Big Green Egg!!!

[OldPhiKap]

Are your 3-2-1 ribs fall off the bone? How much apple juice do you use during the 2nd stage?

The rib purist say ribs aren't supposed to be fall of the bone, but should pull away with a light tug. I've erred on the side of caution in the 2nd phase because of this and use apple juice sparingly, but they seem to come out a little tougher than they should. Flavor is always delicious, but the young kids in my house want them a little more tender.

Guess next time I'll do 2-3-1 with lots of apple juice to take it to the extreme and see if they come out mushy.

They pulled away with a nice tug.

Second stage I mix bourbon, melted butter, brown sugar, and honey. Then brush liberally onto ribs before foiling. Plenty plenty moist. Don’t really measure, and figure that moisture is enough.

[wilson]

I brined a turkey breast in a maple-bourbon mixture Sunday night and then smoked in on the Egg yesterday. It went quite nicely on my wife’s exquisite homemade sourdough.
E62359D6-29EC-4840-A0DD-14D3699E8819.jpg

[mph]

Just pulled the trigger on a XL BGE last weeks after a couple of years of indecision. My BGE package came with a bag of the Brazilian hardwood charcoal which we used to make burgers the first night. The burgers were great with the caveat that my wife and I aren’t crazy about the flavor of the Brazilian charcoal. A few nights later, I switched to some Royal Oak (mix of oak and hickory) for filet kabobs. They were amazing! Definitely going to keep grilling with the Royal Oak for the time being.

Yesterday, I smoked a packer’s cut brisket. I used the RO charcoal and added some chunks of kiln dried hickory for added smoke. The mechanics of the smoke went well. I was able to reach and hold temperature (270 degrees) with no problem. However, the cook went MUCH faster than I expected. With my old offset firebox, I’d expect the cook to take around 10 hours at 270, with the brisket wrapped for the last 3-4 hours. This cook only took about 6 hours. When I checked at the 6 hour mark, I expected to be around 165. It was at 205 (already a couple of degrees hotter than my target. I let the brisket rest for 3 hours and it was very good, even with the short cook and slight overdoneness.

My questions for those of your experienced with BGE slow cooks are:

1. Is there a big difference between the dome temp reading and the temp at grate level? I’m wondering if 270 degrees at the dome is more like 280-285 at the grate.

2. Do any of you all have experience with a digital temp controller for slow cooks (bbq guru, smobot, etc)? If so, any advice on which, if any, to purchase?

[freshmanjs]

Just pulled the trigger on a XL BGE last weeks after a couple of years of indecision. My BGE package came with a bag of the Brazilian hardwood charcoal which we used to make burgers the first night. The burgers were great with the caveat that my wife and I aren’t crazy about the flavor of the Brazilian charcoal. A few nights later, I switched to some Royal Oak (mix of oak and hickory) for filet kabobs. They were amazing! Definitely going to keep grilling with the Royal Oak for the time being.

Yesterday, I smoked a packer’s cut brisket. I used the RO charcoal and added some chunks of kiln dried hickory for added smoke. The mechanics of the smoke went well. I was able to reach and hold temperature (270 degrees) with no problem. However, the cook went MUCH faster than I expected. With my old offset firebox, I’d expect the cook to take around 10 hours at 270, with the brisket wrapped for the last 3-4 hours. This cook only took about 6 hours. When I checked at the 6 hour mark, I expected to be around 165. It was at 205 (already a couple of degrees hotter than my target. I let the brisket rest for 3 hours and it was very good, even with the short cook and slight overdoneness.

My questions for those of your experienced with BGE slow cooks are:

1. Is there a big difference between the dome temp reading and the temp at grate level? I’m wondering if 270 degrees at the dome is more like 280-285 at the grate.

2. Do any of you all have experience with a digital temp controller for slow cooks (bbq guru, smobot, etc)? If so, any advice on which, if any, to purchase?

Did you calibrate the dome thermometer? They are not always calibrated right.

Were you using the plate setter / conveggtor for the brisket cook?

On your questions...

#1 - usually a small difference that stabilizes over time in my experience
#2 - I have a flameboss. It's a nice product. If I were buying today, would probably get a smobot. Smobot uses a motor mechanically open and close the vents, while the others use fans to regulate airflow. Both approaches work.

[OldPhiKap]

My questions for those of your experienced with BGE slow cooks are:

1. Is there a big difference between the dome temp reading and the temp at grate level? I’m wondering if 270 degrees at the dome is more like 280-285 at the grate.

2. Do any of you all have experience with a digital temp controller for slow cooks (bbq guru, smobot, etc)? If so, any advice on which, if any, to purchase?

1. Yes, it certainly is possible. I use a Weber iGrill thermometer probe which connects to your cell phone through Bluetooth, and put it on the level of the grill surface (it has a clip for that purpose). Also one in the meat, minimum. There are a number of these sorts of things on the market, not saying this one is the best -- but I think it is worth having given the cost of a packer's cut or even two Boston Butts (which you should be able to do at the same time, easy).

2. I have one but have never used it because the one I have would need a long extension cord, and I don't want to wrassle it while drunk and in the dark.

