Big Green Egg & Other Ceramic Grills All Encompassing Thread

[Etexhorn13 3045]

Got a question I’m hoping someone can help me out with. I’m smoking 2 roughly 9lb bone-in pork butts for my son’s first birthday party tomorrow. Timing wise, will these take about the same amount of time as if I had just one, or will it take longer since there are two of them? This seems like a stupid question now that I’m putting it out there but I’ve never thought about it before.

[dcbc 14465]

13 minutes ago, Etexhorn13 said:

Got a question I’m hoping someone can help me out with. I’m smoking 2 roughly 9lb bone-in pork butts for my son’s first birthday party tomorrow. Timing wise, will these take about the same amount of time as if I had just one, or will it take longer since there are two of them? This seems like a stupid question now that I’m putting it out there but I’ve never thought about it before.

It will take longer.  Not twice as long obviously.  But give yourself an extra hour or two cushion. 

Edited September 23, 2022 by dcbc

[Etexhorn13 3045]

6 minutes ago, dcbc said:

It will take longer.  Not twice as long obviously.  But give yourself an extra hour or two cushion. 

Thanks. About what I figured, but had to ask in the off chance it would end up being something like 2x.

[dcbc 14465]

2 minutes ago, Etexhorn13 said:

Thanks. About what I figured, but had to ask in the off chance it would end up being something like 2x.

I don't think it makes a difference, but my experience is on a WSM.  So the egg is going to be more efficient at holding heat and fuel consumption, but as far as how quickly the amount of meat cooks at a set temperature is no different, I would assume.

Edited September 23, 2022 by dcbc

[Horn of Gabriel 1614]

Love this thread.  I just got my BGE a few months ago and have been experimenting.  The last few times I've tried to smoke, it seems like I'm having trouble getting the temp low enough - after I fire the coals with the Looft lighter (shout out to whoever recommended that!), I let it sit top-open for a few minutes and then close it down to get the temp right before adding in the smoke wood and grill and it's settled in around 300-350.  I close off the top and bottom, and it settles around 245 and just wants to live there.  Am I firing the coals too much to start it or something?  What's the go-to startup procedure for low/slow?

[Jerry Callo 8695]

Love this thread.  I just got my BGE a few months ago and have been experimenting.  The last few times I've tried to smoke, it seems like I'm having trouble getting the temp low enough - after I fire the coals with the Looft lighter (shout out to whoever recommended that!), I let it sit top-open for a few minutes and then close it down to get the temp right before adding in the smoke wood and grill and it's settled in around 300-350.  I close off the top and bottom, and it settles around 245 and just wants to live there.  Am I firing the coals too much to start it or something?  What's the go-to startup procedure for low/slow?

I use one starter thing and give myself an hour to slowly get to temp. When I started, I often got the fire too big. Once you go over the target temp, especially if you go over by a lot, it's a fight to get the temp back down. I'd put away the Looft lighter for starting low cooks.

[Sam Lin 3550]

Get a feel for vent settings, what vent openings give roughly what temps. Then start the coals however you want (I use a cotton ball dipped in rubbing alcohol), up front near the lower vent (draft into the vent will push the fire toward the rear). Once you have a tennis ball sized ball of red coals, close it, set the vents, and start the cook whenever the smoke looks clear. Don't wait for starting temp (using this method it should be too low at first), trust the vents to end up at your target temp. Fine adjust the vents to tune your temp after the temp comes back up after adding food.

[Mac8111 2105]

My personal opinion is that it is really tough to get down to 225 or so on the BGE.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Chewbacca 7766]

My personal opinion is that it is really tough to get down to 225 or so on the BGE.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Really? I've never had a problem holding 225 for extended periods. You just can't let it get away from you when you start it up.

[Sam Lin 3550]

Mac, if you are having trouble with lower temp, do a leak check. Small air leaks will make it really hard to control low temps.

[Lurch 5922]

Keep in mind we want a small, breathing fire, not a large choking fire (which produces dirty smoke)

I start a very small fire in front, upper left of the firebox. The fire will work back, down and right. I only leave the lid open 5-10 mins to ensure the FEW coals I’ve placed on top of my fire starter are well lit. Then I close the lid and and leave top and bottom wide open.

