418214 Thu Jul 05 17:33:05 -0700 2007 31 41 Cookware 0 2722670 I have used Weber kettles for years...direct heat for steaks and indirect for BBQ, roast chicken, smoked turkey, etc. I have friends who swear by the BGE. Have never tried one, but reading about it makes me wonder how different it is and whether any of you can give a good reason to abandon Weber (at least for some things.) Thanks for your help Thu Jul 05 17:33:05 -0700 2007 12296 steakman55 1 2722820 in my opinion, it's a totally different game, BGE and Weber Kettle. Are you looking to use them primarily for grilling? Or for smoking? or both? Webers are great for their ease, portability, and just good standard grilling. Not so much so for indirect or smoking (go for the Weber Smoky Mountain for that. But with the BGE, you'll get temps you simply can't get on any other outdoor cooking device. Like in the 700 degree range (aside from steaks and such, it's amazing for grilled pizza). But it's also an amzing smoker too. Very, very good temperature control and charcoal efficiency. All that said, there are some significant drawbacks to the BGE too. First, weight. It's a few hundred pounds. So once you park it, don't plan on moving it often, if at all. Also, don't drop that lid - it's ceramic so it will crack. Third, it's expensive. Fourth, for grilling, you don't get a lot of cooking space. This is also true for smoking, compared to other smokers. There are specialty grates that expand your cooking space, but that's only for smoking... won't work for grilling. If you plan to grill for more than four, you may run out of room very quickly. Also, with the BGE, you have to use a high quality lump charcoal, because with the BGE, ash production is bad... so briquettes are out completely. Anyhow, to restate what I started with, I've never thought of Weber Kettle v. BGE, they are just too different in my opinion. Thu Jul 05 18:39:53 -0700 2007 2722670 11120 adamclyde 2 2762881 Whew! Ditto - the BGE is heavy heavy heavy and it doesn't have much space to cook on. Wed Jul 18 18:11:49 -0700 2007 2722820 90565 Cookiefiend 1 2723416 I have a friend who has gone through several kamados. They end up cracking (I think the hot coals need more TLC than he gives them.) Fri Jul 06 00:00:54 -0700 2007 2722670 13619 Sharuf 1 2723577 I haven't used a thermometer in my kettle, but 700F seems to be realistic, if I build a fairly large fire on one side, leave the vents open, and use the lid. With dampers and vents mostly closed, the Weber kettle will also smoke for several hours. While I might look at a WSM in the autumn, it seems hard to justify a BGE Fri Jul 06 04:59:59 -0700 2007 2722670 56131 jayt90 2 2723810 I have both a kettle and a WSM and have used a BGE. Trust me, the overall heat you can generate in a kamado (or BGE) is much higher and concentrated than what you can get in a kettle. Not that I prefer it to a kettle for grilling, though, because of it's limited size and it's just not as easy and portable. But for smoking, kamado beats a kettle any day. BGE v. WSM is another story. I think that's a better comparison. I think you are on the right track with getting a WSM. It's the best food purchase I've ever made in my life. It was a splurge compared to cheap brinkman models, but was a bargain compared to the BGE or commercial smokers. I've never been happier with any purchase of any sorts in my life. I smoked two huge pork butts the other day. Took 17 hours and I didn't touch the coals or the air vents once. Plus, I can smoke 40 pounds of pork on it at one time... Fri Jul 06 07:10:42 -0700 2007 2723577 11120 adamclyde 3 2723842 Does the WSM work at temperatures that you could use to smoke/cure sausage? Fri Jul 06 07:18:04 -0700 2007 2723810 10743 yayadave 4 2723877 What temperature do you need to smoke sausage? I can hold a reliable smoke for long periods in the 170 to 180 range. You can actually do cold smoking if you want too, though that takes a very different approach and requires effort. Fri Jul 06 07:30:51 -0700 2007 2723842 11120 adamclyde 1 2725180 If you're serious about