Your Grilling Weapon of Choice?

[Boone]

I've had a lot of grills/smokers over the years. I've pretty much always owned a Weber Gas Grill and, over the past several years, have split time between a Weber Genesis gas grill and a Weber Smoky Mountain smoker. I love the convenience of a gas grill, but the smoker can do things not possible on gas - such as making authentic NC pulled pork. Both my gas grill and the WSM smoker have reached the end of their lives and I have been pondering replacing them.

The WSM is one of the best purchases I've ever made. You can get a great one for less than $300. But they tend to wear out after a couple of seasons. My current one has been used so much, the welds on the brackets that hold the big water bowl have actually melted.

Yesterday, visited a local high end hardware store that specializes in grills and smokers. I finally gave in to the pull of the Big Green Egg and purchased a large one with fold out shelves and 'nest'.

Big Green Eggs are not inexpensive. However, they are purported to last nearly a lifetime (with the possible need to replace some parts over time), while I have found Weber gas grills and charcoal cookers to require replacement every 5-10 years. I'm having the egg delivered next week. Looking forward to seeing what I can do with it. You can supposedly cook low and slow on this like with any smoker, but also achieve temps in excess of 800 degrees. It also has the added flexibility of working as an outdoor oven to do things like pizza. Haven't ruled out replacing the gas grill at some point, as sometimes, I don't have the time to start and manage a charcoal fire.

Anyone have any experience with the Big Green Egg or other Kamodo-style ceramic grills? What are you guys using for your outdoor barbecuing?

 

[Elephant]

I would like to see what a venison tenderloin tastes like cooked low and slow...better yet, an elk tenderloin!

 

[Boone]

Tried this Santa Maria Tri-Tips recipe the other night. Man - was it good! So I'm sharing

Santa Maria Tri-Tip Recipe

 

[Boone]

Latest adventure with the BGE is homemade smoked pastrami. I've had 2 briskets in pickling/brine solution (with lots of garlic and spices) for 10 days. Pulled them out this morning, dried them off, gave them a light coating of yellow mustard and then a generous coating of ground coriander and pepper. On the smoker as we speak. Going to freeze some of it after it's cooled and sliced. Expecting it to be pretty damn good

 

[Burgundy Burner]

Seasoning of choice...

Johnny's Hunter's Blend. Dang good on just about anything.

 

[Burgundy Burner]

this right here

 

[Boone]

Pretty popular choice for sure BB - nice call!

Made some of the best ribs I've ever made on the BGE last night. 3 hours at 250 on the Egg, then foiled with a little apple juice and BBQ sauce and put in the oven for 2 more hours. Cooked perfectly (not falling off the bone but thoroughly cooked and able to take a clean bite from them without it falling apart). Getting more used to the Egg and dialing in the right temp.

 

[Boone]

Doing some brisket while I watch the games today. Soaked this bad boy in a mix of bourbon and beef base for 24 hours, then coated with yellow mustard and a generous amount of rub.

 

[Boone]

Used my Big Green Egg for the first time in a long time to do Carolina-style pulled pork (and let's be real here - NC invented pulled pork - there really is no other 'kind' ). I have a really simple plan when it comes to pulled pork. I buy a full pork shoulder (or when I can't find it, a couple of 'picnics'). I trim much of the 'fat cap' off, leaving a thin layer intact for the cook. I coat the butts generously with French's yellow mustard, and then give a generous coating of rub (my current favorite is Byron's Butt Rub). I pre-soak 6-8 garlic cloves and a mix of cherry and apple wood in water. I build an indirect fire, and get my smoker up to 225 degrees and add my wood, garlic cloves, and the butts.

I cook them low and slow (it can take 14-16 hours for them to reach 195 degrees or so, my target temp. 3-4 times during the cook, I'll spray them down with a liquid made up of 1/2 apple cider, 1/2 apple cider vinegar, a teaspoon of rub, and some red chili flakes. When the butts reach 195, I pull them and foil them tightly (you can add some liquid - water, or cider/juice - or not at this point). I wrap them in towels and then put them in a cooler for 2-3 hours. Then I'll unwrap and pull the pork. Meanwhile, I make some homemade slaw and vinegar-based BBQ sauce (I'm a fan of Western style but Eastern is good too). I usually add a cup or so of the sauce to the pulled pork and the rest of it will put in a squirt bottle for the table.

@Goaldeje - have you tried pulled pork on the egg yet? It's perfectly suited for it. I especially love my new MEATER block. Once I had the egg at the right temp, I went to sleep and didn't really have to worry as the MEATER app would've awakened me with an alarm if I unexpectedly reached temps early. Awesome, awesome gadget.