As it nears 150* I’ll put in the last smoking chunk near the fire (others had been buried so they light later in the cook), add the deflector plates, water pan, grill grates and temp probe on grate. I shut the lid as quickly as I can, as the fire can jump quickly with the lid open. I’ll then close both vents halfway.

When it gets to 200* I’ll close the bottom to about pinky-tip wide (YMMV) and the top is equally closed but will be where I fine tune from here on as I close in on 225* slowly. This generally gives me excellent control over my temps even a fair bit below 225*

I’d not put my food on until the fire is clean and I’m well in control of the temp. Keep in mind, once you put on that cold meat, the temp is going to be suspect for a bit. Avoid the temptation to make big changes for the next hour or so. When I first started I’d panic and think my temp was falling so I’d open up vents, then once the meat warmed up suddenly my grill temp would jump dramatically. In reality, the grill temp was good and that cold meat was just making it look low.

Finally, keep an eye on your water pan on long cooks. If it ever goes dry, you’ll see a temp spike. Usually not a problem if you know it’s coming, but you don’t want to be woken by a temp alarm at 4am because you didn’t plan…

[Sam Lin 3550]

3 hours ago, Lurch said:

Keep in mind we want a small, breathing fire, not a large choking fire (which produces dirty smoke)

This is a really good way to put it. Not only the smoke issue, but if you have too much on fire (too large a flame front), you will snuff out the fire trying to run low because no single point of fire can get enough oxygen to stay lit. (choking)

[Napoleon 8660]

On 9/12/2021 at 11:16 PM, Sam Lin said:

For the Kamado Joe family:

No real reason to pay up for the C2/C3, in my opinion. The main difference is the air lift hinge, and the Classic lid simply isn't heavy and doesn't need it at all. Test lift it in the store 10-20x and see how you feel. The airlift hinge also required they add the front latch, and it's a cheesy piece of shit that goes out of adjustment or just flat breaks off. The new Kontrol Tower top vent is also garbage, the paint peels and flakes onto your foot, it gets gunked up and sticks, and in cold ambient it drips black gunk down the outside of your Kamado. IF you go C2/C3, the popular upgrade for the Kontrol Tower is the Smokeware cap. I personally much prefer the gen1 daisy wheel - only downside is rain can get in, so I invert a metal bowl over it for uncovered storage. When cooking it's a non-issue, not enough rain gets in against the thermal updraft when cooking. The real C3 benefits over C2 and C1 are the Slo-Roller circulation insert for low and slow, and the three-layer cooking racks. Slo-Roller is completely optional, it also uses shitty peeling paint, and it is aluminum and many users have accidentally let fires get out of control and melted it. It can be added to a C1 for far less than the cost of a C3. Specific for you, you have the low and slow better covered with your WSM, zero reason to ever use the Slo Roller. The C2/C3 used to be an upgrade on the aluminum side shelves, but now all models come with the aluminum side shelves.

Going further, what I would actually recommend is stepping up to a Big Joe. Same comparison of BJ1 and BJ2/3 as the Classic above, with the caveat that the BJ1 lid is obviously heavier. But, I cook on a BJ1 and the weight doesn't bother me at all. If you can handle the BJ1 lid weight, what I feel is the best value with the Kamados is a BJ1 paired with a Joe Jr. You get the BJ big space for larger cooks as well as space for smaller cooks with divided cooking zones, and you get the Jr for smaller cooks, hot fast grilling, and super searing. Don't underestimate the Jr. It will do everything the big ones do as long as the food fits. I use mine probably 75% of the time, even cooking for 4. For reverse sear, run both together; low and slow on the BJ and then move to the Jr to sear. Faster and uses far less fuel compared to waiting for the BJ to raise temps to sear, lets you run all sorts of low and slow foods together while not messing up your temps for some foods just to sear others.

BJ1 is $1000 at Walmart, Jr is $300.
Buying both is less than the price of a C3 alone.

