Cooking on a Big Green Egg

[Anna N]

1 hour ago, weinoo said:

I am just a little jealous of that setup.  (It's really not fair for people to show off their fancy barbecue/grill/Ooni/outdoor kitchen rigs to us apartment-dwelling NYers!)

As if you would give up a NYC apartment for a bit of smoke in rural XXX!

[dans]

I bought a Jotisserie for my BGE several years ago.  It is great!  I usually do whole chickens. I bout the extra forks to but have only done twins once.

 

This week, I'll be doing chicken legs in the basket that I bought for smaller items.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CDR3DJ4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[curls]

2 hours ago, weinoo said:

I am just a little jealous of that setup.  (It's really not fair for people to show off their fancy barbecue/grill/Ooni/outdoor kitchen rigs to us apartment-dwelling NYers!)

Understood. Often times I am a bit envious of all the restaurants, specialty shops, museums, etc. that you have easy access to in NYC. But I know that I do not want to live in NYC. Visits to NYC are great but I am much happier living in the suburbs.

[weinoo]

43 minutes ago, Anna N said:

As if you would give up a NYC apartment for a bit of smoke in rural XXX!

 

Wouldn't mind a place for the weekends (or pandemics).

[curls]

40 minutes ago, dans said:

I bought a Jotisserie for my BGE several years ago.  It is great!  I usually do whole chickens. I bout the extra forks to but have only done twins once.

 

This week, I'll be doing chicken legs in the basket that I bought for smaller items.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CDR3DJ4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Yes, I have the Kamado Joe basket kit. I've seen some interesting YouTube videos making meat and veggie on the rotisserie using the tumbler and flat baskets. Need to give this a try!

 

An example of a combo basket cook:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaOx6db47gk

 

[curls]

Came here to see my notes from the last time I cooked in the Kamado Joe basket and discovered that I did not post! So... July 2023 I made a spatchcocked chicken and potatoes. Chicken on one side of the basket and potatoes on the other side. Planning to do this again for tonight's dinner. Hopefully I take more notes but planning to cook at around 350 F with the dome closed. Including photos from the July 2023 cook.

 

 

 

 

[rotuts]

@curls

 

what a fine idea

 

I take it the inner side of the chicken does not brown that much , but cooks 

 

as a result of the KJ's temp

 

but the potatoes roast w some of the chicken drippings 

 

bet both are tasty .

[curls]

52 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@curls

 

what a fine idea

 

I take it the inner side of the chicken does not brown that much , but cooks 

 

as a result of the KJ's temp

 

but the potatoes roast w some of the chicken drippings 

 

bet both are tasty .

You are correct. The potatoes do prevent the inner side of the chicken from browning and the potatoes get a nice coating of chicken drippings. Chicken skin was nicely crisped. For last night’s cook, I added a few sprigs of rosemary under the chicken. Also, I now have a combustion thermometer so I was able to monitor temperatures while the rotisserie was spinning. Cook time was 45 to 50 minutes.
 

I am very happy with how this turned out and need to remember to make this more often.

[&roid]

I did exactly this on my big Joe rotisserie a few weeks ago. It was great, probably the best chicken I’ve done on my kamado. 
 

made the mistake of cutting my potatoes into chunks - lost a few of them through the gaps in the basket!

[AlaMoi]

I have long been attracted to the "egg" type ceramic grills/cookers/thingies . . .

my concern has always been the time it takes to 'heat saturate' the thermal mass of such  devices.

 

I use 'real charcoal' i.e. not 'briquettes' - and I plan on starting the grilling doohickie at least one hour before the 'plunk to cook' time.

 

I'd like to head from real life users - using real charcoal.... how long is needed to get the Big Green Egg and similar up to saturation temperature?

 

back story . . . . attended a big ole' bash once upon a time - guy had multiple Green Eggs going for 'mass feeding' - and virtually nothing was done at the appointed time . . . apparently the Eggs were much slower to heat up than planned on . . .

[Bernie]

doohickie is such an underused word.

It is so appropriate for just about any technical discussion

[&roid]

On 10/7/2024 at 9:37 PM, AlaMoi said:

I have long been attracted to the "egg" type ceramic grills/cookers/thingies . . .

my concern has always been the time it takes to 'heat saturate' the thermal mass of such  devices.

 

I use 'real charcoal' i.e. not 'briquettes' - and I plan on starting the grilling doohickie at least one hour before the 'plunk to cook' time.

 

I'd like to head from real life users - using real charcoal.... how long is needed to get the Big Green Egg and similar up to saturation temperature?

 

back story . . . . attended a big ole' bash once upon a time - guy had multiple Green Eggs going for 'mass feeding' - and virtually nothing was done at the appointed time . . . apparently the Eggs were much slower to heat up than planned on . . .

