1 month review

elmuyloco5 · April 2008

Ok, first off I want to say that I don't want this to become the big issue that my last post did. I don't want to fight, I'm not posting to cause problems. But, people requested that I use my egg for a month and then come back and give my opinion. So, it's been about a month or so....and here I am to give the opinion and leave it at that.

If you didn't read my first post, I'll sum it up quickly........I gave my unbiased review on how I felt after using my egg a few times for a variety of cooks. I was slightly disappointed in the performance of the egg in regards to taste. I had read how so many people thought the taste of food cooked on the egg was so much better than cooked on other grills. After using my egg, I thought the items that I made were good, but not better than other grilled foods I had cooked in the past. And some items, I liked better when cooked using other appliances better. But, I did feel that it smoked meat very well.

So here is my 1 month opinion: I still don't taste any difference other than the flavor that is given off by using lump vs. gas. In my opinion, there is a distinct taste difference between using any charcoal grill and a gas grill. It's a flavor that my husband and I don't necessarily prefer with all types of food. Because of this, we don't particularly like certain types of meats and such grilled on the egg. But I can see where this is a personal preference and doesn't detract from the unit for those looking to replace a charcoal grill. To our palates, charcoal tends to mask the unique flavors of some foods and gives off a "same taste" type effect. For some items this is ok, but for others, we really felt that the flavors we've enjoyed in the past were too dulled for our tastebuds. I hope that makes sense.

However, when cooking items that we do like the charcoal flavor, neither of us can taste a difference between egg cooked food and another charcoal grill. This food cooked on our egg was good, just not any better than before.

It's sad to us as we are now grilling less than we have in the past because we don't care for the flavor it gives some foods. If I knew what I know now, prior to my purchase, I cannot say that I would purchase the egg. We've spent alot of money on something we will most likely only use for a smoker and now don't have much left in our budget to purchase a gas grill. I would have rather had our money go the other direction and spend only a little on a smoker as we don't frequently have alot of time to do longer cooks. We did ask about a refund at the local store we purchased from, but that wasn't an option, unfortunately. So, we're stuck with it. At least it's well built and we shouldn't have to purchase another smoker in the future. That makes the purchase a bit more comforting for us.

I know that everyone on here is a diehard egg fan and my opinion did not go over well last time. I hope you understand I'm not here to make waves, I just want to give my thoughts on the grill so people looking to buy can read from people on both sides of the coin.

Susan Egglaine · April 2008

OPPORTUNITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Where are you? What size? How much? Pics?

Double Bogey · April 2008

Sorry you don't care for the taste of food cooked over lump charcoal. I guess it's a good thing we all don't like the same things. I remember one time I bought a mini van based on all the comments I read and heard from friends. I hated the thing. So, I sold it and bought something else. I totally enjoyed owning the replacement ride. You might consider selling your BGE on Ebay or Craig's List to recoup your investment. I'm sure your loss would be minimal.
Good Luck,
Larry

elmuyloco5 · April 2008

I live in Northern NM. We've thought about putting it up for sale, but I think we'd lose alot of money here. We had to drive 2 hours away to get to the only store that sells eggs (the other stores in the state are 5+ hours away), and they don't sell that many. There just aren't alot of eggers out in our area. It's a large, only a month old, and we have the grate extender, the coal tool, grate lifter, plate setter, and cover.

Longknocker · April 2008

How much do you want for it?

stike · April 2008

sounds to me like you might be putting the food on too early. if that's not the case, then maybe it's just not up your alley.

you don't HAVE to like it.

elmuyloco5 · April 2008

We usually wait 20-30 minutes before putting on food. I don't think that would be too early, but correct me if I'm wrong. The food comes out nice and juicy. It's not overcooked, and with some meats, we really like the taste. But with some foods, the charcoal grilled taste seems to overwhelm the natural flavors of the meat, which we just don't care for. Some of the softer and less dense items also seem to get too smoky of a flavor for our personal taste. I think it's really just our preference, really. I don't think that I would like all of those foods smoked, nor would I like them on a regular charcoal grill.

We had smoked turkey years ago in a different smoker and did not like the flavor at all. We loved the ham that we smoked, however. We didn't care for the whole chickens that we cooked in the egg either. I guess we just don't like poultry smoked. We also both really didn't like meatloaf on the egg. The smoky flavor was off putting to us. But, the hamburgers, steak, brisket, and pork items were tasty. The stuffed chicken breasts we cooked, weren't smoky but the charcoal flavor overwhelmed the meal in our opinion. We haven't tried fish because we feel that the flavor would be too overwhelming on it as well. For those meats, I really enjoyed our gas grill (before it got destroyed in the storm) because it imparted only a slight flavor of grilling and really brought out the natural flavor of the fish.