grilling/smoking/bbq, then I say why not own both?! I own several grills but that's just me. Yes, the BGE is heavy but not several hundred pounds and has plenty of multi-tiered cooking space unlike the posters claims below. It's everything that they say it is and more. As far as porability in concerned, how often do you really need to move your grill...practically never right? Fri Jul 06 13:44:04 -0700 2007 2722670 13223 amoncada 2 2725860 I have owned a BGE for 3 years, and the reason I like it is I can do an 18 hour 220F "low and slow" cook just about year round. Not so for my old Weber Kettle. The ceramic on the BGE is thick enough that it holds temperature without any problem, whereas this was not possible with a thin wall steel Kettle. If eating smoked food is something you only want to do in the summer, then maybe the Weber is a more affordable way to do this. I also use a BBQ Guru Temperature controller which is kind of cheating, but it makes using the BGE much more simple than having to control the top and bottom dampers. Fri Jul 06 17:16:38 -0700 2007 2725180 101127 Egger 2 2726029 multi tiered in the BGE works for smoking yes, or maybe indirect grilling, but not really what I'm looking for in a grill. But you are right, if you get the biggest of the eggs, then I guess you have the same grilling space as a kettle. But most eggs are 18 inches or smaller in diameter... Maybe it's just me, but I move my grill frequently. Very frequently, but that's because I don't have a lot of space, so I need to move it when I use it. Plus, the kids knock over everything in their path, so moving things out of their way is a good thing! Fri Jul 06 18:21:04 -0700 2007 2725180 11120 adamclyde 3 2726075 Both the WSM and the BGE are fine smokers - but the WSM costs between $200 - 250 from Amazon and others. Much cheaper than a BGE. At most Barbecue Competitions, you see many WSMs (and some BGEs) folks like them because they are very capable cookers. Fri Jul 06 18:40:14 -0700 2007 2726029 69680 rich in stl 4 3655188 THIS KILLS ME. THE EGG COMES ON WHEELS PEOPLE. I STORE MINE WHEN NOT IN USE AND BRING IT OUT THREE TIMES A WEEK. HARD TO MOVE? WEBER USED TO BE GRET GRILLS. I SELL GRILLS AND ALMOST NONE OF YOU KNOW THAT A YEAR AGO WEBER WENT TO CHINA!!!. THEY ARENT NEAR THE GRILL THE USED TO BE. THE WEBER LINE IS DEAD AS FAR AS THE GRILL WE ARE USED TO. Sun May 04 10:18:13 -0700 2008 2726075 187086 TWADESMOKER 3 2726174 Not just you. We move our grills around quite a bit, too. Fri Jul 06 19:24:00 -0700 2007 2726029 81731 foodstorm 4 2726248 Thanks, guys. I live in Fla. and cook outside year round. Once during a rare snow in Tallahasse, I was grilling and went right ahead. I think I'll use the Weber for the drirect grilling and get BGE for the smoking... Fri Jul 06 20:05:11 -0700 2007 2726174 12296 steakman55 5 2726665 good for you. Smoking during a blizzard is the true test of an outdoor cook! i once hod to shovel a foot of snow around my weber smoky mountain cooker to get to it. by the time the smoke was done 12 hours later, I had an additional 18 inches all around. But the smoker kept chugging along like it was 80 degrees outside... Sat Jul 07 04:02:44 -0700 2007 2726248 11120 adamclyde 3 4014136 The extra large BGE has a 24" diameter grilling surface. Bigger than the kettle. Also, the BGE is not what you would buy to be just a grilling tool, though it will work amazingly well for that task. It is more for long, low and slow, smoking AND grilling/searing at high temps. If you are looking for something to grill your hotdogs, hamburgers, and steak on look for something else. You can't justify the cost for that alone. But if you want to cook anything and everything, including baking, real Q, smoking etc... (and you can afford it), go with the BGE. It will outlive many a smoker. Sat Sep 06 18:13:00 -0700 2008 2726029 224324 gmstanfield 4 4016823 I posted about BGE and Weber Kettle a while ago: I got both! I use the BGE to smoke ribs & pork butt. While that's finishing up, I use the Webber to cook chicken, burgers & dogs. After the ribs & butt are