Big Green Egg

[AUTiger1]

I'm not a big bourbon guy, but Blanton's is one of the better ones IMHO.

I will  have to try it.   Still can't believe he lets it socialize with coke product.  And not the white powdery kind.

[Tiger Wench]

Holy schnikes.

The Large BGE with Nest is $991 @ the local Ace Hardware.  Then you have to add a cover, shelves, and the handle thingy, plus buying that fancy charcoal.

So this thing is really worth that price? 

[JR4AU]

Holy schnikes.

The Large BGE with Nest is $991 @ the local Ace Hardware.  Then you have to add a cover, shelves, and the handle thingy, plus buying that fancy charcoal.

So this thing is really worth that price?

The bottom line is it won't do anything a Weber Kettle won't do, and do it for under $100-125 for everything you need.  If you wanted to get the top top of the line with all the bells and whistles "nest" or whatever they call it, shelves, etc, maybe $250 tops. 

[CCTAU]

A real man just needs one of these:



And one of these:

[Snaggletiger]

Holy schnikes.

The Large BGE with Nest is $991 @ the local Ace Hardware.  Then you have to add a cover, shelves, and the handle thingy, plus buying that fancy charcoal.

So this thing is really worth that price?

The difference in cooking really won't be all that great.  I had a "Man-pit" constructed on my back patio, a free standing structure up next to the house with a metal roof, lighting and a nice size cooking/prep surface.  The center is cut out to accomodate the grill, which originally was a Weber and had to be altered for the Egg. 

I grill a lot.  At least 3 times a week.  So going with the Egg wasn't that big a deal because it's something that I have and will continue to use a ton.  My suggestion is unless he's really into grilling all the time, A Weber would be more than enough.  You can't go wrong with either one. 

[JR4AU]

A real man redneck just needs one of these:



And one of these:

fixt

[AUTiger1]

Holy schnikes.

The Large BGE with Nest is $991 @ the local Ace Hardware.  Then you have to add a cover, shelves, and the handle thingy, plus buying that fancy charcoal.

So this thing is really worth that price?

Here is the thing in my opinion.  They are and they aren't.  Depends on how much time is spent with it.  Snaggle grills on his a lot, so for that much use (especially with the smoker plates) it is worth it.  If you grill once a month and smoke only two or three times a year then no.  If you are going to do it like that, something like a weber smokey mountain is perfect.   It will run you about $300 and has a simple set up and use.

If you do go the egg route and you are going to spend that kind of money, don't get the nest.  Get the long table.  It's worth the extra.  We have friends that have primos and the tables they bought for them are pretty nice and make it a whole lot easier.

[CCTAU]

fixt

NO! you would be referring to this:

[AUTiger1]

The bottom line is it won't do anything a Weber Kettle won't do, and do it for under $100-125 for everything you need.  If you wanted to get the top top of the line with all the bells and whistles "nest" or whatever they call it, shelves, etc, maybe $250 tops.

True, but I wouldn't be cooking a boston butt on a kettle.   

The difference in cooking really won't be all that great.  I had a "Man-pit" constructed on my back patio, a free standing structure up next to the house with a metal roof, lighting and a nice size cooking/prep surface.  The center is cut out to accomodate the grill, which originally was a Weber and had to be altered for the Egg. 

I grill a lot.  At least 3 times a week.  So going with the Egg wasn't that big a deal because it's something that I have and will continue to use a ton.  My suggestion is unless he's really into grilling all the time, A Weber would be more than enough.  You can't go wrong with either one.

What he said. 

[JR4AU]

True, but I wouldn't be cooking a boston butt on a kettle.   

Why?

[Tiger Wench]

The difference in cooking really won't be all that great.  I had a "Man-pit" constructed on my back patio, a free standing structure up next to the house with a metal roof, lighting and a nice size cooking/prep surface.  The center is cut out to accomodate the grill, which originally was a Weber and had to be altered for the Egg. 

I grill a lot.  At least 3 times a week.  So going with the Egg wasn't that big a deal because it's something that I have and will continue to use a ton.  My suggestion is unless he's really into grilling all the time, A Weber would be more than enough.  You can't go wrong with either one.

We do grill a lot - he is very good at it - and he loves to smoke, but hasn't been able to do so because of the whole "too much effort" thing  with the big smoker.  I think that getting one of these would greatly increase the frequency. 

SO maybe I get him the Weber and then if my prediction pans out, upgrade him later to the BGE?  Or do I just bite the bullet now?