I don't know how much we would ask for it. Let me get out the receipts and add up what it all cost us and talk to my husband about it. He's working tonight, so I'll post tomorrow afternoon with a price. We'd be happy to sell it, but we can't lose too much on it.

stike · April 2008

you shouldn't be adding smoke with everything, are you? it's not ONLY a smoker. you can also just grill.

it shouldn't taste any different than regular charcoal. don't know why it would be smokier, unless you are adding smoke to everything you cook.

but i can't imagine you would.

Wonka · April 2008

Don't forget that you can get a servicable gas grill for a very innexpensive price. I regularly see people trying to give them away on Craig's List and at garage sales. You may want to pick up a nice used Weber Genesis (I see them for around $40, but they were about $300 new) to fulfill the gas need and see if the Egg grows on you for other types of food.

Fortunately for me I don't have your 'problem' and have only used the gas grill a handful of times since getting my Egg in January, but I will definitely keep it for its versatility, grid space, cheap fuel, and ease of use.

And I feel like a man running 2 grills at once.

Grandpas Grub · April 2008

Sorry to hear you still don't like the egg. If I felt that way I would sure put it up for sale and pick up a gass grill and a gas smoker. I don't see having something around you don't like.

It seems to me every time you look at it you would be wanting something differet. I wouldn't expect the dealer to take it back, I wouldn't think many speciality shops would accept back a used grill or smoker.

It doesn't sound like you have been too agressive in selling the egg locally, I would think there would be some people who would like it. Possibly cook some items and share that with your neighbors, who knows they may fall in love with the flavor and versitality of the egg.

I was thinking about your last post "go around" and this last post as to your feelings. For me, I love the taste of the food off of the egg, and I am always getting more meat flavor than just 'smoke' flavor grilling or smoking. In fact I just picked up my third egg and will mostly finish off with a mini egg.

Because I don't like the flavor of gas or charcoal I am getting rid of 4 smokers, 2 gass grills, and 3 different charcoal cookers.

Sorry it didn't work out for you,
GG

elmuyloco5 · April 2008

Stike: No, we're not adding smoking chips for everything. For the items that we have added them, I prefer the taste that the smokes lends to the redder meats and pork. Neither of us care for smoking poultry for some reason. We thought that it was just the turkey or something that we did wrong when we smoked it years ago. But the chicken had the same type flavor to it. I guess it's just not our thing. We plan to try to hot smoke salmon, but for other fish, I'm just not sure that we would like the intense flavor. We didn't add any chips for the meatloaf, but it did have a smoky flavor to it. We just didn't care for it.

We just really bought into the "difference in taste" thing about the egg. We thought that the ceramics might actually make a difference in taste. Now, I'm not saying that a ceramic grill is like a kettle grill. There is definitely a difference in the process of cooking. I've read that ceramics keep meats moister. I haven't noticed a difference in the items that we've cooked, but my husband and I have been very lucky in that regard with our grilling. I can only think of a handful of meals over the last decade that were dry, so that just wasn't an issue for our comparison.

If someone asked me about the green egg, I would tell them that it's a quality product, that it's compact, the company packs better than any other I've ever seen, there's lots of extras available for it, and there's a good sized community behind the product. But, as for taste, I think it's no different than any charcoal grill, except that it might aid in keeping the meat moister (I only say might because I haven't experienced a difference). If they're looking for a charcoal grill, then it's a good buy. If they prefer the taste of food from a gas grill, or want the convenience and speed of (getting it started, etc) then they might be disappointed with the egg. I don't think poorly of the egg, I just don't think it was the right purchase for us.

Hammer · April 2008

Sorry you are still unhappy with your egg. Good luck in selling it. I feel quite confident that some egger in New Mexico or in another state close by will buy it from you if the price is reasonable factoring in todays fuel prices or shipping costs.
Hammer

elmuyloco5 · April 2008

Grandpa: You're right, we haven't tried to sell it at all. We just didn't think that we would get much for it. I'm sure we'll try, but if we can't get a good price, we'll end up keeping it for smoking things. I haven't tried pizzas on it yet either, so it may be my "go to" for that as well. The only pizza peel I could find locally was cracked when we unwrapped it. So, we have to order one before we can try that out.

