Cook #4: Turkey Burgers

Cook #4 was a much more simple cook and the first time I used direct heat with just the grate. I used 93/7 lean/fat ground turkey from Costco. I seasoned it with Salt, Pepper and Ketchup. Forming the turkey into 1/3 lb patties. I figured a temp of 420 F would be a good temp to cook these at. Charcoal: I used about 60/40 new/previously burned charcoal for this cook, again making sure the firebox was filled to the top. Again, a single starter cube in the center of the lump (see below). Again, about 10 minutes after lighting the cube was out to give a few lit coals and the grate was added and the lid closed. The temperature seemed to be a little more particular without the place setter. It seemed to be little harder to really dial in the temperature. I settled on 1 5/8" for the bottom, with the daisy wheel open to 100 %. Once the egg was pre-heated (about 5 minutes) I added the burgers. It took a little bit longer to get back to above 400 and eventually I settled on 410 F as the temp. Cooking roughly 6 minutes per side for a total of 12 minutes give or take to give the final product below. The turkey burgers were a little dry for my liking but I think that is just the nature of the meat & the fact that it's 93/7 lean. I'm used to using 80/20 ground beef when I make burgers. These were tasty & I would make them again. Although, I would use less water when making the patties. We'll be doing pizzas tomorrow so stay tuned... Final Settings: Charcoal: 60/40 New/Previously burned Plate Setter: None Bottom Sash: 1 5/8" Daisy Wheel: Fully Open

Cook #3: Beer Butt Chicked w/ Rosemary Potatoes

Cook #3, was a recipe from the big green egg website:  Beer Butt Chicked (found here:http://www.biggreenegg.com/recipes/beer-butt-chicken/).  I won't go into details since the recipe is readily available.  I will say that I've read you are supposed to use a "lager" beer & I chose to use Budweiser (side note:  I don't care for Budweiser as a beer for drinking but it seemed to work well for the cook),  I also used the accessory the "sittin' chicken" to roast my chicken (see below).  I will say that I used "Grillmasters Dry Rub" from www.kitchenwindow.com (a local store here in Minneapolis, also where I purchased my egg from) as my seasoning.  I also used a smaller chicked (about 2-3 lbs).


Coals:  I used about 75 % new & 25 % previously burned charcoal filled to the top of the firebox.  Again, I lit a single starter cube in the center of the lump.  After about 10 minutes the cube was out and we were ready for business.  Learning from my previous cook, this time I added the plate setter immediately, the grate & closed the lid and was ready to dial in my temperature.  I started by closing the bottom sash to 1/2" and keeping the daisy wheel slot fully open.  This dropped the temp far more than I was expecting it to.  Shortly there after, I opened the bottom to 7/8" & then eventually to 1" with the daisy wheel 50 % which seemed to hold 350 F very well.  After pre-heating for about 10 minutes, it was ready for the chicken & potatoes.

The Cook:  On the bird went, after 20 minutes I would open the lid and spray with the liquid mixture.  I also started the timer after the temp reached back to 350 F, after opening & then closing the lid.  It should be noted that this required me to open the daisy wheel to 100 % after I closed the lid.  Adding a large piece of meat drops the temp as would be expected.  I continued with spray, every 20 minutes for about a total time of 1 hr 10 minutes.  The final product is below. The chicken was tender w/ a great flavor. Some bbq sauce was added and made for the perfect compliment. I wish the flavor had penetrated the bird more but it was definitely tasty & I would make it again.


Final Settings: Charcoal: 75 % new / 25 % previously burned, 1 starter cube, center of lump Plate Setter: legs up w/ grate on top Bottom Sash: 1" Daisy Wheel: 50 %

Cook #2: Braised St. Louis Spare Ribs w/ Slaw

Cook #3 was much more successful than my first go around.  After using my first cook as a learning experience I first cleaned out the ash tray under the fire great.  I used 1 rack of St. Louis Style Spare Ribs (purchased from Target, not the best meat source, but the ribs were cheap & readily available.  I will be purchasing higher quality ribs next time).  I used the basic bbq rub from the Big Green Egg cookbook & 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar.  I liberally applied the rub to the ribs, placed them into a drip or roasting pan & added the red wine vinegar.  I covered them with foil and let them sit until the egg was ready.

Now for the egg settings: I filled ONLY the firebox with about 50/50 new & used lump charcoal (currently I'm using only the Big Green Egg brand of charcoal) and used a single starter cube in the center of the lump.  After about 10 minutes the cube was out and a few pieces of the charcoal had caught.  I closed the lid and went bout dialing in my temperature.  I was able to pre-heat the egg to 300 F, and then I added then plate setter (legs up).  In retrospect, it would have been better to add the plate setter as soon as I was ready to close the lid.  The reasoning being that adding the large ceramic plate setter dropped the temp substantially (roughly 30 F upon initial placement & almost 50 F after about 10 mins).  This required the opening of the bottom sash up to 5/8" with the daisy wheel all the way open.  This allowed the temp to climb back to 300 F at which point the daisy wheel was closed to 50 % and the bottom closed to 1/2".  At this point, the egg was ready for the ribs.  So, on they went & were allowed to cook for 1 hr 45 min.  I didn't open the lid once, with the temp being stalbe.  Although, I did have to make fine adjustments throughout the cook with the daisy wheel.  I suspect that this will be the case for a while until I really get the hang of this. The egg recipe calls for finishing the ribs at 450 F straight on the grill, but I personally don't care for chared/caramelized sauce, so I just ended them.  To review here were the final settings:

1 starter cube (center of lump)

Bottom Sash: 5/8" to start, with closing to 1/2" to maintain

Daisy Wheel:  Full Open

The end result was ribs that were moist, tender & almost ripped in half when I picked them up with the tongs.

Cook #1: Pulled Pork Sandwhiches

My first go around with the green egg was not necessarily what I had hoped.  I used way to much charcoal (on the advice of the guys that set up my egg, perhaps I heard him wrong or he told me wrong).  Either way, it was too much charcoal and too many starter cubes.  It made it very difficult to get the temp to around 300 F.  To make matters worse, I was told not to go above 350 as to make sure the adhesive sets on the gasket. 

After a few hours and nearly snuffing out the flame, I was finally able to get the temp to around 300 F although the gasket came up a little bit in one spot, but I was able to rescue it.  It's still not perfect but does the job just fine.  From what I understand there are a lot of egg heads that cook without a gasket.  I was able to get the pork shoulder (roughly 3.8 lbs) on and let it cook for 2 hr 45 min.  Pulled it out & shredded it and it was delicious.  Not photo worthy, but still a very important learning experience.

Big Green Egg

Well it's here.  I've wanted a big green egg for quite some time and I've finally got one.  So I will post my adventures in cooking here.  Feel free to ask questions, post comments & offer suggestions as well. I will do my best in posting pictures as well as the details of what I did. Here is my setup: 1 large green egg, with plate setter, baking stone, ash tool & currently I am using the big green egg brand of lump charcoal