On a bit of a whim, I bought a Big Green Egg today. I've been thinking about it for a while, and the local ACE had them on sale with a grill plate and nest, so I finally pulled the trigger.

It's being delivered tomorrow - anyone have suggestions on must have accessories or good/easy first cooks to try it out? I was thinking ribs or a splatchcock chicken. I'll be moving from a gas grill - so I'm expecting a bit of a learning curve.

Thanks in advance!

Buy a good probe thermometer like a Thermoworks Smoke.

Wagyu prime brisket. LOL jk....pork butt

Or if you'd like to frustrate the crap out of yourself. Smoke chickens.

Pork butt. Stay away from lava level heat until you break it in.

Plate ribs

Pork butt. You can cook them from 225 to 350 degrees and they will turn out fine.

Thanks guys - I did a couple of splatchcocked chickens - they turned out amazing.

We were planning to do a pork butt today - but didn't get things together early enough, so we're going to do pork ribs.

I was pretty impressed with how easy it was to control the temps. Looking forward to getting past this break-in phase and being able to get the temps high-enough for steaks and pizza.

Best accessories:

Looftlighter
Adjustable Rig
Smokeware Cap
Kick Ash Basket and Can
BBQ Guru CyberQ

do they still make you buy the heat deflector separately? if so, get one of those.

schmendeler said:

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do they still make you buy the heat deflector separately? if so, get one of those.

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Dont even bother with the BGE branded deflector. The removable rigs from Ceramic Grill Store are a far superior product.

I jus tried my first cook on mine, ribs without the heat deflector. Used a water pan instead. Checked it every 15 minutes to ensure the temp was holding steady. On the last check, the temp had suddenly jumped from 250 to 450. I opened her up and everything in there was on fire. Water must have dried up... The ribs looks like charcoal.

So I agree with the advice above, buy the deflector!

That BBQ Guru looks pretty cool - have you had good luck with that?

The package from ACE included the nest and deflector shield, as well as a couple of smaller things - so I've got the BGE deflector.

Thanks!

Scan Man said:

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That BBQ Guru looks pretty cool - have you had good luck with that?

The package from ACE included the nest and deflector shield, as well as a couple of smaller things - so I've got the BGE deflector.

Thanks!

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I you like to cook brisket and value sleep, it's well worth it.

Temp adjustments aren't instant. Allow time for things to stabilize before putting meat on. Clean out the ash more times than you might think necessary for good air flow.

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Allow time for things to stabilize before putting meat on

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this is very important...and something i had to train my impatient self to do. don't be afraid to give it an hour to get it dialed in. light it up, drink a beer, work on getting everything else ready for the cook, drink a beer....

My biggest issue with the egg is if I'm not paying attention and let the temp get to high, I have a Hell of a time getting the temp lowered. Is this true of all smokers?

Bruce Almighty said:

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My biggest issue with the egg is if I'm not paying attention and let the temp get to high, I have a Hell of a time getting the temp lowered. Is this true of all smokers?

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get a wireless thermometer with an alarm. set it so that the temp will warn you if it's climbing.