Monday, March 10, 2008

BGE or BUST!

To quote an 80's rap song by Digital Undergound . . . "so just let me introduce myself". Alas my name is not Humpty, I can't dance, and I never got busy in a Burger King bathroom. However, I am a long time friend, classmate, and colleague of the two rowdies that I believe gave birth to this small piece of the blogosphere. A very large tip of the hat to the JW and the OG for inviting me to contribute.

I don't claim to be an expert on anything food wise, drink wise, football wise, or any other wise. Fortunately for me and likely unfortunately for this blog I know just enough about these things to be dangerous.

Having seen today's post from the OG I feel obliged to espouse on the merits and unlimited benefit of the Big Green Egg (BGE). I've cooked on a wide variety of smokers/grills in my life including the following;

Weber Smoker (electric and non-electric)



A New Braunels Off-set




And finally the piece de resitance {insert funny french accents} my super sized, tow behind, large grill smoker big enough "to cook two pigs at once" {insert north florida 'neck accent as that's what the previous owner said when I bought it off of him}. This smoker had the privilege of being featured on the since departed Blue Ribbon TV show on Turner South. They did a show on tailgating at SEC schools and our tailgate and grill/smoker were featured along with a bunch of dead pig and chicken parts. That's me on the right and my beer on the left.





After many years and many, many cooks I've been absolutely BLOWN away by the versatility, the ease of use, and the quality of product you can produce on a BGE. I sear steaks at 800 degrees for but a few minutes, I slow smoke pork shoulders at 250 degrees for up to 24 hours, I direct sear veggies at 400 degrees, and a whole host of other options. No single piece of grilling/smoking equipment had been able to do what the BGE has done and the taste, texture, and moisture content is unaparalled in my opinion. I've got an expensive 4 cast iron gas grill that has gone untouched for 3 years. I'll never smoke or grill on anything besides me BGE ever again. It's the pinnacle, it's the top of the mountain, it's the evolutionary peak of mankinds use of fire to prepare food (politely ignore the fact they invented this process a thousand or so years ago in asia) . If you're not egging you're doing yourself a disservice.

Here's a couple of good links for all things egg related. First is www.greeneggers.net which is the repository for all things egg related and has a great forum /message board that is very active in giving advice, sharing recipes etc. Next is www.nakedwhiz.com by the famous poster from the aforementioned web page "Mad Max". Great resource for recipes, table design, and a FAQ page that is a must for any potential buyers and all newbie eggers.

As for me, I'm all set to add to my egg collection by buying a small BGE to complement my large thusallowing for cooking at two temps simultaneously as well as being small enough to travel with on camping/tailgating trips.

OG quit your deliberating, get yo'self an egg, and get to cookin'.

2 comments:

OG said...

Dude, that was a STRONG intro post, exactly the kind of stuff we need. Question, though: what size? Medium, large or XL? And why can't I get a red and black one?

JW said...

Glad you're here, O'Great One. Tell me, what's the secret to a really hot fire on the Egg? I often have difficulty over 600.
JW