Big Green Egg

Last year I got a gas smoker and I was pretty happy with it. It made good ribs and I even got a pretty good brisket out of it. But temperature control was difficult. In particular, on windy days I didn't even try to use the smoker since I knew it would be much more difficult to keep a nice constant, low temperature for 6 hours or more.

I stumbled across the Big Green Egg (BGE), which at first glance sounded pretty good. It is advertised as a combination grill and smoker - the all-in-one backyard appliance. As I did more research, virtually every review raved about the thing and I quickly decided my three current grills were not satisfying me. What put me over the top was my neighbor, who said, "If it were stolen this evening, I'd go out and buy a new one tomorrow morning."

The BGE lives up to the hype. It cooks in a lot of different ways. Outside of being able to use it to grill steaks or burgers, you can definitely use it as a great smoker. It's made of ceramic, so it retains heat really well and acts like a convection oven so you can even bake in it. I hope to get a pizza stone soon to try it out as a brick pizza oven.

I am truly amazed at how well it maintains temperature for long periods of time, which is absolutely perfect when used for BBQ/smoking. I had heard stories about BGE owners starting their food the night before and having the temperature stay constant for over 12 hours. While skeptical, I had the same experience when I cooked my first pork shoulder roast for pulled pork sandwiches. I started the BGE at 11pm one night (while it was raining) and stayed up to about midnight making sure that the temperature stabilized. I awoke at about 5am the next morning and quickly ran downstairs to check and lo and behold the thermometer was still stuck at the same temperature that I left it the night before. When all was said an done 16 hours later (without refilling the charcoal at all!!), I had the most tender pork shoulder I've ever cooked. I tried to lift the meat off the grill with tongs, but it literally just fell apart because it was so tender!

I'm always looking to cook some ribs, but no one in my family has the same rib appetite. Anna used to claim she loved ribs, but she's hit or miss. She's a fairweather fan. If you like ribs and want a BGE demonstration, give me some advance notice and maybe I'll give you a sample!