Big Green Egg Bible

Epicurean Exploits - Food and Recipes
21

Kevin, you need a CyberQ. It is 100% the answer. It holds the temp to +/- 2 degrees for me - I’ve done smokes well over 24 hours with zero fluctuation. It’s more accurate than my Viking stove inside the house by a mile.

For slow smokes the daisy wheel is virtually shut and the fan keeps the fire alive, no worry about it going out. The CyberQ runs the fan at variable speeds 0-100%. At 1% it is a very short little puff and 100% is full bore. It actually “learns” how quickly the fire reacts to it to lessen the pendulum effect - ie, the temp won’t go past what you’ve set it at. I have been blown away at how useful it is and have told everyone that has asked me about my Egg that you shouldn’t buy one without the Q. Not affiliated in any way, just a huge fan. You’ll never lose sleep again worrying if your overnight smoke will fizzle out or wake up to a raging 500* fire. It truly is set it and forget it.

22

Kevin I must agree that Clint is dead on, you need a powered fan controller. There are quite a few out there that do a fine job. I happen to have the Stoker from Rock’s BBQ.

Other tips for a manual low and slow for over 12 hours are just like playing at Carnegie Hall, practice, practice, practice! Probably second on this list after practice is how you build your charcoal bed and light your fire. Always start with a clean grill, take everything out make sure all air holes are clear and start at the fire grate with your biggest pieces and work towards the top as the charcoal pieces get smaller. I fill her up to 1" below the plate setter and start the fire from the top down. Good luck and take heart knowing many people are doing this manually but if you can afford a controller you’ll never look back.

23

Thanks for the tips guys. Going to check out the fan options this weekend. Will let you know how it goes because this would certainly be a better option than having to sell the BGE and buy something more expensive

That said, I definitely take to hear the idea of practice, practice, practice with this thing. I’ve tried lighting fires every which way (top down; bottom up; middle; a mix of all three). I always start with a clean fire box, make sure all the holes are clear and openings lined up correctly. But I have never been able to keep a 200-ish temperature for more than ~5 hours without some manipulation. Sometimes, it has been as little as me stoking the fire by blowing into the bottom opening. With 2 kids (3 and 6), set it and forget it is now not just a nice aspiration but a necessity.

Anyway, I’m hoping that this quite literally breathes some new life into my BGE! Once I get a fan, I’ll let you know how it goes

thanks again!

24

I have no interest in smoking in the egg, but if I purchase one, how quickly can I get it up to say 500 for a steak or pizza? Is this a 30 minuted process or less? Also would having the fan help speed this up? I was thinking just the fan part running at 100% and I just unplug it when it got close to desired temp, then fiddle with the vents to maintain it. I would light it with a propane torch.

I really only want to do pizza or grilling task…l have two other smokers.

25

If you’re lighting with a propane torch and the BGE is clean and dry, I think you could hit 500 in 15-20 minutes, easy, maybe less. Also, if you’re so inclined, you can bring the temps way above 500. 800+ is no sweat for the egg (although you may lose a gasket).

26

BUT . . . I have had an incredibly difficult time getting temps to stabilize in the 200 - 225 range for extended cooks. I’ve nailed these temps for 5 hours (e.g, just before going to sleep) and have woken up to snuffed out fires and meat that I wouldn’t dare try to eat. I’ve looked into the fans that you can install (one of you mentioned the CyberQ) . . . but any other specifics or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

Kevin; before you spend $300 on a DigiQ, go over to the BGE website and do a little searching and you will find a few threads on this very subject. I own the XL, but IIRC, the issue with the large is the OEM grate. It does not permit enough airflow if it gets just a little clogged. BGE may have made some modifications to correct this, but your best bet is to buy a third party vendor’s replacement grate that is more of a grid rather than a steel plate with circular holes. The second most likely culprit to your problem after the grate is crud build up between the outer edge of the inserts and the inner surface of the egg. Folks forget that you have to pull out those inserts from time to time and clean out the debris that gets caught there-once or twice a year if you use the egg regularly. Your egg relies on air circulating between that gap for optimum burning. After you correct both of those situations if applicable, take a look at your gaskets, both the main gasket and the one around the chimney for the daisy wheel. Most times when they are bad the fire will burn hot and won’t allow low temps, and I am not sure that is what your “symptoms” are, but check them out and replace them if need be.
I bought the DigiQ. I love my DigiQ. But I doubt the DigiQ will solve your problem.

