BBQ - EggHead Fans?

[Marty]

Just curious if any of you have the Big Green Egg BBQ. I was always a gas grill person, until I tried the BGE. Any favourite recipes for your charcoal grills ? Anyone else use the kamado style grills ?

This is what the BGE looks like

[RosieC]

Not seen one like that before, not sure we have them over here.

I always used to be a Charcoal fan and considered it the 'proper' way to BBQ and gas to be a cheat (might as well be cooking on a gas hob, not a real BBQ).

However my view has changed over the years. Gas with bricks that heat up and radiate the heat can give just as good results and is more convenient most of the time.

Actually if you had had an option on the poll for "I like both at different times" I would probably have gone for that. I do still love Charcoal when I have time to go that way, but gas for when I want something quicker.

I like to do fish on the BBQ. Something like tout wrapped in foil and with lemmon & chili and some herbs.

[flhiker]

these are great grills, Charcoal is king. JUST please NEVER NEVER NEVER use lighter fluid in the grill. If you have to use it start the coal in something else. for 15.00 you can get a charcoal starter.
Rapidfire Chimney Starter-7416 at The Home Depot



Ingredients

BARBECUE RUB:

• 2 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup paprika
• 2 teaspoons chili seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 cup salt
• 2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

Combine all ingredients in shaker and use as "rub" on the following meats.

BABY BACK RIBS:

• 1 rack Baby Back Ribs
• Barbecue Rub
• Apple juice in a spritzer
• 2 cups BBQ sauce, your favorite

Peel membrane off the back of each slab. Then rinse the slab off to get rid of bone dust. Dry with cotton towel. Take shaker of "rub" and lightly coat both sides of meat.

Preparing smoker: Put charcoal in chimney with paper underneath and light. (Do not use charcoal lighter-it will taint the flavor of the meat.) Let coals get hot, about 30 minutes. Transfer coals into smoker, and add 1 hickory log per hour on top of charcoal if smoker is big. (Adjust if using small smoker.) Wait until temperature of smoker reaches 220 degrees. Leave damper open so you don't trap stale smoke in chamber. Over course of cooking, maintain heat with additional coal and wood, as needed. After placing ribs inside smoker, spritz with apple juice once an hour. After about 3 hours, when meat is nice dark color, spritz one last time and wrap in foil. Let ribs cook in foil for another 2 hours, giving you a total cook time of 5 hours. You can feel when the ribs are tender rather than rubbery (they bend rather than bounce back). Unwrap them (carefully), lift them out of juice and place on cutting board, brush on room temperature BBQ Sauce. Slice into individual ribs and serve.

Kingsford briquets are made from hardwood only. They burn scraps under low oxygen just like lump. grounded and pressed into briquets with pieces of hardwood The lumps are smaller then you would use as lump. Really their is no difference in taste. I do think lump burns hotter and it may be a little hard to keep you grill at 220 - 250 degrees.

[nenella]

drool: !!!!!!
That's really made my mouth water! thanks for posting your recepie.

[flhiker]

Thanks Nenella. The original recipe says to use BBQ sauce at the end but I think they are perfect without.

Also once you put them in the foil, you can finish them in a preheated 220 degree oven. your house will smell of smoke/ BBQ, but to some that isn't a bad thing.

[Otis226]

Not a big outdoor griller either way, but I have used lump charcoal on Weber grills for many years, as I agree, gas is more convenient and wins on that count hands down, but for flavor I think serious grillers still use charcoal(?)
Cheers,
Tony

Oh, a good recipie for outdoor cooking... beer can chicken, you can't mess it up!

[nenella]

Originally Posted by RosieC

....I always used to be a Charcoal fan and considered it the 'proper' way to BBQ and gas to be a cheat (might as well be cooking on a gas hob, not a real BBQ).

.....

Actually if you had had an option on the poll for "I like both at different times" I would probably have gone for that. I do still love Charcoal when I have time to go that way, but gas for when I want something quicker.I like to do fish on the BBQ. Something like tout wrapped in foil and with lemmon & chili and some herbs.

with Rosie! which is why I didn't vote..

as a side note but to do with BBQ'ing meals ...
I saw a short cookery recepie on TV today, the chef cooked a 'tarte à la provencale' on a gas BBQ ,with a lid, like Martys photo. It looked wonderful!
Baked the flaky pastry base 15 mins (blind); seperately cooked onions garlic, tomatoes, green pepper and aubergine and courgettes & loads of herbs'rosemary ,thyme basil..) in an oven proof dish covered in foil) in the BBQ. Once cooked he
then filled the baked 'pastry pie' with the veg & served with salad....... Looked scrumptious...

[flhiker]

Lump and briquets are basically the same thing. Lump charcoal is made by burning lumps of hardwood until the resins leach out.

briquets are smaller pieces of hardwood (mulch) that are burned the same way and pressed together with unburned pieces. great smokey wood smell and flavor either way. which gas can't provide by itself. but their are ways around that too.

[Marty]

lump charcoal is just unburned wood, but some briquettes are charcoal particles pressed and "glued" together with some resin. Problem I have with briquettes is that's it's usually the leftovers from lump charcoal and who knows what's in the resin. It's like buying chicken breast and McNuggets, hehehe. I always go for lump charcoal.

[Oscarman]

Love the BGE. This is my 3rd summer with it. flhiker is right - a charcoal chimney is a must.