Should I buy the Big Green Egg?

[my name is ed]

I have a decent grill that I bought at Costco, but am thinking of supplementing it with the Big Green Egg for those times I want to slow cook or smoke stuff. I have read some limited reviews and all were very positive, but there simply were not that many reviews out there.

As I type this I am struggling with a friends Char-Broil H2O smoker and a brisket (my first). I am having a difficult time keeping the temp up and even knowing if the temp is high enough since there is no real thermometer.

Is the Big Green Egg a fad, or is it a life-time cooker? If I invest the money, two years from now will it be collecting dust in the corner of the garage?

Thanks,

Ed

[StPeteBBQ]

Big Green Egg is an excellent cooker. SeanB here on the forum has one and he seems to be quite pleased with it.

See this thread (http://www.sharky.com/forum/showthread.php?t=73).

Ray Lampe, Dr. BBQ, cooks on a couple of BGEs. He used to make fun of them, but now he swears by 'em.

Another good choice for low and slow would be the Weber Smokey Mountain. It isn't a ceramic cooker, but it is a bit more portable and a bit less expensive.

[JackStack]

I have a couple friends that have BGE's, and their gassers are now collecting dust. And once I can figure out a way to talk my wife into the investment I will have one sitting next to my Kettle. Im sure if you buy an egg you will not be disappointed and heat control is much better than the Char-Broil.

[SeanB]

Yes! I love my egg. I have had it for about a year and my only regret is that I got a medium instead of a large. When I first got it I still had my gasser figuring that I would use the gasser for those quick cooks...I think I fired up the gasser once after I bought the egg.

Have you been to the BGE forum? http://www.biggreenegg.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.shtml


And here is Ray's site: http://www.drbbq.com/
He is a real nice guy and is very passionate about the BGE.

[TomKattt]

Ed,

All of the ceramic smokers I have heard of, BGE, Kamado, and Primo, are excellent smokers. The three drawbacks to them are they are expensive, their fireboxes are prone to cracking (Primo says their material won't crack like the others), and they can have a 'flashback', which can be a little dangerous.

That said, they are excellent smokers/grills and can do a great job slow-smoking or high-temp searing.

The Charbroil H2O is a true POS and should be thrown out.

Another excellent smoker, for about a third the price of a BGE is the Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM). A WSM does not make a good high-temp grill. It can do it, but it's not very good at it. But the WSM is an excellent smoker with great steady temp control. Some people have acheived 30+ hour cooks on one load of charcoal, and 20+ hours is commonplace.

[RibRib]

Another ceramic smoker that is getting rave reviews is the Grill Dome. The Grill Dome is thicker than the BGE and definitely has the edge in reliability and customer service (my opinion from my research). Check out their forum www.grilldome.com then click on "Forum". Lots of great information there.

RibRib

[CaptBill]

I have a kamado that I bought at a yard sale from a guy being transferred overseas. When I want to take my time, I use it, or for Turkeys, chickens, ribs. It is very fuel efficient. Usually 18 charcoal brickets and a couple of hickory chunks and it puts off a great smoke and cooks to perfection.
They did not have the Weber WSM when I bought it so that is the only other thing I would seriously consider. Of course with the egg or Kamado you can cook great hamburgers and steaks too. I think you really really like it
if you are a serious griller.

[cortez]

i have 2 large BGE's and i really like them.they are great for high temp. grilling and i also use it alot for low and slow..i also use it for making bread that was the first reason for buying my eggs..they are a little hard to move around but i have them built in to my outdoor kitchen any way..i still use my weber gold when i need a grill fix when i haven't got the time to play with the lump charcoal..i also use a WSM when i want to go cooking some place other than home..not as hard to move around as a egg..also a good cooker

[-cp]

This is the best smoker out there and it's dirt-cheap to make! :)

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_ea/article/0,1976,FOOD_9956_2245800,00.html

[Larry Wolfe]

Ed,

All of the ceramic smokers I have heard of, BGE, Kamado, and Primo, are excellent smokers. The three drawbacks to them are they are expensive, their fireboxes are prone to cracking (Primo says their material won't crack like the others), and they can have a 'flashback', which can be a little dangerous.

That said, they are excellent smokers/grills and can do a great job slow-smoking or high-temp searing.

The Charbroil H2O is a true POS and should be thrown out.

Another excellent smoker, for about a third the price of a BGE is the Weber Smokey Mountain (WSM). A WSM does not make a good high-temp grill. It can do it, but it's not very good at it. But the WSM is an excellent smoker with great steady temp control. Some people have acheived 30+ hour cooks on one load of charcoal, and 20+ hours is commonplace.

Good info here!

I cook on both Primo's and WSM's and both are fantastic cookers, but totally different animals. First, ALL ceramic firebox's will eventually crack...........some sooner than later. However, this does not effect a thing with any of them. I know people that have a firebox in a Primo and a BGE that is in three different pieces and they still continue to do 750* steak sears or 250* boston butt cooks. They are both still very efficient well insulated cookers. The good news is a cracked firebox is covered under Primos warranty and they stand behind their products. I can only speak for Primo on this from personal experiences from cooking on and selling their products.

Primo's are both a grill and a smoker, while the WSM is basically a smoker and a good one at that! The only bad thing I can say about WSM's is the amount of fuel you use compared to a Primo or other ceramic cooker and the clean up. A 20lb bag of charcoal will last for at 2 - 12hr+ (24+ hrs. total) cooks on a WSM, however the same bag will easily last for 36+ hours in a ceramic cooker due to their efficiency and the small amount of air required to maintain temperatures.

Bottomline is, they're both excellent smokers and you can't go wrong with either. The Primo is certainly a more expensive initial investment, but it is also a grill and a smoker and you will save money in the long run by using less fuel and buying one cooker for grilling and smoking, versus buying a grill and a smoker!