Briskets and butts, as you know, have a wide time range so who knows. It could be a wholly accurate measure. But with that large a slab of cold meat on the grill surface -- even if left at room temperature for a while before putting on the grill -- has to impact the temperature at the dome I would think and would vary from the heat on the bottom surface of the meat.


In any regard, congrats on the purchase! And they don't count unless you post a photo . . . .

[Phredd3]

My questions for those of your experienced with BGE slow cooks are:

1. Is there a big difference between the dome temp reading and the temp at grate level? I’m wondering if 270 degrees at the dome is more like 280-285 at the grate.

2. Do any of you all have experience with a digital temp controller for slow cooks (bbq guru, smobot, etc)? If so, any advice on which, if any, to purchase?

I have a Kamada Akorn BGE knockoff rather than a BGE, but I would never trust the dome thermometer for cook temperature. Like OPK, I have a probe that clips directly to the grate. I find the dome can be as much as 50 degrees off the mark from the probe, usually on the low side. So yes, that could have a lot to do with the cook time.

I don't use a controller for slow cooks, but some kind of heat dispersion is a must. I use firebricks rather than any specially-made add-on. Cost me like $20 for twice as many as I needed, and I just broke off bricks against a nearby rock to get pieces to fit where full bricks wouldn't. You don't need 100% coverage, just most direct coals covered by the brick. The heat in an egg-shaped cooker can be very focused, so the overall heat can vary quite widely across the space without the extra layer. Some hot spots can be quite noticeable. If you aren't using dispersion for slow cooks, you should definitely solve that for best results.

[mph]

Thank you for the reply’s!

Did you calibrate the dome thermometer? They are not always calibrated right.

Were you using the plate setter / conveggtor for the brisket cook?

On your questions...

#1 - usually a small difference that stabilizes over time in my experience
#2 - I have a flameboss. It's a nice product. If I were buying today, would probably get a smobot. Smobot uses a motor mechanically open and close the vents, while the others use fans to regulate airflow. Both approaches work.

Great question. I didn’t calibrate the dome thermometer but I will before the next slow cook.

I have a Kamada Akorn BGE knockoff rather than a BGE, but I would never trust the dome thermometer for cook temperature. Like OPK, I have a probe that clips directly to the grate. I find the dome can be as much as 50 degrees off the mark from the probe, usually on the low side. So yes, that could have a lot to do with the cook time.

I don't use a controller for slow cooks, but some kind of heat dispersion is a must. I use firebricks rather than any specially-made add-on. Cost me like $20 for twice as many as I needed, and I just broke off bricks against a nearby rock to get pieces to fit where full bricks wouldn't. You don't need 100% coverage, just most direct coals covered by the brick. The heat in an egg-shaped cooker can be very focused, so the overall heat can vary quite widely across the space without the extra layer. Some hot spots can be quite noticeable. If you aren't using dispersion for slow cooks, you should definitely solve that for best results.

I have the conveggtor and used if for the cook so don’t think my problem was hot spots but I’m going to purchase a grate level thermometer to check my temp at the cooking surface.

1. Yes, it certainly is possible. I use a Weber iGrill thermometer probe which connects to your cell phone through Bluetooth, and put it on the level of the grill surface (it has a clip for that purpose). Also one in the meat, minimum. There are a number of these sorts of things on the market, not saying this one is the best -- but I think it is worth having given the cost of a packer's cut or even two Boston Butts (which you should be able to do at the same time, easy).

2. I have one but have never used it because the one I have would need a long extension cord, and I don't want to wrassle it while drunk and in the dark.

Briskets and butts, as you know, have a wide time range so who knows. It could be a wholly accurate measure. But with that large a slab of cold meat on the grill surface -- even if left at room temperature for a while before putting on the grill -- has to impact the temperature at the dome I would think and would vary from the heat on the bottom surface of the meat.


In any regard, congrats on the purchase! And they don't count unless you post a photo . . . .

Here you go!

6D185684-0C8F-4C8C-861F-7077AAE4F0C9.jpg

[mph]

Put a pork butt on this AM and added a thermometer at grate-level. The temperature at the grate is 45 degrees hotter than my dome reading so calibration and/or the temp difference between grate and dome was the culprit for my brisket. Thanks again for the help.

[freshmanjs]

Put a pork butt on this AM and added a thermometer at grate-level. The temperature at the grate is 45 degrees hotter than my dome reading so calibration and/or the temp difference between grate and dome was the culprit for my brisket. Thanks again for the help.

Dome thermometer is very easy to calibrate. Just put it in boiling water and make sure it's at 212F. IF not, you just turn the nut on the back until it's right.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Did pork spare ribs recently since Wegmans was out of baby backs. Dry rub before hitting the BGE. 3 hours over indirect heat at 275 and shuffled them around mid way. I hit em with a quick spray of apple juice once an hour as well. Then 1 hour in the oven at 250 inside foil with a little more dry rub and apple juice. Always comes out perfect with baby backs and these spare ribs were just as fantastic - but with way more meat.

(And if devildeac reads this, I was good and only had a couple myself!)

AB83E687-B46A-42C9-8D03-127495768CE1.jpg 6AAB2B8B-C9E8-49A5-96AC-88A9A22F4C85.jpg

[devildeac]

Yep, looks like a grilling thread to me.

We don't own one but have about a 20 year old Weber that's been repaired and/or had parts replaced several times. Great grill.