We didn't really expect the store to take it back, but we had hoped they would be willing to work with us. But there's no hard feelings. Sometimes when you buy things, you just have to deal with making a bad choice. It was our purchase, so it's our fault. I'm sure, in time, we'll get over it. Right now we're just busy kicking ourselves

Pharmeggist · April 2008

Sorry, the Egg didn't work out for you.... you are a real tropper to give it a month. Thankfully my neighbor got his fill of samples off my egg to decide he wanted to buy one for himself.

I was wondering if you ever looked at the naked whiz site for lump reviews (IF you have I apologize for being redundant) I didn't see your earlier post:

www.nakedwhiz.com

As for as when I cook a pizza I make sure to clean out the egg: I start with fresh lump -- cowboy lump imparts very mild flavor in my opinion. My wife is very picky and I have even baked a Pumpkin spice cake and pound cake in the egg with no problems (It passes her approval).

Seriously, I wish I had my gas W*ber Silver Genesis to give you for free I sold it for 60 bucks including propane tank and it was in like new condition.

I hope you get the Gas Grill of your dreams... and enjoy it as passionately as the people here love their eggs.

Good night, Pharmeggist

Sundown · April 2008

and it's too bad it happened to be you folks. You gave it an honest try. And you must be given credit for that much. This may sound a little out of the way but, maybe a trip to an Egg Fest would show you a different side to cooking on an Egg. Just a thought.

This forum can get their panties in a twist when someone comes on and speaks openly and honestly as you did.

You're to be lauded for that.

I hope you are able to resolve the situation to your advantage soon. Good luck and remember, if you have any more questions come on back we'll all still be here Lord willing and the creek don't rise.

[Deleted User] · April 2008

My wife says the same thing. She says everything off the Egg "tastes the same" and she doesn't care for it.

Sorry to hear it didn't work out for you, but I'm sure you could sell it. Are you anywhere near Silver Spring?

Michael B · April 2008

Sorry it hasn't worked out for you.
I have neighbors ready to buy their first BGE. If we lived closer I’d tell them about you, but NM is a bit far to go from NH.

A couple thoughts:

* You mentioned that you waited 20 minutes before putting your food in. What did the smoke look like at that time? Some lump will be ready in 20 minutes, others not. If the lump was damp from humidity or other, probably not.
Starting out, the smoke will be thick and white or yellow. This early smoke will have an acrid "house on fire" smell. As the lump warms up and starts burning more efficiently, the smoke will turn blue, and then thin and lighten to be almost invisible. The blue smoke has, to most people, a really good, ‘makes you want to breathe deeper’ kind of smell.
I normally tell people to wait for the blue smoke, but you probably want to wait for the blue to thin.

* Some brands of lump impart a stronger smoke flavor than others.

elmuyloco5 · April 2008

Pharm: We looked at Nakedwhiz, but unfortunately we haven't been able to find many options for lump here locally. We've only been using the BGE lump so far. We can get cowboy but read it wasn't that good, and we've also seen the whole foods brand (but I thought I read that it was the cowboy packaged differently.....could be wrong about that). We figured BGE would be our best bet out of the three. The smoking chips we've used are the applewood sold by our BGE dealer and some Jack Daniels as well.

Sundown: We wanted to go to an Eggfest, but the nearest is in TX and we're just not able to make it down there during that time.

Bob: I'm at the opposite end of the state from Silver Spring, probably about 6-7 hours one way, I think. We're in Los Alamos, about 2 hours North of Albuquerque.

Michael: I can't say that I've paid enough attention to notice colors, but we add the food once very little smoke is coming out of the top vent, and of course, the temp is good for what we're cooking.

BTW: Thanks for being so nice, everyone. We're sorry we didn't change our minds about the egg too. We really did want it to work out for us. But, in the end, at least we have a really nice smoker.

Rick's Tropical Delight · April 2008

bring your egg to me and i will pay you exactly what you paid for it.

this is not lip service. bring it to me.

*edit: crap, put this under the starting post in this thread.*

Rick's Tropical Delight · April 2008

i think you mean your pizza STONE was cracked?? most peels are made of wood and shouldn't be cooked with in the egg.

i'm not going to say sorry it didn't work out or try to convince you to keep it. like i said, bring it to me and i'll pay you what you paid for it.

