BGE for absolute novice?

By never grilling or smoking before you will have a little learning curve but not bad and no more than any other cooker. There are many women that use the family Egg exclusively. I don't think some of them let the hubby's near it. By having two boys they will love to eat and there is no better food than off of the Egg. By having a friend that has one, you are a step ahead in the game. Get a lot of coaching from them and you can come here for any questions, help, recipes, or anything else about the Egg. There are some very knowledgeable and talented cooks and a few chefs who are regular members. I think you can handle it.

As for the question of is it a good investment? Absolutely! I have been grilling and smoking most of my adult life and got my first Egg about a year ago. I just wish I would have got one 20 Years ago. I now have two Eggs now and looking for a third. You will be able to bake pizzas, bread, cakes and smoke meat, fish, cheese or grill burgers and steaks. Anything you can cook in the kitchen you can cook on the Egg. Invite yourself over to your friends house to taste the food and you will be sold.

The food coming off of the egg is really fantastic.

On the face of things folks may say the egg is expensive. However, some things to think about. It has a life time warranty and the food coming off the egg is fantastic.

I am in my 60's and have grilled on a gas grill (gasser) for a long and have bought 6 to 10 different smokers if not more. Today I was looking at the gas grill propane tanks I have around here, and was wondering what I am going to do with them all. Your post got me to thinking, there 11 5 gal probane bottles here. That means 11 gas grills and about 10 smokers.

The money I have spent on all those grills and smokers is much more than what I have spent on my eggs.

Don't be afraid of a grill or smoker or how to use it. Ask some questions and do a little reading and you will be able to control the egg just as good as you can your oven.

You already know how to cook in the kitchen, I would guess, cooking on the egg for most of those things is the same once the egg is lighted. Grilling is just cooking hamburgers, hot dogs, brats, chicken, steaks, fish, bacon and eggs, potatoes, corn and what ever you can think of outside on the egg rather than in the house on the stove or in the oven.

Smoking, is just cooking food at lower temperatures for longer periods of time.

With the egg, to cook some pulled pork, you light the egg, get the temperature to 250° season a Boston Pork Butt and put it on the egg for a few hours or even overnight. Take the meat off, let it rest and take two forks and pull the meat. You will have the best BBQ pulled pork that you can find anywhere.

You will even be able to bake in the egg if you want.

So in summary...

You will save money in the long run if you get an egg and you will have the best tasting food you can imagine. The egg has a life time warranty.

You already know how to cook and all you have to do is do the same things at the same heat outside rather than on the stove.

There is a great adventure ahead of you. Go to the friends and taste some of the egged food.

Not sure how old your boys are but you have a great opportunity to set them out on becoming great outdoor cooks and have some real fun times with them cooking. After a while you can get them to do all the cooking.

GG

Gas is easier to use. turn the knob, press the button, FWOOMP you're ready to cook. But that's the only advantage. It basically just heats up food.

The Egg is a whole nuther BBQ/Grilling experience! You have to allow time to cook, but the finished product is beyond comparison.

Where you have two young boys, it should be said that the Egg is a bit safer in that the shell gets hot, but not as hot as the metal box of a gasser. before I got my Egg, I got to watch my youngest daughter (a toddler at the time) burn herself by touching the box of the gasser. I reacted quick too, grabbed her before she even knew what had happened, but then the pain of the burn set in.

Since I got my Egg, I've gone places not possible on my gasser.

Just plan on firing up the Egg ahead of time and you'll be fine with time management. Once you get thru the initial learning of temps and times, direct and indirect, it'll be easy.

What Flashback Bob says is correct. I purchased my egg when I had a toddler running around, and safety was a huge issue for me. The fact that the outside gets VERY WARM while cooking on high temps, it's nothing compared to touching the base of a gas grill. That helped me make my decision. I have 2 eggs now. The food is great!!! You will love it.

Faith
Tampa

I have some history of grilling on a gas grill, but I have my egg 10 months. I have used the gas grill once in that time. The only small drawback with the BGE is the fact you want to fire up the grill till the smoke is basically clear. This can take 15 minutes to 30 minutes. You have to allow at least 10 min. for the gasser to come up to temp. After the grill is up to temp there is no comparison for the taste, texture, and moistness of the things you are cooking. My wife loves grilled asparagus and the whole family likes grilled pineapple. I would never go back to a gas grill, and you will be able to learn to cook on it without a problem. between your neighbor and the help you can get on this forum, you should be fine.

If you are near an eggfest that is something you should try to get to. Lots of info and get to see BGE in action and talk to all levels of cooks - novice to experienced