27

Too add to my previous post, you should try this or something similar;http://www.high-que.com/Stainless-High-Heat-Charcoal-Fire-Grate-Upgrade-for-Large-Big-Green-Egg-Grill--9-dia_p_19.html
I picked up my XL at an EggFest (what an experience that was). There were several vendors at the event selling similar grates and they were picking on the Large as the primary beneficiary. Again, to the best of my recollection, no one seems to have the definitive answer as to why the L suffers from this problem the most.
Also, make sure the insert is lined up properly with the draft door so that the opening is wide.
Down the list of other possibilities is that you are not using good quality lump (I recommend Rockwood though Royal Oak and BGE brand-which is just Royal Oak deluxe-are fine too. You may not be sorting out your lump properly (big pieces first, then medium, then small) and you may not be lighting your fire the best way (a subject of debate, but start from the bottom, fail-safe is to start a chimney starter, dump burning lump, and then add rest of lump). You may not be adding enough lump for long burn (all the way to top of plate setter). And lastly, you may not be letting the fire get going well enough-you need to let it stabilize before putting the meat on. That should pretty much cover 99% of the potential problems.

28

Mitch

great recommendation. Thanks! I am actually planning on smoking a brisket on Friday. I’m starting at 5am with the intent of being finished by 6pm. It’s only 6 pounds so this timing should work and offers a perfect way for me to check in on the temp . . . I’m planning on working from home so I can check in periodically.

Interesting info about the Large though. I have a friend who lives a block away from me and works for BGE corporate. He has always told me that his BGE is a “set and forget” tool but even he has never been able to get mine to work in this fashion. He took the lid off, re-set the hinges, everything that could be done and was not able to keep a low temp beyond ~4-5 hours (about what I’ve been able to do)

“issues” he diagnosed were as follows:
–not getting a good enough fire to start off with: We thoroughly fixed this issue and dismissed it as not an issue given that we can get temp stabilization for 5 hours and easily raise temp by opening the daisy wheel or bottom air intake
–damp wood: bought new charcoal and keep it in an air tight Tupperware . . . did not fix issue

Anyway, before investing anymore money I’m going to check into your ideas first. Thanks again and back on Monday with an update

29

There is just one more thing-there is always the possibility that you are starting off with too hot of a fire, and then you are “overshooting” things by closing down your daisy wheel too far, slowly but surely suffocating your fire. One of the best tips I ever got was on the BGE site where someone posted a photo of his daisy wheel to show the gaps for a good long slow cook-sorry I don’t have it to post here. You should have a definite gap albeit small ones at each “crescent moon” vent hole in the daisy wheel. Your lower door should be shut to just less than an inch, and sometimes less than that. But here is the main point-if you let your internal temp get to 500 degrees or so and then try to back the temp down to 225, you are going to have a hard time. You let your fire get too hot and it will be difficult to get it low again without killing it. Instead, light the fire to the point that it is definitely going but nowhere near full blaze-only a portion of the overall lump is ignited. Then, set the main door and vents so that the gauge (which I hope is calibrated!) gets to 250 or so, and then back it down. You should be good.

30

Sorry for my inability to shut up on this topic, not to mention needless bragging, but last weekend with my XL and the DigiQ I went 28 hours at 220 and still had a few small chunks of unspent lump at the end.

31

While the DigiQ is a great gadget to have, I personally have no need for one as I use a Maverick ET-733 wireless thermometer with one probe one the meat and one on the grate. It has high/lo temperature alarms for both probes so I can go to sleep and just set the receiver on my nightstand and it wakes me up if my temperature gets out of my predetermined range. I’ve done overnight 15 hour cooks with this method and no issues. I also love this as when I’m doing a brisket for dinner I can get up at 3 AM and get everything going and the meat on by 4:30 and go back to sleep without fear of temp excursions.

+1. I have the high-que grate and love it. I have also replaced my daisy wheel with a Smokeware vented chimney cap and find it to be a big improvement.

I also like to tell this story when people ask why I like me egg to illustrate just how well it holds heat. Did a brisket cook for my in-laws one Friday as they were remodeling their kitchen and wanted something to eat for a while without having to worry about cooking. Since it wasn’t for dinner that Friday night I didn’t get up early to put it on so it wasn’t done until 9 PM. I pulled the brisket off and closed the lid and all vents to cool down the egg, pretty much standard shutdown procedure. That next day I was having some friends over for steaks that evening so around 3 that afternoon I went to get the egg ready. Opened the lid to take out the plate-setter and stir up the lump to let the ash fall through to the bottom. I wasn’t in a hurry so I just closed the lid, the top vent was completely closed and I had left the bottom vent open to go back later to finish sweeping up the ash and getting everything else ready. I got held up for about 30 mins and when I walked back out to check the egg the dome temp showed around 250F! Apparently the it had held enough heat from last night’s cook (which was only at 250F) to relight itself once it got air (only from the bottom vent) after 18 hours of being completely shutdown.