 

[fansince62]

Used my Big Green Egg for the first time in a long time to do Carolina-style pulled pork (and let's be real here - NC invented pulled pork - there really is no other 'kind' ). I have a really simple plan when it comes to pulled pork. I buy a full pork shoulder (or when I can't find it, a couple of 'picnics'). I trim much of the 'fat cap' off, leaving a thin layer intact for the cook. I coat the butts generously with French's yellow mustard, and then give a generous coating of rub (my current favorite is Byron's Butt Rub). I pre-soak 6-8 garlic cloves and a mix of cherry and apple wood in water. I build an indirect fire, and get my smoker up to 225 degrees and add my wood, garlic cloves, and the butts.

I cook them low and slow (it can take 14-16 hours for them to reach 195 degrees or so, my target temp. 3-4 times during the cook, I'll spray them down with a liquid made up of 1/2 apple cider, 1/2 apple cider vinegar, a teaspoon of rub, and some red chili flakes. When the butts reach 195, I pull them and foil them tightly (you can add some liquid - water, or cider/juice - or not at this point). I wrap them in towels and then put them in a cooler for 2-3 hours. Then I'll unwrap and pull the pork. Meanwhile, I make some homemade slaw and vinegar-based BBQ sauce (I'm a fan of Western style but Eastern is good too). I usually add a cup or so of the sauce to the pulled pork and the rest of it will put in a squirt bottle for the table.

@Goaldeje - have you tried pulled pork on the egg yet? It's perfectly suited for it. I especially love my new MEATER block. Once I had the egg at the right temp, I went to sleep and didn't really have to worry as the MEATER app would've awakened me with an alarm if I unexpectedly reached temps early. Awesome, awesome gadget.

So what's the verdict? I'm about to invest in a nice grill and the Kamado Joes look very enticing - if expensive. Gas grills just don't cut it and these things look quite versatile.

Got some pros/cons before I pilfer the savings account for some Summer cooking pleasure?

 

[Boone]

I love my egg and although I'm not familiar with other kamado style grills, I'm sure they are all pretty similar. I am not a huge fan of using that kind of cooker for basic 'grilling' though. They excel at smoking and cooking foods over charcoal over a long period of time - but as far as use as a grill, to make burgers, grill a steak, etc... I don't prefer them. That's why I have a gas grill as well.

If I had neither and was looking to have just one grill, I'd highly recommend a good pellet grill as they do both functions very well - and you are still essentially cooking over wood. They also tend to be cheaper and for the money you would spend on a reasonably good kamado you can buy an outstanding pellet grill. And unlike a gas grill, you can use it as a smoker if you desire.

If I could justify it, I'd own one right now. Traeger is one of the best brands out there, and I also have friends who swear by Camp Chef, but most rave reviews go to Traeger grills.

 

[Goaldeje]

Boone, I made pulled pork for our daughter's graduation party - it was perfect. Easily handled two shoulders and got rave reviews. Best brisket I've ever made happened a few weeks ago too. Making a rack of ribs right now for dinner, first time with ribs but everything has always been so easy and straightforward I'm sure they'll be great.

We're thinking of having a Labor Day Party this year (since we were out of town for the 4th of July) and I have a nice big brisket in the freezer for the occasion; probably also do some dogs and such just to be safe.

Long story short: I love the egg, it's been great!

 

[fansince62]

I love my egg and although I'm not familiar with other kamado style grills, I'm sure they are all pretty similar. I am not a huge fan of using that kind of cooker for basic 'grilling' though. They excel at smoking and cooking foods over charcoal over a long period of time - but as far as use as a grill, to make burgers, grill a steak, etc... I don't prefer them. That's why I have a gas grill as well.

If I had neither and was looking to have just one grill, I'd highly recommend a good pellet grill as they do both functions very well - and you are still essentially cooking over wood. They also tend to be cheaper and for the money you would spend on a reasonably good kamado you can buy an outstanding pellet grill. And unlike a gas grill, you can use it as a smoker if you desire.

If I could justify it, I'd own one right now. Traeger is one of the best brands out there, and I also have friends who swear by Camp Chef, but most rave reviews go to Traeger grills.

Thanks Boone. I'm a neophyte in this territory. I did read some Traeger reviews and there more than a few complaints about product quality. So a pellet grill gives a nice steak that taste you just can't get from gas? i.e., the way the fat cooks/crisps and the smokey taste one gets from coal grills.

 

[Boone]

Yeah - I mean, you're cooking over wood, just in pellet form. You can buy every type of pellet available in terms of wood flavor. Generally, it's not going to give an intensely smoky taste like a smoker will. But for me, I don't want intense smoky flavors unless I am cooking a really big piece of meat, like pork shoulder or brisket. I have not owned a Traeger, but I have heard good things about them.

