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What to get?
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Looking to get a large egg. What do the old time users recommend? Do I get the dual function metal top with the air adjustment louvers? How about the cast iron grates? Plate setter? How about a rack for doing ribs in vertical position? Grill extenders?
Hey, any advice from the "old timers" is welcome.
Hey, any advice from the "old timers" is welcome.
Comments
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not an old timer. the dual function top should come with the egg. after that get a thermopen, learn how to keep temp and cook to temp. after that eggcessories depend on what you want to cook . i cooked for two years happily before i started to collect eggcessories
bill -
I am an old timer both in age and cooking on the egg. you are correct.
I started with a large; and I suggest he do likwise; but the other sizes are great as well.
Hammer -
Old yes Timer maybe. Get what budget will allow at this time. The Daisey wheel shoud be included but a platesetter should be high on your list. Learn to control temps & experiment (Post pic's) Start with low & slow & the rest will be easy with all the advice available here. Welcome to Egging
Pat -
"after that get a thermopen"
What exactly is a "thermopen"? -
Give us more info...
How many are you cooking for on a regular basis, when you get your friends and family, how many are there.
I normally cook for two and first bought a large, then 5 or 6 months later got a medium. When the family gets to gether I cook for 12 adults and 13 kids 11 and under. The large alone gets me by. The large and medium is very useful and I will use the medium most of the time unless I want to cook at different temps.
Get the basics at first than as you use your egg you will know more what to buy.
Egg, dual function top should come with the egg. Plate setter, ash tool which works as a grid lifter.
Things I use almost every single cook. instant read theremoter (Thermoworks no subitutes), dual probe remote thermometer, propane/MAPP torch for lighting the lump.
That's the very basics.
GG -
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Instant read thermometer. Thermopen may be the brand name. I bought one from "Mollyshark" on this forum but some other post suggests you can get a rebuilt one from the manufacturer. Do a forum search and I am sure you will get many hits. I really like my cast iron grate. Just because it makes great grill marks but I don't think it improves the flavor. Later look into a BBQ Guru and Digi-Q-II. Some of the guys with more experience suggest waiting untill you have cooked for a while but I find it pretty user friendly.
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http://www.thermoworks.com/products/thermapen/tpen_home.html?gclid=CI6Z6qm7wpECFSF4lgodcmfpCA
best truely instand read therometer you can buy. don't matter what you are cooking, if it is over or under cooked it is not good. it made me a better cook egg or oven etc. when i went to my first eggfest and bought my first , the man i watched cook [a competition egger who has been on tv] said buy a thermopen. i did. i never regreted it .
bill -
Hey, you guys are great with your replies. To answer your questions, it's just me and my wife but a couple times a week I cook for 8 to 12. I do ribs,turkey, brisket, pizza. I also make and smoke kielbasa and other ethnic sausages. Prime rib roast is usually on the menu with larger groups.
I think a medium would suit just me and my wife, but with large groups I think the large egg would be better. -
This is the one I just got from MollyShark. They are not cheap but are a good value. The whole thing about a good cook is temps. (the food & the grill temps) & the thermo pen is the best (IMO) out there. Instant food temp. tells even us mentaly declined when to pull. .
Pat
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phil2008,
Get the large, and get addicted!
The forum is a great place to get info and opinions.Billy
Wilson, NC
Large BGE - WiFi Stoker - Thermapen - 250 Cookbooks -
In most of your cooking a medium would be fine. In my oppinion a large would be a better choice for you. I have cooked a 22# turkey on my large.
You should go to the BGE company page and there will be a list of what can be cooked on each size.
GG -
Well gotta have the daisy wheel..plate setter...grill lifting tool, then I'd prolly go for the extender...rib rack nice but not necessary...cast iron grates probably before rib rack...I got by 8 or 10 months without the thermapen, but bought my first maverick remote right away..but I intended to do low/slow cooks from the get go.
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Get the large. Just like buying a boat, pick the one you need then get the next size bigger and you will be satisfied.
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We use what we have...
The daisy-wheel should come with the Egg. If your dealer is selling it separately... hmmm....
I use the plate setter as an indirect barrier nearly every cook... not all...
I use the cast iron grill exclusively.
I went for a long time without an instant-read thermometer. The day I got one, my cooks improved dramatically! There's no guesswork remaining.