Apparently Walmart has gotten into the inflation game, because this post was only just over a year ago. This was from tonight. 
 

Especially on the Joe Jr, going from $300 to $500 in a year is a steep jump.

The Joe Classic is still a decent deal at $799.

But I just bought the Joe Classic II from Costco this past week on sale to $799 from $999 and it was loaded into my rental van looking like this. 👇
 

On 10/5/2021 at 8:43 PM, Spur08 said:

She's here

With some blankets, pillows, & cardboard, I was able to roll it a bit after emptying it and assembling the stand and then slid it into the stand waiting on the sidewalk at the side door of the cargo part of the van. 
 

Have to give it a test run to burn off the newness, but will this week. 

[Sam Lin 3550]

Walmart previous prices were on sale. The current prices are normal MSRP prices. Sales come and go fairly regularly, never pay MSRP for this stuff.

Not to make you feel bad, but individual Costco are putting Classic2 on clearance at end of season, lots of internet posts showing that the clearance ones are $497. Might be worth you checking back in store regularly, buy and return on your old receipt if you find one on clearance.

 

Edit: Also note the Big Joe 1 has been down to ~775 on sale at Amazon at one point, and in the 800s at Walmart.

Edited October 5, 2022 by Sam Lin
More sale prices.

[Napoleon 8660]

2 hours ago, Sam Lin said:

Walmart previous prices were on sale. The current prices are normal MSRP prices. Sales come and go fairly regularly, never pay MSRP for this stuff.

Not to make you feel bad, but individual Costco are putting Classic2 on clearance at end of season, lots of internet posts showing that the clearance ones are $497. Might be worth you checking back in store regularly, buy and return on your old receipt if you find one on clearance.

Edit: Also note the Big Joe 1 has been down to ~775 on sale at Amazon at one point, and in the 800s at Walmart.

Costco had the Classic 2s down from $999 to $799 in late July, then back up to $999, then down to $799 closing them out and they were disappearing from stores and then gone two days after I got mine. 🤷‍♂️
 

They may be somewhere still and with a dropping price, but not at the Costcos that I am familiar with. I’m okay with my purchase. 

[DDD Dad 14324]

On 9/25/2022 at 7:34 PM, Lurch said:

Keep in mind we want a small, breathing fire, not a large choking fire (which produces dirty smoke)

I start a very small fire in front, upper left of the firebox. The fire will work back, down and right. I only leave the lid open 5-10 mins to ensure the FEW coals I’ve placed on top of my fire starter are well lit. Then I close the lid and and leave top and bottom wide open.

As it nears 150* I’ll put in the last smoking chunk near the fire (others had been buried so they light later in the cook), add the deflector plates, water pan, grill grates and temp probe on grate. I shut the lid as quickly as I can, as the fire can jump quickly with the lid open. I’ll then close both vents halfway.

When it gets to 200* I’ll close the bottom to about pinky-tip wide (YMMV) and the top is equally closed but will be where I fine tune from here on as I close in on 225* slowly. This generally gives me excellent control over my temps even a fair bit below 225*

I’d not put my food on until the fire is clean and I’m well in control of the temp. Keep in mind, once you put on that cold meat, the temp is going to be suspect for a bit. Avoid the temptation to make big changes for the next hour or so. When I first started I’d panic and think my temp was falling so I’d open up vents, then once the meat warmed up suddenly my grill temp would jump dramatically. In reality, the grill temp was good and that cold meat was just making it look low.

Finally, keep an eye on your water pan on long cooks. If it ever goes dry, you’ll see a temp spike. Usually not a problem if you know it’s coming, but you don’t want to be woken by a temp alarm at 4am because you didn’t plan…

Or, just use a looftlighter to start a small section of coals, set your DigiQ to 225, close up everything (except vents at top) and wait for the smoke to run clear/pale blue.  Assuming you're still at 225, put your meat on and then go to bed.

Edited October 5, 2022 by DDD Dad

[Chewbacca 7766]

3 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

Or, just use a looftlighter to start a small section of coals, set your DigiQ to 225, close up everthing and wait for the smoke to run clear/pale blue, put your meat on, and then go to bed.

