New Big Green Egg Owner - tips?

Hey all,

So received a housewarming present from my in-laws - Large Big Green Egg. Looking for some good first time tips - before, mostly worked with a weber charcoal grill and an old smokey electric smoker. I don't have a platesetter yet for indirect - any recommendations on ordering one online (sources)? I presume one with legs, rather than a flat one, is ideal. I did a couple low temp burns to break in the gasket, cooked some burgers on low heat - 350-400°, no major issues. Just curious what tricks you all have on the BGE or other ceramic grills.

1. Register it with BGE for warranty.
2. Forget the plate setter. Find someplace to order the Kamado Joe Divide & Conquer system, or the ceramicgrillstore.com equivalent for the BGE. The half-moon heat deflectors with these set ups are much more versatile than the plate setter.
3. Check out kamadoguru.com, the HBT equivalent for kamado cooking.

snake method for the coals works the best to sustain a long low temp smoke, 225-250*. Add "chunks" of your favorite wood along the way. Enjoy!!!!

Forget the plate setter. I use a series of unglazed quarry tiles set on the grates. Always use hardwood lump coal, it does not have to be BGE branded. Keep the air vents free of ash, airflow is the secret to a clean burn and temp control. Do not put your food on the BBQ until the fire balances out and you get clean blue smoke coming out of the stack. No billows of great thick yucky smoke.

I fill my BGE full of coal and then I take a metal coal fire starter and fill it with hickory chunks, burn them to coals and add them to start the fire. It works very, very well.

BGE is one of the most addicting and most tasty environment to cook in. I look forward to using mine every weekend. I can keep 200 degrees for well over 24 hours for amazing BBQ pork shoulders.

Also check online , there are lots of great plans out there for BGE tables.

I for one have the plate setter and enjoy it.

I recently discovered that the ceramicgrillstore.com opened a brick and mortar store here in my town and his products do look pretty cool.

A cheap and foolproof way to start your fire: get a paper towel, drizzle some olive oil on it, twist it up into a wick sort of like you're wringing out a wet towel, place it on top of your bed of coals and finally place a few coals over it and light the ends of the paper towel. Works every time, no need to buy starter cubes or torches or those crazy leaf burner gizmos. For a quick and hot fire use two or three paper towels.

Oh yeah, and never use briquettes or lighter fluid.

sloanfamilydsm said:

snake method for the coals works the best to sustain a long low temp smoke, 225-250*. Add "chunks" of your favorite wood along the way. Enjoy!!!!

Click to expand...

Had to google the "snake method". It's interesting but at first glance it doesn't seem like it would be very easy to achieve in the large bge's firebox. What are you cooking on?

Also, while googling that I stumbled on the Kick Ash Basket. http://www.nibblemethis.com/2014/12/product-review-kick-ash-basket.html
Any one used one of these things? I'm intrigued... OP, fair warning charcoal/ash management can be a p.i.t.a and a dirty job hence why this product interests me.

thekraken said:

Had to google the "snake method". It's interesting but at first glance it doesn't seem like it would be very easy to achieve in the large bge's firebox. What are you cooking on?

Click to expand...

A komodo style knockoff of the BGE. Keeping the temp below final cooking range is the challenge all egg enthusiasts face.
Do you have an "egg" ?

Also i should add that I use a shop vac to clean mine out

thekraken said:

Also, while googling that I stumbled on the Kick Ash Basket. http://www.nibblemethis.com/2014/12/product-review-kick-ash-basket.html
Any one used one of these things? I'm intrigued... OP, fair warning charcoal/ash management can be a p.i.t.a and a dirty job hence why this product interests me.

Click to expand...

I have one for the Big Joe. I like it. It's definitely more convenient. I wouldn't call it a make or break accessory, but I don't regret my purchase one bit.

Kick ash basket looks like a good add on! Still need to order a plate setter (or get some ceramic tiles), but nailed a couple pork tenderloins this past week - good stable 400° heat, couple flips every 4 min or so, done in around 15 min, if I recall. Good sear, juicy, just a hint of pink on the inside.

Also a plate setter fan here. Can't imagine doing pizza and slow cooks without it.

-BD

Get cooking!

I purchased mine used and it came with this. I never would have purchased this on my own but, now if I am doing a long smoke say a pork butt or brisket it really really is nice. Maybe you can find one used.
https://bbqguru.com/StoreNav?CategoryId=1&ProductId=24

+1 on the shot vac.

The bge forum is very active you can find just about any recipe you want on there.

Have fun and good luck!

^ +1
If you're going to use it as a smoker a bbq temperature controller really awesome to have. To be able to throw a brisket on and not have to touch it for 18 hours really is nice, no more waking up a couple times in the middle of the night to tweak the daisy wheel. TRULY set it and forget it.

If you don't want that level of control a remote temperature monitor with alarms is affordable and still very nice to have. The Maverick ET-732 was the popular recommendation when I was shopping for one, though probes for those things are crap and have to be replaced once or twice a year. If you're interested in that shop around, maybe there is a better product on the market by now? I like to use mine for 1-3 hour roasts where a full blown temperature controller isn't necessary, like a spatchcock chicken for example.

Also, if your just learning to smoke bbq check out youtube videos from Aaron Franklin (from the famous Franklin Barbecue in Austin TX) on how to bbq. My brisket got 10x better after I watched his stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/user/BBQwithFranklin