Rick's Tropical Delight · April 2008

since it is doubtful you will bring your egg to ohio and sell it to me, i'm trying to find you a local buyer interested in your egg. name the price and i'll get the word out.

elmuyloco5 · April 2008

Rick: No, I meant the peel. I didn't cook with it, when I unwrapped it from the packaging, I noticed the wood was cracked. I didn't want to buy another like it, so we'll have to order one before I can do pizza on the grill. We don't have a lot of shopping options near us as we live in a very small town, that was the only peel I could find.

If you were closer, I'd definitely bring it to you, but Ohio's a little too far

I'll post a price later today. My husband is asleep as he worked the night shift. When he gets up we're going to figure out what we spent on it and decide on the lowest price we would take. But, I'll let you know as soon as possible.

Rick's Tropical Delight · April 2008

you don't need a pizza peel to cook pizza.

i think i am beginning to understand the problem.

post the price or email me at my profile page

elmuyloco5 · April 2008

Yeah, I know we don't need a peel, but I don't have any suitable alternatives to take it on and off with. It wouldn't matter if it was the egg or any other grill. It's no big deal, I was just explaining why we hadn't tried a pizza on it yet, and why I can't give my opinion as to the egg's cooking of pizza or bread cooks. I'm sure the pizza crust turns out nicely though. It's something I would like to try in the future, whether it's on the egg or in another grill.

Rick's Tropical Delight · April 2008

no one, including me, said you couldn't say whatever you wanted. don't be so defensive.

you said you couldn't make pizza on the egg because you didn't have a peel. i took that literally for the words they are. i guess that's not what you meant.

i've offered $50 for someone on another forum to buy your egg. i've offered you full price, all you have to do is get it to me.

i'm not sure what else i can do for you.

The Naked Whiz · April 2008

All you need is a sheet of cardboard and some parchment paper, really. I round pizza pan from any kitchen store would work too. All you need is a flat surface to hold the pie.

Rick's Tropical Delight · April 2008

i've used a cookie pan turned upside down and parchment paper.

The Naked Whiz · April 2008

I don't think Cowboy is all that bad. In your case, it might be your best choice. Cowboy is noticeably less "smoky" than other brands. Give it a try. All you have to lose is $5 or $6 if you don't like it.

Rick's Tropical Delight · April 2008

quit trying to talk her out of selling the egg and start a fundraiser to pay her to ship it to me! :silly:

elmuyloco5 · April 2008

Rick: I'm really not being defensive. I think you took my post wrong. I realize that you can use other items, I just don't own any, and if I'm going to buy something to use for it, I just figure I might as well purchase what's intended for it. I haven't gotten around to it yet merely because we haven't made pizza lately and I haven't thought about it.

But irregardless of the pizza, we're not happy with the unit as whole. To us, it's fine for smoking items, but we don't do long cooks very often. In our time off, we're usually out hiking. We just aren't home to be spending the time cooking for hours. Sometimes we are, and the slow cooks we've done have been good. However, we're not thrilled with all of the "grilled" items we've had on there, for the reasons I gave. In hindsight, we would have rather spent the bulk of our money on a gas grill and less on a cheaper smoker since we don't cook like that as often. We bought the egg for it's versatility and it's quality. But now that we've used it, it doesn't turn out to be versatile for us since we don't care for the taste of most of the "grilled" foods we've made on it.

My posts are not angsty in any way. I said it was no big deal, because it's not. I was only trying to express that not making pizza on it hasn't swayed my opinion of it. It's only made it so that I have no opinion of that type of cook. Please don't turn this into what the last thread was. I was asked to come back and give my opinion after a month, I that's what I've done. I'm not trashing the egg, I'm simply stating that it wasn't a good choice for us. I understand that it was for you, and I'm glad it was.

While I appreciate your offer to purchase my egg at full price, it would cost me too much to get the egg to you.

Naked Whiz: If we aren't able to sell our egg then we will try the cowboy when we are finished with the BGE we have now. Hopefully we will have a more pleasant result with it. I really think that we just don't like the charcoal flavor with everything. I don't think we would enjoy all of those foods on a regular charcoal grill either. We used to own one, but it was many years ago and we did not cook the variety of foods on it that we like to cook now. So we just didn't have the past experience in that regard. The chargrilled flavor is simply too overwhelming for our personal tastes on many dishes. I think that's why we prefer the gas grill because it has a more subtle flavor of grilling and the meats' individual flavor is more prominent.

Rick's Tropical Delight · April 2008

yeah... we got all that. just sell the dang thing already.

have a great day.

1 month review

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