done, I crank up the BGE to 700 and drop in the ribeye and porterhouse. Voila! Enough to easily feed 30 hungry guests. I use Wicked Good lump charcoal in both my Weber Kettle and BGE. I've smoked at 215° for 22 hours straight using the BGE without adding any charcoal and only adjusted the vents twice. I cannot do the same in the Weber without adding at least 3 times adjusting 10+ times. Mon Sep 08 06:06:19 -0700 2008 4014136 62256 pabboy 1 2726675 There's not a lot of comparison. you can contol the temp much more evenly on a BGE, especially at higher temps that a Weber won't even reach. I agree that cost and weight are drawbacks, but I've had over 10 grills in the last 25 years, including 2 custom builts and my great big Green Egg is the best of the lot. Its insulation lets me cook all winter and I can do a filet at 800 degrees for 4 min's or a shoulder at 175 for 10 hours. The baking stone can't be matched by any I've found to go in another grill. I'm sold on the GBGE. Sat Jul 07 04:22:43 -0700 2007 2722670 106255 chazzerking 1 2737526 I love my BigGreenEgg... The main reason is I went from kettle-type to Egg is one that I don't as often see cited: it makes everything about grilling or BBQing so **easy**. - I'm a novice to cooking, grilling, and Q'ing. With the Big Green Egg, I no longer have to deal with chimney starters and worrying about where the sparks and newspaper ash are flying when I turn it over. - I no longer have to replace charcoal or lump when making pulled pork (longest so far - 14 hours on 1 load thanks to the heat retention properties of the Ceramic Egg). - It is very easy to get it up to extremely high searing temps to make really tasty ribeye's. This guy has an excellent website on ceramic cooking. http://www.nakedwhiz.com/ceramic.htm I followed the description for how to "TREX" a steak: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/trexsteak.htm and it was the best steak I've ever made Summary: Prep--Sear--Rest--Cook (Don't skip the "Rest" stage) His web page on Searing temps - Egg vs Kettle: http://www.nakedwhiz.com/searingtemps.htm - In addition to being awesome for either Grilling or Q'ing, some people want to use it specifically as a coal or wood-burning ceramic pizza oven / bread-baking oven. This person has experimented with results with pre-made dough: http://www.greeneggers.com/archives//2006/messages/310264.htm http://www.greeneggers.com/archives//2006/messages/328710.htm http://www.greeneggers.com/archives//2006/messages/311317.htm http://www.greeneggers.com/archives//2006/messages/306389.htm http://www.greeneggers.com/archives//2007/messages/329023.htm http://www.greeneggers.com/archives//2006/messages/302344.htm I just uploaded some pics of cooks I've done: http://s116.photobucket.com/albums/o23/sweet100s/ Tue Jul 10 16:58:13 -0700 2007 2722670 57335 sweet100s 2 2738955 Thanks for all the useful information and links, including photos. There is no egg in my immediate future because of price, weight (if I move) and my complete love for the Weber Kettle. I have never actually used a BGE but I don't doubt any of the good things I hear about it. There are great reports about the WSM and it may be my next move. I have pretty well given up on the chimney as a starter. It produces a vast amount of smoke and pollution for the first five minutes, and I worry about neighbour complaints. All of this smoke comes from the paper or cardboard. In addition I have to pour the burning, sputtering coals into the kettle, and I end up with a flat pile of coals rather than a pyramid. Preferred method is to build a pyramid of maple charcoal lumps (also preferred) douse with fluid, and light. The fluiid never has time to penetrate, and I can't detect it 15 minutes later when the coals are at their hottest. Wed Jul 11 07:36:16 -0700 2007 2737526 56131 jayt90 3 2740802 I have a WSM and love it (as I mentioned above). Last weekend I did a smoke. 