Lots of people have electric fans, auto temp controls, etc. I don't -- not because I have anything about them, but because my budget doesn't allow me to get so sophisticated. I'd rather spend my dollars getting more Eggs!
So -- get what you can afford... then establish a buy list... and each of us will have a different priority.
Good luck!
~ Broc -
PS -- I have a Medium and a Small.
I regularly do cooks for 30 - 40 people. I would much rather have a Large as my basic cooker than the Medium.
If I were cooking just for one family, and not for groups, the Medium would be peachy-keen.
~ Broc -
That's funny (true)... When the family was young I got a 23' open bow the next month I traded it in for a 29'.
With the egg, I got a large then medium (keeping the large).
Did you get your link stuff down?
Kent -
I'm new in the game and so right off the bat went for the XL. To be honest and all things considered, if I could do it again I'd go for a large and a medium. combo. That would give me the same or more max capacity, more options and less lump for the two person cooks which is 80% of what I do. I also honestly think there are still some bugs to get worked out on the XL as far as indirect goes. Taking 2 inches off the fire ring would solve most of them. But one thing for sure is that I'm hooked on the Egg. I've been a metal head forever but now I'm an Egger for life! By the way, I still plan to get a large ASAP!!
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Scubadog,
I was looking at eggcessories (tjv's site) lookig at some large items and it looks like he has a solution of sorts for the xl.
Jump on over ther and take a look XL Pan/Stone Holder
I don't have an xl but it seems that or if he would make a spider deeper drop than the Holder, that might be a good solution.
GG -
Hey GG. Just got off the e with tjv. They are just finishing up the final design for the new and improved XL Stone Holder and should have it ready soon.
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Good news,
I hope Tom gets that for the XL owners it should be a big help.
GG -
Buy it ALL, even if you don't use it you can say you got it..............LOL
Welcome to the fray -
Hey, at least all this chatter will give the BGE design team some valuable input cata for the XXL and the XXXL!!!
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First, there are the EGG accessories. I platesetter is always good for the indirect cooks. In fact, I was a bit intimidated by the EGG at first and used my platesetter for my first couple of cooks.
The next is an ash tool and grid lifter. The ash tool is needed to clean out your ash and the grid lifter will help you take off the got gird.
Also, there is the grill exteneder. This has two purposed. First is increase your space. Second is to get the cook a little further from the fire. The second really does make quite a difference.
You will also need some good gloves. The changing out accessories mid cook can be a killer. I almost burned my hand off picking up a hot platesetter with a Pampered Chef grill glove. Most everyone has these:
For me, I spent the first couple of months using the BGE firestarters to start the EGG. I have recently bought a MAPP torch which has decreased my prep time in half.
Personally, I have had my EGG since October and believe that I have spent more on accessories that I did not the EGG. This would include a sittin' chicken
A V-Rack
A chicken wing rack (which is great in smoking drums)
A great one for brick oven style pizza is the pizza stone. Note that this is used with the platesetter (feet down). A 600 degree pizza in the EGG is a very special thing.
and the ultimate must, a BGE table. I do not know what I would do without this workspace. In fact, I have landscape bricks on the rails around it to hold hot accessories that I pull out of the EGG.
Let me know if you have any further questions.
Greg -
Hi Phil,
I'm a bit late chiming in, but from what you say your use is, go with the large. As far as accessories (skipping the included stuff like the daisy wheel):
plate setter - I use it a lot for indirect, and there are a lot of things that you can do indirect using oven recipes.
ash tool is indispensable
grate lifter is good
instant read thermometer as already suggested (though I have a $15 analog one that's worked fine for years)
pizza stone is nice for pizza and bread (do try bread)
pot holder(s), especially for those high heat, potential flare-up situations. Leather is nice.
Some kind of drip pan is nice. A lot of people use foil. I prefer a 14" paella pan, which has plenty of other uses as well.
For starting the fire, take your choice. I use a chimney.
One of these days, I may splurge on one of those pit temp control things like the BBQ Guru. -
I'de go for a Hot Tub and a grill extender.
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As long as we're talk'n accessories, I've found that noth'n beats my good ol'e welding gloves for high temp action. They are quality thick, soft leather and have full gauntlets. You can find-em cheap at welders-direct.com for about 10 bucks. They are made by Tillman and the part no. is TIL 1150.
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