Since the OP asked for ideas, allow me to share my steak method.

Start with a rub-down of the steaks at least 45 mins before cook time with a healthy portion of the rub on each side. Longer doesn’t hurt and it typically rub the meat anywhere from 1 to 2 hours prior, but I have a 45 min minimum rule. The rub recipe is below (note, I don’t use all of the rub, but I like to make a bigger batch so I don’t have to do it each time.

6 tpsb kosher salt
3 tpsb brown sugar
1 tpsb coarse ground black pepper (I usually add more than this)
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
Pinch ground nutmeg

While the steaks are “marinating” I get the egg ready and stabilized around 200F direct cooking. When it’s time to start cooking I pull the steaks from the fridge and use a paper towel to dab any free liquid from the outside of both sides of the steak (although I might do some experiments where I don’t take any fluid off of the steak).

Once stable at 200-210F I put the steaks on for about 4-5 mins then flip for another 4-5 mins (depends on thickness and experimentation for how done you like your steak as well as the actual low cook temp), the dome is closed except to flip. Once this time is up I pull the steaks and set them aside, lightly covered in foil, but not sealed to keep them from cooking too much more. I like them to be around 70F-75F after this step.

Now comes the fun. Open both vents fully and wait… Once you’ve got lava in the coals and the dome is around 650F+, open the lid (I do this slowly just because) and drop the steaks for 1-2 mins per side (I usually do 2 mins per side based on historical results). I also close the dome during the sear, I’ve tried both method’s open and closed and just prefer it closed, less flare ups.

Once the sear is done I pull ‘em and give a 10 min rest while the sides are finish being prepped and plated. Your results may vary and this method is as much art as it is science, but try it out and see if you like it. It took me a while to get comfortable with it but if you don’t mind experimentation, I say try it out. Here are some pics because why not…

Lava…

Steak searing…

Finished…

Center…

And a brisket…

32

My new outdoor kitchen will have two eggs. One large and one extra large.

33

For pizza on the egg…who has a decent dough recipe and suggested cooking temp for me to try as my first attempt.

Any cooking instructions too, would be appreciated…time to preheat stone etc.

Oh, and I seem to read conflicting reports about using the place setter with the stone, or just putting the stone on the cooking grate.

34

I’m interested in this too. For all my love of the BGE, and success with 99% of things I’ve cooked on it, I’ve never gotten pizza quite right (or even close to right).

35

I put the stone on the place setter with legs down. Vent wide open, no cap on the dome - as hot as she’ll get. I get my pizza dough from our local pizzeria. Making it is a pain and never as good as the pro’s dough. I use parchment paper and as soon as the dough starts to firm up, I’ll pull it out from under the pizza. Takes a few mins per pizza and we’ve been very happy with the results.

36

The one true success I have had with the egg to date is pizza.

For dough recipes, I would highly recommend checking out www.seriouseats.com

I’ve made 8 or so of their dough recipes and my family and I all prefer the basic Neopolitan recipe

For the actual cooking . . . I have the placesetter on legs up, cooking grate, and then place a pizza steel on top of the grate. I’ve experimented with placesetter legs down and put the steel right on the placesetter but didn’t notice a difference. Since my placesetter is usually on legs up with grate on top, that was the path of least resistance because didn’t require a different setup

I heat the pizza steel for 1 hour at ~500-550 degrees. Before putting on the pizza, I take off the daisy wheel and open the bottom vent all the way, wait ~15-20 minutes while the temp climbs to >650. Put the pizza on, wait ~4-5 minutes and then it’s done. Fantastic!

37

Please don’t be offended but the thing you are referring to is a “platesetter”.

38

Cool thanks guys. I sold a grill I own and purchased a xl today to be delivered tomorrow. Got a nest, a plate setter and a pizza stone.

Going to try pizza this weekend. Any sauce recipes…I want to do all this from scratch.

39

So I’ve been doing pizzas on BGE for years, always on a pizza stone… Why the steel over the stone?

40

Do a few cooks before you crank the heat up - the gaskets need to be broken in before going high heat. Just an FYI. Otherwise, great purchase.