An hour is plenty of time to get them up to heat. I’ve got a Big Joe which is the giant kamado Joe unit, depending on what temp I’m aiming for it’ll take between 30-45 mins to get the dome nice and hot on the outside. 
 

Funnily enough, it’ll often take a bit longer to get heat soaked if I’m aiming for a low and slow cook than grilling temps. The reason for this is that you have to be careful about not overshooting your target too much - once it’s hot it takes an age to come back down. So if I’m aiming for 200-275F I’ll light a single really small fire and take my time. If I’m going for 375+ I can happily light two or three places and crack on. 
 

but either way, an hour will be no problem.  

[curls]

5 hours ago, &roid said:

An hour is plenty of time to get them up to heat. I’ve got a Big Joe which is the giant kamado Joe unit, depending on what temp I’m aiming for it’ll take between 30-45 mins to get the dome nice and hot on the outside. 
 

Funnily enough, it’ll often take a bit longer to get heat soaked if I’m aiming for a low and slow cook than grilling temps. The reason for this is that you have to be careful about not overshooting your target too much - once it’s hot it takes an age to come back down. So if I’m aiming for 200-275F I’ll light a single really small fire and take my time. If I’m going for 375+ I can happily light two or three places and crack on. 
 

but either way, an hour will be no problem.  

I agree with @&roid on timing. I have a classic sized Kamado Joe, which is one size smaller. For a quick steak cook, I’m usually ready to go in 30 minutes. Brisket, cast iron cooking, etc. it is a longer setup. The other gotcha can be waiting for the hardwood charcoal to burn off the nasty smelling compounds — sometimes it is smelling good in 20 minutes and other times it is 45 minutes to an hour. Wait for a clean smelling burn and then you can start cooking.

[AlaMoi]

good to hear the real experience - I've been pondering on it for a while!

thanks for the input

[&roid]

5 hours ago, AlaMoi said:

good to hear the real experience - I've been pondering on it for a while!

thanks for the input

Just get one - you’ll love it!

[Kerala]

I've been thinking about buying a Big Green Egg for about 10 years, I guess, my usual decision-making time for non-essential extravagances. The BGE is expensive, and a) will I like cooking on it and b) will I use it after the initial period anyway? I have enough cameras and guitars sulking around the house to be wary of jumping in. Even the cheaper BGE alternatives are expensive.

 

But then, from the middle of Lidl:

£80! $106 for our friends across the water!

 

OK, the grill diameter is only 10 inches, but it was too tempting to pass. I've had it about 2 months, and never had a bad meal from it, although I've still not mastered the temperature control.

 

Tonight's meal was lamb. I deboned a leg

 

and kept interference to a minimum. Garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper, rosemary.

 

 

Wrapped in foil 

then 130C- 170C for 4 hours. 

 

Fell apart with a couple of spoons:

 

 

Served with store-bought Lebanese flatbread and some salad. Salad dressing was honey, lemon juice, olive oil 

 

The family loved it.

 

This ceramic grill is too small to cater by itself for a much larger gathering. There were 6 of us eating today and there was easily enough for 10 people. The joint was 1.6kg before boning, so pretty substantial. I have a kettle grill and of course an indoor oven, plus an air fryer. So I don't need a BGE. Will I get one?

 

I know how this ends...

 

 

[Smithy]

@Kerala but you must admit you've made a wonderful case for buying the full-sized BGE at this point. 😉

 

[C. sapidus]

5 hours ago, Kerala said:

So I don't need a BGE. Will I get one?

 

I know how this ends...

 

 

Firstly, that lamb looks delicious!

 

Second, I do have one bit of experience with regard to Big Green Eggs. We had a large one, which was great for feeding hordes of people. But for routine cooking it took way too long to heat up, so we rarely used it and eventually passed it along to a nephew (who uses it all the time).

 

So, for regular usage, I think smaller is better than bigger, unless you absolutely need bigger.

 

Good luck!

[rotuts]

@Kerala

 

will you try to cook something similar

 

but not wrapped in aluminum foil ?

[Kerry Beal]

15 hours ago, Kerala said:

 

 

I know how this ends...

 

 

Resistance is futile!

 

The mini-max is the one I'd likely get at this point - it's the same size as the medium but lower to the ground. 

Edited 6 hours ago by Kerry Beal (log)

[ElsieD]

We had the extra large but since we're only 2 people, would have been happy with a smaller one.

[Kerala]

2 hours ago, rotuts said:

@Kerala

 

will you try to cook something similar

 

but not wrapped in aluminum foil ?

Once I'm more confident about the temperature control, I'll do that again. The grill is too small for indirect heat methods. 

I have cooked without foil, with good results, but I'm trying different things out. I haven't tried different woods for smoke and flavour yet.

[Kerala]

@rotuts my plan this time was to take it out of the foil to finish off in the cooker for another half an hour, but it was evident the meat was fall-apart cooked at this point, and would not take any messing about.