17 hours and didn't touch the vents or charcoal once. I'm sure I had another 3 hours left as well. Great smoker, that WSM. Wed Jul 11 14:20:35 -0700 2007 2738955 11120 adamclyde 3 4014122 Don't give up your chimney, and for god's sake stop using lighter fluid *ACK* Use parafin cubes to start the chimney. They are made by weber, very inexpensive, they come in packs of 24. Use two or three under the chimney and you are good to go without the smell and gobs of smoke. A pair of tongs (you can use the jagged, useless-for-anything-other-than-coals ones that come in most grilling sets) will get the coals into any configuration you like. Sat Sep 06 18:05:59 -0700 2008 2738955 224324 gmstanfield 2 3186860 All Hail the Naked Whiz! I've used his site constantly since I got my BGE and he's never steered me wrong. Tomorrow night... Spatchcocked Spring Chicken! Thu Dec 06 20:57:49 -0800 2007 2737526 77259 Paul N 1 2762873 I use my Egg with hardwood charcoal. One reason I really like it (that I have not yet seen mentioned) is that you can reuse the fuel if it does not all burn out. I load up the egg, start the fire, use the vents to easily control the temp, so I can cook at medium if I want. When done cooking, I can close the vents, which kills the fire, and the hardwood that did not burn can be used again. I don't know if this is more a function of the hardwood than the Egg, or if this would work in a Weber, but it is a feature I really appreciate. Also, it is easy and fast to go from high temp to low temp. Wed Jul 18 18:08:39 -0700 2007 2722670 86106 cocktailhour 2 2762948 for the most part, that's the Egg. Webers Kettles, as much as I love them, don't have that kind of really tight air control where it can completely snuff out the charcoal. Wed Jul 18 18:36:59 -0700 2007 2762873 11120 adamclyde 1 2762965 Question about the BGE. Can you use hardwood charcoal as primary heat source and add fresh hickory or mesquite or other wood for flavor? Assuming you can, how do you do it, ie do you mix'em all up at the beginning or add the fresh wood later? Wed Jul 18 18:44:32 -0700 2007 2722670 10668 johnb 2 2763682 I use neither grill/cooker (I love my Portable Kitchen), but here is my 2 cents: I soak wood chips in water and place them in a pan next to the meat, over the heat source. I found adding lumps of wood directly just burned the lumps - not much smoke. Thu Jul 19 05:58:01 -0700 2007 2762965 18069 Westy 2 2764760 with good smokers, like the BGE or the weber smokey mountain, you should use hardwood chunks in addition to the charcoal for the smokers. You don't need to soak (doesn't do anything with big pieces of wood). Since they have good restricted air flow, they will burn slowly and smoke how you like it. Just add some on top of the lit charcoal at the beginning, right before or as you put the meat on. Same principle applies to all smokers, really. - Adam Thu Jul 19 10:57:12 -0700 2007 2762965 11120 adamclyde 1 2768574 Have youever heard of the PDQ cooker. It cooks using indirect heat with charcoal. It is all stainless steel. I have been using the same one for over 35 years. It is alot lighter tan the BGE. A friend swore by his BGE and I swore by the PDQ. We did a taste test compring the two cookers and the PDQ Cooker won hands down for taste. I cost more but well worth the additional cost sepecailly since it last for a very long time. Just another suggestion. Fri Jul 20 12:42:15 -0700 2007 2722670 113200 jaywest88 2 5164527 Wow, call me a skeptic. How can a PDQ win hands down if you are both using charcoal? Were you guys using the same exact recipe, cooking the same exact meats? Also at $2000-$2500, it had better last 35+ years! The only advantage I can see so far is that it is made of SS, where as the BGE (ceramic) cookers can crack over time. Can the PDQ really cook faster than the traditional grills or smokers? How much faster? If it is significantly faster, then it may be worth the investment. At any rate, thanks for the introduction, I'll have to read up on them. Also is the PDQ just a grill or can you smoke on them as well? Sat Nov 07 23:12:05 -0800 2009 2768574 1091882 Chaugar 3 5176350 BGE has a lifetime warranty that covers cracks (though not chips). Thu Nov 12 12:19:16 -0800 2009 5164527 77259 Paul N