Big Green Egg...who has one? I need recipes

[mexitucky]

Finally got everything set and cooked hamburgers and corn. I love this thing. If you have one, shoot me your best recipes

[Beechwoodfan]

We have one and have a lot of fun with it. When we first got it my husband made the best steaks ever. Seared hot on the outside and then dropped the temp down to what ever you like on the inside.

 

Mostly we smoke pork. We tried a lot of different rubs, smoking it all day, at about 250 degrees. One day we had to be gone all day and were worried that it would dry out, so we poured a beer over it. It was so good that it is part of our usual recipes and I normally hate beer.

 

Have never done chicken. Would love a good chicken recipe.

[Jim Schue]

Call Rick at Rick's White Light Diner in Frankfort. That dude does amazing things with those grills.

 

My daddy (he has one), on the other hand, is skeered of it. I am too (I do not have one). I want nothing to do with relearning the craft.

[JDEaston]

I don't have an egg, but do have an Akorn, which is a cheaper version of the ceramic Kamado's. Outside of it being cheaper due to using porcelain instead of ceramic for the insulation, it shares a lot of the same qualities as the ceramic cookers. Until I recently got one, I never realized how much of a difference there is between the kamado's and traditional charcoal grills.

 

There is a learning curve with these things as far as getting temps where you want them, but if you are used to using charcoal grills or have any experience running a smoker the learning curve is minimal. Basically, due to the insulation these grills are like ovens, with the only exception(s) are that they obviously run charcoal and wood as fuel and if you overshoot your target cooking temperature its a real pain to get the grill temps back down. Unlike an oven if you want to cool it down you cant just open the dome as that will only fuel the fire, so start shutting your vents down early and often if your looking for lower temps for a low and slow cook. I recommend weber starter cubes to light your coals with and Royal Oak lump for charcoal. You can spend more and buy the BGE bags of lump coal if you want, but its made in the same facility by the same company as Royal Oak, it's just rebranded for BGE.

 

As far as recipes go, I'm not a ton of help there as I'm fairly new to using Kamado's myself. But basically if you have any go to recipes you use on a traditional grill, that's a good place to start on your Egg. Also, like I mentioned before, it's basically an oven so any recipes you have for things you bake in the oven will work out great on the Egg as well, meatloaf, lasagna, pizza, bread, etc. I made a meatloaf on the Akorn last week and everyone that had some said it's the best meatloaf they have ever ate, it was just our traditional meatloaf recipe that I put on the grill at 375 until the center hit 160, then let it rest for about 10 minutes. Even cooked 6 ears of corn on the warming rack at the same time.

 

These Kamado's are really impressive grills honestly. I was skeptical at first which is why I went for an Akorn to save some cash on my initial buy. Once you learn where to set the vents the possibilities with these things are endless. If your new to using one I would recommend starting off with simple things where getting the temps right doesn't matter so much, maybe even do a few dry cooks just playing around with the vents. It only took me a few cooks to figure out where I needed the vents on the Akorn and to be honest, it holds a more consistent temperature than our electric oven. The oven can vary by 10-20 degrees it seems, where the Akorn was within 5 degrees of 375 the entire time I cooked the meatloaf.

 

Speaking of temperatures, don't use the dome thermometer as your go to thermometer. The dome temperature will not be the same as the grate temperature and can be off by 50+ degrees at the beginning of a cook. On longer cooks the dome thermometer typically evens out with the grate temperature, but it takes several hours to do so. I recommend getting a digital thermometer that you can put at the grate level. It's not so important when cooking steaks, dogs, burgers, etc. But when smoking ribs, pork shoulders, brisket, or even baking a meatloaf its a must have. I have a couple of thermometers from the Maverick line, but there are other good ones out there as well.

[mexitucky]

That helped a ton, JD. Thank you very much.

[JDEaston]

That helped a ton, JD. Thank you very much.

 

No problem, if you have any questions just let me know. Once I try a few more things on the Akorn I'll try and post some recipes. But like I mentioned earlier, once you get the hang of the vent controls and can keep the temps steady where you want them, throw some things on there that you would normally be putting in the oven. I was really surprised with how good the meatloaf turned out. I think I'm going to try a lasagna next as I love home made smoked mac and cheese, so I imagine smoked cheese on a lasagna would be a great compliment to it as well.

[Pete W]

If you want some recipes, go to the Kamado Joe YouTube channel. It is a competing brand to the green egg, and they hired a guy from North Carolina John Stetzler to do videos for them, he also runs the Kamado Guru forum. He does a great job of not only making things from scratch but also of explaining not only the recipe but vent setting, starting the fire etc... Although I warn you watching his videos and if you have an Egg or an Akorn you will be jealous of the divide and conquer cooking system in the Kamado Joe

[Science Friction]

Corbin is hosting the Moonbow Eggfest on Sat. October 1 from 10 am to 3 pm. Big Green Egg enthusiasts will come from all over to grill up some tasty delights. Last year, tickets to the event were just $15 and you got to sample the foods from all of the vendors there. Come on down. I may even buy you a beer.

[mexitucky]

Corbin is hosting the Moonbow Eggfest on Sat. October 1 from 10 am to 3 pm. Big Green Egg enthusiasts will come from all over to grill up some tasty delights. Last year, tickets to the event were just $15 and you got to sample the foods from all of the vendors there. Come on down. I may even buy you a beer.

 

That sounds awesome. Can't make it due to soccer, but I would have loved to see you have to bust up the cobwebs on that wallet to buy a beer.

[jpa2825]

Looked at the BGE but decided to go with a mini RecTec wood pellet grill. Tried our 1st boston butt from Eberts (and some hamburgers quick at the end at high temp for the kids) last night with the family. About 15 hrs. on 225 overnight and the shank pulled out very easy. Very good for a 1st effort.

 

Guys have a very cool YouTube channel with lots of recipes and ideas. Pretty entertaining. Gonna try to mix up some different woods in the pellets as we get used to it.

 

Key thing that made us go for the RecTec is consistent temperature. Has a thermometer built into the grill and once you set it, the auger spits out just enough pellets to keep the exact temperature going and it is pretty precise. Have to remember the old adage "If you're looking, you're not cooking" though b/c the temp drops fast when the door opens!

[Science Friction]

That sounds awesome. Can't make it due to soccer, but I would have loved to see you have to bust up the cobwebs on that wallet to buy a beer.

 

Maybe next time then. Whenever you come, the beer is on me. It was a lot of fun last year. Expected to be even more vendors this year.

Edited September 4, 2016 by Science Friction

[Science Friction]

Here's the Moonbow Eggfest Home Page for those who might want to go.

 

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[JDEaston]

Cooked a couple of whole chickens earlier in the week. Made chicken salad out of the leftovers. First time I've had a smoked chicken salad. It's an excellent flavor addition. Just put a #12 pound pork shoulder on for dinner tomorrow.

[mexitucky]

I TRIED to have a family pizza party. I should have done a dry run first. It was ok, but took too long. won't be doing more than 2 pizzas in an evening anymore.

[woodsrider]

Cooked a couple of whole chickens earlier in the week. Made chicken salad out of the leftovers. First time I've had a smoked chicken salad. It's an excellent flavor addition. Just put a #12 pound pork shoulder on for dinner tomorrow.

Not sure if you've ever used a ceramic cooker but if so how does it compare to the Akron (porcelain) versions? I really want to get one of these but just can't justify spending the money on a Green Egg or other similar model. The price on the Akron makes it intriguing.