Thanks, Todd

I light my charcoal with a cheap heat gun from Harbor tools.

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

Big Green Egg All Natural Charcoal Starters - 2nd favorite way. Extremely reliable and inexpensive. Great way to start out before buying more expensive ways.

I use a cheap version of these that I pick up in bulk from the local hardware store (I use them to start my woodstove too).

I'll bury three of them in the lump, light them and walk away. It doesn't get any easier.

10-15 minutes later I'm ready to cook.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by tatortodd:

Big Green Egg All Natural Charcoal Starters - 2nd favorite way. Extremely reliable and inexpensive. Great way to start out before buying more expensive ways.

I use a cheap version of these that I pick up in bulk from the local hardware store (I use them to start my woodstove too).

I'll bury three of them in the lump, light them and walk away. It doesn't get any easier.

10-15 minutes later I'm ready to cook.

That reminds me, I've used the Rutland 50B Safe Lite Fire Starter Squares, 144 Squares, quite a bit since they're a better bang for the buck than the BGE squares.

I tell anyone who will listen that I wish I had bought my BGE 30 years ago. I can smoke at 200 and sear at 750.

I don't believe anyone here has mentioned that the Egg has a lifetime warranty. Not sure about the other brands.

I light my lump with a propane torch.

I light mine with a $7 heat gun, get a 3 spots going and she will be blazing in no time.

Thanks all for the info and links. I'm going with BGE, there is a dealer 10 miles away, I bought my Harmon pellet stove from them. More importantly, great people and service.
Stopped by looking at the sizes, and I guess as most of you recommended, it's going to be a large.
I get the feeling the BGE has a following similar to Airstream campers.

Thanks again, and Happy Easter!

quote:

Originally posted by slyguy:
You all are killing me here. I pulled out my old propane grill a couple weeks back for spring cleaning to find multiple rotted out sections inside. It sucks I do sheet metal for a living and can build the replacement parts.

Of course strolling through Costco over the weekend I see the Kamodo Joe and think. My smoker is old and not very versatile. My BBQ is getting nasty. Hmmmm

Now I'm torn, because I'm a cheap bastard by nature.

aawwww

Cheap is relative. We use our gas grill at least four times a week. Two to three in the winter.
A Wally World grill would last us two years?
Wouldn't take too long to equal the cost of a cheap one. I've never met a gas grill with a lifetime warranty. I have a large Weber now, three years old I think. Going strong.

I'm late to the party as usual.
I have had my BGE for about 10 years now. Except for minor maintainence, I have experienced zero issues. Hot, cold, rain etc. performance has been good. I built a table with a roof for mine. Cuts down on some of the moisture in bad weather.
The start up is expensive, yes. However in the avg it is much cheaper. When you consider the cost of gas grill replacement every 2-3 years, the eggs durability wins out.
As far as starting my egg I just use my propane torch for soldering. Works just fine.
The learning curve on the egg is short. Very efficient, and consistent.
Consistency is the key to reproducing good BBQ over and over.
Tips for the new: keep ashes out of the firebox hopper. Don't put a cold place setter in a hot egg, if you just added new charcoal, partially open lid to check coals, flashover is something you want to experience only once.
I have several BBQ machines, the bge, a uds in stainless, a trailered offset horizontal, and currently waiting delivery on a backyard horizontal.
I would recommend the bge to anyone that is really wanting a consistent performer.
And although I have never used a KJ, or Primo, I would not hesitate to use either one of those great cookers either.
And yes,you can cook great BBQ on a Weber, or a thinner walled machine. For some, the time it takes to master a thinner walled Machine may be disappointing, or time prohibitive. What I have experienced is that a well made pit reduces the effort and curve for constant long time temps, with out huge effort in a variety of environments.
Just depends on what your goal of making BBQ is.

Thought I would update everyone. I had a very hard time pulling the trigger on an egg. The price, then spending almost as much in accessories.
I spotted the sale Sams club had on the XL, and should have jumped. I slept on it overnight and they were gone.
I went out with some friends a couple of weeks ago for steaks and beers, me being D.D. I only had one. We stopped at Lowes on the way home and I spotted a kamado Joe there. Classic two $1300 on sale $1200. Again I hesitated. A week later, I stopped in to check, and they were marked down to $999.
I now have a beautiful Kamado Joe sitting on my deck! So far I've smoked two Boston butts (one at a time), and three pizzas with one being a breakfast pizza this morning.
I've watched a ton of Malcomb Reed videos and want to try the whole beef tenderloin wrapped in bacon.

Thanks for following-up with us. I will most likely buy a KJ the next time they're at Costco, and I'm very interested in your thoughts on cooking with a KJ. How easy is it to start, and bring it up to / maintain temperature? How did your smokes turn out?
Thanks

Lowes has that pipe with the handle that you can load up with lump and put it on your gas grill side burner. Works great! 1-2 minutes and I dump it in the Joe. I watch out for the finer pieces falling out the bottom, don't need a house fire...
My first fire I went from 150 degrees to 900 in about five minutes. Surprised the hell out of me. I had a hard time maintaining the temp at 275, with my first Boston butt. I had the heat deflector too low. It was right over the coals.
My second attempt was 225 for eight hours, and it held within five degrees for the first six, then slowly started climbing up past 250. Maybe due to the meat being close to done?
I cooked a pulled pizza last night and had a hard time getting the temp above 300 degrees. I think one of two reasons. I haven't removed the used coal and given it a clean out, I just moved everything around and dumped the ash pan. Also I first tried the cheaper brand of lump coal. Lots of finer pieces, not a lot of chunks. So must be an air flow problem.
For smoke (which my wife isn't crazy about), Lowes has both the small chips, and larger chunks. The first butt with the small chips I didn't notice much smoke flavor even though I soaked them in water. So butt two I used three of the larger chunks, cherry, shooting for a gentle smoke flavor, and it worked great!

I quite enjoy my setup.

We went through Costco last night. I'm going "honey!" Look at those beef tenderloin! How about prime rib? Roast a couple of chickens?

I can see that's a place I need to venture in very seldom.

this will be the last summer/fall for my 10 year old CharBroil gas grill. Totally got every penny's worth out of it. Over the winter I may be looking at the BGEs also.

I fired up my large BGE on the 4th and cooked 8 burgers, 6 brats and 8 hotdogs at the same time. Not much spare room but the end product was exceptional.

Mike