Can I get some Big Green Egg stoke please?

[Mulletizer]

Can I use briquettes for a 4-5 hour smoke? I know it is not recommended by the BGE crew in general, and I have always used lump but I don't have any and am trying to figure out if I need to find some before I smoke some ribs tomorrow.

Short answer is "no." More complicated answer is "it depends."

The problem with briquettes and Eggs is that briquettes normally use a binder to hold them together. As the briquette ignites, the binder burns off, giving a bad flavour. In a metal barbecue this doesn't matter as you typically get the briquettes fully lit before you put any food near them. But in a ceramic barbecue you typically ignite fresh fuel all the way through the cook. So using briquettes in an Egg would expose your food to those bad flavours all the way through the cook. And the aroma tends to linger in the ceramics.

There are a couple of exceptions though: some briquettes don't use binder, and comprise sufficiently high grade fuel so as to burn with a clean flavour from the start. I'm not familiar enough with the US fuel brands to be able to suggest a product like this. Or if you get a small quantity of briquettes lit off the Egg, wait until they are burning well (they look ashy and grey all over), then put them in the Egg, they would work - but you'd lose the fine temperature control, you might not get the full cook time you need from them, and the thermal shock would risk cracking your fire bowl. So it is a bit of a gamble.

[Cruiser]

$9 for a whole bone in pork shoulder at the grocery yesterday. Just put it on at 260* and now I've gotta go to work. Hopefully 12h is enough time to get it close to 195*. I usually go more like 235* for 16-20h. So I guess I'll see what I come up with when I get home.

[Cruiser]

Well shit. I didn't put a fresh set of batteries in the controller so it ran out of juice about 10 hours in. When I got home the swine was in the stall and the egg temp was below 200*. So I adjusted the vents, manually like some damned neanderthal, and got it back to 275ish to finish the cook. But by then it was late so I hooked up blt's with the good thick cut bacon and the vine ripe tomatoes instead. Swine hit 195* at 14.5h so yanked the bone out and tossed the rest in the fridge after getting a nibble to verify that it was acceptable (it was). Overall the experiment certainly left a little room for improvement insofar as nobody actually ate it for dinner tonight cuz they were all in bed by the time it finished cooking. May go grab another shoulder while they're on sale and try it again next week...

[irul&ublo]

Interesting read on charcoal:


https://amazingribs.com/more-techniq...arcoal-is-made

[undertow2]

Well shit. I didn't put a fresh set of batteries in the controller so it ran out of juice about 10 hours in. When I got home the swine was in the stall and the egg temp was below 200*. So I adjusted the vents, manually like some damned neanderthal, and got it back to 275ish to finish the cook. But by then it was late so I hooked up blt's with the good thick cut bacon and the vine ripe tomatoes instead. Swine hit 195* at 14.5h so yanked the bone out and tossed the rest in the fridge after getting a nibble to verify that it was acceptable (it was). Overall the experiment certainly left a little room for improvement insofar as nobody actually ate it for dinner tonight cuz they were all in bed by the time it finished cooking. May go grab another shoulder while they're on sale and try it again next week...

Got the same deal at my local grocer - 8 1/2 lb pork butt for $9...

Back in the day I had a BBQ Guru and the thing shit the bed during my cook while I was out fishing... The whole cook was ruined... When I have to leave or do an overnight cook I use my Flame Boss temp controller as I can monitor everything on my phone and make adjustments... It has been flawless...

I will be doing my butt this weekend and will be doing indirect at 250 degrees and once it hits 170 I put it in a foil pan and tent it... I usually let it hit 200 and take it out and let it rest for 1 hr... Always turns out excellent and is super easy to do...!


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[undertow2]

See you in 5 hrs and than it is wrap time... 9 lb pork butt for a small get together with Friends for a virtual Aaron Lewis concert... Looking to be a great Wed...! Finished pics once done...


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[Cruiser]

Love me some thighs!

[retirwntm]

Did you get those from Thigh land? Haha!


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[Benny Profane]

FYI, there is a new Chef's Table season on Netflix all about Barbeque. CT is a superb series featuring great cooks from all over the world. Really nice photography.

