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Author Topic: Big Green Egg  (Read 66483 times)

Offline euge

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Re: Big Green Egg
« Reply #150 on: May 03, 2012, 11:42:06 pm »
So is it a burn out then?

I'm gonna light a fire in it and let'er rip... ;D
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. -Richard P. Feynman

Laws are spider-webs, which catch the little flies, but cannot hold the big ones. -Anacharsis

Offline boulderbrewer

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Re: Big Green Egg
« Reply #151 on: May 04, 2012, 12:30:10 am »
Time to do a 900f steak if you are going to do that! I think I should do that, now where is that grass feed beef section?

Offline gmac

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Re: Big Green Egg
« Reply #152 on: June 03, 2012, 10:14:47 am »
Trying a pork picnic shoulder today.  Not a big one but this will be the first pulled pork attempt. 
How long do you suggest for a 3-4 lb picnic roast? 
Thanks.

Offline euge

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Re: Big Green Egg
« Reply #153 on: June 03, 2012, 10:30:06 am »
It'll take 5-6 hours at 225 but if you foil it when the internal temp reaches 155 it'll finish quicker. You can move it to the oven at 225 at that point.
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. -Richard P. Feynman

Laws are spider-webs, which catch the little flies, but cannot hold the big ones. -Anacharsis

Offline gmac

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Re: Big Green Egg
« Reply #154 on: June 03, 2012, 10:37:02 am »
Thanks Euge.  I just put it on (12:30 local time) and my wife will be home from work about 6:30 so that should work out perfectly. 
Out of curiosity, how long would you need for a whole pork shoulder (to be done this fall when we move into our new house).

On a side note, headed to Kansas City, MO tomorrow.  I expect there will be BBQ in my future.  No free time so don't bother to suggest places because I'm on a set schedule but we're having supper tomorrow at some brew pub in the "Power and Light District".  I will have to temper my enthusiasm given that I'm surrounded by co-workers...

Offline gmac

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Re: Big Green Egg
« Reply #155 on: June 03, 2012, 12:00:05 pm »
Also, how long do you guys soak your wood chips for?  I'm using apple chips soaked for a couple hours and I'm not getting very much in the way of smoke production.  When I first started doing this, I thought I got a lot more smoke but maybe I soaked them longer.  I haven't found a good source of apple lumps yet (may have to go cut down an apple tree) so I'm using store bought chips. 

Offline euge

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Re: Big Green Egg
« Reply #156 on: June 03, 2012, 01:42:59 pm »
How big are the chips? You need to boil them. Otherwise they really don;t soak up that much water except if they are shredded.
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. -Richard P. Feynman

Laws are spider-webs, which catch the little flies, but cannot hold the big ones. -Anacharsis

Offline boulderbrewer

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Re: Big Green Egg
« Reply #157 on: June 03, 2012, 10:36:42 pm »
I get plenty of smoke after a 20 minute soak but I close up the egg and go at 200 till done. I bet it determines the heat of the coals and when you add them. It is all technique. This is done with poultry betting the "heavier" meats need a stronger smoke. Duh!

Offline gmac

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Re: Big Green Egg
« Reply #158 on: March 24, 2013, 09:30:43 am »
Anyone have experience changing the felt ring?  I had mine heating up for steaks and got talking and forgot to go check it.  When I remembered, the dial (which stops at 700) was wrapped all the way round to almost 300 again.  Obviously that was a bit hot.  Needless to say I've gotta replace my felt rings cause they're toast now. 

Offline euge

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Re: Big Green Egg
« Reply #159 on: March 24, 2013, 03:08:40 pm »
Ya I burnt mine off during a "burnout". :o Haven't bothered to replace the felt and no signs of a performance issue with the trusty old egg.

Replacement starts around $18.
The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool. -Richard P. Feynman

Laws are spider-webs, which catch the little flies, but cannot hold the big ones. -Anacharsis

Offline gmac

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Re: Big Green Egg
« Reply #160 on: March 24, 2013, 06:21:16 pm »
I'm getting smoke leakage around the crack where the halves come together.  Plus I was doing beef ribs yesterday and was having trouble keeping the temp low so I think I'm getting some air leakage.  For $20 I think I'll try to put a new one on.
Thanks

Offline MDixon

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Re: Big Green Egg
« Reply #161 on: July 12, 2013, 12:13:13 pm »
So I have longed forever for a Komodo Kamado, but the price of admission has been far too steep for me to take the plunge.