I need to get my gasket replaced.  Have not been able to use my Billows because too much air gets in around the gasket that is burned off.  Being able to go to bed and not worry sounds amazing (and is why I bought it), but alas, I'm lazy.

[DDD Dad 14324]

1 minute ago, Chewbacca said:

I need to get my gasket replaced.  Have not been able to use my Billows because too much air gets in around the gasket that is burned off.  Being able to go to bed and not worry sounds amazing (and is why I bought it), but alas, I'm lazy.

I know some people run the wires up through the vents on top (less potential for air to seep through gaskets).

Replacing gaskets takes all of about 10 minutes.  I had to replace mine after a few pizza cooks.  Very easy.

[Chewbacca 7766]

7 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

I know some people run the wires up through the vents on top (less potential for air to seep through gaskets).

Replacing gaskets takes all of about 10 minutes.  I had to replace mine after a few pizza cooks.  Very easy.

I have the gasket.  What do you need to do to replace it?  Have never replaced it in 12+ years of BGE use.

[DDD Dad 14324]

19 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

I have the gasket.  What do you need to do to replace it?  Have never replaced it in 12+ years of BGE use.

There should be instructions or if not you can do a YouTube search.  Basically you pull/scrape off the old one, clean off any residue/dust/ash, and then you just pull off the paper strip covering the adhesive, carefully place it on the rims, and then start cooking again.

[TankedBevo 2482]

44 minutes ago, DDD Dad said:

Or, just use a looftlighter to start a small section of coals, set your DigiQ to 225, close up everything (except vents at top) and wait for the smoke to run clear/pale blue.  Assuming you're still at 225, put your meat on and then go to bed.

My DigiQ probes went to shit after like 1 year of semi regular use. Replacements on their website are insultingly expensive. Anyone know if there any that can work with it that actually hold up and won't break the bank?

 

TIA

[DDD Dad 14324]

7 minutes ago, TankedBevo said:

My DigiQ probes went to shit after like 1 year of semi regular use. Replacements on their website are insultingly expensive. Anyone know if there any that can work with it that actually hold up and won't break the bank?

 

TIA

I know that Thermoworks do NOT work with DigiQ.  I bit the bullet and bought overpriced replacement probes a year or two ago (after searching and not finding anything elsewhere that was compatible).

Edited October 5, 2022 by DDD Dad

[tigol 2395]

Doing something like this on Sunday after golf.

 

 

[Sam Lin 3550]

Had a craving for lunch meat-style roast beef. Cheap Aussie picanha, trimmed, dry brine, smoked, seared, chilled then sliced. Hit the spot, tasty and tender, perfect cold on a sandwich.

 

Spoiler

Trimmed aggressively, including the fat and the silverskin underneath. Dry brine for about 3hr with garlic salt. This was a small, thin picanha - I would go overnight or 24hr with anything thicker (and would prefer overnight for this, but didn't have time.)

Smoked at about 225 to 111F.

Seared using some leftover coals, didn't have much heat left so I blowtorched the top and side faces as I flipped and seared. Light sear - didn't want a hard crust due to wanting to slice it thin.

 

 

[FloridaHorn 4753]

On 9/25/2022 at 9:07 AM, Mac8111 said:

My personal opinion is that it is really tough to get down to 225 or so on the BGE.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

As others have said, the key is not getting over temp to start with. I light the fire, and let it go for just a few minutes before closing the lid. Once the temp starts to climb to near 200, close the dampers down, almost fully, and the BGE will level off at about 225-230. If you want 250, just slightly open the dampers. Remember, a slight change of dampers makes a big difference on this grill.

[CooterBrown 18002]

On 10/7/2022 at 10:16 PM, tigol said:

Doing something like this on Sunday after golf.