[Cruiser]

Thanks for the rec! Didn't even know they had a new season much less one about q!

[Cruiser]

Sholda!

[RootSkier]

FYI, there is a new Chef's Table season on Netflix all about Barbeque.

Thanks for the head's up on this. I don't watch much streaming media but I love Chef's Table. I watched a few of these last night and it was both great and fucking sad as hell. Seeing everyone gathering to eat together...fuck.

[bodywhomper]

I smoked a butt on Monday that turned out great AND the kids are now into butt. Double score!!! It took 13 hrs (no crutch), and i intentionally spent a few hrs in the 265* range.

During part of the cooking, i put some oiled and sliced eggplant on a skillet in the egg. Today, i made baba ghanoush. Fnka! So good. My young aspiring chef boy: "how did you make it taste like bacon?"


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[Phall]

Elk roast “tri-tip” home made bbq rub, bge at 250-300 until internal was 120, foil with red wine vinegar/Dijon/garlic mop, cranked egg to 700, open fire, mop and flipped a few times, came out fantastic


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[bodywhomper]

Elk roast “tri-tip” home made bbq rub, bge at 250-300 until internal was 120, foil with red wine vinegar/Dijon/garlic mop, cranked egg to 700, open fire, mop and flipped a few times, came out fantastic


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That looks SO good! A close friend usually brings home a elk every fall. I should offer to smoke that cut for him. My family loves beef tri tip on the egg.

Today I bbqed a pork butt. It was a little under 8 lbs. took 17 hrs.

[SirVicSmasher]

12 hours exactly tender and juicy

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[dtown]

Haven’t read the 50 pages to see if this is answered...looking at a BGE purchase and trying to determine between medium or Large. Will use it for standard grilling + smoking mostly pork butts and ribs + pizzas. Family of 5, like to grill a lot and don’t entertain a lot of people so XL would be overkill. Eventually also putting in an Argentinian grill so will have that option if I need to cook 20 burgers at once.

Is a M going to be enough or just go L and don’t look back???


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[Grange]

I have a large and actually wish I had an X-Large instead. While the large is good for many cooks when I want to smoke a brisket or multiple racks of ribs I wish it was bigger. A packer brisket may be too long for the large and for multiple racks of ribs I either need a rib rack or have to cut the ribs in half. I don't like cutting rib racks in half and I'm not a fan of rib racks as my best ribs have been made without a rack.

For me the biggest downside of an X-Large is it is heavy.

[Flounder]

I'd go large. Easier to fit full racks of ribs. Not sure how things are today but more accessories were available for the large when I got mine many years ago.

[hatchgreenchile]

Large is the way to go - those extra inches help for ribs and brisket, but it will still be tight.

[dtown]

Thx everyone, large it will be. Will stock up on accessories and probably build my own table/ stand.


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[schwerty]

Haven’t read the 50 pages to see if this is answered...looking at a BGE purchase and trying to determine between medium or Large. Will use it for standard grilling + smoking mostly pork butts and ribs + pizzas. Family of 5, like to grill a lot and don’t entertain a lot of people so XL would be overkill. Eventually also putting in an Argentinian grill so will have that option if I need to cook 20 burgers at once.

Is a M going to be enough or just go L and don’t look back???


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I have an XL. Family of 4 and my wife only eats about half the stuff I cook. So 3.5 eaters + having friends over, (can’t remember what that’s like though).

The large would have worked for family dinners and probably used a fair bit less charcoal. I still wouldnt trade the xl in for a L. The xl never seemed that big to me. I like to throw veg on the grill and sometimes I have a couple different meats cooking at once. The space makes a big difference. Shit, I actually consider the XXL from time to time. But that thing probably eats $30 of charcoal to cook a few burgers!

Get the L over the medium. But, don’t overlook the XL if space allows for it.

[Cruiser]

Just checking in to say that if I had it to do over I'd get an xl also

[undertow2]

Late to the party as well and I have both a large and XL and if I had to pick one it would be the XL... My buddy who has a L and who felt the XL was too much size ended up buying an XL after seeing mine in action... And if you are looking at a Large and Med - Large all the way...!


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[bodywhomper]

I have an XL. Family of 5. No regrets.