[Yoda]

My 2 cents, the egg appears that it will last a lot longer than a traditional grill.  Yes a weber will do most of what the egg will but you have to replace it eventually.  I've had my egg for 2 years the only real maintenance is replacing the heat gasket every now and again. 

My wife got mine as my wedding present it was a great gift.  She got the large on sale for just under $800.  I dropped another $80 or so on the metal nest with wheels.  My mother in law bought the shelves for me but they are not necessary.  $50 for the indirect heating plate.  If you go with the egg I'd shop around and look online for another dealer.  I can't imagine that they have gone up that much in price.  And again the medium size would probably work fine since he has a large smoker as well.

[Snaggletiger]

We do grill a lot - he is very good at it - and he loves to smoke, but hasn't been able to do so because of the whole "too much effort" thing  with the big smoker.  I think that getting one of these would greatly increase the frequency. 

SO maybe I get him the Weber and then if my prediction pans out, upgrade him later to the BGE?  Or do I just bite the bullet now?

Maybe Yoda or others can speak more to the smoking part.  I pretty much do all my stuff on direct or indirect heat and don't have much experience there.

[JR4AU]

My 2 cents, the egg appears that it will last a lot longer than a traditional grill.  Yes a weber will do most of what the egg will but you have to replace it eventually.  I've had my egg for 2 years the only real maintenance is replacing the heat gasket every now and again. 

My wife got mine as my wedding present it was a great gift.  She got the large on sale for just under $800.  I dropped another $80 or so on the metal nest with wheels.  My mother in law bought the shelves for me but they are not necessary.  $50 for the indirect heating plate.  If you go with the egg I'd shop around and look online for another dealer.  I can't imagine that they have gone up that much in price.  And again the medium size would probably work fine since he has a large smoker as well.

Weber Kettles (the bowl and lid) have a 10 year rust/burn through warranty.  Grates have 2.  If you keep it covered and out of the rain, they last a long time.  If you tote it to tailgates and bang it around, and damage the coating, yeah it won't last as long.  Again though, the 22.5" One Touch Silver is $99 at Lowes.  If you get 5 years out of it, it's well worth it. 

[JR4AU]

You can get this set up at Lowes for $329



At K-Mart for $279.

http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_028V004481409000P?sid=KDx01192011x000001&srccode=cii_17588969&cpncode=27-121121797-2

[AUTiger1]

Why?

Size limitations.  It's really hard to offset your coals, put a water/grease pan in and a good size butt takes up a lot of room.

[Snaggletiger]

Size limitations.  It's really hard to offset your coals, put a water/grease pan in and a good size butt takes up a lot of room.

I like a good sized butt.

[AU_Tiger_2000]

I like a good sized butt.

I took the boy to daycare yesterday morning and stopped by Bojangles close to the Alabama A&M campus to get us a couple of biscuits.  One of the cashiers was standing with her back to me    She was well possessed of Calvin's favorite super power. 


What she was doing to that pair of jeans was just not right.  Spent the rest of the day humming "I've got jungle fever, she's jungle fever, we've got jungle fever"

[Buzz Killington]

I like a good sized butt.

And I cannot tell an untruth.

[JwgreDeux]

I have a big green egg, and it is worth it.  There is so much more to the egg than what has been said here.  My favorite thing is actually to use it as a pizza oven.  Baking a pizza at 600 degrees in 5 minutes is the way pizza is supposed to be.  Crust will be amazing flavors of ingredients are so sharp and not blended together.

Also, the egg will get to temps that you can't get with other grills.  For those that like steaks rare, or medium rare, you can sear a steak at 700 degrees for less than a minute and have the best you've ever had.  Fish is better on the egg because it cooks much more evenly to prevent drying out.

Lifetime warranty is what separates the egg from other similar cookers like primo, kamoto joe etc.

I have the large and I can smoke enough food for the neighborhood, 4 butts, 6 beer can chickens, 2 turkeys.  The egg being ceramic heats evenly and prevents any moisture loss.  I've smoked butts low and slow for over 14 hours without adjusting temp control or adding charcoal.  Set it up, go to bed and wake up to perfect smoked butts.

Because it fires up so easy, as opposed to big smokers, you will find yourself adding smoke to other dishes, chilli, soups, baked bread, biscuits, etc.

And of course burgers, dogs, etc are fine too. 

It is kinda cultish though (like AU football). Check out the egghead forum and see what they do with their eggs. http://eggheadforum.com/