 

 

 

Get a spider to hold the wok.  It works really well and you can also use it to elevate your grill to even with the opening which makes flipping burgers much easier.

https://ceramicgrillstore.com/products/large-3-and-5-leg-spider-bge-1

 

[tigol 2395]

8 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

 

Get a spider to hold the wok.  It works really well and you can also use it to elevate your grill to even with the opening which makes flipping burgers much easier.

https://ceramicgrillstore.com/products/large-3-and-5-leg-spider-bge-1

 

Yep, have one.  Good tip on the burger thing.  Thanks!

[dcbc 14465]

 

[Lurch 5922]

Anyone using wireless probes? I’m seeing them a lot recently in the smoking YouTube videos. Is meater the leader of the pack?

[Hornbeliever 712]

6 hours ago, Lurch said:

Anyone using wireless probes? I’m seeing them a lot recently in the smoking YouTube videos. Is meater the leader of the pack?

I heart my meater.  Didn't do much research or analysis, just took friends rec so there might be better value out there.  But I'm super happy after a few months.  It takes a lot of thought out of this game.

[DDD Dad 14324]

58 minutes ago, Hornbeliever said:

I heart my meater. 

 

[Buzzrock 14902]

This is a first. Fired up the egg after a break and took it nuclear to burn off some mold. Sidebar: I forgot to remove the temp gauge and might have fried it. I should know better.

But a chunk of the coating popped off and shattered into a bunch of little pieces when it got hot. I figure some moisture must have gotten trapped in there.

[Sam Lin 3550]

Did a large cook on Big Joe this weekend, have been buying too much meat when good deals come up, needed freezer space to buy more meat!

2 Ebony Angus short ribs, 2 Vintage Galician short ribs, and a Thai hybrid wagyu brisket

Seasoned each one a bit differently. Brisket was salt/pepper topped with more pepper (Little Miss Dalmation mix, with more Rudy's pepper - I find Dalmation too salty alone). Galician ribs were Spanish coarse sea salt only, keeping it pure to the breed and to the country. One Angus rib was Montreal steak seasoning, the other was Cajun Two Step topped by more Rudy's pepper.

 

Angus ribs sliced

 

Brisket

Everything was slightly overdone, I think more from the rest than from the cook. I should have let them sit out to cool a bit before putting them in to rest; I went straight in, and especially going straight from a hot and fast cook, surface temp was still 300 and I could hear meat sizzling in the rest for a solid 5min after I put it in to rest.

The Galician ribs are just not as marbled and should have been pulled off sooner and maybe sliced. It just cooks more like a back rib than a brisket-type connective tissue. They wound up way overdone, dry, stringy. For similar price I'll be sticking to the Angus going forward, also get much more meat on them for the same bone weight.

 

More details in spoiler to avoid longcat:

Spoiler

Angus vs Galician ribs - you can see the massive difference in breeds, each pack contains the same two 3rib sections.

Big load of coal (local coal isn't as dense and burns pretty quick). Mixed with about half compressed coconut charcoal, the hex sticks. It burns slow and loooooong, but ashes prett heavily. Buried in there are 3 oak chunks.

Deflectors in bottom position, foil drip tray on lower grates. Later the foil actually got full, so when it was time to wrap, I pulled everything off and carefully replaced with fresh foil. Will be buying an actual drip pan to make this easier.

Wanted to do hot and fast, here are the vent settings, ran right about 310. My gasket is nearly completely gone, but I use only bottom vent for airflow control, so top vent and gasket doesn't really matter. Exhaust is pretty much always open.

Mid cook

Pulled when probe tender and put in toaster oven for rest (oven turned off, just using it as an enclosed space.) A bit of dripped fat on the deflector caught on fire when lid was open and wrapping, when it got enough oxygen. Burnt a bit of the wrapping.

The wagyu brisket was insanely marbled, the hot and fast meant the corners actually became a deep fried "burnt end cracking" that was crumbly/crunchy and delicious. I'd foil just the end corners next time to protect them a bit, but this wagyu is so fatty that it never dried out, it just deep fried itself.

 

This was the first hot and fast I'd done on beef, and it's definitely less forgiving, edges and corners got dried out. But, meat was on at 10am and done at 4pm, hard to beat that. Rested and ate a rib at 6, sliced the brisket about 9pm.

