Food Do you grill, bbq, smoke?

I absolutely love to grill. The last several years I've really become more serious about it. For most of the year I grill out probably 2+ times per week, including all winter long. For most of the last 2 years I've used a Chargriller like this:



It was cheap, and I could use the main part for a grill, or if I wanted I could use the sidebox for the fire and slow cook/smoke stuff.

Finally, earlier this summer I invested in something a little more serious:



It's called a Big Green Egg. It is ceramic (the thing weighs over 200lbs, it was way heavy to carry into my backyard by myself!), and is super efficient. I've smoked things on it for 20 hours in a row without having to replenish charcoal or wood. I absolutely love it, and would highly recommend it for someone who is serious about grilling.

As I get time I'll post some threads with recipes (and pics when possible) of things I'm making or have made on it. My favorite is steaks, but I've done everything from whole chickens to briskets to ribs to shrimp to whole pizzas.

Do you grill, bbq, smoke, or otherwise cook outside over some sort of fire? Pics of your setup? Favorites?

 

charcoal - as often as i can (at least four times a week) - love my webers (i have smoky joe and the medium size...)

 

I learned most of what I know by researching online, then trial and error. I'd recommend someone start with a cheap smoker (the one I posted first isn't a bad starter) to be sure you really like doing it before you invest in a higher end smoker. It's an investment to smoke sometimes because of the amount of time many things take to finish (a brisket or big pork shoulder can be a 14-20 hour smoke), but I love doing it.

The Chargriller was a good starter. Once you get serious it has a few flaws when it comes to smoking. The walls are thin, so it doesn't hold in heat well, and the lid and vents aren't air tight at all. That means you have to monitor the fire a lot closer than you would a better insulated unit. I basically would have to check on it every 15 mins at most when smoking. With my Big Green Egg I can set it and forget it for 6-7 hours and the temp will barely budge, no matter what the weather outside is.

As far as charcoal, I use lump charcoal, not briquettes. I like it a LOT more (and I have to use it with the BGE). I've never made my own, but I wouldn't think you'd want it to be pine. Pine has too much resin and sap and will leave a bitter taste in the food. You'd want to use hardwoods like oak, mesquite, or hickory. When I'm doing pork or poultry I also will throw in a few presoaked chunks of cherry. I use cherry because I have a neighbor who has a ton of it and shares it, so it's available. But any fruit tree will do. If you are smoking something, make sure you add the fruit wood at the beginning, because that's when it'll have the biggest effect on the flavor profile. Once you get past the first couple of hours it's not going to do much for you that normal hardwood does.

 

The table I got with the Big Green Egg as part of the package. I shopped all around, then went to a local small business owner who was a dealer. I told him that I'd rather buy from a small local business, but I needed him to be competitive. He asked for a few minutes to go in the office and review his costs and get back to me. He came back with a great offer that included the table that I couldn't pass up. I basically got about $800 off of list price for the grill, table, and accessories, plus the 5% cash back my Chase card was offering.

The granite I got because a friend of a friend does granite and had a remnant left that fit my table almost perfectly. He gave me a killer deal on it and I couldn't pass it up.

 

For years I thought the BGE was overhyped and couldn't be that great. I was dragged kicking and screaming into belief. Now I am kicking myself for not getting one sooner.

My buddy has a duo and his gas side is giving him fits too. He has to keep pulling it apart and cleaning it up to get good flow to the burners.

Thanks

 

Two things come to mind. One is that you have to season cast iron. I upgraded to cast iron grates on my BGE. So to season them you rub them with oil (I prefer olive oil) and cook some fatty meats on them first. Don't wash them after, just brush them off. It's similar to how you'd season a cast iron skillet (bacon is great for that, btw). The other thing is that different grills, and different types of grills, develop unique hot spots and other characteristics that you basically only learn through use. I feel totally competent and confident on my grill, and on previous grills I've owned. I have a reputation among my circle of friends of being a bit of a grilling savant. So sometimes my less experienced friends will ask me to do the honors at their house with their grill when they have a BBQ. I usually agree, but I'm always nervous because I don't know their grill's idiosyncresies the way I know my own. Also, a ton of what goes into successfully grilling food is the prep work, which may mean that I'm already doomed to mediocrity no matter what I do over the fire, but that's an entirely different subject. So my answer to "how to season a grill?" is twofold. One, the basics of seasoning the cast iron grates. Two is learning how your grill works, including hot spots, venting, temperature control, etc.

I looked at a Traeger before buying my Big Green Egg. You already covered the difference that made me go with the BGE, I wanted something that was great for grilling too. If I was only concerned with smoking, the Traeger would've been right up there.

 

I want a Traeger, after I have kids and need to smoke meat for large family events. They're made in Oregon. My father-in-law, grandpa, and uncle all have Traegers and love them. What's funny is that they also all have gas Weber grills right next to the Traeger.

Personally, I have a Weber Silver One-Touch, a Smokey Joe, and a small Weber propane grill. We use the One-Touch about once a week or so in the summer. I need a new grate for it, but other than that, it's fabulous. I made some awesome steaks a couple weekends ago on it. Nom.