I have a bonus coming on 5/1. I had my heart set on an Egg, but after reading the pellet grill threads, I'm not so sure. It will be one of these two choices, though. It's very unlikely that I would ever otherwise spend that kinda cash. This will be mostly for smoking. I'm the only one that eats steak in this house, and that's not very often. I'm not above turning on the gas Weber for a quick burger. How realistic is baking in the egg? I don't bake much of anything in the summer, for obvious reasons. If I can do it outside, it would happen a lot more. Pizza, bread, stuff like that. There is hopefully a WFO in my future, but that is probably a few years away. I'm still leaning towards the egg, for the same reason I would rather have a wood stove-simplicity. But I know next to nothing about pellet grills Help me.
here is a pellet fueled egg, http://blackolivegrill.com/products/pellet-grill-l/ http://blackolivegrill.com/grilling/pellet-challenge/ $1700 free shipping http://www.bbqguys.com/item_item_2880922.html
Any reliability issues with pellet grills? I realize it's not the end if the world if something goes wrong, but I don't want to be stuck with $50 worth of meat I can't cook, either. Which ones are better than others?
I am a fan of the pellet smokers/ grills for flavor and simplicity of long duration smoking. I have set the smoker up and left the house for a couple hours. They regulate their temps pretty well. Regardless of what you chose, congrats on the bonus
Stopped by the fireplace shop/big green egg dealer that's on the way home from work today, and they were cleaning the place out . Nothing at all left in the store merchandise-wise, just some display stuff. I hope they are just moving and not going out of business. Guess I should've asked.
Loaded question with a bunch of firewood hoarders looking on... 2k? hmmmm Other than the egg, whats #2 on the list?
I love my pellet grill but one thing to think about is very low smoking temps. Mine may be different then the egg but I can't smoke at cold smoke temps. Anything above 250 is considered cooking, I can't get mine under that, so if you want to smoke sausages, Bologna or other things do some research. There is smoking forums that are great and similar to our forum here that you will get lots of input from.
Been reading the forum at the BGE site. Seems like those guys have made it possible to cook just about anything. Still leaning that way.
I have had Eggs for six years and would not change for a pellet smoker even if it was free. The Egg does it all.....low and slow for pulled pork, ribs and brisket. Medium for grilled chicken, salmon veggies etc. Raging heat for searing a steak at 1800 degrees. Just after Christmas every year, me and a few friends get together for Grail Fest. Tanker trucks of beer and I'll do up 6 pizzas and 30-40lbs of wings on the Egg, then we watch Trading Places followed by Monty Python & The Quest for the Holy Grail. The pizza and wings taste like nothing you can get in any restaurant. The Egg does things with pizza that you'll never be able to do in a pellet smoker. There's an analogy I use for people thinking about getting an Egg: Regular grills are like getting the latest CD from your favorite band. The Egg is front row seats at their sold-out concert.
A kamado ceramic cooker is a unique, often expensive item, but doesn't have to be. i now have two of them and am very impressed with their abilities. They can do it all. low and slow for a long cook, to getting a searing hot grill for a steak. Baking is an option also with the ability to hold steady temps. The key is getting an air tight cooker. Once air tight you control the fire like your home wood burner. There are pros and cons with any system. I favor the ceramic because it is versatile, low to high temps. Good deals to be had on used cookers, but inspect them well.
I looked at a joe the other day. For $849 ready to cook, that might be my answer. Though I think I might be better off with the big joe. They didn't have one on display, and nobody seemed to care that I was standing there studying one of the most expensive items in the store, so I don't know the price on that. I don't like pushy sales people, but they at least have to acknowledge my presence.
You can get Eggs shipped with no trouble at all. Fred's Music & BBQ has every Egg and Eggcessory you could ever dream of. My suggestion is for the large Egg, not XL. The Large is shaped like, well, an Egg. This creates the distinctive Egg airflow from the bottom door vent up through the daisy wheel on top. The XL is much more barrell-shaped and squat and does not have the same airflow pattern. I had an XL and downsized to the Large and prefer it by a wide margin. Consider customer service as well in your purchasing decision. About two years ago, I had forgotten to put the cover on the Egg and it snowed. Prior to lighting up, there was some ice on the top dome and I tried to knock it off with the ash rake. The ice pulled off a chip in the finish about the size of a pea. I called Big Green Egg to try and purchase some touch-up paint, however, they said the finish is guaranteed for life. Four days later, I received an entire new top dome, free of charge.
I bought a combo grill from Walmart a year or two ago. Charcoal, propane, infrared, and a side smoke box. I have yet to use the infrared and rarely use the propane. Next time I would just get two. I have heard a lot of great things about the Big Green Egg.... I foresee bbq in our future!!!!
I used to have a "ceramic" smoker by a company that simply called themselves "Kamado". They were based in California but manufactured the cookers in Mexico and Indonesia. This thing, when it was new, was awesome. Used to cook with it year-round, made to-die-for baby back ribs, pulled pork, brisket, even did the turkey for Thanksgiving one year. Now the only part of it I have left is the base half, which is sitting next to my woodshed with herbs growing in it. The rest of it rusted, corroded and/or broke rapidly. Tried getting any kind of response from the company, phone calls, e-mails, just to buy new parts, and they seemed to have disappeared. I should have bought the Egg when I had the chance. I have a really nice Weber Genesis grill but it just can't cook the way the kamado used to. Now I have two BGE dealers within 20 miles and I am seriously considering a new one. I just have to come up with the $Green for the Egg. Maybe if I remind my family just how much the y used to love that BBQ, the dear wife won't pitch a fit.
Ah thats a cooker built by johnson, infamous bbq scam artist. The real deal is the komado kamado, built bu demnis letter. 4 to 6 grand$. Top shelf cooker, if rib a bank i will get one.
Scree them, don't let their pizz poor attitudes deprive you of a first class toy. Type these 2 words into your search engine "kamado guru" sit back & learn from some serious bbq folks!