[Sam Lin 3550]

Beautiful day to be outside. Short ribs, tri tip, ribeyes, and some pork ribs, followed by some asparagus and mushrooms.

Short ribs

The rest is in longcat spoiler:

Spoiler

Couldn't find whole dino ribs, found these cut segment galbijim stew chunks at a Korean market. (incidentally had an amazing galbijim a few weeks back and have been thinking about a smoked short rib galbijim since...)

As they neared done, piled them up and smoked some tri tip.

When those were done, held in warm oven and smoked some ribeye.

Then held those in oven and put on some ribs, 2 dry one wet.

Used the gas grill to sear the beef as the ribs were finishing up. And did the asparagus/mushrooms on the gas grill since it was hot.

Rib cut:

Tri tip sliced:

Somehow didn't get any pics of ribeye, it just vanished.

Half load of Blues Hog coal with some pecan chunks ran 225 all day and was able to bump to 300 for the ribs at the end. Ran out just short of "done" on the ribs. Really like the Blues Hog coal, super consistent, quick to light and responsive to airflow/temp changes.

 

[Masshole Horn 769]

On 7/3/2019 at 7:12 AM, Buzzrock said:

 

Been on a bit of a kick with this guy:

https://youtu.be/tphlyCCcmk

I used hatch chiles, very tasty.

necro quote... what was this cheese dish? Video is gone.

[Texzilla58 4731]

Beautiful day to be outside. Short ribs, tri tip, ribeyes, and some pork ribs, followed by some asparagus and mushrooms.

Short ribs

The rest is in longcat spoiler:
Spoiler

Couldn't find whole dino ribs, found these cut segment galbijim stew chunks at a Korean market. (incidentally had an amazing galbijim a few weeks back and have been thinking about a smoked short rib galbijim since...)

As they neared done, piled them up and smoked some tri tip.

When those were done, held in warm oven and smoked some ribeye.

Then held those in oven and put on some ribs, 2 dry one wet.

Used the gas grill to sear the beef as the ribs were finishing up. And did the asparagus/mushrooms on the gas grill since it was hot.

Rib cut:

Tri tip sliced:

Somehow didn't get any pics of ribeye, it just vanished.
Half load of Blues Hog coal with some pecan chunks ran 225 all day and was able to bump to 300 for the ribs at the end. Ran out just short of "done" on the ribs. Really like the Blues Hog coal, super consistent, quick to light and responsive to airflow/temp changes.

 

Your tritip looks way better than any I’ve had in a Cali joint.it actually looks tender.
Post the ribeyes if you find them. Only flaw I see is the inclusion of fungus into the meal.

[Buzzrock 14902]

On 4/7/2023 at 8:50 AM, Masshole Horn said:

necro quote... what was this cheese dish? Video is gone.

Went back and looked and couldn’t figure it out or remember. 

[Mac8111 2105]

#ChickenThighs

[Lurch 5922]

[Buzzrock 14902]

necro quote... what was this cheese dish? Video is gone.

Might have been this:

https://howtobbqright.com/2018/09/27/cheesy_jalapeno_skillet_dip/

[Buzzrock 14902]

necro quote... what was this cheese dish? Video is gone.

Might have been this:

https://howtobbqright.com/2018/09/27/cheesy_jalapeno_skillet_dip/

[BigDHornfan 6545]

Wife wanted a Turkey for Mother’s Day.

[CooterBrown 18002]

Who the fuck wants that?

[conVINCEd 21469]

53 minutes ago, BigDHornfan said:

Wife wanted a Turkey for Mother’s Day.

I’m sure your wife is sufficiently hot, but turkey for Mother’s Day is an odd request.  

[BigDHornfan 6545]

I just follow orders to get laid.

[Slacks 6819]

8 hours ago, BigDHornfan said:

I just follow orders to get laid.

[Lurch 5922]

We’re huge fans of smoked turkey in my family. I have a turkey fryer I may never use again

[BigDHornfan 6545]

Yesterday was a good day.

[Post Oak 20205]

My man

[Jerry Callo 8695]

Beef ribs on.



Holding steady.