of ribs and briskets, never run out of lump, typical use is Maple Leaf. Maybe that KAB is making the fire box smaller?
The MBGE heats fast, is a miser on lump and is the ideal egg for a couple or maybe three folks.

For a pizza peel, I use a commercial SS cookie sheet, the kind with a lip on three sides. The MBGE is small enough you can get in there and slide a pie off without scorching your forearms.
Want a couple of grids to add space, the Weber Smokey Joe grid fits and is available at the throw away price of under $10.

Love my MBGE and proud to own it!

Bought a Medium, Does anyone love theirs?

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