Anyway I was in a Gander Mountain recently and noticed a CharGriller Kamado for around 3 bills and kept looking at it. It is a metal Kamado with insulated walls. The lid felt light and it appeared a bit like a gimmick so I kept on trucking. Later I checked the reviews and was surprised by how positive they were. There were some air gap issues, but later reviews indicated this thing was legit.

Fast forward to a Lowe's flyer and a $299 price tag. I had a $25 off so I ordered one online and had it shipped to my local store. The total weight is about 97 pounds and I put it together in a half hour to 45 minutes. The first thing you do is season the grate and so I fired up the beast with a few pounds of charcoal and burned it at 400-500F for over 3 hours. I was amazed it held the heat that well. I did two mods immediately, one was to get a Weber grate and the other was a Weber pizza stone. These are used as a heat shield above the firebox and work darn well for $25 worth of mods.

Next test was a 7 lb butt. I put around 8 to 10 lb of charcoal and lit it from one side. Before long I dialed in the heat around 220-230F and it got as high as 245F one time. The time I had in mind was about 7 hours and in that time I got to 195F and then closed the dampers. Unfortunately I should have pushed it to 200F before stopping the show. The butt reached 195F and held there and I would have liked it to climbed a few degrees higher. Now worries, when I opened the grill the butt was a thing of beauty so I wrapped it in foil and stuck it back on to just stay warm. For a 7 hour smoke I probably used 3 to 4lbs of the charcoal. I believe had I used all the charcoal in the firebox it could have went 15 to 18 hours.

I need to taco it out a bit more, but thus far I'm starting to believe this may have been one of the best purchases I've made in awhile.
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Offline Hokerer

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Re: Big Green Egg
« Reply #162 on: July 12, 2013, 01:05:53 pm »
Next test was a 7 lb butt. I put around 8 to 10 lb of charcoal and lit it from one side. Before long I dialed in the heat around 220-230F and it got as high as 245F one time. The time I had in mind was about 7 hours and in that time I got to 195F and then closed the dampers.

What are you using to measure your temps?  1 hour per pound seems awfully quick for a 225F smoke.  Or maybe mine just take longer but I'm more in the 1.5 to 2 hour per pound range at 225F.
Joe

Offline djsanta

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Re: Big Green Egg
« Reply #163 on: July 12, 2013, 01:38:06 pm »
1.  If you're cooking low and slow you MUST have a good digital thermometer.  I recommend a dual probe unit so you can monitor both grill temp and meat temp.  The Maverick ET732 is a solid unit, and it's wireless so I can "watch" my BBQ while I sit inside drinking a homebrew.

2.  Don't wet your wood.  Just put the chips/blocks on your coals.  Wet wood lowers the heat of your smoker.  Dry wood provides great smoke.  You'll end up using less wood to get the flavors you want.  Just keep the lid closed or you'll loose the smoke.

3.  Just like homebrewing, keep notes so you can evaluate what you did and how you can improve.  There's nothing better than a well smoked hunk of animal flesh along with a delicious beer you brewed yourself!
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Planned: Doppelbock or Weizenbock, Oatmeal Stout, DIPA

Offline MDixon

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Re: Big Green Egg
« Reply #164 on: July 12, 2013, 01:45:15 pm »
I used a digital for the smoker temp and a digital wireless for the meat temp. I forget the brands, I know the one used for the smoker temp is Pyrex brand, but most likely a Polder. I'm pretty sure the wireless is a Maverick.

The shrink wrap weight of the butt was 7lb, but I had it in the deep freeze for awhile. I'll bet I lost at least a pound of water weight by the time she thawed out. Keep in mind the temp also climbed up to 240F or so at one point. I'm not sure how long. It took some time to bring it back down to where I wanted it. That is one drawback IMO you cannot quickly lower the heat so you have to be careful to not let it get too hot.
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