BGE Bad Tasting Foods

Grill Man · March 2010

Fellow Eggers: I am a new Egger though I am a long run griller. My problem is that none of the meals from the BGE tastes edible to the family, other than killer ribs.

Have been using the BGE lump charcoal and it has a terrible smell and leaves a harsh wood taste to all meats we have cooked. Way too much smoke on meats like steak and burgers. Terrible taste as compared to old style charcoal.

After 1st few meals, wife refuses another meal from BGE. It's not the degree of doneness, but rather harsh taste and too smokey flavor.

Has anyone else had same issues? Could this be a problem from the BGE lump or is this just the heavy smoking result on all foods? I purchased a restaurant grade lump from a different vendor and am going to try it. Family wants me to dump BGE and go back to either natural gas or charcoal grill.

texasAUtiger · March 2010

Are you letting your fire burn for 30 mins before throwing meat on?

Sounds like you aren't getting to the "clean burn" and if that is the case, YES your food will taste terrible!

FatMike · March 2010

Sounds like you are putting the food on too early. I just pulled some T-bones off the egg and are some of the best ever

Bacchus · March 2010

A common issue among noobies.

Just let it burn for awhile before putting the food on. Also, higher temps tend to help with that.

Keep at it a little while before giving up.

Good Luck!

Grill Man · March 2010

Thanks for writing. Yes, the last time I cooked (this week), I got coals burning totally clean just as if they were the old style charcoal. Have been using the BGE lump and it leaves a bitter taste in all the meat. I had thought maybe I had not been leting it burn "clean", so I took more time this time, got a clean burn, but still foul taste. am going to try a commercial restaurant brand of lump I found on the Internet tomorrow and see if it helps. My first batch of baby backs were A1 perfect.

Grill Man · March 2010

Are you using the BGE Lump or another brand?

(thanks fellow Egger)

Grill Man · March 2010

Do you stoke up your Egg to a high temp for steaks? For medium rare, what do you recommend for a 1.5" thick rib eye or filet? Do you need to allow a little more time for bone in steaks?

(Thanks)

FatMike · March 2010

I have used so many different lumps, but all produce some good tasting food no mater what brand, they just burn different..Maybe they are so used to the gasser(tasteless) that the actual good wood burning taste is off for them?

Mike in Abita · March 2010

natural lump charcoal will taste completely different than the briquettes you might be familiar with. That being said, different lumps will emit different flavors. Besides following the advice above, you might want to get to Loews and pick up a bag of Cowboy brand lump. Cowboy seems to be the least flavorful brand I have found yet. Allow all your lump to burn cleanly, till there is just a slight wisp of sweet smelling smoke coming from the egg. If you smell the exhaust from the egg and it smells acrid then definitely don't put any food in it. wait a little longer and you should be good to go.

As far as the steak cooking question, there are multiple ways to do it. I like the TRex method (explained here)

Grill Man · March 2010

:P Likely that's true. I am personally happy with BGE and it's just a short learning time to see what works.

I am one that keeps trying til things work. Appreciate all of you Eggers comments.

Seems the answer overall is to let the coal burn til it's total clean and all the start up gray smoke clears.

Misippi Egger · March 2010

You can hold you hand over the top opening for several seconds, then smell your palm. The acrid smell should be gone before putting your food on.

tach18k · March 2010

No one mentioned that fact that if food drippings get too built up on the lump that will brun real stinky, thus the food being yuk. Make sure that old sauces and drippings are not the problem. Clean off the grate off of the Egg and not over the lump. I will at times on a new load of lump start it up and get it to 250 and hold it there till later, giving me some time to clean off the grate and make sure the lump is ready. Running at 250 for an hour doesnt burn much lump then it is a quick start when you ready

Grill Man · March 2010

Now that sounds like a fine MS boy sharin good advice. Leave it to a man from a grilling state to have good ideas.

My first batch of ribs were so good I'm still licking my fingers. It's the steaks and burgers that are not there yet. Too smokey.

Misippi Egger · March 2010

Thanks, Grillman.

I do T Rex ribeyes. I have the adjustable rig and spider from 'the ceramic grill store". I sear 2" steaks for 90 sec. per side on a CI grid on the spider (probably close to 1400-1600*). Then I roasted on the elevated adj. rig at 400* until the internal temp reads 125*. I seal in foil on a plate for 5-8 minutes before cutting and serving. Perfect medium rare every time!

A continuous temp probe (wireless is great) is invaluable for cooking. Most here advise to cook by internal temp, not time. Like me, many use the Maverick E-73 brand.

Keep working on it - I think you will get that flavor profile corrected and develop the same love affair with your Egg that is found in this Forum (cult).

Grill Man · March 2010

I purchased a week ago some add on grids you can lay across the regular BGE grid for cooking burgers and steaks. I think they are made in Atlanta, and from something like the anodized aluminum used in some high end cook ware. Purpose is to prevent flame ups from burning the meat when the fire is high temp. You place these in the Egg and they heat up and end up putting gill marks just like a steak restaurant and at same time as grease cooks out, no flame ups. Pretty handy gadget. Appreciate your ideas. I also ordered an extra 2" fire ring from local dealer to get my grid higher up from the flame (about $55).

Mr. & Mrs Potatohead · March 2010

After reading all the replies…My thought exactly!
Hey, you just did a low and slow rib cook! You may have “stuff” built up.
You may want to give a good cleaning burn and then try again. It’s worth a shot.
When ever I do a slow cook , or even earlier this week when I had fish on for better then an hour and a half, I let her crank a bit before shutting’ down. Don’t really want my next zesty cheese pizza pie tasting like fish!

Misippi Egger · March 2010

I think you said you had a large?

If so, then I highly recommend purchasing the Spider/Adjustable rig combo from Forum member tjv at:

http://www.ceramicgrillstore.com/ceramicgrillstore/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54&Itemid=226

I use mine on almost every cook. All his products are top notch. I also had a Wok, a round drip pan, the sliders, oval grids and a rectangular drip pan - all from him. I have had no complaints with anything he makes! :woohoo:

BGE Bad Tasting Foods

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