BGE Purchase likely 1/18/09

You can always get by with just what it comes with...

plate setter for indirect (other ways to do this but if you have the money get it), and If you don't have a good place to put the egg maybe the nest and side tables.
Get some wood chunks and lump while your there.

"must have" means different things to some folks. hahaha

i went a year or two just buying the egg as-is (the daisy abd ceramic cap are not "accessories", they will come with the egg).

i cleaned the ash with an old spatula for a while before getting an ash tool. the platesetter made indirect set-ups easier, but i cooked with a home-made raised grid for a while using a drip pan or bricks to make for an indirect set up (which is what the platesetter gives you).

i think the biggest improvement in my skillz came with getting a thermapen instead-read thermometer. best accessory i ever got, but it's non-BGE. need to get it online at the thermoworks.com, or by sweet-talking mollyshark here on the forum to let you go in on a volume discount next time she orders a batch.

a grid gripper is not a bad accessory, but you can live without that, too.

if they have them get a platesetter. Thats the one piece that gives you most flexibility out of the egg. As stike said, you can rig a lot of stuff on your own. For instance, my raised grid setup is 4 firebricks resting on the porcelain grid with a smaller grid laid between the two of them.

i did as stike did..
when i bought my egg [at a fest] i shadowed a competition egger for the whole day,, his advice "buy a thermopen" i did and it made me a better cook, egg or not.
i did not get the must haves for 2 years and was happy.
my first eggcessory [a year after i got the large] was a mini

Welcome HouHeights! If you have been following the forum you now realize what a great "new" family you have. Any time you have a question, please ask. Spring Chicken and I will be glad to come by and show you anything you need or you are welcome to come to Spring to the Chicken Ranch and set a spell....
Spring "north of the Heights" Hen

Welcome... There's always room for another Egghead, especially in Houston.

Spring Hen has already offered to help get you started but here's a couple of start off tips. Be sure to calibrate your dome thermometer to 212°. That way you won't be surprised with too much or too little heat on your first few cooks. Calibration is easy, just dip the tip of the thermometer into boiling water and if it reads anything other than 212° use a wrench to slightly adjust the nut on the back until it always shows at 212°.

Also important is to avoid high temperature cooks for a while to allow the gaskets to properly seat themselves. Hamburgers, fish, chicken, etc are fine. Just no 750° sears on steak and the like for a few days. In fact, a great first cook is Spatchcocked Chicken http://www.nakedwhiz.com/spatch.htm

It's simple and will give you great results on your first cook.

Another thing to consider is coming to the annual Texas Eggfest in Austin. This year it will probably be held around April 25th at The Oasis on Lake Travis. http://www.oasis-austin.com/

We had a great time last year and this year promises to be even bigger and better.

If you have questions, this Forum is by far the best place to ask them, but you can also count on a lot of Houston area Eggheads. We want your new adventure with the Egg to be fantastic from the start.

Spring "Time To Get Some Sheets In The Wind" Chicken
Spring Texas USA

i would call tom up directly, his number is on the site and talk to him about the adjustable rig and spider and inderect options before buying the platesetter. infact i would skip the platesetter and nest and get those first. his stuff is top notch.ive been cooking without a nest or platesetter for years and dont seem to miss them

Unless you have money running out your ears, you're like most of us who considered the BGE a substantial purchase. It's well worth the money and I (along with all my family and friends) couldn't imagine life without it. With that being said, if I were you I would not get anything at first except the egg, what comes with it, and also a platesetter. Everything else is just going to run your bill up and cause you to be a little more un-easy about your purchase. All the items everyone listed are probably going to end up at your house anyways, but when you start to use your egg you'll feel better about buying it because you will see where it's needed. If you have the patio you were speaking of, then you could definately save the money on the nest as well. You will be in for alot of bending over on your patio, but you could always build you something to set it on. I've seen some guys on here with them just sitting on a stack of blocks. As long as it's stable you're in the clear. That's my thoughts on doing it the saving money way. If you have plenty of money, then let it rip! :woohoo: Hope I helped and enjoy your egg. It's going to be great!!

If you don't expect to build a table for quite some time, get the nest and side tables. It is no fun squatting down or sitting on your knees cooking. Other than that, you can make do without about everything except a thermo pen..in a pinch there are some other instant reads cheaper to get you by, but you'll want to buy the thermo pen eventually anyway..my dealer thru in the ash tool and grid lifter which are handy and pretty cheap even if you buy them...good luck!

I haven't read the other posts but I would start with a plate setter. Then as you get more cooks under your belt you'll know what would make life easier and what you live without. welcome, Brett

I actually have a couple of pizza stones. I just bought the 14" BGE stone but also have a 15" from another maker. I also have a cast iron pizza pan that is 14" so with the spider set-up I'd have several choices.

I wonder if you couldn't just set up a drip pan under the pizza stone as your indirect piece? I'm not sure if that would work or not.

You mentioned a nest as a must have. One thing that is a must have is some type of prep area, such as a table. You may find that you can get a table that will be at the right height to the egg in a nest. I probably would not buy the mates if I had it to do over again. Instead I would buy/build a table to hold the egg or stand beside it. Just my 2c

I'd say you need three items as "must haves" to best enjoy your Egg:

(1) Something to let you cook indirect.
When cooking with the grill directly over the charcoal, the Egg acts more like a grill. If you want your Egg to act more like an oven, you need to diffuse the heat so your food bakes evenly. There are two main ways to do this:
--with a BGE platesetter, mounted legs-up or legs-down depending on the cook, or
--with a combination of a "spider" (wire ring that hangs down from the Egg's fire ring), and a pizza stone sitting on the spider.
Either configuration can be used. The spider offers a bit more versatility down the road, in that it can be used to hold a small cast iron grate down close to the charcoal for easy searing, or you can hold a wok securely within the wire spider ring. Most BGE pizzamakers, however, seem to use the platesetter.

(2) Something to measure temperature.
Most BGE cooking works better when you cook to an internal temperature instead of cooking for set period of time like an electric range recipe. This means you need a device to measure internal temperature. The Thermapen (by Thermoworks) is the preferred instant-read thermometer among forum users for two reasons:
--it reads very quickly, which is important when you're trying to measure something that's next to high-temp charcoal, and
--its narrow probe limits damage to your food.
It's also reliable and easy to read. If you want to do low-and-slow overnight cooks, where the thermometer is mounted inside the food for the duration of the cook with a cable running to a display outside the BGE, something like a Polder is cheaper (generic equivalents are under $20) and adequate to get started. There are also more expensive wireless versions that broadcast to a display inside your house.

(3) Something to handle hot food and grill pieces
Gloves are nice.

Hopefully you have a digital camera and will soon be posting pictures of your cooks here on the Egghead forum! Good luck, and keep in touch.