I believe you're a golfer.... You should join 'The Hackers Paradise' - a huge vBulletin golf forum and they have a BBQ thread with tons of folks who can give you great advice on what route to go.

 

[Boone]

Did some pulled pork last night on the Big Green Egg. Injected a couple of pork butts with the juice from a couple of jars of bread and butter pickles, rubbed them down with yellow mustard, and then gave them a light dusting of butt rub and then coated them liberally with crushed pickling spices. Sprayed them down a couple times with bread and butter pickle juice with some rub mixed in it. They came out pretty well... little different take than my usual flavors...

 

[Win4us]

I've gota simple little Weber 1200. It's a smaller grill that disconnects from it's stand to stow away very easily. It doesn't leave the deck but it'd be perfect to pack up and use at tailgating.

 

[Boone]

Nice Win - I've had a similar one

 

[Boone]

Have been in a bit of a rut in terms of BBQ. Mastered (at least in my mind) brisket and Carolina BBQ. Stumbled upon a recipe for Peanut Butter and Jelly Ribs and decided to give it a try. Pictures and review to come.

 

[Boone]

Resurrecting an older thread.

I bought a Traeger Ironwood about 3 years ago. It was my first pellet grill and Traeger had phenomenal reviews. It was great for the first year, but then I started having problems, starting with the grill going waaaay past set temperatures on startup which then required me to wait sometimes as long as an hour for it to come back down to my desired temperature. I have had intermittent problems with the app not working as well. This past year, the grill started showing major signs of structural failure.... rust, metal breakdown in the firebox, metal wear inside the grill. Finally, over the past 3 months, the grill would fail to ignite requiring me to start over multiple times before it would finally light and function normally.

Maybe I got a 'lemon' but for what I paid for that Traeger, I would expect to get at least 5 years of use out of it before I needed to replace major parts, or replace it. 3 years is just totally unsatisfactory.

So about a month ago I gave the Traeger to a local church group and went shopping for a new pellet grill. I looked at Yoders and they looked fantastic but I just couldn't justify the cost. I knew that RecTeqs have a great reputation and a lot of loyal fans, so that's what I went with. I purchased the 'Backyard Beast' which is a lot bigger pellet grill than I really need, but it was on sale for $200 below normal retail, so I pulled the trigger.

After a couple of successful cooks, I could not get it to start. Customer service was great though, and it turned out that the only issue was a little bit of water (probably from melting snow) had found it's way into the auger box and frozen the pellets together. Once I cleared out the frozen logjam, it fired up perfectly. What I love most about it is that startup is incredibly easy, and so far it gets to the target temperature and immediately stays there. I have not seen the temp fluctuate beyond 5 degrees of my set temp once. The app seems to work great and I can monitor 2 temp probes vs. just a single one with my former Traeger.

I am still learning on this one, but so far I'm a total convert.

 

[Mark The Homer]

I searched "smoker" for this thread and it had been mentioned 12 times. And 11 of those times, it was mentioned by Boone! Haha. I guess that makes sense when you figure where he lives.

Meanwhile, I'm up here in Montgomery County. Not a lot of smokers up here. Too deep into Yankee territory maybe. But that is slowly starting to change.

Naturally, I've had a Weber 22" kettle since the mid-80s.

Quick story - this was a few days before Christmas in 1988. My buddy, Schuyler, knocks on the door, and he hands me a paper plate with some sliced chicken on it. It was smoked chicken which he had done in his back yard. And it had some saran wrap over it. It was fanned out in an attractive manner. But nonetheless, it didn't look particularly appealing. But I appreciated the holiday gesture and thanked him. He left after a couple minutes. Very nice.

So I tried a slice of this chicken.

HOLY MACKERAL. It was simply the best chicken I had ever had in my life! It had flavor. It had tenderness. It had juiciness. It had everything. I couldn't believe it. I was blown away. And as I recall, it was breast meat! And I'm a dark meat guy!

I said to myself, "Man, if Schuyler can produce this in his backyard, so can I!"

And so that started me on my smoked poultry adventure.

Originally, I had and still have a standard 22" Weber. Here it is with a 24" griddle laid on top - 3/8 inch thick!



The old modded Weber



I bought one of these water smokers way back in the late 80s. I think it set me back fifty bucks. Sometimes, these are called bullet smokers.

A buddy from the south suggested I try cooking a pork butt, so I did. And that opened a lot of doors.

Here's my SnS kettle - purchased amidst the Pandemic - in Oct 2020



I bought the drum smoker at some point



Next came the offset in 2021 - I modded it quite a bit



Can't forget the camp stove - in case I want to make breakfast outside



My weapon of choice? Depends on the cook!